Older Account Deletion

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Diego440

Diego440

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GTP_Diego
Apparently many member of GTP actually register so they can download some video and then disappear, never to come back; but still count as members.

Could there be a rule/system in which if you don't log on with your account in, say three years, you lose said account?

It seems GTP boasts having over 80,000 members, out of which not even 10% are active, but that's another subject, since there are much more lurkers than active users. But this could help other Premium users who want to change their username to get their desired choice.
 
Very nice suggestion.
I was thinking of the same thing the other day; this site doesn't have 80,000+ members...like Diego said, not even a small fraction of those 80k members are logging in regularly.

To me those are not really members.


Ciao!
 
I am completely on board with this idea!
Just take some time to browse through one letter of the member list. How many of those members are active? I bet you could count them on your hands.
 
Indeed -- I would have had a different username if it had not already been taken by someone who still has 0 posts to their name.

Oh well. Even though I have premium, I'm not going to change it now...I've been using this name for too long to do that.
 
too bad GTP is so dictatorial...

I just thought that as a paying member our ideas could be given the proper consideration... or at least a good reason not to, other than Jordan's desires... which is alright, since after all, it is his website.

Oh well
 
Well. Out of ~90,000 members.

# Of users with 1000+ posts: 390 (~0.4%)
# Of users with 500+ posts: 672 (~0.7%)
# Of users with 10 or less posts: 81554 (~90.6%)
# Of users who havn't made a post in the last week: 81437 (~90.4%)

So. I would think GTP might have somewhere between 3,000 to 5,000 active members
 
# Of users with >1 post: ~14,500 (~16.1%)
 
You'll find a similiar active member ratio at almost any free online service which does not delete accounts - many of which don't - for a very good reason. Anyone who has ever attempted to build a serious website knows that getting visitors is one thing, and getting them to come back is certainly another. As the webmaster of a Gran Turismo website, I have the ability to instantly get in touch with more than 80,000 people who most likely have the game(s) and enjoy them enough to look for more information about them on the internet. Most webmasters would kill for that kind of exposure to their target audience, and to get rid of that advantage so a few people can change their username would be nothing short of crazy. I'm sorry if that came across as a bit harsh as I know your username here is very important to many of you, but I have to do what is in the best interest of the site.
 
Jordan has got a fair point :)
And don't forget that some people are New here (me for instance)!!
I'm not flaming, just making a point.:D
 
Diego440
too bad GTP is so dictatorial...

I just thought that as a paying member our ideas could be given the proper consideration... or at least a good reason not to, other than Jordan's desires... which is alright, since after all, it is his website.

Oh well
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Now that's not fair, Diego.

The fact that it was not considered this time it was mentioned does not mean that it has never been considered. If there's something that you've thought about numerous times before, considered carefully, and already have an opinion about, do you repeat the whole excercise if it is suggested to you again? Or do you simply give them the answer you've already thought about?

It's not that your idea is being dismissed out of hand - it's that Jordan has already given it proper consideration, even before you made it.
 
Right... so my bad for not searching beforehand. But still, I knew the idea had been thrown out, but I never saw a good reason to dismiss it other than Jordan saying he didn't want to or saying there was no reason for it.

But I think Jordan's reason for not deleting older accounts is a good one, since it gives more value to the whole site. :) Sorry if it triggered some members arguing about it, though.
 
An idea I had in mind but may not be possible is this.

monster_man gets banned

He makes many new accounts and keeps getting banned.
It'd help stop idiots try to come back to the forum.


Instead you could do this :

monster_man gets banned

He is not longer able to make GTP accounts.
Hope you understand, it's proably not possilbe but an idea

I do agree with deleting accounts which havent logged on for say a year.
 
George Morley
An idea I had in mind but may not be possible is this.

monster_man gets banned

He makes many new accounts and keeps getting banned.
It'd help stop idiots try to come back to the forum.


Instead you could do this :

monster_man gets banned

He is not longer able to make GTP accounts.
Hope you understand, it's proably not possilbe but an idea

I do agree with deleting accounts which havent logged on for say a year.
Click to expand...
There's several people here that were once banned, but turned a new leaf. And for the people like monster_man who make a dozen accounts, those accounts probably have stupid usernames like "aZnDr1f7A" or something that members who've been around for a long time don't want.

Now, I want the username Duck. I tried practically everything to get that name, from offering to buy premium for that username so it would change, to asking it to be completely deleted, to even emailing "Duck"'s email address and asking him if I could buy him premium, and he could change his name. I guess he thought my email was spam, since I didn't get a reply.

IMO, you know who you are, and people anyway call me Duck, not Duċk. Most people call you by your desired username anyway, so, I just let it go and moved on.
 
George Morley
An idea I had in mind but may not be possible is this.

monster_man gets banned

He makes many new accounts and keeps getting banned.
It'd help stop idiots try to come back to the forum.


Instead you could do this :

monster_man gets banned

He is not longer able to make GTP accounts.
Hope you understand, it's proably not possilbe but an idea

I do agree with deleting accounts which havent logged on for say a year.
Click to expand...

We already have something in place just for that. :sly: It is a smart idea though.
 
How come that stupid ace guy made like 10 new accounts then?
Does it just ban them from using it on that computer?
 
George Morley
How come that stupid ace guy made like 10 new accounts then?
Does it just ban them from using it on that computer?
Click to expand...
The mods use the IP ban, which bans your IP address from the site.

However, people can get around that system by going on the computer at the local library, or on a friends computer, etc.
 
A dynamic IP address will also render an IP ban useless.
 
Du&#267
However, people can get around that system by going on the computer at the local library, or on a friends computer, etc.
Click to expand...

Thats so sad, If I was banned I would'nt bother making a new account just to call the Moderators stupid inapropriate names
 
George Morley
Thats so sad, If I was banned I would'nt bother making a new account just to call the Moderators stupid inapropriate names
Click to expand...
Remember, some people are attention-starved 12 year olds, that would normally vandalize the local homes. And those are usually the type of people who get banned.
 
Diego440
Apparently many member of GTP actually register so they can download some video and then disappear, never to come back; but still count as members.
Click to expand...

What if there was a system to prevent people from making one-off accounts for that reason? Say, after 100 posts, you get to have a custom avatar, and get to download content? To be able to take something from this site (downloads), you must contribute something to it first. And spamming for the ability shouldn't be a problem, as 100 posts is not isn't a big deal around here, but is way to much effort for a one-off leech to go through just to nab some free content.

On the issue of inactivity, I've seen some people post here recently that have been inactive for well over a year. Although one of them was skillz, and in three years his post quality has not improved at all.
 
Du&#267
Remember, some people are attention-starved 12 year olds, that would normally vandalize the local homes. And those are usually the type of people who get banned.
Click to expand...
Mentally, if not physically. There are a couple that spring immediately to mind.

Yes, we can do an IP ban. There are ways for some users to get around that, and uncareful use of an IP ban can also catch innocent users sometimes. But we've got even more secret weapons in our 'Area 51' control panel. So secret even we don't know about them.
:p
 
Yeah, but there are tons of members who actually register to be able to leech... not saying leeching is bad, but it's just the lack for a better word. There's no reason to prohibit these people from leeching, especially since you'r already asking them to register and thus, count as a member of the 80,000+ GTP has.

The fact that people would have to have 100 or more posts in order to be able to be able to download stuf off GTP would lead into even more spamming. I'll give you the example of a user whom I won't name, but many people might know who he is.

The user had a problem with his previous account and had to create a new one. In the previous account he had already attained the status of being able to change his avatar and his user title. But of course, having created a new one, he had to reach a certain number of posts to be able to do this again. Well, this user started spamming all over, to the point that he got a couple of warnings from the mods.

I'm sure there is more than one user who is guilty of this; and that's just for a vanity thing as changing avatars or user titles. Imagine how it would be if they wanted to download/access certain parts of GTP.

Does it make sense?

Duke
Yes, we can do an IP ban. There are ways for some users to get around that, and uncareful use of an IP ban can also catch innocent users sometimes.
Click to expand...

On a side note, and completely off-topic, given a scenario where I get an IP ban, would the band also affect anyone else who logs onto GTP from my computer? So if I had a brother who is also a member of GTP and he wanted to log in, since I've been IP banned, he wouldn't be able to?

Damn, sorry for double posting (or not, now), but Duke and I were typing replies at the same time.
 
How many active members are there here? Active in the sense of have logged in in the last 6 months. I know vBulletin has an option to display how many "active" users there are on the board, which you can set in the admin cp along with the cut off date you want to use for inactive members.
 
Duke
Mentally, if not physically. There are a couple that spring immediately to mind.

Yes, we can do an IP ban. There are ways for some users to get around that, and uncareful use of an IP ban can also catch innocent users sometimes. But we've got even more secret weapons in our 'Area 51' control panel. So secret even we don't know about them.
:p
Click to expand...

Oh great, yet another puppy, dead...


Oddly I've been caught by an IP ban on another member before.
 
The idea of deleting member accounts (unless they are spambots) has never been ideal to me, thus i've never done so on any of my forums - i don't actually see the point of doing it on any forum. 👍 People are more likely (i think) to sign up to a place with more members rather than less.
 
Diego440
The fact that people would have to have 100 or more posts in order to be able to be able to download stuf off GTP would lead into even more spamming.
Click to expand...
Perfectly correct!
On a side note, and completely off-topic, given a scenario where I get an IP ban, would the band also affect anyone else who logs onto GTP from my computer? So if I had a brother who is also a member of GTP and he wanted to log in, since I've been IP banned, he wouldn't be able to?
Click to expand...
Yes, the IP ban affects any computer with that IP, so someone else would not be able to log in using it.
 
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