Chat Traps to Avoid

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

Hi kids!  Ever wonder how you can get away with typing whatever you want in the Tanki chat box?  I sure have!  And after toiling for hours in front of my computer, studying the dark art of illegal chatting, I have the answer!

 

YOU CAN’T!!!

 

I have been on Tanki for about six months, and I have seen some pretty sick and twisted attempts to dodge the website’s built-in safeguards.  Like the designers of all reputable internet gathering places, Tanki’s showrunners have done their best to make the site a clean, safe place for tankers of all ages to relax and enjoy themselves.  Chat boxes and forums are carefully filtered by a spell checker and a spam blocker, and where those programs fail, the moderators and administrators are always around to ensure the time you spend on Tanki is as pleasant as can be.

 

But, despite the fact that these safeguards exist and remain consistently effective, there are still a few less-than-innocent tankers who seem to have nothing better to do than abuse the chat box.  They are not very creative, usually repeating something they saw sometanki else type, and they rarely last a minute before they are noticed by a moderator, who then delivers a swift and reasonable consequence.

 

I want to highlight the most common actions of the “chat chumps”, as we call them around here, and emphasize the importance of keeping your text innocent and courteous.

 

1.)    Abbreviating dirty words and phrases.

 

Humans have an odd vocabulary.  I had never heard such words until we got internet, and I was puzzled when I saw some of the things tankers were saying in the chat box.  I asked Luna what they meant, and she told me not to worry myself with it.  Hey, I always do what my princesses say.  Even if that means wearing a kangaroo costume.  Don’t ask, just keep reading.

 

The spell check that Tanki uses to filter its chat box is very well made, but it is not omniscient.  Tankers bent on breaking the rules can abbreviate unkind text and get it onscreen undetected.  This boggles me to no end.  Why in Equestria would they want to post such pointless and destructive sentences?  Because it amuses them?  Well, I certainly hope that a month-long ban amuses them as well, because there’s always a moderator a few clicks away, and, while a tanker may get away with dirty language once or twice, justice always catches up with them.

 

2.)    Flooding and Spamming

 

Honestly, how is typing the letter “M” over and over again a fun way to waste the day?  With all the exciting battles unfolding around you, I would think you could find something better to do with yourself.  It is nothing more than a nuisance and an invitation for a ban.

 

ALSO!  I wanted to throw this in while I’m on the subject.  I have been banned once, for a day, because I broke a rule I was not aware existed.  Typing a long, uninterrupted string of posts in the forum is also considered flooding.  I did this in the Ideas and Suggestions page about a week ago.  I had just discovered the page and was SO EXCITED to find an outlet for my ideas, but I mistakenly thought that each idea required its own separate post.  So I made six posts in six minutes.  Our good buddy 1stwhitesuperdragon tried to warn me, but I thought he was just another chat chump and ignored him.  *KERBLAM*, out the window went my perfect record.  I appreciate your attempts to warn me, superdragon.  HOWEVER, I do not appreciate your ever-present rebuttals to the ideas I posted.  I looked for your name in the list of tankers who run the Ideas page, and, I might be mistaken, but I’m pretty sure your name wasn’t on there, which leads me to believe that your sneers carry exactly zero weight.  May I suggest that you try suggesting your own ideas instead of piling on mine?  I promise I won’t treat you the way you treated me.  Cross my heart and hope to fly, jam a cupcake in my eye!

 

My apologies for the detour.  Where was I?

 

3.)    Exchanging and transferring accounts

 

I’m the most spoiled changeling in the Equestrian Empire.  I have so many friends; it’s just not even funny.  If I ever got tired of being sonofchrysalis3, which I don’t see happening, I would simply give my account to a friend.  But maybe you don’t have a friend to give your account to.  That does not mean you should go to the chat box and ask if sometanki wants a free account.  This is one type of violation that the automatic filters almost always catch instantly.  You should never offer your account to someone, especially if you have purchased crystals, because in order to transfer the account, you have to give them both you email address and password.  Your email can then be hacked, or worse, your credit card or PayPal account can be compromised.  In the end, you’ll wish you had let your Tanki profile sit in dormancy.

 

4.)    Offers of free crystals or score boosters

 

This is the same as email phishing.  A chat chump goes on the chat box and asks if anytanki wants free crystals or rank-ups.  Tankers who say “yes” are then asked for their password and email.  Seasoned tankers see through the ploy immediately, but newcomers, not yet used to how Tanki works, can be too trusting and give up their account.  If it sounds too be good to be true, it usually is.

 

I have done my best to emphasize the danger of being banned as a result of breaking the rules of common courtesy and decency that Tanki established and tirelessly enforces.  But I still get replies from tankers I’ve warned, usually saying something like, “Well, I don’t really care, Stratus.  Tanki can ban me if they want to.”  You don’t care, eh?  Then why are you even on this site?  That’s like saying you can’t stand salad, even as you are chomping through an acre field full of lettuce.

 

The mindset of such tankers concerns me greatly.  Breaking rules and getting away with it, albeit briefly, desensitizes people and ponies to the gravity of the damage they’re causing, meaning they’re more likely to break more rules, even beyond Tankionline.  As Princess Celestia once told me, if you continue an action, you develop a habit.  Continue a habit, and you develop a lifestyle.  Continue a lifestyle, and you develop a destiny.  Please, my friends, don’t destine yourselves to a lifetime of penalties more serious than anything on Tanki.  Treat everypony with the respect and grace that your kindness and common sense urges you to.

Edited February 29, 2016 by sonofchrysalis3

[DarkOperative 5,580]

This is a great review on Tanki's chat-moderation system and a great piece of advice. The title of the topic, however, drags you away to something known as 'bypassing a ban' kind of subject. If you had succeeded in figuring a way out and had disclosed it in a public place such as this forum, you would have gotten a ban for 'attempts to bypass a ban'. I'd say you should read the rules a couple of times to get fully aware about the outcomes of certain 'unexpected' things. :)

---

Title temporarily edited, if you wish to change it please PM me or any other forum moderator. ;)

[Miranda_Sings 1]

lol mac book users can press option and type, allowing them to use similiar symbols to letters to replace letters in vulgar language...

 

 

 

as you can see, F O C B A and T are very similar to there regular version. 

 

Im not sure if this is an appropriate place to put this, but im just throwing it out there.

[IVIr.Catalyst 1,035]

Ever tried applying to be a Reporter.I bet you will make a good reporter cause I have read a couple of your articles and damn they are awesome. :)  :)

[Kevred 1,586]

lol mac book users can press option and type, allowing them to use similiar symbols to letters to replace letters in vulgar language...

 

 

as you can see, F O C B A and T are very similar to there regular version. 

 

Im not sure if this is an appropriate place to put this, but im just throwing it out there.

Miranda! What have you done! 

 

Everyone save yourselves!

[pizzaslad 471]

 about a week ago.  

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry. I had to

 

 

 

  That’s like saying you can’t stand salad, even as you are chomping through an acre field full of lettuce.

 

 

@pizzaslad Lol

                      -------

[S.C.Y.T.H.E 1,072]

 

How does one type with hooves BTW?

Edited June 19, 2015 by S.C.Y.T.H.E

[Kevred 1,586]

'How good is chat system in TO' Chat system? What chat system? Sending one word every 10 seconds because of a rather annoying timer isn't called chatting...

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Precisely written, chrysalis! Your articles are just getting better and better! I'm positive you could get selected as reporter if you applied! :)

Keep it up! I'm waiting for more fantastic masterpieces from you!

[dilsharox 2,395]

is this some sort of guide?

[golden5648 1,686]

lol mac book users can press option and type, allowing them to use similiar symbols to letters to replace letters in vulgar language...

 

 

as you can see, F O C B A and T are very similar to there regular version. 

 

Im not sure if this is an appropriate place to put this, but im just throwing it out there.

Hhaha, seriously.  I have seen some people type the "f" word making the "f" italic. They make it like this ƒ. Sometimes they make the "c" like ç.

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

 

How does one type with hooves BTW?

Earths and Pegasi use a pencil or a stick to push keys.  Unicorns simply use their magic.  Why?  How do humans type? :huh:

And how in Equestria did you get this picture?! :blink:

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

Precisely written, chrysalis! Your articles are just getting better and better! I'm positive you could get selected as reporter if you applied! :)

Keep it up! I'm waiting for more fantastic masterpieces from you!

Thanks a bundle, buddy.  I'm so thrilled with the positive feedback I've been getting to my articles.  My dream job is professional writing, specifically for human television, but I'm pretty sure that my applying for the reporter position would be turned down quickly, since I was once banned for flooding on the forum, then I incorrectly named this very article when I first posted it.  I don't believe I'm worthy of the job, and I think the ones in charge would agree :(.  I kind of wanted to try it, but I guess I blew my chance :(.  I should have devoted more time to studying the rules.

Oh, great, now I'm starting to cry.

[Lhamster 4,081]

Edited March 31, 2016 by Lhamster

[S.C.Y.T.H.E 1,072]

Earths and Pegasi use a pencil or a stick to push keys.  Unicorns simply use their magic.  Why?  How do humans type? :huh:

And how in Equestria did you get this picture?! :blink:

Humans have these strange fleshy rods attached to their limbs that they use to manipulate these blasted pieces of machinery called-- (gasp) keyboards.

How did I get that picture? 

I'll never tell you  :ph34r:

[GoldRock 6,165]

Great read - you have me absolutely converted as a regular reader of yours, looking forward to your next piece.
 

A single ban really isn't much, I highly doubt it would affect you becoming a reporter, I really like your writing, please do apply!

Seconded... As long as you're generally mature, then karma isn't much of an issue. It's the week and month bans for serious reasons such as profanity or insults which would be held against you, not minor punishments for flooding!

Edited June 19, 2015 by GoldRock

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

Humans have these strange fleshy rods attached to their limbs that they use to manipulate these blasted pieces of machinery called-- (gasp) keyboards.

How did I get that picture? 

I'll never tell you  :ph34r:

Dude, that is all kinds of creepy.

[Miranda_Sings 1]

Hhaha, seriously.  I have seen some people type the "f" word making the "f" italic. They make it like this ƒ. Sometimes they make the "c" like ç.

yep. those people are most likely macbook users... I used to have a macbook air, lets just say it wasnt difficult to break some of the rules (not saying I did lol)

[golden5648 1,686]

yep. those people are most likely macbook users... I used to have a macbook air, lets just say it wasnt difficult to break some of the rules (not saying I did lol)

:lol:

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Thanks a bundle, buddy.  I'm so thrilled with the positive feedback I've been getting to my articles.  My dream job is professional writing, specifically for human television, but I'm pretty sure that my applying for the reporter position would be turned down quickly, since I was once banned for flooding on the forum, then I incorrectly named this very article when I first posted it.  I don't believe I'm worthy of the job, and I think the ones in charge would agree :(.  I kind of wanted to try it, but I guess I blew my chance :(.  I should have devoted more time to studying the rules.

Oh, great, now I'm starting to cry.

Aw.. don't worry. Like Lham or Goldy said, a single ban isn't going to do much. As long as you're, *ahem* showing maturity now and you've not banned for a month or something, you're very much in the reckoning for the reporter status.

 

PS Please use a smaller font size next time, it looks more professional :P

[GoldRock 6,165]

...you've not banned for a month or something...

That only comes into play if the ban's serious - anything up to a day ban for a minor reason such as flood would really make no difference to your chances of success in a staff application.

[Ambitious 2,084]

One of the best articles I ever read!!

[DarkOperative 5,580]

Titled edited as per request

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

thanks