The Spam Thread

[Grimwell]

As we have introduced a new anti-spam measure this morning, please discuss results, and other concerns related to plat farmer spam in EQII. Other threads for this concern will be locked and pointed to this one as they are becoming unwieldy, and the discussion does not reflect this latest step to combat the spam. As noted in todays hotfix notes: Gameplay

• There is a new server-side filter for spam messages.

Please note a few things:

1. As with any spam filter, this will not catch 100% of the spam.
2. Any spam that does get through should be subject to a /report and /petition. This will help us update our filtering information.
3. Please use this thread to share any bugs you find. Do not use it to replace the /report and /petition as the customer service team will not be monitoring it, and anything you make note of here will not result in them identifying and eliminating the plat spammer.
4. Thank you for your patience as this latest tool was designed, tested, and implemented. I know that this is an issue of frustration for a number of folks, and we hope this results in an overall improvement for your experience.

I will be posting a feature to EQ2Players.com later today that gives a little detail about how this works from the players perspective, and what to expect. I will update this thread with a link to that feature when it goes live. Translated versions will be delayed until the translations are complete. (Sorry, this note about translations was incorrect) Please point anyone discussing in-game plat spam to this thread for the continued discussion.

[Cusashorn]

ThankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOUTH ANKYOU!!!!!

[Freliant]

I think Ouka pretty much summed up our general consensus (for the moment). Now the testing will begin ^_^

[Grimwell]

Freliant wrote:

I think Ouka pretty much summed up our general consensus (for the moment). Now the testing will begin ^_^

Indeed. Provided nobody attempts an "Aha! It failed!" comment the first time a spam message gets through, things should be fine. We will be constantly tweaking this and updating it and the feedback from /report and /petition will definitely help in it - which gives them new power. Not only are you busting the spammer of the moment, you are highlighting someone who got through the filter, ensuring that we know it and can sort out why (and make changes). That's a good thing. I sure won't promise that plat spam will end, but we hope this catches quite a bit of it, and changes the playing field. Time to find me some coffee, and a pillow. I'll check back after I get to the office. Enjoy the day!

[interstellarmatter]

Are you serious or is this just one those bad Monday morning jokes?

[Cusashorn]

interstellarmatter wrote:

Are you serious or is this just one those bad Monday morning jokes?

---

Hotfix July / 16 / 2007

Text windows from examining items will dump to a new chat channel: Chat Text/Private Chat/Object Text. There is a new server-side filter for spam messages.

---

[Windowlicker]

This announcement has left me strangely aroused.

[Thuriel]

Grimwell wrote:

Please note a few things:

1. As with any spam filter, this will not catch 100% of the spam.
2. Any spam that does get through should be subject to a /report and /petition. This will help us update our filtering information.

When doing a /petition, what info do the GMs need (spammer's name, /who all info, etc)? Also, is there a proper way to do a /report? Does the spam message have to be visible in the chat window when reporting? Thanks for the hard work putting this in.

[Grimwell]

/report (spammers name) = done /petition (as much info as possible will help. Name, message text, location (if you have it), etc. You can do no wrong here). Stella, don't be a doubter! I'm too tired for that!

[Morgonn]

OMG Thank you!

[Cele]

O.o, I am excited!!!!  *Runs off to see if her server is up so she can check out the snazzy new filter*

[ChrisRay]

Thank you so much SoE. Thank you. Thank you.q  

[Ama]

What would be nice grimwell is if the devs implemented a centralized report command for spam.  This would in-turn tie into the anti-spam filter.  If something gets through people can do a /reportS which relays the 25lines of past chat to a GM/CSR.  The chat is stuided and if there is spam for plat they can insert the phrase into your anti-spam filter so that it recognizes it as well as quarantines it. 

All in all I am quite glad to see that these disgusting things...these VIRUSES that call themselves plat sellers are being delt with.  To put it in a "good" context it is anoying to say the least to receive 7 tells in game for plat or power leveling when you just want to be left alone from all human contact. 

My sentiments are with Cusashorn/Ouka in that I thank the devs for implementing this new feature to screen out this trash.  On a personal note I just wish you could burn them by putting them in a special zone where we can watch them being gutted like fish. 

[beorn]

Yay, no more running around anonymous to dodge 90% of the tells.

Boo, sure wish we could have been told this was in development.  Probably would have stopped 90% of the threads on it. 

Communication is a good thing.

[liveja]

Hurrah! Now, maybe we can move on to eliminating the tin foil hat conspiracy theories, the crackpot claims, & most importantly, the sheer volume of spam generated by people whining about plat spam, which in my case is at least 10x greater than the actual volume of plat spam.

Thanx, Grim. The announcement alone has made my day

[lancekortesoja]

say, what would happen if we said one of the websites would we get banned or something (althought there no reason to but someone could go, AHHH not another spam from xxxxxxx) and boom banned

[Thuriel]

A question about possible false positives... Let's say I send a /tell to someone and the filter mistakenly blocks the message (let's say there's a bug), will I receive any sort of notification that the message didn't go through?

[Cusashorn]

Amana wrote:

On a personal note I just wish you could burn them by putting them in a special zone where we can watch them being gutted like fish. 

Game masters used to punish violators in EQlive by doing this. They would summon them to Veeshan's Peak and bind them there just so they'd keep getting spawn camped by the mobs there. An endless cycle of XP loss.

[lancekortesoja]

Thuriel wrote:

A question about possible false positives... Let's say I send a /tell to someone and the filter mistakenly blocks the message (let's say there's a bug), will I receive any sort of notification that the message didn't go through?

I am wondering the same

[Sedenten]

beornj2 wrote:

Yay, no more running around anonymous to dodge 90% of the tells.

Boo, sure wish we could have been told this was in development.  Probably would have stopped 90% of the threads on it. 

Communication is a good thing.

I believe it was mentioned several times by Grim that something serverside was being worked on, but there wasn't a whole lot of room for updates on that.  He probably could've posted to the giant thread once a week letting us know that a solution was still in testing, but not like there'd be much more to post.

 Thank you for the announcement regarding the push to live this morning, though!  With hope what you guys have implemented will cut down immensely on the spam.  I don't mind the odd spam here and there that I need to report and petition, but having to do it so much that the /report command had a lockout was getting irritating.

[Ama]

I have a feeling what they did is create a collection and do active selective filtering of precise words.  As to what these words are *shrug*, but I don't think if a player says "I hate these *bleep* *bleep* piece of *bleep* plate sellers at (x website) I hope they *bleep* go to *bleep*" in a tell it won't catch em.  Course I could be wrong and they could have the thing turned up super "Psycho" level.  If anyone says one of the couple of websites they are tagged and bagged.  

[lancekortesoja]

does this also stop spam mail?

[Looker1010]

This is the best news I've gotten in a long, long time. Thank you SOE!!

[Cusashorn]

Yeah, I'm with Amana. I imagine that the system is searching for:

1. Character names comprised of only consonants or less than 3 vowels.

2. www dot com sites and such.

3. "Special Code #######"

4. "Discount"

5. "Fast and safe leveling and gold"

and they go from there.

[ChrisRay]

beornj2 wrote:

Yay, no more running around anonymous to dodge 90% of the tells.

Boo, sure wish we could have been told this was in development.  Probably would have stopped 90% of the threads on it. 

Communication is a good thing.

    They did say it was in development in a recent interview posted at eq2players.com  

[Eriol]

This SHOULD help spam mail. This MAY help spam tells somewhat. But we all know what the real solution is to spam /tells: Level-based tell and chat filtering as an option.  That will WORK.  But they won't do it.

[Galithdor]

Thanks Grim lol my favorite to mess with and good source of info

[Belgue]

Which word was the first listed in the spam filter???? I know.. it is  G_W_ _ _ _ _ !!!

 Amazing job!!

[Thuriel]

Dragonfighter@Oasis wrote:

does this also stop spam mail?

I should hope so. But I don't think it will stop pump-and-drop spam from Gigglegibber goblins selling penny stocks on the Royal Qeynos Stock Exchange.

[DeadGopher]

...and there was much rejoicing...

yaaaaay...*waves flags*