FacialConfidant
Active Member
I don't know the proper pings so I'd appreciate if someone can notify anyone that can address these issues. Adult Chat on PC has a lot of issues so this might seem like a lot to be crammed into one thread. If it'll work better to separate these issues into different threads, I can do that instead.
I also want it to be clear that the reason I'm even making this thread is because I care about chat. This comes from a place of wanting to make it better, not wanting to bash anyone or place blame. Hopefully, things can be done and we can work together to figure these things out.
*** Lag ***
The site lags often enough and badly enough that it's regularly seen by moderator, user, and guest posts to be frustrating. When sending messages in the main chat or in PM, if the site lags then it sometimes "eats" your message and requires you to refresh the site to send further messages (which probably makes the lag worse for others). There are so many people in the Adult Chat main room (the problem amount is usually 1,300 but the room gets close to 2,000 at times) that even having the memberlist open lags the site. Keeping the side window on your friendslist helps noticeably but not completely. Also related, ******** specifically move into other rooms to mitigate the lag, such as the Taboo room. The lag was so awful while I was moderating that sometimes I could only function by being in another room *other than the one I was supposed to be moderating.*
In order to fix this, my suggestion is to split the Adult Chat main room somehow. We could add additional rooms; Adult Chat 2, Adult Chat 3, etc. Very rarely do most ******** use the main room for conversation and finding someone is still possible using the search window to access their profile (where you can see what room that person is in, if you want to talk to them publicly). Maximum capacities might need to be implemented to prevent all ******** from just swarming into one single room causing the same issues we have now. Another suggestion is to deconstruct the Taboo room and make it Adult Chat Users-Only. This room would be the default login point for any User entering the chat, whereas the original Adult Chat room would be the default login point for any Guests. Users would have the option of changing rooms and joining the room with guests. This would cut down on spam from guest bots in the User room and give Users the added "perk" of having the option to not see guests posting publicly. As far as I see, Taboo and Adult Chat are the exact same room type since all rules are in place for both rooms.
*** Bots ***
It seems that every week brings a new flavor of bot posts. There are PM bots, there are main room bots, there are bots that post links in images, there are bots that post links in PMs, there are bots that bait people with philosophical nonsense, there are bots that spam PMs when ******** log in, there are bots that introduce themselves with age sex location, and the list goes on so I think the point is made. Next week, we'll add a new flavor.
Bots are mostly an annoyance; I fail to see how anyone half-responsible would ever not be able to tell they're being baited by a bot, but that's not really the point. Someone is trying to take advantage of the site and its users and that should be dealt with in a *severe* manner. There is also a massive loss in moderator efficiency due to bots. If, for example (and I think this is really lowballing this estimate), 50% of reports are for pointless bot actions, then that means you could get by with less than half of the moderator staff you have now if the bots were squashed. Every second spent moderating a bot is a second that someone is possibly taking advantage of the site and getting past a moderator's inspection. Moderators are human and fallible, so it only increases the strain on the people helping to keep the site safe by not finding a way to eliminate the things that are taking up the majority of their time. I understand this is probably also the most difficult thing to prevent since prevention starts by stopping account creation.
We could implement delays on posting or PMing after an account is made. We could hunt obvious bot accounts automatically somehow with administrator filters a couple times per day in that window so they can't post. We could change or improve the ways we use captcha technology for account creation. We could limit account creation based on IP to a certain number per month or even year, some amount of time. I'm sure there are much better options that I can't think of, I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I think this shows that even someone that doesn't know how it works can still come up with ideas. We should try something more than what we're doing.
*** Links and Sites ***
Legitimately posting these are only allowed in very few situations. In most cases, this brings nothing to chat and only causes issues. The more links to image albums and other sites that are posted, the more moderators are distracted from dealing with more pressing issues. The more users post about other sites and links to those sites, the more ******** *leave* this site. If we want to chat here, let's chat. It seems almost like it would be humiliating to feel that the only reason people might come to the site is to say, "Hey, everyone here, let's go to this other site together." The more links that are posted, the more strain is put on the site which causes unnecessary lag. ******** *know* that this is against the rules and do it anyway because I don't think it's dealt with severely enough. Links can be... anything. If someone posts a link (that isn't obviously allowed such as weird VIP perks), it's essentially the same as posting an image of a person who looks underage, in my opinion. Unless you go hunting and access the link, you're not going to know if it's okay or if it's something horrible. On top of all of this, ******** try to get around posting a text link by posting links in images... which strains the site because people are posting pointless image uploads, causing lag... making the moderators work harder and slower... and everyone's.... experience in chat comes... to... a
crawl.
Links (unless they're sanctioned for whatever reason) should be dealt with much more directly and immediately. No warnings, no dilly-dallying. Max kick them and show them that it's not okay, we have clear access to the rules of the room. We could add more filters to better auto-kick people taking advantage of the site this way.
*** Images ***
As anyone can clearly see from chat, I like posting image uploads. I probably post an image upload about every time I type something into chat. Chat has gone this way over time and it's sort of the state of things now. The problem is that with some uploads, the site noticeably can't handle them and everything bogs down while trying to play catch up. I'm part of the problem, but the bigger problem is that it's allowed.
These suggestions probably affect me more than most people and I still think they're great ideas. I think the easiest and most direct way to deal with image lag is to reduce the maximum limit for filesize. I think (?) it's 3 MB right now? We could cut it drastically, at least try it, to maybe a limit of 1 MB. We could also implement a cooldown timer for every account (unless that causes more lag by even having another account-tied variable) so that when a person uploads an image, they can't upload another until the time has passed, and I'd suggest a minute to start with.
Wall o' text, I know. If anyone has comments or better suggestions for dealing with these things, I'm sure the people handling them would want to know. And if you have anything to say in support of or against these "problems," let's talk about it here. Like I said, I'm posting this to try to find solutions, not to put pressure on anyone. When it's all said and done, I'd really like for the site to be happier and run better because of whatever fixes we think will work best.
Thanks!
I also want it to be clear that the reason I'm even making this thread is because I care about chat. This comes from a place of wanting to make it better, not wanting to bash anyone or place blame. Hopefully, things can be done and we can work together to figure these things out.
*** Lag ***
The site lags often enough and badly enough that it's regularly seen by moderator, user, and guest posts to be frustrating. When sending messages in the main chat or in PM, if the site lags then it sometimes "eats" your message and requires you to refresh the site to send further messages (which probably makes the lag worse for others). There are so many people in the Adult Chat main room (the problem amount is usually 1,300 but the room gets close to 2,000 at times) that even having the memberlist open lags the site. Keeping the side window on your friendslist helps noticeably but not completely. Also related, ******** specifically move into other rooms to mitigate the lag, such as the Taboo room. The lag was so awful while I was moderating that sometimes I could only function by being in another room *other than the one I was supposed to be moderating.*
In order to fix this, my suggestion is to split the Adult Chat main room somehow. We could add additional rooms; Adult Chat 2, Adult Chat 3, etc. Very rarely do most ******** use the main room for conversation and finding someone is still possible using the search window to access their profile (where you can see what room that person is in, if you want to talk to them publicly). Maximum capacities might need to be implemented to prevent all ******** from just swarming into one single room causing the same issues we have now. Another suggestion is to deconstruct the Taboo room and make it Adult Chat Users-Only. This room would be the default login point for any User entering the chat, whereas the original Adult Chat room would be the default login point for any Guests. Users would have the option of changing rooms and joining the room with guests. This would cut down on spam from guest bots in the User room and give Users the added "perk" of having the option to not see guests posting publicly. As far as I see, Taboo and Adult Chat are the exact same room type since all rules are in place for both rooms.
*** Bots ***
It seems that every week brings a new flavor of bot posts. There are PM bots, there are main room bots, there are bots that post links in images, there are bots that post links in PMs, there are bots that bait people with philosophical nonsense, there are bots that spam PMs when ******** log in, there are bots that introduce themselves with age sex location, and the list goes on so I think the point is made. Next week, we'll add a new flavor.
Bots are mostly an annoyance; I fail to see how anyone half-responsible would ever not be able to tell they're being baited by a bot, but that's not really the point. Someone is trying to take advantage of the site and its users and that should be dealt with in a *severe* manner. There is also a massive loss in moderator efficiency due to bots. If, for example (and I think this is really lowballing this estimate), 50% of reports are for pointless bot actions, then that means you could get by with less than half of the moderator staff you have now if the bots were squashed. Every second spent moderating a bot is a second that someone is possibly taking advantage of the site and getting past a moderator's inspection. Moderators are human and fallible, so it only increases the strain on the people helping to keep the site safe by not finding a way to eliminate the things that are taking up the majority of their time. I understand this is probably also the most difficult thing to prevent since prevention starts by stopping account creation.
We could implement delays on posting or PMing after an account is made. We could hunt obvious bot accounts automatically somehow with administrator filters a couple times per day in that window so they can't post. We could change or improve the ways we use captcha technology for account creation. We could limit account creation based on IP to a certain number per month or even year, some amount of time. I'm sure there are much better options that I can't think of, I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I think this shows that even someone that doesn't know how it works can still come up with ideas. We should try something more than what we're doing.
*** Links and Sites ***
Legitimately posting these are only allowed in very few situations. In most cases, this brings nothing to chat and only causes issues. The more links to image albums and other sites that are posted, the more moderators are distracted from dealing with more pressing issues. The more users post about other sites and links to those sites, the more ******** *leave* this site. If we want to chat here, let's chat. It seems almost like it would be humiliating to feel that the only reason people might come to the site is to say, "Hey, everyone here, let's go to this other site together." The more links that are posted, the more strain is put on the site which causes unnecessary lag. ******** *know* that this is against the rules and do it anyway because I don't think it's dealt with severely enough. Links can be... anything. If someone posts a link (that isn't obviously allowed such as weird VIP perks), it's essentially the same as posting an image of a person who looks underage, in my opinion. Unless you go hunting and access the link, you're not going to know if it's okay or if it's something horrible. On top of all of this, ******** try to get around posting a text link by posting links in images... which strains the site because people are posting pointless image uploads, causing lag... making the moderators work harder and slower... and everyone's.... experience in chat comes... to... a
crawl.
Links (unless they're sanctioned for whatever reason) should be dealt with much more directly and immediately. No warnings, no dilly-dallying. Max kick them and show them that it's not okay, we have clear access to the rules of the room. We could add more filters to better auto-kick people taking advantage of the site this way.
*** Images ***
As anyone can clearly see from chat, I like posting image uploads. I probably post an image upload about every time I type something into chat. Chat has gone this way over time and it's sort of the state of things now. The problem is that with some uploads, the site noticeably can't handle them and everything bogs down while trying to play catch up. I'm part of the problem, but the bigger problem is that it's allowed.
These suggestions probably affect me more than most people and I still think they're great ideas. I think the easiest and most direct way to deal with image lag is to reduce the maximum limit for filesize. I think (?) it's 3 MB right now? We could cut it drastically, at least try it, to maybe a limit of 1 MB. We could also implement a cooldown timer for every account (unless that causes more lag by even having another account-tied variable) so that when a person uploads an image, they can't upload another until the time has passed, and I'd suggest a minute to start with.
Wall o' text, I know. If anyone has comments or better suggestions for dealing with these things, I'm sure the people handling them would want to know. And if you have anything to say in support of or against these "problems," let's talk about it here. Like I said, I'm posting this to try to find solutions, not to put pressure on anyone. When it's all said and done, I'd really like for the site to be happier and run better because of whatever fixes we think will work best.
Thanks!
