I work for an internet tech startup that does automatic detection of abusive, hateful and spammy speech on the social web and discussion forums. Our service is used for automatic detection of stuff that's just generally garbage and against the ToS on sites where users can create content (like posts, comments, blogs, etc). There are a couple of us gamers at the company (which offers this service to social networks, websites, etc). We were thinking that we wanted to give a bit back to the gaming community and it wouldn't be too hard for us to code up a server plugin for server owners to install to provide automatic moderation of players that log in with respect to generally bad behavior (customizable in config file) with automatic detection and actions based on our (usually paid-for) services.
First up, we just wanted to see if there's any interest in this. Are server owners interested in installing a plugin that will automatically detect/mute/report spammers, people who say hateful, derogatory statements, etc? It would be of course, free.Is there some variation on these needs that is more useful?
Yes, there's a plugin for these type of things. There's quite a bit, my personal favorite is SpamGuard.
Some of the main features that it holds, that you are also seeking include:
- Spam control, warnings, canceling out messages, kicking, muting, banning, or anything of your choice as a punishment.
- Warnings, fully configurable.
- CAPS control, stopping players from using all caps, seemingly fits for you since people may use it to yell at others etc.
- Blocking our certain words or sentences. Meaning you can block curse words, or any word from being said in the chatbox.
That's a great link. I actually was suggesting a number of better features to the plugin, including abusive speech that's not wordlist dependent. What we've found is that it's actually a real hassle to go in there and put in words/patterns that people can't say. In fact, users almost always find a way to get around it. If a dev's not on, it can be a pain to catch dudes after the fact.
I sent the creator of SpamGuard a message, we'll see if he's interested in collaborating. Otherwise, we can make an additional plugin that does insulting, threatening or hateful speech moderation and leave the spammy-detection to him.
That's a great link. I actually was suggesting a number of better features to the plugin, including abusive speech that's not wordlist dependent. What we've found is that it's actually a real hassle to go in there and put in words/patterns that people can't say. In fact, users almost always find a way to get around it. If a dev's not on, it can be a pain to catch dudes after the fact.
I sent the creator of SpamGuard a message, we'll see if he's interested in collaborating. Otherwise, we can make an additional plugin that does insulting, threatening or hateful speech moderation and leave the spammy-detection to him.
Another question... how well does it work? Ever get it banning spammers that aren't actually spamming, blocking messages as too-often when they're not bad, etc?
We've found that a lot of these rules-based systems have a lot of false positives. In the case of minecraft servers it may not be such a big deal as pushing out 1 player out of many may not be sensitive, but forum owners and such don't like possible new users to get caught in a spam trap...
Another question... how well does it work? Ever get it banning spammers that aren't actually spamming, blocking messages as too-often when they're not bad, etc?
We've found that a lot of these rules-based systems have a lot of false positives. In the case of minecraft servers it may not be such a big deal as pushing out 1 player out of many may not be sensitive, but forum owners and such don't like possible new users to get caught in a spam trap...
the only complaints I've got are when I am running off of a beta or development version. Other than that I rarely get legitimate complaints, usually people doing dumb things and not knowing why it happened.
No worries, nothing too bad will ever happen, that's if anything even does happen.
First up, we just wanted to see if there's any interest in this. Are server owners interested in installing a plugin that will automatically detect/mute/report spammers, people who say hateful, derogatory statements, etc? It would be of course, free. Is there some variation on these needs that is more useful?
Let me know, I'd love feedback.
Cheers,
~C
Some of the main features that it holds, that you are also seeking include:
- Spam control, warnings, canceling out messages, kicking, muting, banning, or anything of your choice as a punishment.
- Warnings, fully configurable.
- CAPS control, stopping players from using all caps, seemingly fits for you since people may use it to yell at others etc.
- Blocking our certain words or sentences. Meaning you can block curse words, or any word from being said in the chatbox.
Hope I've helped!
I sent the creator of SpamGuard a message, we'll see if he's interested in collaborating. Otherwise, we can make an additional plugin that does insulting, threatening or hateful speech moderation and leave the spammy-detection to him.
Appreciate the heads up Strychnos.
No problem
Glad I could help
We've found that a lot of these rules-based systems have a lot of false positives. In the case of minecraft servers it may not be such a big deal as pushing out 1 player out of many may not be sensitive, but forum owners and such don't like possible new users to get caught in a spam trap...
the only complaints I've got are when I am running off of a beta or development version. Other than that I rarely get legitimate complaints, usually people doing dumb things and not knowing why it happened.
No worries, nothing too bad will ever happen, that's if anything even does happen.
Looks like a good lead too. I'll check it out. Thanks DF.