I posted this in the eternal global OOC debate/poll thread, but I thought it warranted a separate thread, since this isn't really about global OOC anymore.
The spammers in OOC and Auction have gotten way out of hand. IMO, it's by far the biggest problem facing Project 1999 right now.
I'd like to hear if there is a plan (or a plan for a plan) to fix the problem. Also, any ideas people have for HOW to fix it.
Here are some ideas that have been collected...
- Character naming restrictions...
-No letter appears over 2 times in a row.
-No names over 12 (10?) letters in length.
- Character creation restrictions...
-Throttle the rate you can create new characters on an account. For example, once an hour max.
- Nobody under level 5 can post on either OOC or Auction (although they can view these channels).
- Throttling post speed...
-Throttle the rate anybody can send text to OOC or Auction to something like...no more than 1 message every 5 seconds.
-Severely throttle the rate that people under level 5 can post on OOC or Auction. For example, one post every 30 seconds.
- Instantly ban the Account (and even the IP if feasible/effective) of any abusers.
- "GM's give 10-15 active, higher level, respectable players the ability to IP ban spammers." To prevent abuse, perhaps give an even smaller handful of GM-trusted players the ability to recommend a ban to the GMs through private channels (IM,e-mail,whatever) which the GMs take extra-seriously on the rare occasions it is used for this purpose.
Edited list above based on responses so far.