Mad, regarding this post, Spamming and Membership, in order for us to avoid this, exactly what kind of posting is concidered "Spam"? I have never been thoroughly educated in spamming, so I'm not exactly sure of what it is. I know it has to do with posting in great quantity and to little use, but is that all?

Thanks.

I apparently can't reply below, so I'll do so here. I thank each of you for your info, it has certainly cleared things up for me, and hopefully others who are interested in avoiding this nasty. If, like me, you aren't sure of what "spamming" is, read the replies below. Thanks fella's!

ziffgone,

That sums it up pretty well. Posts that have no real content such as "That's cool", "Not me", and a variety of other meangless, non-related replies to posts are considerd spam.

Moreover, those who use spam as an obvious means of trying to increase thier total posts are the ones who need to worry about the "crackdown".

[SIZE=2]<span style="font-family:arial">A couple of other definitions we have as "spam" are replying to your own post instead of editing (say,if Lucifer replied again before my post here) and also replying to a majority of threads on a page to show yourself as the last to reply.All that does is make the boards look slow,as it would only show one person replying.

One other last form of spam is if you repeat the answer given in an earlier post in a thread.We have had this happen a few times by newer members who have gone through the back pages of a forum and replied,not noticing that no one has posted in the thread for months. Chances are that if the thread hasn't been touched for that length of time then the person got their answer and moved on to other things.

Hope the two of us managed to clear up any confusion you (and other members wondering the same thing) may have had.</span>[/SIZE]

To add to what Luc and Lyndon have already said, some other things (against the rules here which we don’t want to see):

We will not tolerate double posting, i.e. making a new post in a thread when you were the last post in that particular thread. If you have something to add, that is what the EDIT post button is for.

Posting hyperlinks to other gaming related sites, or sites that are ‘selling something’. Links to CNN and other independent ‘news’ sites are fine, but if you are unsure as to whether your link may contravene forum policy – just PM a Mod and we can clear things up for you

Replying in over half a dozen threads within the same forum with only a few minutes in between post times is also not encouraged – it usually means they are 1 –2 lines and although we want people to join in with things, it usually is an attempt to raise post count and spam alarm bells will ring.


If people make 30 posts in one day and it is obvious that effort has gone in to each one – we don’t have a problem with that (there are no restrictions on how often people post in a given time period), but this is usually not the case. When Mods log on and see that a particular member has replied to 10 or so posts (often ‘reactivating’ old threads) in a forum with only a couple of minutes between each post time – you can bet that member will be receiving a formal warning and a reminder of the overall rules here at APi.

Starting multiple threads / polls in a particular forum over a short space of time, e.g

What is your favourite colour followed by

What is your second favourite colour followed by

What is your family pets favourite colour

………you get the idea.

People with common sense will know what SPAM is.

A high post count doesn’t mean jack if everybody thinks you’re an a$$hole because you have spammed your way there. Such members will be quickly introduced to the COOLER and banned if they persist.

If you’ve been around a while and have never received a PM from a Mod or STAFF concerning your behaviour, then there’s no need to give your posting a second thought – just carry on enjoying the site as you always have.

If members slip up, or inadvertently break the rules, then you’ll probably receive a very informal PM pointing it out, but no further action will be taken.

We’re only concerned with those members who consistently break the rules, or who look like their sole intention is to cause trouble..

Most of the Mods here at some point have been ‘spoken to’ in the past. I personally had 100 posts deducted a long time ago for a single double post! We don’t expect everybody to be perfect all the time. What we are doing is targeting the members who don’t learn from their mistakes, as this often infers they have ulterior motives for spamming.

We run a tight ship here in order to separate ourselves from the plethora of other sites where spam seems to be the norm. This is for all members benefit. Us Mods and STAFF like to enjoy the site as well you know!

The less spam we have to spend time dealing with – the more fun we can all have.

As Mad always says - Well, i hope that you enjoy posting and have fun gaming.