Trolls.
We all know them.
They come unexpected.
They come in hordes.
They spam the entire chat with verbal equivalents of poop.( +3 points if you’re reading this as you eat something)
They are unstoppable, except in some rare cases when Brourd is around.
And that’s why I think that some form of anti-troll actions need to be taken.
Here’s my idea.
It’s really, really simple.
Make the chat unlock at 2500 points.
While it may seem pointless, I think it would really help.
Why?
95% of all trolls have exactly 0 points.
They just come, make a new stupid account, and start rollin’.
And while some may say that having to spend 5-10 minutes playing wouldn’t stop a potential troll, it clearly would discourage them.
Another counterargument would be: What if there is some real newbie that needs a help?
And my response is: Anyone with an IQ of a Hamster can beat the tutorials, and clearing few more puzzles isn’t beyond skills of anyone who’s really interested.
Also, value of 2,5k makes it very likely that chat will unlock before Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, so when they need help, they’ll receive it.
And that’s basically it, I’m waiting for your opinions about this!
I say that, or add more mods. It was ridiculous today. Seems to be one person with something to the number of 5 dupes completely spamming chat. None of them having any points.
Another possibility is to provide an easy way for a player to mark someone as being on their “ignore” list, and have that persist unless/until the player takes them off. A spammer who gets no response (because no one is seeing his spam) will probably get bored pretty quickly and go somewhere else. And different players might have different notions about what constitutes spam.
Red, thx for bringing this up. You have some real good arguments. I too think that most trolls wouldn’t bother to collect up points, even though I have seen a few.
And it is true that many do get through the tutorials on their own. However, the list on Players and their coins, shows that there is a huge group that does not make it through the tutorial on their own. Also it is my experience that we regularly have people asking how to beat a tutorial (though it has been fewer lately, than before) I will love that everybody who do need help to get through, will have the chance. Also there is many kids who come to play here and though some of our kid players are very talented, others need a little help.
So I will prefer the ignore button as Omei and Mat suggests.