Aggressive or Laid Back?
There are many times I’ve thought of ways a traffic exchange can be cheated, and I wonder: Should I be aggressive against it, or laid back? The reason it is difficult, is most of the time it’s something very few will understand from a technical aspect. Just about every cheat prevention has a drawback. Accessability. If I make it harder to cheat, it’s also harder for some to surf.
It could be the surf images. Wow, no computer could ever auto click those! But then the older folks can’t see the images, or the color blind have trouble seeing them. Then my traffic exchange is “difficult to surf”. The next exchange over doesn’t have these preventative measures, they get labeled as “easy to surf”. People go there, and nobody notices that cheating is going on.
What are your thoughts? I’ve thought about being aggressive, and publishing the cheats and exploits. That way it’s a level playing field. Every exchange then has to find a way to prevent it. Because now it’s public. Now they know about it, and they know the surfers know about it, and they’ll fix it. Then we’ll all be difficult to surf. Heh.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:18 am
I think publishing cheats and exploits is a fantastic idea! It may deter those who are thinking about cheating and let other webmasters know who to look for.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Hi Tim
Personally I like any cheating procedures an owner can possibly do to hinder the cheaters. If it takes a little longer or more difficult to surf, I do not mind. Just let the surfers know what you are doing and reasons for making surfing more difficult.
Cheers!
Tony Tezak
November 11th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I am more laid back, but it might be a good thing to publish the rules. Be as open as you possibly can, tell your members what`s going on and as soon as you think about having to do something that will make it harder to surf, publish it on your blog or send the members an email.
This way they can give you some feedback before you do anything about it.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Hi Tim,
I don’t know the answer to this dilemma. One thing that I don’t think will work is publishing a cheater’s name and exploits.
The reasons for this are:
- Potential cheaters are hardly likely to sign up under their real names.
- If they sign up under someone else’s name or have the same name as someone else, then in some countries there is the potential for a named (innocent) party to take legal action against StartXchange. Even if the action failed, it could give StartXchange and T Es in general a bad press.
- Publishing a cheater’s exploits may give others some ideas on how to cheat a script and although StartXchange may have put in measures to counter a particular cheat technique, other script may be less robust. Again this could lead a loss of confidence in the TE industry.
Just my immediate thoughts.
I am not a TE owner myself, but hope to be in the future.
Regards,
Jeff Henshaw.
November 11th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Tim, you will never completely stamp out the cheats so I think you name and shame and the rest of us can surf as normal.
November 11th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
I’m not thinking about publishing names. I’m thinking of publishing the type of cheats, and how it’s done. Or maybe just hinting at it.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
It has been through my experience as a computer engineer and as a business professional that deterence is the best. Making the the cheaters PUBLIC AND KNOW always works. At first you find 100’s of cheats, and you’ll be surprised who is, but then the true surfers will shine and get the rewards they deserve. The true members will grow as well as the referrals.
November 12th, 2007 at 1:51 am
I am all for any step of bringing out the cheats and stopping them. With anything good, you know there are cheaters lurking. Naming them will be a great step. Start dragging them out of the shadows. Never naming them keeps them safe.