BigKid.com.au

I read this recently:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/31/link_spamer_interview/

I agree with you entirely and have noticed it (comment spamming) more and more recently.

Seems like the way to go is that captcha thing - or get ppl to make accounts.

You should consider dynamically including the rel=nofollow atttribute to all user comments which contain anchor tags/links to other websites.

More info about the attribute at:
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/19/0516246&tid=111&tid=217

It doesn’t solve the problem of people spamming comments with links, but it does render the aim (higher search engine placement) useless.

I’ve just implemented the nofollow attribute. It’s a good idea in principle, but given the number of unmaintained blogs out there I doubt it will have much impact in the near future.

In any case, those scumbags won’t be getting any more pagerank from this website!

I totaly agree! Ppl stuffn around posting spam on this site (or any for that matter) should be punished. Being a regular bigkidder(I visit the site a fair bit even if I dont post), I know what you mean and good on ya for doing something about it!

At RPGDOT, we get tons of spam email (I get about 5 pages full a day) but very little comment spam. We can log IP’s and we can trace and ban anyone who tries. We deal very harshly with any and all offenders. May I suggest similar treatment.

Count yourself lucky, but unfortunately for us the solution isn’t going to be as simple as banning IPs. Link spamming is now an automated process where zombie machines are used to spam multiple sites at once. We also log IPs, but we may get 10 comments from someone in one hit… they’ll never be back, or if they tried again it wouldn’t be from the same IP, so banning them is pointless. I’d be surprised if they ever visited the site at all.

We’ll be upgrading to a better engine than Movable Type, and adding some more rigid spam protection. MTBlacklist was working pretty well, but more stuff is slipping through and it’s annoying to clean up. I’m also considering setting up visitor logins again. We used to have them when BigKid was running on a Slashdot style engine, and a lot of people joined up to post comments… so perhaps our regular audience wouldn’t mind signing up if I can make the process simple enough.

In any case, it’s all given me a good excuse to tweak the site yet again and add some cool new features… so stay tuned!

Yeah, I remember the early days when I used to log in as a member before I could post comments. I certainly never minded, but then I’m a local Brisbane boy who supports the work you do here. There’s two Aussies on the staff of RPGDot, so we always try to give out any Australian RPG news. We especially like to promote the small Indie developers who can’t afford big hype publicity.

Niall says this thread’s very boring and it’s your fault

LOL!

[[ rambling troll comment from Brisbane Optus subscriber deleted ]]

Is that you Candy? How the hell did you get into games programming after your former career? If it is, I know you!

How brave to unload under a psuedonym.

LOL GOOO gamerz joo happy wittle twoll joo

Comment’s been deleted now, so I feel like I missed out. Ahh well I can go stab myself in the ear for an approximated recreation of the former post.

As far as signing up/logging in, I’m all for it. Bring it back :)