Blocking Tactics

[nels0nmac]

A thought occured to me earlier today and I was wondering whether my idea is actually feasable.
We all know that sniping occurs and most of us have probably had it done to them, I certainly have. For most people, such as myself, we have learned to accept that it is just another part of this site and an inevitable part of a public voting system. Some of the newbies however do find it very frustrating and it may even put some people off.

So the question is, with computers these days is it possible to identify the IP address of someone who does snipe and then block that IP from access to the site?

I do realise that even by suggesting this I do open myself up to being more of a target to those numpties who indulge in sniping, but hey ho shit happens.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Your question does seem to have a valid point, however I would ask what would you define as Sniping.
Voting a 1 for a model? Voting a series of 1's?
Or consistantly voting lower than the current score of a model, because there are some people who will honestly vote below a model current score for valid reasons.

To be honest in my view the voting system was set up with an expectation that people would be genuine and not assholes.

 

[nels0nmac]

Voting lower than the current score of the mini is a valid way of voting if, say you see something that is at 8 and you honestly reckon it is only worth 6. I have done that myself and I am sure it has been done to me to. That I don't have a problem with.The sniping that I had in mind was the numpties who go through the system voting 1's for everything.

To be honest in my view the voting system was set up with an expectation that people would be genuine and not assholes.

A nice expectation to have, but I fear one that is sadly somewhat optimistic given human nature. There will always be saints and sinners and everyone else inbetween.

 

[Chern Ann]

People who go through the system voting a series of 1s tend not to affect the system. At all.

 

[PegaZus]

People who go through the system voting a series of 1s tend not to affect the system. At all.

Ah. So, I should start sniping all 2's then?

Kidding of course. I vote before looking at the current score. Then occasionally have to go back and see why my vote was so different than the average.

 

[nels0nmac]

People who go through the system voting a series of 1s tend not to affect the system. At all.

Having talked with a couple of friends regarding that there is an argument that says that it could in theory make a difference. The theory goes on the basis that whilst the regular CMoN members will not look at the rating when they vote ( or at least disregard it) the majority of casual voters can and are swayed by what the vote is.

An example:-
1.A mini has 10 votes that has averaged 8.0. So the voters who are not sure about the mini being a 7 or an 8 look at the score and go 'well everyone else has voted 8 so it might as well be a 8 from me'
2. Along comes your numptie who votes 1 for everything. The rating drops from 8.0 to 7.4.( Be unfortunate enough to be struck by 2 numpties in short order and the rating drops to 6.9.)
3. The voter who wasn't sure about a 7 or 8 now looks at the 7.4 and may think well it's closer to 7 so that'll be my choice. Thus the rating of the mini may be reduced by up to 1 point .

In the long term.... months after the initial 50 votes have passed the score may drift up slightly, but if the theory is correct it will still probably be lower than if the vote of 1 had not been cast.

Now I picked the score of 8 because being above or below does actually have some importance these days. Previously it was just a score but nowadays an 8.0 or above does mean that you get the chance to be included in the CMoN annual. Which is to most people a fantastic opportunity to see their mini in print, and probably the only opportunity unless they win at a GD or similar competition.

Of course proving this theory would require quite a lot of planning and time to test out..... any budding psychologists willing to take up the challenge LOL

 

[No Such Agency]

Now I picked the score of 8 because being above or below does actually have some importance these days. Previously it was just a score...

/Ties onion to belt

As I recall, back in the day, the 8 score was sort of viewed as that which separated the boys and girls from the men and women But maybe that was all just in my head, it's happened before

 

[bsop]

So after 50 votes, your concerned with someone voting a 1 and costing a few tenths of a point? Yes, it could be frustrating... but as soon as you get beyond 20 or 30 votes... those outliers no longer really effect the mean score of the model; at least not significantly.

For example: if 50 votes are cast with a mean of "8.0", having the 51st vote as a "1" would only drop the score to "7.86". It is a drop indeed... but still an "8.0" in my book, and certainly not something that would keep me up at night. I would be more inclined to say that the effort needed to put a voting filter in place may not be worth the trouble, filtering out IP addresses etc could get messy. What if there is an accidental "1" vote put in by a misplaced click? Ban him for life, never to return to the voting booth.


But of course there is the much simpler way of looking at this whole conundrum: If these people are just going through the system voting low balls.... then it seems everyone is pretty equally affected by it, or have the potential to be eventually. If you want to have more votes on your figure to offset a few malcontents- start a submission thread.

 

[nels0nmac]

@Bsop. The concern is not so much the 1 that is sniped after 50 or so votes; which as you point out does not have that much affect, but the 1 that is cast early on which can reduce the score by a fair margin by being cast and possibly affect what people vote afterwards - as per my example. A possible way around that would be to hide the scores until a certain number of votes had been cast ( assuming of course that it does actually have an effect).

I do not propose striking off people who vote the odd 1, as i said earlier

The sniping that I had in mind was the numpties who go through the system voting 1's for everything.

 

[cyberakuma]

seriously does the score matter that much?

 

[nels0nmac]

seriously does the score matter that much?

In the grand scheme of things... no it doesn't but, although I haven't personally been aware of it there are some regulars on here who have noticed that some people have got so hacked off with the sniping that they have packed up their bags and moved on. I don't know how prevelant this is, maybe only one or two people, maybe more?

If there are people packing up and moving away you could argue that they shouldn't be so sensitive about the score and accept the way of things, but it seems sad that we should be denied seeing what they can do because of ingrates who abuse the system.

 

[10 ball]

Now I understand why my minis have been getting 6.5, they should of been 9.5 but i've Obviously been sniped

 

[supervike]

/Ties onion to belt

Why did that make me snort?

 

[funnymouth]

nelsonmac actually has a decent point. the idea that 1s will average away is dependant on the assumption that each vote is an independent data point. with a displayed score potentially influencing subsequent voting, that is clearly not the case. maybe a hidden score should be the default for browsing & mandatory for non registered voters? of course, its not a real fix, but maybe its a small improvement to the voting system.

 

[Stilton]

Its sad to see that without consequences, no matter where you go..
Some people revert to being kids.


Its all down to having some sort of consequence to going through and hitting 1 on every model but their own..
If there is no reward for civility.. There's no need for it. No need for it all!!

Seriously though this topic doesnt affect me in the slightest, ive made one mini.. Nobody's ever going to get to see it, other than me. Because its bad.

 

[10 ball]

Seriously though this topic doesnt affect me in the slightest, ive made one mini.. Nobody's ever going to get to see it, other than me. Because its bad.

Make another, then another, then show us

 

[JesterzUSMC]

Honestly, this is one big reason why I stopped posting pics.
one or two, less than desirable people voting ones.
I don't even vote anywhere near as much, I view them, and occasionally will add a vote to pieces.
But on the whole, I really only come here for the forums anymore.

 

[vincegamer]

So the question is, with computers these days is it possible to identify the IP address of someone who does snipe and then block that IP from access to the site?

It's possible, but in Europe and Canada it's illegal.
At least, if you do it without clear consent - which is probably more than just the click-through user agreement when you register on the site.
IP addresses are considered personally identifying information in those countries.
In the US an IP address is only considered private information - which still means for anyone besides the website host you signed up for to get it they would need a subpoena from a court.

 

[Stilton]

There's no law anywhere stopping the administrators of the site from implementing a restriction to -their- website via some sort of IP based critera of their choosing...

That's been happening since people have been renting/buying websites, game servers and golf courses