Few Forum Suggestions

[294]

Since I've been banned from SB for a couple hours  I figured I should post my brainstormed ideas during the wait. I have a few suggestions I think would help make the forum a lot cleaner and keep HQ content further up in results.
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1) Auto-Filtered Threads
Especially since scams seem to use the same keywords or templates, it'd be a good idea to auto-remove threads containing certain unallowed topics (mainly fraud related ones). Although mods do a great enough job removing them in a timely manner, there could still be a couple that slip-up and receive customers before they're removed, which could be completely eliminated by just deleting them the instant they post. Or, better yet, prevent it from being posted all-together, and highlight/warn about the unallowed topics so (if they're legitimate sellers who didn't realize they made a mistake) they can fix the thread and repost. Could also be implemented in the SB, preventing problems before they start.

2) Reported Thread Limit
If someone had reached a certain amount of reports on a thread, they shouldn't be allowed to make anymore since they are just as likely to have the need to be reported. This could be difficult if noobs report posts instead of marking as not working, so perhaps only take into account reports from ranked members (or only Supreme+). +Rep, vouches, and other posts could also be limited, I've seen a couple scammers multi-accounting and vouching between accounts which makes themselves seem reputable to those not paying attention (especially with upgrades).

3) Heightened Seller Requirements
I like that contributors can post there without being upgraded, but just being premium+ doesn't seem like a big enough requirement. Sure they're giving to cracked.to, maybe to help improve development a slight amount, but with the large amount of sellers with the exact same items at super inflated prices with little to no rep, it could be a good idea to up the requirements to post there. Maybe a certain amount of rep could be required as well, that way you know that they've given to the community before they advertise their own business. This would encourage more HQ posts and/or giveaways for others.

4) Add Report Option For "Duplicates"
Simple idea, with the absolute massive amount of repeated posts, it should be allowed to report posts with content that has already been posted on c.to before without any modifications. Newer people are doing this for reps/likes a lot, and it ticks me off seeing the original contributors not get any sort of credit for it.

5) Dead Links/Methods Collection
Also a simple idea, add another section for dead links, where if a tool reaches a certain amount of "NOT WORKING" it would be moved to that section automatically until fixed by the thread owner. There are a bunch of posts from 2019/2020 getting recycled to the top results when the links have been down for a year or more, and it increases the amount of leeching done by people looking for a specific method/program.

6) Prevent Non-Upgrade From Posting in Upgraded Sections
Seems like a real no-brainer to me, I see a ton of people trying to leech programs that are clearly marked as being for upgraded members only. By just not allowing them to post in that section, it would make those threads a lot cleaner and I'm sure would remove a lot of spam comments from people's inbox. Could be implemented with upgraded members too (i.e. premium/infinity members can't post in supreme+ threads).

7) Bookmark Threads/Posts
This would be different from subscribing, because again inbox spam can be annoying for large threads. This would work best in conjunction with suggestion #6, as people who might have been commenting in upgraded threads to act as a "bookmark" should have a better way of re-finding the thread. Yes, I know actual bookmarks exist. But some people might be using live-type options (browser history cleared on exit, don't want mother finding out you're skidding hack tools, etc.), and bookmarking actual pages wouldn't be possible security-wise. Could also be added as a feature on profiles, where bookmarked posts can optionally be shown instead of using signature spaces as a way of giving a nod to the thread.
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That's all for now, even if only one of these get implemented I will be a happy boy   . Happy cracking everyone 

[1.756]

1) Auto-Filtered Threads
Especially since scams seem to use the same keywords or templates, it'd be a good idea to auto-remove threads containing certain unallowed topics (mainly fraud related ones). Although mods do a great enough job removing them in a timely manner, there could still be a couple that slip-up and receive customers before they're removed, which could be completely eliminated by just deleting them the instant they post. Or, better yet, prevent it from being posted all-together, and highlight/warn about the unallowed topics so (if they're legitimate sellers who didn't realize they made a mistake) they can fix the thread and repost. Could also be implemented in the SB, preventing problems before they start.

This will very likely be in the next theme update.

2) Reported Thread Limit
If someone had reached a certain amount of reports on a thread, they shouldn't be allowed to make anymore since they are just as likely to have the need to be reported. This could be difficult if noobs report posts instead of marking as not working, so perhaps only take into account reports from ranked members (or only Supreme+). +Rep, vouches, and other posts could also be limited, I've seen a couple scammers multi-accounting and vouching between accounts which makes themselves seem reputable to those not paying attention (especially with upgrades).

If you add a feature like this and you limit it to a certain usergroup with additional minimum requirements, it's unlikely that it will ever be used.
I'm not sure how this would help with scammers multi-accounting, I think it's completely unrelated.

3) Heightened Seller Requirements
I like that contributors can post there without being upgraded, but just being premium+ doesn't seem like a big enough requirement. Sure they're giving to cracked.to, maybe to help improve development a slight amount, but with the large amount of sellers with the exact same items at super inflated prices with little to no rep, it could be a good idea to up the requirements to post there. Maybe a certain amount of rep could be required as well, that way you know that they've given to the community before they advertise their own business. This would encourage more HQ posts and/or giveaways for others.

Raising the requirements to sell in the marketplace with the aim of reducing the number of people selling the same products doesn't make much sense.
The market will always regulate itself: sellers find customers when there is demand; if there is no demand, it makes no sense for a seller to continue selling.
If you set minimum requirements, over time more and more people will meet to those requirements (either legitimately or cheating), so what are you going to do at that point?
People should be free to sell any product and in any quantity, if you set excessive requirements you will end up killing the market.

4) Add Report Option For "Duplicates"
Simple idea, with the absolute massive amount of repeated posts, it should be allowed to report posts with content that has already been posted on c.to before without any modifications. Newer people are doing this for reps/likes a lot, and it ticks me off seeing the original contributors not get any sort of credit for it.

You can already do it, select "Other" as your report reason and paste the original thread link.

[49]

Everything is perfect except the first and the second one. The first one may need tweaking, perhaps not an auto remove but rather an alert that will be sent to staff. The second one I just do not see it working because people will not  be incentivized to post. Besides, most scammers have multiple active accounts.

hello

[294]

I'm not sure how this would help with scammers multi-accounting, I think it's completely unrelated.

The second one I just do not see it working because people will not be incentivized to post. Besides, most scammers have multiple active accounts.

This second point isn’t to prevent multi-accounting, as there aren’t many countermeasures that can be put into place to prevent that especially if they have their eyes set on bigger exits. This was relating to preventing these people with excessive reports from giving reps or vouches to other accounts until the reports would be “cleared”. Taking another look at this, perhaps it would be better geared to only apply towards newer accounts, again not to prevent multi-accounting but to make it as difficult as possible to start by lengthening the time needed to attempt common scams.

The market will always regulate itself: sellers find customers when there is demand; if there is no demand, it makes no sense for a seller to continue selling.

This indeed makes sense in theory, however people are still auto-bumping empty threads over and over (and eventually they do give up, but the threads remain opened). Should have also clarified, the HQ being referred to would be removing threads like that, especially older ones where sellers might not even be able to fulfill orders anymore.

If you set minimum requirements, over time more and more people will meet to those requirements (either legitimately or cheating), so what are you going to do at that point?

People should be free to sell any product and in any quantity, if you set excessive requirements you will end up killing the market.

The requirements could easily be met, yes, but that’s precisely the point. They’re not meant to be difficult, again just meant to lengthen the time needed for people to execute scams and minimize their profits more, while not necessarily harming legitimate sellers as they’d only need to do this once. The requirements could be fairly as simple as having had posted something before, just another step for them to have to complete.

I guess that’s sort of the bigger picture of a lot of these, is to make scammers need to work harder to do simple scams, allowing moderators more time to catch them before they exit, and leaving them with less time to make new accounts. Sure, the problem won’t go away, and to be honest the effect could be minimal, but it will prevent completely new accounts from easily scamming one or two people, and then moving on to a new account a few hours later. (Sorry for reviving the thread a bit late I’ve been a bit busy).

Regardless, I appreciate the feedback. I do agree with you that a dedicated report for “Duplicates” probably wouldn’t be necessary, it was more to help mods than end users in categorizing (maybe they’re taking a pizza break or somethin’ and they want to go through some easy reports). A lot of the suggestions wouldn’t even apply to most people anyways, kind of just suggestions to clean up a bit. Anyways, thanks for the help :)

And as always, happy cracking

[1.756]

The requirements could easily be met, yes, but that’s precisely the point. They’re not meant to be difficult, again just meant to lengthen the time needed for people to execute scams and minimize their profits more, while not necessarily harming legitimate sellers as they’d only need to do this once. The requirements could be fairly as simple as having had posted something before, just another step for them to have to complete.

I guess that’s sort of the bigger picture of a lot of these, is to make scammers need to work harder to do simple scams, allowing moderators more time to catch them before they exit, and leaving them with less time to make new accounts. Sure, the problem won’t go away, and to be honest the effect could be minimal, but it will prevent completely new accounts from easily scamming one or two people, and then moving on to a new account a few hours later. (Sorry for reviving the thread a bit late I’ve been a bit busy).

If a scammer must submit some threads before they're able to scam, they'll post some random shit for an hour and get back to planning their scam.
A little effort such as posting some threads won't make any dent, and it won't help Staff because all they can (or will) do is check IPs, which takes a minute or so.

Scammers know the community, they've been users before, and they know they can easily exchange reputation points just by being friendly in the shoutbox.
They also know Staff won't investigate scams because, when they aren't overwhelmed by reports, they usually don't go as far as looking into potential scams (example).
It takes time and willpower to get your hands dirty to investigate scammers, and if you also consider the risk of wasting your time, Staff probably benefits more from not doing it.

Besides, some buyers have to wake the fuck up. People fall for get-rich-quick scams and make deals for hundreds or thousands of dollars without using a middleman.
Scammers are aware of it, and they will exploit it to scam as much as possible. There isn't a solution for this, so at the end of the day, it's just a matter of social Darwinism:

Clueless people will get scammed until they evolve into gigachad scam hunters.

[294]

This is a bump