[GuruPlayer]

To Synozeer & any other admins for this website:

You really need to police the review section. Lately there have been numerous reviews for Aabahran: The Forsaken Lands that are posted by someone with a grudge against that mud who posts the same review multlple times per month, & now another reviewer (probably the same person) is posting obscene ones that then point the reader to Medievia, trying to use that hornet's nest to further hassle Aabahran.

Now I know the admin folks are probably busy, but nothing has been done re this in the past, & these reviews are on the boards for sufficent time that they need to be looked at & deleted in a timely manner.

[GuruPlayer]

Also Synozzer, you need to look at & delete reviews from someone who is claiming to be Vryce posting reviews advertising Medievia under the guise of a review for a mud like "Mudder's Delight".

[nikolausv]

On the other hand... you see the review mentions medi-whatever and filter it out as noise. But each review, whoever it is posting, is getting the name of that mud on the frontpage. So it doesn't seem worth getting excited about to me.

[GuruPlayer]

Well tell that to the mud admins of Voregotten Realm, Dragonstone, & Prophecy the Mud, who have all been victimized today by this butthead. I don't see how having obscene or false reviews posted for your mud that points the reader to another mud as "good" publicity. I also am sure that Medievia has enough problems without this kind of crapola. If these website administrators don't take a pro-active stance policing the reviews, the might as well eliminate them entirely, as they have been pretty worthless recently.

[Soleil]

I just want to re-iterate that we have nothing to do with these reviews and hate to see them just as much as you guys do. I wish they would stop using Vryce's name and stop cursing in the same post as Medievia. In fact, it probably is someone who HATES Medievia doing it Sigh, why do people have to be such idiots?

[WarHound]

I think that something should be done. Mebbe Synozeer could IP ban this douche. This kind of publicity is bad publicity for Medievia, so they could also request the IP from Syn and ban it as well. Aside from the bad image it's giving their own mud, the Medievia admin should at least swat this poser down for attempting to hurt other muds with his babble.

I know that if the admins of my own mud found out a player had been trolling in the name of the mud that they would get the short end, and quick.

Also, while reviews overall have been fairly poor, there is no reason to get rid of the ability to review just because of a couple idiots. There are still quality reviews out there. I know Armageddon has had a few solid reviews in the past couple of weeks.

No. I think the best option would be for Synozeer to share the IP and for all concerned to ban this little prick for good and all.

-WP

[Soleil]

Yep, if Synozeer is willing to give us the IP we could check to see if it really is a Medievia player and we could deal with it in-game. And believe me, Vryce will

Another thing that could work is that maybe TMS could work more like TMC where reviews have to be approved? I know that would be a boatload of more work for Synozeer, but maybe the people who are already moderating the boards could step up? Of course, that could lead to some bias on what reviews will be accepted and what ones won't. Like, for instance, I know that there are at least 5 reviews for Medievia pending at TMC that have been for weeks and they are not getting approved - I know a lot of you are probably saying "Yeah TMC!" but how fair is that?

[Traithe]

Originally Posted by (Soleil @ May 19 2005,19:18) I know a lot of you are probably saying "Yeah TMC!" but how fair is that?

Am I the only one who finds this amusing?

[imported_Synozeer]

I deleted 18 of the bogus reviews.

BTW, here's the IP addresses of the people who posted them. Do what you will with them. If you find out who has been doing this, feel free to post who they are and whatever other punishments you want to dish out. I've already added them to the reviews ban list:

205.188.116.9
64.12.116.72
66.21.122.34
152.163.100.72

-Adam

[Soleil]

Thank you so much Adam, we checked the IPs and none of them matched any of our players. 3 of them are AOL, 1 is bell south.

I'm sure my suspicions of them being someone who dislikes Medievia are true

[Ilkidarios]

Originally Posted by (Soleil @ May 19 2005,18:51) In fact, it probably is someone who HATES Medievia doing it

Yeah, I think the field of suspects is really narrowed down now. Man, I wish I could have posted this earlier when we didn't have the IPs. It would have more comedic value.

[Jeena]

Sadly, there are many people out there who, rather than take their concerns and issues to constructive discussion prefer to act in a disreputable fashion.
This doesn't hurt just any single mud but all muds and gives a distasteful image of all mudders to the very people we would all like to bring to our to the mudding community.

Thank you for dealing with these frauds, Synozeer.

[Spazmatic]

Originally Posted by I know a lot of you are probably saying "Yeah TMC!" but how fair is that?

Well, it's very possible these reviews consist of such eloquent, useful commentary as:

This.
Or this.
Or, you know, this.

Clearly, if I ran a review website, I'd approve insights like: "med grabbed my attention because its like a chat room where u can kill the people you dont like and take their stuff, which is great cause people get really upset about it."

It's TMC policy to reject reviews like that outright. It's also been my experience that the moderators often leave not-entirely-worthless reviews to sit for a while, in case they would otherwise reject a review out of hand too rashly. In fact, last time I had TMC remove a bad review that slipped through the cracks, I actually got four emails back in apology. That's caring.

So, I'd just like to say, yeah, I'm happy that they're sitting there. It seems pretty likely that, if they've been there for weeks, they're not that good (especially since I can find at least 5 reviews on TMS already that wouldn't qualify under TMC policy). More importantly, though, the fact that they're sitting seems to imply thought, at least to me, and I like thought.

<3 Synozeer.

[Soleil]

Well, I'd say that I have to agree that some of the shorter reviews such as the ones you posted may not be appropriate for TMC.  However, I do know that reviews such as

this review

have also been submitted to TMC and have not yet been approved.  So, it's not all fluff and nonsense when it comes to our players writing reviews.

In addition, there are many reviews on this site that are only one or two sentences in length, similar to the ones you sited.  So, it's not only our game that illicits such reviews.

[Jaewyn]

Originally Posted by (Soleil @ May 20 2005,08:03) In addition, there are many reviews on this site that are only one or two sentences in length, similar to the ones you sited.  So, it's not only our game that illicits such reviews.

I have to agree with you here. I think it has been said a few times before, the vast majority of the reviews here are not worth reading. Comments like "This game rocks." are useless and would do little to attract new players. The thing we want to know is WHY does it rock?

I think if the reviews were only able to be posted by forum members and people were forced to use their forum name, it might stem the tide of the useless reviews a little.

I know people can still make bogus accounts to post garbage reviews, but at least it might help.

[Aardwolf]

I'm pleased that the troll reviews were removed and the appropriate I/P addresses banned from submitting new ones ... but am I the only one concerned that the I/P addresses were posted publicly? When I post to a forum, regardless of content, I (apparently naively) assume that my connection details are not going to be given to anyone other than perhaps under demands from law enforcement.

[Aeran]

Aardwolf you should read the TMS privacy statement located at http://www.topmudsites.com/privacy.html

[imported_Synozeer]

I generally won't give out IP addresses, but if they're going to post bogus reviews like that on TMS, they have no one else but themselves to blame for it. Respect the rules of this site and I'll respect them.

-Adam

[Spoke]

[quote= ]Aardwolf you should read the TMS privacy statement located at http://www.topmudsites.com/privacy....e><span id='postcolor'>

I went in and read the privacy statement, and it mentions that people should not distribute private information on the forums since this information is public. Your IP, while known to the server, is by no means public, until the server's owner decides to post it on the forums, so, unless you were trying to make clear Aardwolf's point that it was a misjudgement to post the IP's because THAT action made them public, I do not understand your point.

On the other hand, I guess I understand the motif for having posted this information publicly, but I do not think I agree with the argument If someone breaks the rules then I will also follow suit and break them, specially from whomever is in place to enforce said rules.

[Jeena]

I believe that if people deliberately post bogus reviews in order to damage or harm muds or mudding in general, and if those people are potentially players in those muds, the admins of those muds have a right to know they are being sabotaged and by whom.
Personally, I suspect that the more attention these malcontents get the more gratification they get. Better to quietly remove them from the reviews without fanfare and if it appears they could be players, to alert the mud admins where they may hail from.

[Spoke]

Originally Posted by Better to quietly remove them from the reviews without fanfare and if it appears they could be players, to alert the mud admins where they may hail from.

This is exactly my point, why to publicly report their IP's? Seems like the moderator needs some moderation in their judgement calls.

[imported_Synozeer]

Reporting them publically does a few things. One, it let's them think twice before doing it again, because they might be found out. Two, it allows mud admins to check their logs and see if this player is on their mud and to deal with them if they so wish to. I know I appreciate it when mud admins catch players trying to abuse the system and deal with them - it's certainly been done before.

Just think of this as a version of the sex offender registry - commit the crime and everyone can find out who you are and what you did. Don't want your IP posted on the boards? Then don't act like a dick and screw with my site. It's that simple.

Adam

[WarHound]

Go Synozeer! Forget these naysayers. You need to tighten your iron grip on this place. I dunno about everyone else, but I prefer my admin to be ruthless and tyrannical when dealing with idiots.

I agree that this guy/guys has pretty much lost all right to remain a faceless, spamming jackass(es). With his IP posted for the world to see, every mud admin who reads this topic is able to come along, check the IP, and deal with him accordingly if he's their player, rather than requesting the IP and forcing Syn to reply to a hundred different requests.

Screw this idiot. He deserves to be banned by -all- muds, in my opinion. Once he began spamming other muds, wether to help -or- hurt Medievia, he lost all right to be tretaed fairly. Mebbe we'll leave him a buggy, noone-for-days, stock-mud where he can play with himself...

-WP

[Spazmatic]

Originally Posted by In addition, there are many reviews on this site that are only one or two sentences in length, similar to the ones you sited. So, it's not only our game that illicits such reviews.

I never said all Medievia reviews were fluff or bs, only that least 5 were. I also never said only Medievia had fluff or bs reviews. Why are you so defensive?

I stated three things:
1) TMC has a policy of blocking fluff reviews.
2) Medievia reviews on TMS do contain fluff reviews.
3) I like moderation of reviews.

And yes, I would like to see all fluff and bs reviews removed from TMS. Heck, I'd do it myself if Synozeer was silly enough to give out random moderation privileges.

[Soleil]

Originally Posted by Why are you so defensive?

Because the 3 examples you gave were Medievia reviews, not just short reviews.

Plus, with all the attacks against us all the time, it's second nature to be defensive

[Threshold]

Originally Posted by (Jaewyn @ May 20 2005,08:42) I think it has been said a few times before, the vast majority of the reviews here are not worth reading. Comments like "This game rocks." are useless and would do little to attract new players. The thing we want to know is WHY does it rock?

I think player posted reviews are completely worthless garbage.

The overwhelming majority are either positive fluff posted by fanbois or muckracking filth posted by trolls. Neither are very valuable.

That is why I have reviews off, and I encourage everyone else to do the same.

On the matter of sharing IP addresses of spammers: I think Synozeer is totally in the right on this one. You give up any "privacy" you think you have when you deliberately and knowingly abuse the site.

[Jazuela]

For those who complain about the moderator being heavy-handed - Synozeer isn't a moderator. He owns this website, lock stock and barrel. You are here by his graces and generosity. If you abuse this generosity, he has every right to do whatever it takes to ensure you don't ever abuse it again.

[GuruPlayer]

I work as an actor, and one of my gigs is I work as a "hauntactor" in a professional haunted house during Halloween season. There are also a lot of haunt industry websites that cater to both haunted house fans & the haunt management & workers (actors & make-up artists, etc.) These websites have both reviews and boards, & have exactly the same problems that mudsites have. In the Chicago area there are a large number of haunted houses that are both professional and non-profit houses. There is a huge rivalry between the houses for bragging rights as the scariest in the area. Now the websites allow anybody to submit reviews for any haunts, and the same thing happens there that happens here. People from rival houses post troll reviews against their rivals, and super reviews for their own haunts.

Now a few of the websites are considering either stopping reviews altogether, which is a hard decision, because good reviews produce customers. Yet every Halloween it seems like the haunt trolls come out to play, & spam up both the reviews & the boards with crapola.

I think some sort of pre-post examination of incoming reviews is probably needed, even though there will be accusations of censorship & prejudice. The other options would be to eliminate them, or have a pre-register system like the boards have - register & get an e-mail with your password, & access can be cut if guidelines are not met.

[Spazmatic]

Or let us perpetually sarcastic folk sit down and add commentary to reviews as they pass through. So yes, your review might get through, but it also might make you (and your mud! look idiotic.