An Avatar Newbie!

[Disco Scratch]

Originally Posted by Eltu

The strategy is very easy to spot once it's known, though it still does amaze me how there's the dedication to legitimately post on the boards for quite a while before doing the subtle spam.

What if they have extreme tactics like becoming a member and waiting for 10 years to gain everyone's trust then *BOOM* Viagra posts everywhere! "Do not be alarmed friends I'm just here to sell blue pills to fans of blue people and talk about our Lord and savior Jesus Christ." This should make us all suspicious. All we have to do is see who here doesn't seem like a true fan.

Originally Posted by Dr. Na'vi

A lot of forum have these simple captcha questions, example:
add 7 and 5 to prove you are not a bot

Why not implement some harder questions that are related to this fandom?

Examples:
What was the working title for Avatar in 1995?
What was Jake's name in the 1995 script?
What is the name of the large planet that Pandora orbits?
What is the name of the ship that brought Jake to Pandora?
Who is the head of RDA on Pandora?
What is Trudy's surname?
What is the name of Neytiri's sister?
How do you say "thank you"/"yes"/"no"/"hello" in Na'vi?

Easy for legit fans, almost impossible for spammers (and trolls as well)

I would literally not be able to sign up because I don't know any of that. On AF just to send a message to report a problem (like when my account mysteriously ended up deactivate and I couldn't login) I had to answer what year Jake arrived on Pandora. The future? I don't know what year AVATAR takes place!

[Ja'k Dawsiin]

Originally Posted by Eternal Enigma

I don't know what year AVATAR takes place!

hi Enigma....the events of Avatar take place in 2154, over the course of three to four months as Jake becomes one of the People. humanity in the form of scientists and corporate resource raiders, have been on Pandora for about 30 years previous to the events of Avatar. i can pretty much answer everything about Avatar, except for a lot of the specific words of the Na'vi language. i'm a huge fan of the film, just not very good with the language. *sighs*

sorry, Neytiri

[Disco Scratch]

Originally Posted by Ja'k Dawsiin

hi Enigma....the events of Avatar take place in 2154, over the course of three to four months as Jake becomes one of the People. humanity in the form of scientists and corporate resource raiders, have been on Pandora for about 30 years previous to the events of Avatar. i can pretty much answer everything about Avatar, except for a lot of the specific words of the Na'vi language. i'm a huge fan of the film, just not very good with the language. *sighs*

sorry, Neytiri

My guess would have been close. I would have guessed 2175. I'd probably know all this, but when Neytiri is on screen I could forget my own name.

[Eltu]

Originally Posted by Eternal Enigma

but when Neytiri is on screen I could forget my own name.

That sounds about right

[Na'vi a Kepekmì]

Anyway without these guys we wouldn't have the guy who just gave us the opportunity to go to Avatar World at Walt Disney's World.

All we have to do is see who here doesn't seem like a true fan.

As said earlier you don't have to be a fan of Avatar. As Eltu said, you could just be a friend of a member. But yeah, otherwise I don't see why a guy would join if it's not for criticizing the movie or just plainly spam.

Looking back at my rant, I've been a little bit naive on the fact that making three threads on your first day isn't a mark of interest but rather an incoming advertising.

[Eltu]

More importantly, I think such login requirements reinforces a somewhat elitist mentality - of course, over the years there's been many ideas of what constitutes an Avatar fan, and while that might be an interesting topic it's ultimately irrelevant. ToS is not a community for Avatar fans, it's a community centered around Avatar - this is a subtle distinction, but an important one since it emphasizes the community and not the subject matter.

Even among old-time users, many people who still spend time here aren't nearly as much into Avatar in itself as they used to be, for natural reasons of it taking up less and less of their lives as time passes. Should this mean ToS is slightly less aimed at those people? I'd say certainly not - if anything, simply wanting to be a part of the community should always be the #1 reason you're welcomed into it. Avatar's the core of what binds most of us together, but shouldn't permeate the community in every aspect.

[Dr. Na'vi]

Originally Posted by iron_jones

I genuinely don't know the answer to most of those questions, and I once did.

I have an excellent long-term memory for all sorts of "useless" information, especially if I'm obsessed with it

Originally Posted by Eltu

Even among old-time users, many people who still spend time here aren't nearly as much into Avatar in itself as they used to be, for natural reasons of it taking up less and less of their lives as time passes.

After the collectors edition release, there really wasn't much to be into anymore tbh (except for the language maybe). I came here because of a sudden surge of nostalgia and was glad that some communities were still welcoming new members

[MGCJerry]

I would have butchered all those questions too. The issue is keeping it welcoming for legitimate users, and not by placing captcha gates to get in. Captchas are not reliable as they once were. Some captchas even trigger a migraine for me because they **** with my eyes.

The way I see it, everything on the internet is spammable. only thing you can do to keep them out is to close registration. Period. But of course with an obvious downfall. If its publicly accessible, its spammable. That has been my experience on the internet since the mid 90s and now that every joe-blow has internet access I don't see it "improving". Kick, delete, whatever and move on.

But that's my unsolicited opinion and my experience.

[Disco Scratch]

I just registered on the Dragon Cave forum and this is what they do. I'm thinking this is probably why so many spammers go ahead and post in the introduction thread first.