In-game email spam-block by keywords...
By
Catwhoorg,
Posted on: 2009-06-13 08:37 in Suggestions and Ideas
keyword
K E Y W O R D
Key Word
Ke yw ord
at least one website is already blocked, but they use the above tricks to get round them.
Simple Text based filters are notoriously inefficient.
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
Most of the spams are pretty much form letters and a block by keywords would be more efficient for player use than what we currently have.
Being able to set as few as 3-5 keywords (and having them apply to the body of the email) should be able to cover major points such as the site name, pricing, etc.
This would force the RMTers to have to continually change the body of their texts with them hoping that their recipients aren't blocking their key words or any of it's variants.
And they run the risk of losing a good portion of their spams to the various (different) keyword filter combinations being used by the playerbase.
[A good algorithm should be able to filter out the 'CAPS' combos (and possibly other types of combos?).]
[I still get spam from at least 2 sites, which have been unblocked for over 3-4 months (modestly)]
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
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Common topic : Email changes in response to RMT Spam
There are quite a few ideas floated typically for dealing with RMT spam. Trial account limitations were one thing tried by the devs, and worked reasonably well until lately (early 2009.) This is a common topic in the suggestion forum.
Since it is, a tip on searching.
1. Click on "Search" up at the top of the forum.
2. On the left, under "Forum(s) to search," select "Suggestions and ideas."
3. On the right, Keyword Search Terms. This is probably where your problem was if you did search. Try the following, exactly as typed:
+mail -"re: "
This will search for anything with "mail" in the title. Why not "email?" Because not everybody spells it the same. Some will call it email, others "e-mail" or "e mail," and still others may just call it the "mail system" or "Filters on Mail." This gives you a better chance of catching all of those. The -re: portion of it removes replies, so you'll see the root of every thread that comes up, letting you see just how many threads there are on this. (The last helps for other subjects, as well.)
4. Click the "In subject and body" radio button. Normally I say just in the subject, but this comes up in a few different ways, so for this search - both.
5. Leave Username Search blank.
6. Date range, Newer Than, change the 1 to a 3, and the time to Months.
7. Result format doesn't matter. Click on "Submit."
What do we see with this result? There are 34 returned threads as I type this (3/23/09.) My first page? Here's part of it.
Give me an option to block emails, Im sick of spam
Change email to mail system
We need another ignore list
Lock out e-mail until 15
Be able to disable or restrict e-mail
Maybe the worst idea ever, or maybe not.
Tired of RMT Emails?
Shared storage slots
Email link not turning red
In-game E-mail spamming
Going to just one month would have cut it down to just 13 results, in this case. Three months, though, is a decent search range. You can see already the reason for putting in "Mail" instead of "Email." And those without it in the title have it in the body somewhere.
Personal Opinion
I am, as always, strongly in favor of client-side filtering. Something like:
Accept email from:
o Friends
o Global Friends
0 Supergroup
o Teammates
0 Coalition
0 Any
with "Any," honestly, being the default - I use the system and help people I run across in PVP zones, for instance.
Why not keyword filtering (blacklisting?) Well, say I'm spamming from www.infspammer.com. I can tell you right now, just from *regular* email experience, that the second you block the entire name, it's going to get changed. www. infspammer. com is not the same. Block infspammer? 1nfspammer. i n f s pa a m m e r. in fs pa mm er. And if you finally manage to blow all that time and money setting up and testing the blocks for all the permutations of that - I spend five bucks and get buymyinf.com, and you get to start all over again. A blacklist is just more work for less gain. After all, years after the huge push from overseas, I still get the occasional creative spelling of "viagra" showing up in my own (whitelisted) junk mail filter.
That said, I'm also strongly leaning towards totally disabling email on trial accounts by this point. Yes, it's another trial limitation... but the RMTers are getting around it by PL'ing up characters already. As much as I *dislike* the idea, I can't help but think that it'd be needed at this point.
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Personal Opinion
I am, as always, strongly in favor of client-side filtering. Something like:
Accept email from:
o Friends
o Global Friends
0 Supergroup
**o Teammates
**0 Coalition
[/ QUOTE ]
I could go for this as well with the default being Friends and Global Friends (as this is what the player has the most control over).
I marked teammates; being that they really don't need to email you while you're teaming (Tells and Team chat)... plus if they're good enough to be in your email list then why not just add them to your Friends list.
And unless you coalition is a tight-knit group; I wouldn't advise that as an option either.
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
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Personal Opinion
I am, as always, strongly in favor of client-side filtering. Something like:
Accept email from:
o Friends
o Global Friends
0 Supergroup
**o Teammates
**0 Coalition
[/ QUOTE ]
I could go for this as well with the default being Friends and Global Friends (as this is what the player has the most control over).
I marked teammates; being that they really don't need to email you while you're teaming (Tells and Team chat)... plus if they're good enough to be in your email list then why not just add them to your Friends list.
And unless you coalition is a tight-knit group; I wouldn't advise that as an option either.
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Well, why are you coalitioned with them if you can't trust them? 
That and I was thinking of groups like the Legion of Catgirls and Repeat Offenders (The Legion of Repeat Catgirl Offenders?) as well as just dealing with leader to leader email.
/e tinfoilhat
Remember you cannot send email without buying a copy of the game. They want to have the RMT buy the game spam people and then get banned. Then the RMT dudes have to go around and buy another copy.
/e removetinfoilhat.
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Personal Opinion
I am, as always, strongly in favor of client-side filtering. Something like:
Accept email from:
o Friends
o Global Friends
0 Supergroup
**o Teammates
**0 Coalition
[/ QUOTE ]
I could go for this as well with the default being Friends and Global Friends (as this is what the player has the most control over).
I marked teammates; being that they really don't need to email you while you're teaming (Tells and Team chat)... plus if they're good enough to be in your email list then why not just add them to your Friends list.
And unless you coalition is a tight-knit group; I wouldn't advise that as an option either.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, why are you coalitioned with them if you can't trust them?
That and I was thinking of groups like the Legion of Catgirls and Repeat Offenders (The Legion of Repeat Catgirl Offenders?) as well as just dealing with leader to leader email.
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Not every player 'owns' a SG, so they don't have direct control over who their SG gets cozy with; low-ranked SG members may be co-aled with people they don't know. Again, however, if they find a few coalition members that they like and trust enough for email correspondence, then why not just add those people to their Friend list.
Actually, just being able to limit incoming emails to those on your Friends lists should be solution enough. Everybody else can use the chat/tell channels.
As far as 'tinfoil hatting' goes; I get an average of 3 spams a day, every day. My block user list is full; any attempt to add someone to the list automatically takes one off the list (not that it matters being that I get them from at least 2 different names (or 'empty') daily).
Obviously, the sites aren't getting stopped either, being that it's the same 2-3 that keep managing to get their spam through.
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
Right, you block the name and you will never get another email from that global. (well until your ignore list gets full). So to get around that, another copy of the game is purchased. This means more revenue for the makers of the game if they let it continue.
On the flip side, they would have to dedicate dev time (=money) to make it so we would not have to look at any more spam emails ever. The result of spending this money would be less revenue from the RMT spammers. Not exactly something high on their priority list.
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Right, you block the name and you will never get another email from that global. (well until your ignore list gets full). So to get around that, another copy of the game is purchased. This means more revenue for the makers of the game if they let it continue.
On the flip side, they would have to dedicate dev time (=money) to make it so we would not have to look at any more spam emails ever. The result of spending this money would be less revenue from the RMT spammers. Not exactly something high on their priority list.
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ah, I get what you're saying now, lol
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
1. I feel that we should be able to block incoming email if it contains keywords of our choosing as opposed to the current block sender configuration.
As it stands, there is a limit to the number of senders you can block and once you hit that limit, you're at the mercy of ever other randomly generated username that happens to crop up with spam attached to it.
2. I also feel that we should have the ability to 'empty' our inbox in one fell swoop.
Thanks.
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars