Announcements

A place for users to address comments, suggestions, submissions, or errors found on Toho Kingdom and its forum.
User avatar
Maritonic
Admin | Forum Manager
Admin | Forum Manager
Posts: 6680
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:26 am

Announcements

Post by Maritonic »

So, this'll work as a thread for general staff announcements.

I'm sure most of you saw the chaos this morning. It was very fun to wake up to.

The staff chose early on to make a rule about Covid-19; any deliberate spread of misinformation would be an instant ban. This is obviously an oversimplification of the situation, as there has been plenty of misinformation posted and corrected as time has gone on. But, the couple of people who have been banned because of this have been hostile and aggressive in their crusade of misinformation. There's a difference there, one the staff have paid attention to and calculated when making the decision to ban the user. We're not the evil Terminator's you might think; we evaluate every report and ban that is made.

The other day, a user went on a tirade of misinformation and was banned. This is ironic, as he recently asked for politics to be removed from the forums (more or less), but I digress. He made dupe accounts and went on a tirade of posts and messages. If you got one of these messages, just delete it and ignore it. If you see any troll posts, just report them.

We try to catch dupes before they get in, but it's not a perfect system. Nothing here is perfect, as everyone clearly knows. Thank you to everyone who chose to report the posts and not engage, and I ask kindly that you keep doing that; this morning the user's dupe went from 44 posts to 0 by just cycling through the reports and searching. The reports really help. So, again, thank you.

Any issues, questions, comments, please feel free to message me or the rest of the staff.
Image
Any issues, please feel free to private message me or e-mail me at MaritonicTK@gmail.com.
Bruno says we're not supposed to hate.
MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:24 pm Don't go to a friend's wedding, send him 100 copies of Gamera vs Zigra instead. Be a man.

User avatar
Spuro
Keizer
Posts: 9532
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Monster Island

Re: Announcements

Post by Spuro »

I know it’s probably a long shot, but TK could really use an update to its code regarding banned users. As we’ve been shown, it’s stupid easy to circumvent bans on TK, especially with the existence of VPNs.

Would something based on browser fingerprinting even be conceivable? I’m not especially knowledgeable about coding so I don’t know if such a thing is possible.
eabaker wrote: You can't parse duende.
Breakdown wrote: HP Lovecraft's cat should be the ultimate villain of the MonsterVerse.

User avatar
Maritonic
Admin | Forum Manager
Admin | Forum Manager
Posts: 6680
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:26 am

Re: Announcements

Post by Maritonic »

Kaiju-King42 wrote: Wed Dec 30, 2020 6:49 am I know it’s probably a long shot, but TK could really use an update to its code regarding banned users. As we’ve been shown, it’s stupid easy to circumvent bans on TK, especially with the existence of VPNs.

Would something based on browser fingerprinting even be conceivable? I’m not especially knowledgeable about coding so I don’t know if such a thing is possible.
That's something I'd have to speak with Arbok and SpaceG about. I can e-mail Arbok and tell him. Usually when we ban someone, there are ways we can keep them from coming back and at the very least figuring out if their dupes. But this is something that's tricky to get around with the way the site is currently programmed.
Image
Any issues, please feel free to private message me or e-mail me at MaritonicTK@gmail.com.
Bruno says we're not supposed to hate.
MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:24 pm Don't go to a friend's wedding, send him 100 copies of Gamera vs Zigra instead. Be a man.

User avatar
Gigantis
Sazer
Posts: 10492
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:52 pm
Location: Nebula of the Orion

Re: Announcements

Post by Gigantis »

Honestly, i think KK42's really onto something here. If we get another big hack like what happened back in 2014, something like fingerprinting could really help avoid another big forum shutdown, or at least, make it less awful to deal with.

Guess we should also be on the lookout if he's not done and tries coming back again.
Image

A guy who randomly stumbled upon this place one day, invested much too much time into it, and now appears to be stuck here for all eternity..and strangely enough, i do not regret it!

User avatar
Maritonic
Admin | Forum Manager
Admin | Forum Manager
Posts: 6680
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:26 am

Re: Announcements

Post by Maritonic »

I've e-mailed Arbok about the situation to see if there's anything else that can be done in addition to what the staff already does. Again, guys, just keep reporting anything you guys see; we can't see everything at all times.
Image
Any issues, please feel free to private message me or e-mail me at MaritonicTK@gmail.com.
Bruno says we're not supposed to hate.
MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:24 pm Don't go to a friend's wedding, send him 100 copies of Gamera vs Zigra instead. Be a man.

User avatar
Maritonic
Admin | Forum Manager
Admin | Forum Manager
Posts: 6680
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:26 am

Re: Announcements

Post by Maritonic »

Alright, so, we had another incident with this banned user. Usually I like to play nice and not name names, but, meh.

Basically Omegazilla was banned for his massive tirade on covid. As I stated earlier, this is a hard rule we established early on. Instead of being a mature human being and finding a way to reach out to someone to dispute his banning and communicate with us, he's been showing us how little of a life he actually has and has been making dupes and posting stupid bullshit. It's actually pretty astounding, as I found him to be pretty level headed and chill when we spoke but he's clearly neither of those things.

Arbok, the staff, and myself are all communicating about the best way to proceed here. Any concerns, comments, whatever, my inbox is always open.
Image
Any issues, please feel free to private message me or e-mail me at MaritonicTK@gmail.com.
Bruno says we're not supposed to hate.
MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:24 pm Don't go to a friend's wedding, send him 100 copies of Gamera vs Zigra instead. Be a man.

User avatar
Mac Daddy MM
Xilien Halfling
Posts: 5045
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 5:27 pm

Re: Announcements

Post by Mac Daddy MM »

Maritonic wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:57 am Alright, so, we had another incident with this banned user. Usually I like to play nice and not name names, but, meh.

Basically Omegazilla was banned for his massive tirade on covid. As I stated earlier, this is a hard rule we established early on. Instead of being a mature human being and finding a way to reach out to someone to dispute his banning and communicate with us, he's been showing us how little of a life he actually has and has been making dupes and posting stupid bullshit. It's actually pretty astounding, as I found him to be pretty level headed and chill when we spoke but he's clearly neither of those things.

Arbok, the staff, and myself are all communicating about the best way to proceed here. Any concerns, comments, whatever, my inbox is always open.
Check yo PMs, my dude.


Quote of the Year:
plasmabeam wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2023 3:03 am Hear me out on this. What if Godzilla is actually Suko’s father? In GvK when Godzilla defeated Kong and they were roaring at each other, what if Godzilla inseminated Kong at that moment and that’s why they were screaming?

User avatar
Spuro
Keizer
Posts: 9532
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Monster Island

Re: Announcements

Post by Spuro »

Hm. Not sure if it will help, but I may as well put the idea out there.

The Fantasy Match subforum is a usergroup. You can't post in there unless you join the usergroup. Part of the fan fiction section used to be the same way.

What if we applied something similar to the entire forum?

It's 2:00 AM and I'm just spitballing ideas here. It's probably a stupid idea.
eabaker wrote: You can't parse duende.
Breakdown wrote: HP Lovecraft's cat should be the ultimate villain of the MonsterVerse.

BlankAccount
Sazer
Posts: 12648
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 10:49 pm

Re: Announcements

Post by BlankAccount »

We might have a post limit for new members, like only 30 a day? Maybe also increase the minimum posts you have to make before posting pics, like in the 100s.

User avatar
Spuro
Keizer
Posts: 9532
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Monster Island

Re: Announcements

Post by Spuro »

That is a far better idea, Living Corpse. My 2:00 brain thanks you.
eabaker wrote: You can't parse duende.
Breakdown wrote: HP Lovecraft's cat should be the ultimate villain of the MonsterVerse.

User avatar
LSD Jellyfish
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 14253
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:57 pm

Re: Announcements

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

The issue with all the ideas is that it creates an unnecessary roadblock to new users posting. The whole 20 posts in one day makes sense, but maybe not the image one. What if someone joins and wants to show something cool? Like joining the forum to show a toy they bought or something else?
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

User avatar
Maritonic
Admin | Forum Manager
Admin | Forum Manager
Posts: 6680
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:26 am

Re: Announcements

Post by Maritonic »

The image one may have to happen. The post limit I'm not sure only because a heated or interesting conversation can get you past 20 or 30 posts a day pretty quick, if you're posting in other areas.

But, good ideas. I like the image one.
Image
Any issues, please feel free to private message me or e-mail me at MaritonicTK@gmail.com.
Bruno says we're not supposed to hate.
MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:24 pm Don't go to a friend's wedding, send him 100 copies of Gamera vs Zigra instead. Be a man.

BlankAccount
Sazer
Posts: 12648
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 10:49 pm

Re: Announcements

Post by BlankAccount »

Right, so if you get a shock image in a PM, look at Recipient real quick, this will show you if it was sent in mass. Then you can contact these people with a PM warning them not to open theirs, saying something like "URGENT! Don't open so-and-so's PM! Shock Image!"

User avatar
Maritonic
Admin | Forum Manager
Admin | Forum Manager
Posts: 6680
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:26 am

Re: Announcements

Post by Maritonic »

Living Corpse wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 10:55 am Right, so if you get a shock image in a PM, look at Recipient real quick, this will show you if it was sent in mass. Then you can contact these people with a PM warning them not to open theirs, saying something like "URGENT! Don't open so-and-so's PM! Shock Image!"
This is something I've been doing with the staff when we've been getting them.
Image
Any issues, please feel free to private message me or e-mail me at MaritonicTK@gmail.com.
Bruno says we're not supposed to hate.
MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:24 pm Don't go to a friend's wedding, send him 100 copies of Gamera vs Zigra instead. Be a man.

User avatar
Mac Daddy MM
Xilien Halfling
Posts: 5045
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 5:27 pm

Re: Announcements

Post by Mac Daddy MM »

Preventing new users from posting images isn't an unheard of thing. Many forums I've been part of implement that. Additionally, I highly recommend a staff manual activation process for new users, which is something we did back on Old TK way back in the day and it helped stifle problem accounts.


Quote of the Year:
plasmabeam wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2023 3:03 am Hear me out on this. What if Godzilla is actually Suko’s father? In GvK when Godzilla defeated Kong and they were roaring at each other, what if Godzilla inseminated Kong at that moment and that’s why they were screaming?

User avatar
Maritonic
Admin | Forum Manager
Admin | Forum Manager
Posts: 6680
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:26 am

Re: Announcements

Post by Maritonic »

To the point of posting images, that's something we're working with right now. Not sure *what*, but SOMEthing is going to change in the near future.
Also, all new users have to be manually activated but that doesn't really do much, honestly. Unless your name is like "ImAnAssHole" or your email is sketch, there's really not too many ways to catch that.
Image
Any issues, please feel free to private message me or e-mail me at MaritonicTK@gmail.com.
Bruno says we're not supposed to hate.
MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:24 pm Don't go to a friend's wedding, send him 100 copies of Gamera vs Zigra instead. Be a man.

User avatar
Beast Blood
G-Force Personnel
Posts: 689
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 8:21 pm
Location: The Great White North
Contact:

Re: Announcements

Post by Beast Blood »

A preview tooltip for PMs could help. Many forums have that for threads. Obviously not the kind of preview that acts like a spy window, but the bubble ones. If you hover over the message title and see something sketchy when the preview text shows up, it's probs best to just delete it. Would be best if it showed the raw text with the codes, so that a link to a gore pic couldn't really hide itself with a hyperlink saying "cute puppy picture". Like, if the preview just said "cute puppy picture", people taking the bait would be met with a surprise if they don't decide to see what the link is when you hover over it/right click, but if it said "[url=someshadydomainnameorshortenedurlthatlooksjustasweird]cute puppy...", then yeah, don't click it. I don't know how it would go about people trying to circumvent the preview by spamming the enter key, but then it becomes quite obvious they're sketchy.

Also, should probably post a PSA not to open PMs or new threads from just about anyone at this point.

Edit: Wasn't there already a limitation on when you could post pictures in threads, or am I not remembering it right? I think it was 25 posts or something.
Last edited by Beast Blood on Wed Jan 13, 2021 4:32 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Image

User avatar
Maritonic
Admin | Forum Manager
Admin | Forum Manager
Posts: 6680
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:26 am

Re: Announcements

Post by Maritonic »

Okay, so. In reference to the private message preview, that's not something that I think is available for the current system we're on. I'm not positive, but I've gone through pages of extensions for the current system and don't remember seeing that. I can't swear on that, because I was actively looking for other things, and I don't recall seeing that.

The thing that's been a problem for myself and the rest of the staff is we're limited within the confines of what the forums are running on. It's not as simple as saying "okay, now all new members have to get text verification on their cell phones". I hoped it was, myself, because this was a solid idea we had. But, alas, it's not something we can realistically do on the forums as they currently are. All of the mods and admins have been in near constant communication about how to handle this, and what we're running on has been a bump in the road more than once.

"Should probably post a PSA not to open PMs or new threads from just about anyone at this point".

Okay, so. Deep breaths.

I have tried to be as crystal clear about this entire situation as I could. The only time I've held back any information was in the very beginning when I held back the original user's name. The only time I did not post about one of these situations was this morning and that was because I was, frankly, too busy e-mailing Arbok, SpaceG, and frantically trying to figure out an ironclad solution with the staff to fix this. This isn't something we expect to happen twice, let alone three times.

We don't see PMs. We don't know who got them from any of these accounts. I got one the first time, which included all of the Admins. I informed the admins not to open it. A member of the blue staff messaged me and asked what the hell was going on, which prompted me to inform all of the blue staff. The second time I was told by members on here that there was one message sent out to a group. Everyone in that group was informed, to my knowledge, or they saw it before I had a chance to inform them. This morning I was included in one that included other staff, and again, our entire staff knows what's going on so there's no need for a public post there.

I, again, do not have access to your messages. I can't go in and see "Okay, this guy sent 3 messages to 15 accounts". That's not within our power. The PM's have been a major issue here because they're the only thing we cannot delete. I wish I could, because I am not thrilled with anyone being subject to these images or messages. But there's only so much we can do.

However, if anything has slipped through the cracks, I ask for a little compassion: on three separate occasions a member of the TK staff has woken up before the sun at like 5 AM to 50+ e-mails, 40-60 threads and posts, and multiple pictures of gore that we don't have any choice but to see more than once. We have to open the report, go to the page, delete the post/thread, then go back to the report to close it. I believe the first time it was a couple of us, the second time it was me, and the third time it was primarily Gerd and then me. Then we have to go through the motions of banning the user. It is far from pleasant as I can figure you can imagine if you've seen any of it. It's also a lengthy process; deleting all the threads, closing the reports. And through all of this the thing I'm most grateful for is that almost every one has chosen to report the posts rather than engage; it makes the clean up significantly easier.

We're doing, quite literally, every thing that we can do to try to stop this. And I'm actually at a place where I think I can comfortably say that I think we got a handle on it going forward.
Image
Any issues, please feel free to private message me or e-mail me at MaritonicTK@gmail.com.
Bruno says we're not supposed to hate.
MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:24 pm Don't go to a friend's wedding, send him 100 copies of Gamera vs Zigra instead. Be a man.

User avatar
Gigantis
Sazer
Posts: 10492
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:52 pm
Location: Nebula of the Orion

Re: Announcements

Post by Gigantis »

Er, shouldn't the New Members thread go here instead of Toho Media?
Image

A guy who randomly stumbled upon this place one day, invested much too much time into it, and now appears to be stuck here for all eternity..and strangely enough, i do not regret it!

User avatar
Maritonic
Admin | Forum Manager
Admin | Forum Manager
Posts: 6680
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:26 am

Re: Announcements

Post by Maritonic »

Gigantis wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 5:14 pm Er, shouldn't the New Members thread go here instead of Toho Media?
It should have been forum wide. Whatever, I'll fix it tomorrow. I've been at this since 5AM. I'm kinda burnt out.

Added in 47 minutes 57 seconds:
Fixed.
Image
Any issues, please feel free to private message me or e-mail me at MaritonicTK@gmail.com.
Bruno says we're not supposed to hate.
MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:24 pm Don't go to a friend's wedding, send him 100 copies of Gamera vs Zigra instead. Be a man.

Post Reply