Hard Light Productions Forums

Site Management => Site Support / Feedback => Topic started by: DCFan on January 10, 2011, 06:35:53 pm

Title: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: DCFan on January 10, 2011, 06:35:53 pm
I tried to join like 20 times, but failed, because of your stupid anti-spam question. I even had to ask people to help me to read the ship's name, but they couldn't even make out the letters either. Eventually after like 20 times it changed to a different ship with a more easily readable name, and I managed to join. Don't believe me, read this:
http://www.mektek.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=172859

Oh and sometimes the "verification" question is hard to read as well (like right now; I'm going to request a new image).


I just scrolled down, DAMNIT! Another one of those space ships! GTD Galatea? I think? Nope, that was wrong. GCD Galacea? Nope, that's not it either. Perhaps it's GTD Galacea? Nope, let me try GCD Galatea...no wait the T and the C look the exact same. So it must be GCD GALACEA? That's not it. GTD GALATEA?
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: General Battuta on January 10, 2011, 06:39:10 pm
On the one hand the second post on that thread got it right, you just didn't spell it right. On the other hand it sounds like these images are probably too hard. Fury, we should change this up.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: DCFan on January 10, 2011, 06:42:08 pm
On the one hand the second post on that thread got it right, you just didn't spell it right. On the other hand it sounds like these images are probably too hard. Fury, we should change this up.
Yes, now I fight an everlasting battle with my keyboard, as I try to post this reply...Let's see how many tries this one takes me.

1
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: General Battuta on January 10, 2011, 06:42:54 pm
The whole anti-spambot thing came up recently and hasn't been thoroughly tested. Thanks for the feedback, hopefully we can make it a little more user-friendly. That font does look pretty incomprehensible in that pic you linked.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: DCFan on January 10, 2011, 06:45:03 pm
The whole anti-spambot thing came up recently and hasn't been thoroughly tested. Thanks for the feedback, hopefully we can make it a little more user-friendly. That font does look pretty incomprehensible in that pic you linked.
No problem, OH GOD! It's the Galatia thing again.  :mad:

Also, could you talk to the admin about why there are two anti-spambot things? I mean one I can kind of understand, but two on the same page?
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Droid803 on January 10, 2011, 09:22:41 pm
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/kc1991/tethysnamplate.jpg
something like that any better?

I tried not to use the STOP font. (but then it has that annoying small text, ignore that)

It should be GTD Galatea...donno why that isn't working.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: General Battuta on January 10, 2011, 09:23:42 pm
Just block out the tinyfonts and I reckon it'd be smashing.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on January 10, 2011, 09:54:21 pm
That's what I was just going to suggest.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Fury on January 10, 2011, 11:45:31 pm
I don't see the issue here. You got three replies to your question and all of them were correct. One of them admitted to a typo, but that same typo'ed name had a link which was correct.

The only change I see that could be done is to remove image verification from first two posts. It's really annoying for real people and I doubt it's worth keeping it enabled to avoid spammers, particularly now that global moderators can put users behind "firewall".
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Goober5000 on January 11, 2011, 09:21:48 am
The registration not only stops bots, but bad spellers as well.  I'd consider that a fringe benefit. :nervous:

Anyway I thought the GTD Aquitaine was eminently readable.  It really shouldn't have been a problem, unless one has a vision difficulty.

And the post verification shouldn't be a problem either.  It may be annoying, but it's only active for the first two posts.  The official SMF forum still has image verification through seven posts and counting.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: General Battuta on January 11, 2011, 09:31:09 am
I wouldn't hesitate to suggest that the Aquitaine is not readable. The Q in particular is egregious.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Nohiki on January 11, 2011, 09:35:16 am
The registration not only stops bots, but bad spellers as well.  I'd consider that a fringe benefit. :nervous:

This is kinda unfair to non-native speakers, yet i completely agree. Here i thought that people who join this board are generally players of freespace, and spelling wrong names as important as Galatea and Aquitaine, not to mention not knowing their classification, that's just sad....
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Starman01 on January 11, 2011, 10:07:30 am
Maybe it's a monitor issue. I am still using a CRT, and while I think I have a quite bright and good display, I have often problems viewing images you guys post around the board, because they are way to dark for me. Obviously, that doesn't  seem to be a problem for people that use TFT's
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: MatthTheGeek on January 11, 2011, 10:38:21 am
My thoughts on this are basically : lrn2read.

This is kinda unfair to non-native speakers
I'm a non-native speaker, and I can say it's irrelevant. It's only about reading letters and copying it, it's not like if you had to understand what it means.

The registration not only stops bots, but bad spellers as well. I'd consider that a fringe benefit. :nervous:
I totally agree here too.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Rodo on January 11, 2011, 10:43:18 am
This is kinda unfair to non-native speakers, yet i completely agree. Here i thought that people who join this board are generally players of freespace, and spelling wrong names as important as Galatea and Aquitaine, not to mention not knowing their classification, that's just sad....

I thought of this myself as well, but we've got to consider now that HLP hosts projects that are in no way or scarsly related to FS at best, such as Diaspora, WoD and MechCommander.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Snail on January 11, 2011, 10:51:31 am
I thought of this myself as well, but we've got to consider now that HLP hosts projects that are in no way or scarsly related to FS at best, such as Diaspora, WoD and MechCommander.
Yeah, I agree.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Rodo on January 11, 2011, 11:24:13 am
IMO, the problem is the STOP font.
If we can provide a second image or maybe pasting the same sentence on the very image but with a different font, then that problem might be solved.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: General Battuta on January 11, 2011, 11:48:48 am
Yeah, STOP is just ridiculously hard to read.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Goober5000 on January 11, 2011, 08:24:48 pm
no not rly.

Also keep in mind the goal is to defeat automatic image recognition.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: General Battuta on January 11, 2011, 08:27:43 pm
That's fine, but I do not believe that the Q in Aquitaine - for example - is easily recognizable. We've had two complaints already.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Mongoose on January 11, 2011, 09:31:44 pm
And the N looks like an R due to a lighter patch of nebula in front of it, and it'd be easy to mistake the G for a C.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Qent on January 11, 2011, 10:47:36 pm
Why not use re-captchas? That way they can prove they're human and feel good about themselves while doing it. :)

The "tried to join 20 times" has me suspicious though. Isn't there a refresh button that gives a new image? EDIT: Nope, so I'm now suggesting one.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Fury on January 11, 2011, 11:35:44 pm
Why not use re-captchas?
reCaptcha was used with SMF 1.1. Figure out yourself how effective it was.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on January 13, 2011, 01:14:10 am
I don't remember needing to enter a captcha when I signed up three years ago. :nervous:

A refresh button would be good, but stick to names with less ambiguity, like the GTCv Actium, perhaps.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: TopAce on January 13, 2011, 05:22:59 am
I say trim the number of pics, keeping the ones that are easily readable. That Aquitaine pic is bad for this purpose. Not only is A-q-u-i-t-a-i-n-e relatively hard to spell, there's that nebula.
Title: Re: Please fix your registration anti-spam question!
Post by: NGTM-1R on January 19, 2011, 12:12:04 am
Another one just got through.