Addressing the issues with troll posts and Proposed Solutions to fix them

[ValiantWind (Val)]

Edit June 2022:
Please read this reply:
Addressing the issues with troll posts and Proposed Solutions to fix them - #169 by ValiantWind

Before I begin, I would like to clarify that I’m not specifically point out anyone specifically. I’m pointing out the several issues that I’ve seen, I feel have been ruining the DevForum’s environment and that they’re important enough to be acknowledged to be fixed. I also know that nothing is perfect, but in my opinion, there should be much less leniency on the rules of the DevForum. Now let’s begin.

As a Roblox Developer, it is currently tiring to see so many troll posts on the DevForum. As funny as it is to go on the devforumtxt twitter and look at the dumb things people say on the DevForum, it still prevents the DevForum from being the environment its supposed to be.

My point is that the DevForum shouldn’t be a place where people post topics things like this:

Example One

and this:

Example 2

and this:

Example 3

https://devforum.roblox.com/t/python-so-cool/1646434/

I’m going to link some troll replies here as well as to further prove my point:

Troll Replies that came from the SAME person

More Troll Replies

At this point, I’m not even going to bother to blur out the names.

And it took DET over an hour to take the Original containing the troll replies from above. And 75% of the time the trolls get away with it.

I know most of you will just say “Flag the Post, and DET will take it down”.

I agree that this is the best way to take the post down, but sometimes they’re slow AND when people get suspended for creating these posts, they can just create an alt, spend a few hours or days of their life trying to gain access to the DevForum on their alt, and then create more troll posts once they do gain access.

They shouldn’t be created in the first place. While preventing troll posts from being created at all is almost impossible to do, I know that Roblox is capable of at least reducing the amount of posts that are created like the ones above.

The Proposed Solutions

My Solution

ItsKoiske's Solution

@ItsKoiske

An alternative solution that I could see being done is simply have the user read the rules and mark off the prompt for every strike/feedback saying that they read the rules. Just like how moderation notes work on Roblox itself.

WayCoolPlayer's Solution

@WayCoolPlayer

Some people in the troll thread were suggesting opening up lounge for members. Idk how that would go but it may be a good point. Then troll posts would have a place to go and not clutter #development-discussion

buildthomas's Solution

Target audience of the forum is not specific enough, introduce tactical barriers for entry

cpguy5089's Solution

Admitting to breaking rules should have harsher punishments

AlphaEpsilon290's Solution

@AlphaEpsilon290

My proposed solution would be:

• Create an intermediate rank between Visitor and Member, for sake of explanation and lack of a better name, called “New Member”, TL0.5
• Ratelimit posts and replies from TL0.5, something like 3 post replies in a day and 1 new post per week, reply limit waived on their own posts
• Lock problematic categories like DD from New Member, or add even stricter ratelimits to DD posts like “1 post in a 3 month period”
• Automatically rank up users to Member if they meet certain criteria like “80% of posts not taken down and less than 5 posts taken down in a 3 month period, all statistics”

I believe this would be an effective solution because it would increase the time cost needed for a determined troll, allow new users limited access to learn the rules, and incentivize good posting as a consistently good poster would get ranked up in 3 months while a bad poster would take 1 year or two at worst, his consistent damage mitigated by the ratelimits.

7z99's Solution

@7z99

Moderators should also use context clues to see if the account is just made for trolling or if it’s a genuine account who posted something unknowingly.

If you have any other solutions, please reply below with them and I will add them here.

[PeZsmistic]

For what it’s worth, devforumtxt is not a reliable source of information. This account cherrypicks threads that were moderated (often immediately moderated and later dredged up and made to look like bigger issues than they were), and even posts completely faked posts for the purposes of bullying other users.

That said I am in full favor of less leniency. Users who intentionally and knowingly misuse the forum should not be allowed a second chance. Some users however are simply not aware that their post is considered spam (Example 2 might just be an overzealous young user).

[ValiantWind (Val)]

Actually, it was the same person as the one who created the first example post.

[PeZsmistic]

That’s not what I mean. I have seen posts like that created simply by young users. Whether it was a real spam post or not is irrelevant to my point.

[ValiantWind (Val)]

Sorry then. I misinterpreted your statement. My bad.

[ItsKoiske (Koiske)]

I see the problem and I am all for less leniency to curb it but you’re kind of going too hard on the rules. A good rule for moderating forums like that is to know how to scale the rules without being too harsh. While Roblox is on the lenient side of the scale, you’re on the complete opposite.

Also, just like Pez said, that Twitter account isn’t a reliable source for assessing how the devforum is. A lot of those posts there are either fake or the account owner has a vendetta and uses it as a way to harass those people.

An alternative solution that I could see being done is simply have the user read the rules and mark off the prompt for every strike/feedback saying that they read the rules. Just like how moderation notes work on Roblox itself.

[cpguy5089]

The fix would be getting rid of #development-discussion or locking it back to regulars, considering a significant portion of posts aren’t about either of those things, however until post approval and ranking up gets added back in again (see: Never™) that’s not going to happen.
The reason it was stopped was because the tiny staff team was overwhelmed, and leaving #development-discussion open isn’t going to help that in the slightest especially with only 3-5 of them even logging in, and most of the time incorrectly approving posts or ignoring flags

Currently, it’s literally just a case of encouraging the staff to enforce the rules, and hoping that “something else” flagging instead of the broken non-custom flags gets them to do just that.

[blitzahon (NowYouSeeMeToo)]

@cpguy5089

The fix would be getting rid of #development-discussion or locking it back to regulars, considering a significant portion of posts

Won’t help curb, look at example 1, they didn’t need dev discussion to post troll posts

[luisgamercooI231fan (Luis)]

I 100% agree. Posts like this shouldn’t be made. But 99% of the time, im sure they learn their lesson. Im someone who knows the person who made these posts(ones in the example) on discord, they said they learned their lesson. I think as long as they learn their lesson, they deserve a second chance. I think saying they dont deserve a second chance and is harsh imo. As I think everyone deserves a second chance. But if they do it again then I think its fine to not give another chance imo

[ValiantWind (Val)]

Yep, but I know a few specific people on the DevForum who does it on purpose though. That issue is the reason I created this post.

[geometricalC2123 (melonhead)]

example 1 exists?! how worse could people get.

well, you now know that not all people in teh world are good (obviously) so what did you expect, follow the rules like slaves? this is what they think, but were not following the rules like slaves, were following them because we want to keep using this forum, Your solution is good however they do need some chances, yes ofcourse these people do it on purpose(remember, not all people are good) but giving them 0 chances isnt an option either, so maybe make the rules a lil bit strict?

[ValiantWind (Val)]

I agree. They are strict. Which is why I mentioned at the end of the topic that you can state your own solution in the thread, and I will add it to the OP.

[12904]

Controversial opinion:

Since the dev forum has been opened to the public, the quality of the moderation, advice, and just overall usefulness of the forum has declined. The DevForum has abandoned developers and have turned themselves into a version of the classic Roblox forums. If you look at developer discussion, all you see is spam. What used to be one of the most important categories for actually developers is now catch-all for people that has never even made anything on Roblox.

The current trend is not good for the forums and the trend will not change unless you restrict who can come in. No amount of moderation will change this.

In conclusion, the forum needs to cater to professional developers rather than the general public.

[luisgamercooI231fan (Luis)]

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

@12904

The DevForum has abandoned developers and have turned themselves into a version of the classic Roblox forums

[12904]

Judging by the general tone of my post, I thought I was clear that I consider it a bad thing… The roblox forum was shut down because noobs and trolls flooded it with posts and the moderation could not keep up. At this rate, the developer forum will be shut down for the exact same reason if the situation gets much worse.

[luisgamercooI231fan (Luis)]

what’s the problem with troll posts? They’re funny imo

@12904

The roblox forum was shut down because noobs and trolls flooded it with posts and the moderation could not keep up

[12904]

Actual developers come to the DevForum to receive or provide advice, if you’re not able to provide advice to people, then you have absolutely no reason to be on the forum. At that point, you’re just a leech. Everyone should offer some type of benefit to the community. It is when you start trolling or wasting people’s time that you are no longer valuable to the community and therefore should be removed.

[Crazedbrick1]

@12904

Everyone should offer some type of benefit to the community.

I understand your point, but that’s a bit debatable. I know some people who spend their time on the forum (and harm nobody) so they can read about developer things even though they rarely use the information themselves. I personally don’t find anything wrong with that.

[12904]

Just reading topics do not make them part of the community or a member of the forum. I’m sure we all started on the dev forum by reading topics that we found useful, at least that how it was for me. I went on to join and began asking questions and helping whenever I could. \

Being a member of the community is not just reading posts, it is asking questions, giving feedback, answering questions, etc. This is why I said that everyone that is a member of the community should supply something to help others. Basically, if you benefit from someone else’s time, you should be willing to give your time to return the favor.

[Crazedbrick1]

But are those who are spectating really harming anyone’s experience? I don’t see the point in requiring everyone to post or reply.

Let’s say there’s a developer who doesn’t need or want to post on the forum. They just use the forum to read posts about development and to stay up to date on Roblox updates. Is there anything really wrong with that?