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This is a mirror of a thread I posted on ATR, but I wanted to also post this here since this is where the debate seems to be really heated, thanks to the spam efforts of Mac_Tonight.
As you guys probably know, Roblox has a serious problem with spam bots. They go to ridiculous extents to bypass Roblox's anti-spam measures autonomously. When Roblox got rid of comments on games, the bots began using game servers to find active players to send their spam to.
By disabling this feature, the bots are effectively starved of active players to spam, because they have no easy means of detecting them or communicating to them.
Now some of you might argue that Roblox should introduce capatchas. While that would help, it wouldn't solve the problem for good. We've argued about this on the devforums a lot. The problem is that the people running these bots are willing to go to ridiculous extents to make them work. They completely automate the process of generating an email, verifying that email, creating the account, and sending out messages/friend requests to people in game servers in attempts to fool them. There are capatcha cracking services that exist where literally some 3rd world country offers people wages just to sit around all day and crack capatchas for very very cheap rates. The value of Roblox accounts on whatever black markets they are being sold on would be more than capable of compensating the price they'd pay to hire into capatcha cracking services.
It's a problem that is hard to solve, and Roblox is trying to find reasonable long term solutions that will quench these problems all together.
FAQ:
#Q#########e just IP ban the bots?
A: The bots keep generating new IPs.
Q: Shouldn't they just have an account creation limit per day?
A: They do, the bots still work around it.
Q: Shouldn't they just add a setting to where you can enable server lists?
A: The bots would enable it themselves and then abuse it
Q: Why don't we just stop newly created accounts from doing things for X amount of time?
A: The bots would wait that amount of time, and then just do the same thing. It doesn't stop them
Q: Can't we just block the bots from running code on the website?
A: It won't stop people from writing code externally that interacts with Roblox's web APIs. |
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WHAT UP FAM FIRST COMMENTER |
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I used it to join the smallest server because of my slow wifi though :(
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XphonyJoin Date: 2013-05-23
Post Count: 373 |
I see this update being not effective. Bots can easily grab any victim's name from indexing a group.
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BrentaboyJoin Date: 2015-09-10
Post Count: 166 |
"Spam efforts" He is trying to tell you guys to bring an extremely important feature back. |
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But still.
That doesn't get rid of the fact that they got rid of a feature that many players used, and although many bots used it as well, you cant excuse that, as i said, many players used said feature.
I respect you as a creator, but you don't have to side with roblox just because you get a paycheck from them.
the only problem here is that it's opposite day | Creator of off topic, life, and death |
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YuniuxJoin Date: 2014-01-26
Post Count: 2449 |
Can't you just add add security questions like I suggested on another thread?
𝓞𝓡𝓔𝓞 |
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What if they start to using the search tab?
E.g sending spam to any name that starts with the letter "d" |
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The amount of those "spam bots" I've seen for the past few weeks before the update equals the population of the north pole. |
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@vbianchini That doesn't guarantee a response that will show active players.
It would be really inefficient. |
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I fear the trade off for this change is quite negative. Here's a suggestion. Easier said than done, but I'd recommend creating some sort of spam filter for messaging and have messaging set to friends by default. Another option, although less friendly, is to require users to have bought an item (worth robux). This is something that Steam does and it seems to work relatively well. While it won't stop bots, it should limit all but the most serious anti-devs. Extra profit is a side benefit as well. Another option would be to use a complex algorithm to detect bots on the website for each button. Have the system track mouse movement as well as request times. Although, I doubt that would be of much use. One other idea, to combine with the purchase requirement, if multiple accounts get removed for botting of which all used the same payment details, that might be a chance to ban their source of payment for future acounts. Although, that wouldn't work gift cards. These are just a few quick ideas off the top of my head. I'd prefer all of those over removing the server list.
~MightyDantheman |
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Actually, if the server list is removed, maybe there's a way to still let players do the same things that they were doing with the server list but even easier. Perhaps the server tab could instead give you options on which type of server you want to join. For example, VIP servers, random, high population, low population, and last server you were on (if you just left and/or crashed). With this in place, there wouldn't be a need for the server list at all. Friends could simply use the 'join game' option that already exists.
~MightyDantheman |
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Personally I don't mind the spam bots, they don't bother me at all with their scams. The problem is people are still making alts with the same intention, which isn't that hard to do. Me and a lot of people I know would like the server list back and keep being "annoyed" by these bots, which honestly you don't have to pay attention to. |
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I don't know a whole lot about web services and whatnot, but what if ROBLOX began using it's own browser again like it did back in 2011? If they use their own browser and make the website inaccessible from normal browsers, perhaps this code will be inexecutable.
Depending on where/how the bots are being run from, why not limit what kind of connections can connect to the website? If such methods exist, that is.
Confidence is silent. Insecurity is loud. |
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i really doubt this will stop anything.
if kids click on these links they learn and move on.
they've seen the warnings and they teach them at a young age in school to always be careful on the internet, what to look out for, etc.
(at least they did in my schools)
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It's not about people like us who ignore it, it's about children (or anyone else) who are clueless. But ever since I changed messaging to friends, followers, and people I follow, I haven't had a single bot message me.
~MightyDantheman |
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...i just want servers back ;-;
𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐨 |
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It's about the children that are the issue. We are educated enough to know that these are spam. You have to think about the normal base.
r+://536378983 https://forum.roblox.com/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=221258805 |
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VeroaxJoin Date: 2011-08-06
Post Count: 8419 |
And to think one reason that the bots are like a major plague, is that roblox removed tix.
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I don't see why you can't just change your settings to "Friends and Users I Follow" only. I've done that, and I have 0 bot spam since literally early 2016.
Confidence is silent. Insecurity is loud. |
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Instead of removing features, promote the use of features you've already enabled.
Confidence is silent. Insecurity is loud. |
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THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS |
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Additionally, though this seems pretty trivial, why is it that a simple protest thread is dismissed as 'spam efforts' in refrence to Mac_Tonight? It's literally just a petition.
That's like saying that protests against bad political (or otherwise) policy IRL is just spamming.
Confidence is silent. Insecurity is loud. |
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