Thank you to everyone participating in this effort and for all the kind comments.
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Originally Posted by PhilTau
The internet is really ruined if this has to be done to keep site from being overwhelmed by malicious intrusions on the site.
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There are many videos on YouTube about something called "Dead Internet Theory" which is basically about all the massive bot traffic online.
I don't think the Internet is ruined over it, though, but definitely does necessitate some adjustments to how things are done.
The way I've blocked bots on GC over the years has blocked probably 10 to 15 million bot account registrations. Although, it doesn't work all that well and also doesn't block bot traffic but rather just account registration attempts. It causes 3+ minute delays (last time I checked) for new account sign-ups and probably isn't 99.9% accurate which even at that accuracy level means probably 10 to 15 thousand legitimate accounts may have been blocked during all that time, not counting any who abandon joining because of the delay. I'll probably post another thread with more details about this at some point.
One of the major current annoyances with bots on GC is simply how slow they cause the site to be at times. I usually stop by GC several times throughout each day and probably 50% of the time the site is extremely slow due to the number of bots hammering the site.
In a way, it sometimes feels as though the work I do on GC is mostly for the bots, because it's almost as if the bots get most of the benefit out of it. I want my work here to benefit GCers, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilTau
Please keep in mind that doing this (which may look like a paywall) may drastically reduce the number of visits, including those from kids seeking to learn about rushing and will likely reduce the number of people contributing to the site, which appears to be happening anyway compared the number of new postings 5 to 8 years ago.
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These are issues that I am really quite concerned about. I think it's fair to say that I have been extremely hesistant about doing this (been considering it for years) and I agree that there may be some negative impact.
But, there's also a chance that it may work out quite well. I've basically come to the conclusion that I'll never know unless I at least give it a try. And if it turns out to be a really bad idea then I simply reverse course.
The $1 one-time cover charge is intended to be a "bot wall" rather than a "paywall," but I do agree that it may be mostly seen as a paywall. The price, $1, I hope makes it obvious that I'm not trying to be unreasonable and am not trying to put this out of anyone's reach. I would have set it to 1 penny if that was available as BMAC's minimum, because I seriously doubt bots would pay even a penny.
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