Participate in the forum without having a registered version of Trainz

Frank_Dean

Well-known member
There are in this forum some participations of users who open or reply to forum threads, without having a registered version of the game.

Some are for advertising or Spam, others have just acquired the game and have not yet registered due to ignorance and another part has a pirated version of the game, bought used or downloaded from some dark websites.


Why is active participation allowed without having a registered version of the game?
 
To answer questions people might have about registering the game or which should I buy type questions.

The spam stuff gets taken down quite quickly but holding new messages from unregistered users until they are approved might be an idea. Another might be to extend the users with the ability to hide or take down spam.

Cheerio John
 
There's also an issue too with Steam users due to the Steam purchase and registration process not always passing information over to N3V's servers to auto-register as it should when an account is created.

The idea of having users remove spammers is a good one, but we have to watch that because there will always be someone with a bone to pick who will zap another user because they can. The way around this is to bring on specific super-users who have that permission, but I'm not sure how granular the controls are in the administration-side of the forum software is. It's been awhile since I setup a V-bulletin forum and much has changed in the decade or so since then.
 
Maybe some are planning to get the game but want to do a little reading up on it before doing so?
 
This version of vBulletin is quite old although it still receives security updates. Considering that Spiffy already wears several hats, it might be worth it to N3V to pay to have the forum migrated to a newer version.

Version 5 offers
[h=4] User/Member Management [/h]

  • Multi-user system with unlimited roles and permissions
  • Member Groups
  • Security
  • Granular Privileges
  • Problem Notification
  • SSL Compatible
  • Captcha
  • Email Verification
  • Admin Control Panel News Manager
  • Login "Strike" System
  • Email and Password changes require current password
  • Compliant with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998





William
 
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Maybe like me some are reluctant to register on a site because to frequently you are opening yourself up to a pile of junk mail. Many a time I've read something on a site and though I could make a positive contribution to that but then declined to register suspecting that my details would not only be used by them but probably shared with many others for so called marketing purposes which is something I cannot accuse N3V of ever doing. Peter
 
  • Compliant with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998

Time to upgrade I think.

Depends on whether or not the act has been updated since then, and in which jurisdiction(s) does the act apply? Other jurisdictions may have more recent or substantially different equivalent acts.

I do not like the idea of individual users given the power to censor other users by deleting their posts, even if those posts are *probably* SPAM. This is a power that would be misused, even if unintentionally. I prefer the current system where any user can report a "suspicious" or offensive post and a "higher authority" can make the final decision - as slow as this sometimes seems (and it will never be fast enough for some).

While I have experienced getting the odd unwanted advertising email after registering my product purchases on other sites, this has never happened after registering a purchase on the Trainz Store.

But these are just my opinions.
 
Depends on whether or not the act has been updated since then, and in which jurisdiction(s) does the act apply? .

It's a US regulation that companies based in the US have to abide by enforced by the FTC. No real equivalent in the UK
 
An interesting question is that N3V is based/registered in Australia but where is the website hosted (and does the hosting location mean anything these days) ?
 
Hi all
There's two main reasons that we have a handful of forum sections open to 'unregistered' (ie have an account, but no versions of Trainz registered to that account), which a few have covered already :)

The first is to allow new members to post on the forums, particularly if they have questions regarding Trainz itself, or with registration.

The second is to allow members to post if their registrations has failed for whatever reason (including some cases where the icon isn't appearing once registered). For the most part the best response, if they mention issues registering or claim they have registered, is to simply forward them to the helpdesk and we'll be able to sort it out :)

As above, users without registered versions are limited to only a few forum sections. From memory they can only post in General Trainz, and possibly Trainz Community. They can view a wider range of forum sections (basically any that can be viewed without signing in), but are limited on where they can post.

In regards to moderation/removal of spam, we do need to be careful as any function to remove spam is also able to remove any other post. That said, we may take on further moderators at some point in the future :)

Regards
 
I believe the EU has similar laws concerning the collection and storing of information about children under 13. Peter makes a good point about if location matters anymore. That is a big legal question now.

But information has become a valuable commodity and its collection and resale has become a industry worth trillions. Clever but truly evil people figured out how to appeal to the basic human desire to share their lives with others in fact even to total strangers. Facebook became an addiction for perhaps a billion people to bare their souls with the details of their lives which Zuckerberg sold to target marketers to bombard you with ads. Now Google serves you online ads based upon which videos you watch and what you search for online. Sadly you agree to all of it when you sign up for an account and skip over that boring terms and services text by checking the box.

But we can all agree that children do not understand what they are doing when they use online services and the dangers they face. The dirty old man offering them candy to climb into his van has become a virtual friend who likes their posts and slowly builds trust with them. These monsters lurk anywhere there are children and it is the moral obligation of website operators to do everything possible to protect the children from them whether it is required by law or not.

William
 
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