I'm stunned you didn't get a temp ban for this, you questioned a moderator. That's like an executable offense around here. Remember, they must know who you are, but we can't know them. They get to be anon when they decide to slap someone down. Just like there won't be a name attached to the ban I get for this post. I know years ago they claimed people were bothering them in real life, so they "needed" anonymity. but everyone else, nah they don't. No one back then ever asked for their real names or info, just to know which mod it was who decided to take action, but even that was too much. You must trust them, even though they won't trust you. Now I'll be leaving this thread as I'm about to be kicked from it anyway.

To be a moderator, lots of work for no pay

Where do I sign up

Try AussieArcade, but you live in the wrong State so it would be a tokenistic window dressing position anyway.

lols
I once moderated a forum, never again

sound like a cup getting rattled for change. lol

Darksoul worships the position because he gets to claim knee pads and chapstick as a tax deduction.

Good foresight though because from an AA Vic perspective, it is probably a role more suited to those with a predominant lapdoug personality trait as it is.

Ridiculous.

This is completely dumb. I've been a member for years, but now I'm restricted unless I go through a some ridiculous process?

You can send a request to a verified member you know to verify you via pm. It's pretty quick.

Screenshot_20161002-202733 (resized).png

I was going to comment that the Northeast For Sale thread was pretty dead this weekend.

I thought everyone was caught up in the inauguration "festivities" and was going to post that.

I now realize that the few who post mostly the same machines : new sterns , 90's B/W and the A-LIST games now completely rule the thread.

I'm only posting to see if I'm verified!

Drain the swamp!

I am not verified, guilty until proven innocent, but it doesn't stop me from getting spam PM's "Hey wanna selll game X from your collection? I'll come today and pay cash!!!!!!". Trending down...

ya know that thread you posted in 19 times, well you cant reply again.

So fucking stupid. Even dumber for the people that have been here for 4 years+

It is very easy to verify your account. People who have been here 4+ years would likely have at least ONE person willing to verify them, even if they don't, it's easy to do.

Yes. Initially the new policy left me feeling a bit ostracized. However, I soon discovered the verification process is pretty quick and painless.

Good!!!

You can set your colleciton to private, reagrdless of being verified or not. Just wanted you to know.

BTW, any interest in selling BW100, Spectrum or Embryon? I have cash or possible trade

yeah I made a verification thread 9 hours ago, doesn't deter from the fact there's a thread Ive posted in a bunch of times that I no longer can until I'm "verified"

Consider it a minor, one-time inconvenience.

I understand some peoples frustration with it. It seems annoying and long to do but once you do it you realize how quick and painless it is. Do it once and its done. Almost like a vasectomy. Then you are free to spew without consequences

Based on past experiences on local forums, I believe it is the first step towards the beginning of a slippery slope.

Time will tell, but I am hoping the far broader forum demographics of pinside at both managerial and general membership level will act as a counter to it, which was/is an aspect completely lacking down here on the local forums.

Good grief. The old slippery slope cliche. The real funny thing is how important an issue people seem to want to make it. Go ask your wife what she thinks of it and she'll laugh in your face.

Resistance to verification could be partly because robin and the moderator team handle many complaints before most users ever see them.

If you think about it from a troublemaker's point of view that extra step every time is a barrier that scales with the number of fake accounts they attempt to use.

Maybe you could publish some stats on how many fake accounts have been blocked or other problems that verification helps solve.

It isn't a cliche if the observations are based on empirical data. Being in finance you should know that already.

Not at all, but I would be more concerned if every person on the forum simply nodded their heads in agreement without a single voice of concern or discussion raised. That would be the kind of servile abasement I would expect to see on a morally corrupt forum like AussieArcade.

I really enjoy when the local AA loyalists get the shits on when I indirectly criticise their domestic sacred cows and then rebut by turning it into a personal attack. Hate to break it to you Michael, but since you live in NSW the stooges who run AA don't give a stuff about you or your mod business. Their raison d'etre is to promote Queensland based pinball interests at the expense of every other State. The rest is just tokenistic window dressing designed to fill the AA coffers (e.g. instant all access pass to the trading section with a "donation") as a commercial operation and give the misleading perception that the forum on outward appearances is pretending to live up to its namesake.

Thanks Robin for your receptivity and the opportunity to provide feedback on what is by and large a well run successful forum. Much appreciated.

Is there an achievement for "oldest non-verified account?"

I don't have stats on blocked accounts, but Robin might be able to pull them. I will vouch we've spend considerable time trying to block spam, block obvious trolls, hunting down alternate accounts of someone that just got banned, hunting down "aged" accounts of trolls claiming they have created hundreds of accounts and/or had people do it for them then send them the info to get around bans (and then brag about it on podcasts and social media,) etc. I've ruined lunch breaks, bedtimes, and vacations working on Pinside issues, just for that big fat $0 paycheck with no benefits.

There's only 12 mods, all of us work full time, we're spread out across the globe/time zones, and we're not always available to quickly deal with something or answer a thread. With some personal things going on I know I haven't been around lately to help out, so it really is a bare bones operation. It's really not fun having to go in and verify accounts, but it's better than the alternative of constantly watching every new account created to wait and see if it is a valid new member or just another outlet for people wanting to spout hate, misinformation, or Chinese magic pills.

Right now I'm looking at over 350 moderator feedback threads in the last 2 months since verification started. The delay on most of those is that people just send a thread with only "verify me" (or better yet "WTF?!?!? Why am I being singled out?!?!? Why do I have to do this?") without giving us any information. We've literally been replying by copy/pasting the required info with a link to this thread on those, then waiting around to see if they respond. If you've been here for years, have an established history of posting, and look obviously legit, we'll verify you on the spot. Otherwise, we just can't do it. Also, we're not psychic to know who wants to be verified (or who wants to keep some non-verified badge of honor) so we've got to have a thread requesting it unless you fall into the pre-verified categories. So please help us help you, and if you do send in a verification request give us a little info from the start that will make the process so much quicker and painless. If you don't want to be verified, cool. That's your choice and we're certainly not going to force you to do so.

One other fun stat of the day... since we started doing the 'report' button, we've had 5865 posts reported for abuse. Researching and following up on those helps keep us busy between verifications.

Edit

I want to know more about the Chinese magic pills.

This is SO true. There was one day when I watched dozens of threads being made with anti-Pinside statements. I'd refresh and see them, refresh 15 seconds later and they were gone, and 15 more seconds later there would be a dozen new ones.

These policies were put in place to stop that kind of crap going on, and to lessen the unnecessary load on the mods. Hopefully it is having that kind of impact.

It is. There's a lot less drive-by drama & trolling from throwaway accounts, which is nice.

Hate to break it back to you, but no one gives a stuff about me or my mod business.

Yes, we live in an uncaring and heartless world

We both know profanity is fun to type. I didnt post with any anger or vitriol. I havent been here 4 years but there seem to be fairly active accounts dealing with the same thing I was going through, seemed short-sighted at best and was expression my frustration, not anger, at the situation.

Oh, I have GOT to get to Australia sometime soon. Seems so friendly!!!

It's a good community provided you associate with those who have no ties to either of the two factions that operate down here.
My door and collection is always open to those who fit that no affiliative ties category and there are numerous people (local, interstate and international) who I have been happy to welcome into my home, play some pins and talk pinball.
Any time you make it to Australia and are in my area drop me a PM. I've been to the US a number of times and always admired how well organised, open and apolitical their public pinball events are so it would be remiss of me not to reciprocate that level of hospitality.

Added over 7 years ago:

I know you care PBP despite your publicly flippant attitude.

Otherwise you wouldn't be sending me private unsolicited correspondence complaining about the parlous state of the domestic pinball community and looking to me for advice.

I'm still not verified...Must have done something wrong - I can't post to certain threads anymore, bummer

I can vouch that your certified not sure about verified.

Which method are you trying to use to verify your account?

Verification is not an automatic process unless you have donated. Other than that, a request for verification has to be made.

I reviewed your Pinside History, and I'm convinced that you are legitimate. You are now verified.

Now you can go to those "certain" threads and post.

Marcus

I will vouch for the man....He is still certified

Certified beef-a-fried!!!

This is the first I've seen this?

Am I certified, verified, deep-fried, bonafide, nationwide, polysulfide, oversimplified, diversified, preoccupied, overqualified, dissatisfied, or is this freakin' information classified?

WTF is this BS?

You mean to tell me that Pinside isn't even an American forum? It's from the Netherlands?

Holy Toledo! I guess I'm a dumb SOB because I didn't know.

Hi there! I am a brand new Pinside user and brand new to the world of pinball and pinball collecting. I found out about this forum last weekend from a panel I attended at the Louisville Arcade Expo. Great resource so far for new people like me.

I am curious, though, as to which forums new, unverified people can post to? I am still learning quite a bit about this site, and for now I am hesitant about verifying with PayPal. I am sure that will change in the future, but just want to make sure I feel at home here first.

Anyway, back to question: I wanted to post in the buying advice subforum, but I believe that is closed off to non-verified posters? Besides the tech sub forums, are there any other forums an unverified person can post to? Is the EM Hangout and its subforums open to unverified posters?

Thanks for any help you can provide, and I look forward to learning more about this site and pins in general!

There's no money involved. What are your concerns?

PS: Welcome to Pinside.

I guess I may be just overly paranoid. I have been the victim of recent hacks/identity theft recently and I guess I am just overly cautious. I am sure it would be fine, but still just hesitant given those recent events in my life.

Maybe I could do one of the other options listed, but I suppose I will have to post for a bit before someone will vouch for me or a moderator feels comfortable with verifying me.

What is the real purpose of this "verification" and who is this guy from the Netherlands who is asking for our personal information?

How can you tell if someone is "verified"? I've been on here for several years now and the hundreds of people on here who have purchased parts from me know who I am.

Am I "verified"?