File Spamming Is Way Out of Hand

[Seijin8]

Every single non-blog spot on the front page is occupied by this asshat's Sims files.

Please enforce some kind of behavioral constraints on people who feel the need to do this.  They clearly can't enforce their own.

[Blaze69]

I'm honestly not sure if all those Sims people legit don't know basic forum/upload etiquette such as "mod download pages need proper descriptions and names (and "filename.package" is NOT a proper name)" or "if you have multiple tiny files you post them all together in a single mod page to avoid cluttering the Downloads section", or if they know but still do it regardless just for clout/to try and "push" other modders' content out of the way.

 

But yeah, I do agree some kind of restriction should be applied here. Maybe allow users to report people for "mod-spamming" if they pull stuff like this, and then have them blocked from uploading more files for a few hours/days as punishment. Repeating offenders could end up with longer timeouts or just straight up banned from uploading files altogether if they keep doing it.

[Slorm]

I very much agree with the above posts. This has been getting out of hand for a while and this Sims mod spam just crowds out mods for other games

[LongDukDong]

This was the primary reason for this thread:

 

 

And it was due to a few Sims posters that kept spamming the downloads sections with 'individual' faces of the same basic design rather than making a 'set'  to download.  One of the uploaders claimed he was striving to be an uber-uploader.  For that, I don't think decorum is the issue as it was intent.

 

Of THAT account, I haven't seen any more content.  But this one, nearly 40 posts made, and half are all individual download submissions made within ONLY the past nine hours that I could find within the member's profile.  The person joined February last year... but kickstarted all these uploads just today.

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by LongDukDong

[TheLadysGhost]

Do not read French, so not sure if it is someone advertising their Patreon (very common with TS4) or reposted CC by someone else? I followed a few links, and they go to a Page by Serenity, and a Patreon by same.

[JMTe]

11 hours ago, Seijin8 said:

 

Now that's just too excessive.

[Pamatronic]

13 hours ago, Seijin8 said:

Please enforce some kind of behavioral constraints on people who feel the need to do this.  They clearly can't enforce their own.

+1 on that.

Seriously, this shit is getting ridiculous. Why exactly do we have this one community Rule that goes like "paywalled stuff will be removed"?

I know that that the sims4 section is for some ungodly reason exempt from this Rule, but we are now at the point where some of those monkeys really just abuse this site as a free advertising platform. Those people never engage with the community and ALWAYS just post some stupidly low effort shit with a the note "exclusive on patreon".

just as demonstrated by Seijin8, this shit is getting out of hand. I feel like the new files section looks like this every second day. This must be great for some aspiring new creator who puts some effort into something, just to be swept out of the good visibility area right away by yet another talent less hack abusing the system.

 

I know the moderation team is doing their work on a volunteer base, so I do understand they cant go after every Individual offender, but there are other options to curb this behavior, right?
How about limiting the number of uploads users can make per day?
Or how about adding another report option "upload spamming" to the already existing "excessive bumping".
Or how about enforcing the "no paywalls" rule? that would probably get rid of the worst offenders....

I know we had this topic a few times already, but the problem keeps getting worse. Please Dear staff, don't let this goddam cesspool which is the sims4 "community" ruin this site for everyone else. All the other games adherent do somehow manage to behave themselves, so it can´t be THAT difficult.

 

[Ashal]

I don't think reporting users for upload spamming solves anything. For one, they aren't breaking any rules, just adding content to the site, which is good, they are just going about it in an annoying way that results in some temporary spam.

 

Only thing I can think of is setting some submission guidelines for Sims stuff. But it's going to be difficult to enforce, and wouldn't be retroactive to existing content.

 

Here's my proposal for sims 4 submission guidelines, subject to change and open to suggestion:

 

------------------------------

 

Single object/file submissions are allowed, but MUST have a description and a suitable picture of the object.

• Single file objects submitted without the required description and picture, will be deleted without warning.

If planning to upload many objects/files, they are preferred to be submitted in a collection on the same download page rather than individually. 

• How the collections are submitted is up to the submitter's judgement. For example, they could be submitted in either of these 2 ways:
  1. "Ashal's Sims 4 Objects, Kitchen, Bedroom, Living Room and Beyond!" a single download page for all sims 4 objects by the user.
  2. Or, as multiple more specialized collections, like "Ashal's Sims 4 Kitchen Stuff" and "Ashal's Sims 4 Bedroom Stuff" Each as a separate download page with all their relevant objects uploaded to it.
• When the submitter has a new object to upload, they should upload it to their existing relevant collection.

------------------------------

 

My main concern though is how easy this will be to enforce, and how we would be able to fairly distinguish when a user should and shouldn't be putting things into a collection instead of individual download pages. I'm personally inclined to say that while sometimes spammy, single object uploads in sims 4 are fine, but only if effort is put into giving them a description and a picture.

[davisev5225]

2 hours ago, Pamatronic said:

Or how about enforcing the "no paywalls" rule? that would probably get rid of the worst offenders....

 

 

+1 to this.  I dislike the idea of a single gaming community getting special treatment.  LL doesn't exist as an advertising platform, it exists as a community who plays multiple games.  The advertising for paywall content needs to go.

 

I'm all for voluntary donation stuff, or "here's 3 free textures, but I've got 25 more that you can pay for", but when it's just a screenshot (if even that!) and a link to Patreon or similar, and when only a single subset of the community is allowed to do that, it's frankly insulting.

[Seijin8]

2 hours ago, Pamatronic said:

How about limiting the number of uploads users can make per day?

 

Assuming that can be implimented, it seems the most straightforward fix.  Who really needs to upload more than, say, 3 files a day?  Can always update an existing upload with additional download links, which fits with Ashal's "collections" idea above.

 

Honestly, I don't much care what the solution is, but as others have echoed, this only happens with Sims4 and seems somehow to dodge the site rules that every other game community is adhering to.

[LongDukDong]

To @Ashal.  Thank you for recognizing this issue as you do for others. And I grant you that collections would be a more approved means when posting large quantities of items.

 

Here's the sad part about the 'Collections" argument for this particular case and one of which was taken advantage...  the posts by LaetitiaVendetta were all collections.  So while he/she did make a multitude of posts... an insane number within a span of 8 hours... they were themselves branded as collections. One of which sporting 10 articles of clothing for the youthful bohemian.

 

Granted, all these could be made as one larger collections post rather than individual sets as LV desired.  It's such 'skating the rules' that is an annoyance... using such guidelines to their advantage.

 

(A sample from My History...)

 

Don't bother looking for the links.  It appears that all files under LV's name are now extinct.

 

*waves to the Docta* o/

Edited July 18, 2022 by LongDukDong

[DoctaSax]

24 minutes ago, davisev5225 said:

but when it's just a screenshot (if even that!) and a link to Patreon or similar, and when only a single subset of the community is allowed to do that, it's frankly insulting

 

That type of thing just isn't allowed at all. Should be reported. File pages on LL should either contain a functioning mod file, or a link to a gratis download for the mod the page is for if people prefer to host elsewhere, eg for file size. There is no exception being made for any particular community.

 

Then again, this

 

Quote

voluntary donation stuff, or "here's 3 free textures, but I've got 25 more that you can pay for"

 

is, imo, fine.

 

Coincidentally, the files mentioned in the OP were removed on suspicion of being uploaded without permission.

[Kendo 2]

The whole idea behind file spamming is to knock everyone else off the recently uploaded list and only have your files featured.  It is small-minded and a chickenshit way of participating.  Imagine working on a mod for a month and once you upload it it gets knocked down by 5 consecutive small uploads by the same person that COULD have been one file.  Whoever is doing it, tell them to cut it out; issue resolved and the only one who won't be happy is the one doing the spamming.

[landess]

While the issue goes deeper, the OP mentioned the main page.

 

Is it possible to limit any user to only one mention at a time? Once that gets bumped off the bottom, anymore uploaded would allow the first to display as their one main page mention.

[Crystallia]

The Sims community always had an issue with content being paywalled, to the point that there are sites dedicated to taking that content and putting it up for free download. So, I'm not surprised that there are some people who take advantage of the new files section to get their mods and/or patreon more exposure. I haven't seen this person's uploads myself but this is the second time I have heard of file spamming and for the same game. 

 

I don't know what's up with the Sims 4 community that this needs to be a thing but I haven't seen anything like this for previous Sims game or any other game on this site for that matter.

[TheLadysGhost]

10 hours ago, Kendo 2 said:

The whole idea behind file spamming is to knock everyone else off the recently uploaded list and only have your files featured.  It is small-minded and a chickenshit way of participating.  Imagine working on a mod for a month and once you upload it it gets knocked down by 5 consecutive small uploads by the same person that COULD have been one file.  Whoever is doing it, tell them to cut it out; issue resolved and the only one who won't be happy is the one doing the spamming.

Or, working on something for several months, finally uploading it, and someone posts 15 sets of porn pics that were just downloaded from online, and pasted to a TS4 picture frame?

36 minutes ago, Crystallia said:

The Sims community always had an issue with content being paywalled, to the point that there are sites dedicated to taking that content and putting it up for free download. So, I'm not surprised that there are some people who take advantage of the new files section to get their mods and/or patreon more exposure. I haven't seen this person's uploads myself but this is the second time I have heard of file spamming and for the same game. 

 

I don't know what's up with the Sims 4 community that this needs to be a thing but I haven't seen anything like this for previous Sims game or any other game on this site for that matter.

Actually, just TS4. Those doing TS3, and have Patreon, also have a single page here where they post updates... mostly animators, and those pages don't pop up on the new stuff board when updates are released. You probably won't see the poster in question that the OP mentioned, as DoctaSax said the posts were removed. I followed a link, and it looked as it was just a bunch of reposting of somone else's work, but in French, so I'm not sure. Happens in TS3 to a lesser extent.

[JMTe]

8 minutes ago, TheLadysGhost said:

someone posts 15 sets of porn pics that were just downloaded from online, and pasted to a TS4 picture frame

This especially irks me. 

[pinky6225]

4 hours ago, Crystallia said:

I don't know what's up with the Sims 4 community that this needs to be a thing but I haven't seen anything like this for previous Sims game or any other game on this site for that matter.

 

Would think it has something to do with the popularity of TS4, the TS4 framework has more downloads than the LE/SE framework combined according to the download page (by a couple of mil)

 

So with more peeps using it, is prolly more peeps wanting to monetise

Edited July 18, 2022 by pinky6225

[Kendo 2]

It's odd that the staff will pounce on a signature that's too big (and affects no one) but they'll just shrug at file spamming.  And file spamming does affect the members; whether they're uploading or looking for something worthwhile to download.  It's buried under a pile of low effort mod detritus.

 

I think everyone should start submitting textures in one upload, meshes in another, the esp, the scripts, and so on.  Split up everything that could be in one upload into to several so you can dominate the recent files listing.  Good for the goose, good for the gander.  Give these spam file posters a taste of their own medicine and be as petty as they are.

 

EDIT: 

Edited July 18, 2022 by Kendo 2

[TheLadysGhost]

3 hours ago, Kendo 2 said:

It's odd that the staff will pounce on a signature that's too big

SSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[27X]

On 7/17/2022 at 3:17 PM, Pamatronic said:

some ungodly reason exempt from this Rule

 

Just ban Sims content period, unless it exactly follows the rules.

 

Like the above poster "when I do it it's fine and stunning and brave", when you do it it's [politics]"

Edited July 18, 2022 by 27X

[Gameplayer]

I suppose I could divide up IKAROS Bodyslide for Fallout 4...IKAROS is a RACE not in Fallout 4 so everything has to be fully adapted to it.

Into at least 120 file pages....Maybe more if I then put the 1st person arms (hey armor mod authors rarely make 1st person arms) in other file pages cause it is an upgrade right?

240 file pages...

Then maybe I could do file pages for ESP's adapted for high heel sounds...Maybe get upwards of 300 file pages then.

That would keep my work in the New File section for at least 3 maybe 4 weeks I think.

Finally would get more people using my files right!?

If I tried hard enough I think I could reasonably manage 600 file pages from IKAROS Bodyslide alone and stay withen the current rules.

 

But the complaint is not about the rules per say, but about how the intent of the rules is not being followed and is clearly a sign of abuse.

 

However if one wanted a solution that was not off-putting than the solution would be to create a seperate "New File System" for Sims content.

OR

Create a filter for end-user to literally show only content that pertains to the games they actively use.

So the end-user becomes responsible for removing Sims from the filtered results for new files.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Gameplayer

[LongDukDong]

A solution would be some measure of cooldown timer for download page creation.  And in that, a member could only "CREATE" ... let's say 2 to 3 download pages after something like 12 hours.  If prolific, he or she could create up to six in a day. But would prevent the person from creating a fourth download page immediately, and could act as a warning or reminder not to be a butt-head.

 

This is speculation of course, and I have no knowledge of the mechanics of the Download manager and whether @Ashal could even implement such a feature.  If it can be added, it would be great.  But if it cannot, cest la vie.

 

STILL, the person who triggered this topic and the posts/downloads thus created were removed as they appeared to be someone else's work.  Said poster's 'FILES" now appearing completely empty of content.

Edited July 19, 2022 by LongDukDong

[Gameplayer]

Sim Modder file spam has more to do with the fact that all the other Sim Sites give very small upload file size limits.

Also Sim Mod sites encourage heavily file spam and likely have built their model around that sustaining their website.

 

Sim mods can be merged together and in fact the mods SHOULD be merged together because the game literally craps out if you have way too many "Packages" equal to ESP in TES/Fallout4....But Sim end-user is just as ignorant about modding as most any other modder.

The thing that has prevented Sims 4 mod author from uploading big files is quite literally the model for how Sims4 modding should be done.

Small File size and many many files are encouraged everywhere else except maybe Nexus.

 

Go to any major Sims Mod site, they list their featured Mod Authors....Take any super cool features mod author...Their entire catalog of Outfits could be fit into a single Package File of 1/2Gig-3 Gigs of information....

Downloading that catalog would take days and days.

You could not upload that to same said site as a massive outfit pack but you certainly could upload that to a site like Nexus.

Here on LL you still run into 250Meg limit but could sub divide that into as many zip files as needed.

 

Anyway I am attempting to add context as to why this happens.

[Kendo 2]

8 hours ago, Gameplayer said:

Sim Modder file spam has more to do with the fact that all the other Sim Sites give very small upload file size limits.

Also Sim Mod sites encourage heavily file spam and likely have built their model around that sustaining their website.

 

Sim mods can be merged together and in fact the mods SHOULD be merged together because the game literally craps out if you have way too many "Packages" equal to ESP in TES/Fallout4....But Sim end-user is just as ignorant about modding as most any other modder.

The thing that has prevented Sims 4 mod author from uploading big files is quite literally the model for how Sims4 modding should be done.

Small File size and many many files are encouraged everywhere else except maybe Nexus.

 

Go to any major Sims Mod site, they list their featured Mod Authors....Take any super cool features mod author...Their entire catalog of Outfits could be fit into a single Package File of 1/2Gig-3 Gigs of information....

Downloading that catalog would take days and days.

You could not upload that to same said site as a massive outfit pack but you certainly could upload that to a site like Nexus.

Here on LL you still run into 250Meg limit but could sub divide that into as many zip files as needed.

 

Anyway I am attempting to add context as to why this happens.

 

I'm trying to get this very thing happening over at NSFWMods.  Multiple files on ONE PAGE.  No one needs 5 consecutive  uploads.  Put all that shit one one page with 5 files.