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16 Jun 2005, 03:16
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#1
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Caveat Lector
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Posts: 3,038
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Gimmick Accounts
I've noticed a recent resurgence in highly suspect new GD members. In truth I find it difficult to believe it that the GD member count would increase given Planetarion's and netgamers continual decline (in users - not quality). Of course I haven't seen the stats on that so maybe the userbase is not declining - but we all know it's not what it once was. Not saying it's impossible that new people might show up, just saying that maybe we need to devise a crucible to which we subject new members in order to gauge their authenticity. Trial by fire, test their mettle, etc.
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16 Jun 2005, 03:23
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#2
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Clerk
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 13,940
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Well, it depends. With certain posters it's credible they stumbled across the forums through a search, or by a link from a friend.
Generally, it's easy to spot a gimmick :
1. They'll be much much more active than a "normal" new user.
2. There posts will be directed towards specific members of the community for no good reason. Use of other forum member's nicks is a bit suspicious. Most new users can't tell one user from another at first.
3. There'll have a specific obsession which will often be reflected in their nick.
4. They'll have the same typing style as Kura
5. They'll be unnecessarily shit / controversial and try to spin out at least one (very active) thread focused on them.
6. They'll ask frankly redundant questions, esp about forum users or history which no-one is really interested in, let alone new users.
I'd say we've not had many lately, not counting the spambots which the mods delete quite quickly.
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16 Jun 2005, 03:24
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#3
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Drink is Good
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,122
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
it once was, yes but there was an increase during r11 and r12 and there was a bare minimal decline in r13 which has just finished
__________________
Can we please have a moment of silence...........
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16 Jun 2005, 07:08
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#4
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:alpha:
Join Date: May 2002
Location: London, UK
Posts: 7,871
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I've only ever had one gimmick account
Mr. Off-Topic!
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"There is no I in team, but there are two in anal fisting"
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16 Jun 2005, 08:20
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#5
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Has Soup On His Head
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 10,095
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante Hicks
Well, it depends. With certain posters it's credible they stumbled across the forums through a search, or by a link from a friend.
Generally, it's easy to spot a gimmick :
1. They'll be much much more active than a "normal" new user.
2. There posts will be directed towards specific members of the community for no good reason. Use of other forum member's nicks is a bit suspicious. Most new users can't tell one user from another at first.
3. There'll have a specific obsession which will often be reflected in their nick.
4. They'll have the same typing style as Kura
5. They'll be unnecessarily shit / controversial and try to spin out at least one (very active) thread focused on them.
6. They'll ask frankly redundant questions, esp about forum users or history which no-one is really interested in, let alone new users.
I'd say we've not had many lately, not counting the spambots which the mods delete quite quickly.
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TBH , I create one off gimmick accounts which have a single specific topic or joke which they relate to. Inevitably, these last less than 24 hours because I dont actually tell my fellow mods its me, as not only would that ruin the effect, itd be a whole lot less funny since they wouldnt argue with the gimmick.
(and i havent created one in months and months and ..... actually, I thought about creating one yesterday, but CBA)
__________________
And the Banker, inspired with a courage so new
It was matter for general remark,
Rushed madly ahead and was lost to their view
In his zeal to discover the Snark
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16 Jun 2005, 08:25
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#6
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Bored
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Nottm ->Shef ->Croydon ->Manc ->Durham ->Sheffield
Posts: 6,506
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I haven't seen any gimmick accounts recently
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16 Jun 2005, 09:17
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#7
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The Twilight of the Gods
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,481
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomkat
I've only ever had one gimmick account
Mr. Off-Topic!
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You're me?
That explains a lot.
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16 Jun 2005, 09:23
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#8
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Bored
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Nottm ->Shef ->Croydon ->Manc ->Durham ->Sheffield
Posts: 6,506
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
no - you were that other one - MrPedantic
Mr Off-Topic is MM
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16 Jun 2005, 18:37
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 940
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
You could have at least named names.
I have no idea who you are talking about, haven't noticed any insurge of new accounts.
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16 Jun 2005, 18:45
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#10
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Mr. Ensign
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 19
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I agree with MrPeach. Please elaborate on this issue.
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16 Jun 2005, 18:53
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#11
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J to the C to the A G E
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Scúnthorpe
Posts: 5,583
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I've had a couple of gimmick accounts in the past, but I can't remember what any of them were.
I only ever made one post and got immediately embarassed anyway.
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16 Jun 2005, 18:56
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#12
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Clerk
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 13,940
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPeach
You could have at least named names.
I have no idea who you are talking about, haven't noticed any insurge of new accounts.
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Since he's been banging on about DDA in two seperate threads it's not that difficult.
Unless you were being sarcastic in which case I'm sorry.
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16 Jun 2005, 19:05
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#13
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Gone
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 14,656
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I'm Tomkat?!
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16 Jun 2005, 19:18
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#14
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I am.
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,580
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I wish I was you
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hi
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16 Jun 2005, 20:48
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#15
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4 5 6
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 168
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
omg s|k is a gimmick lolz
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16 Jun 2005, 21:01
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#16
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Powering your life...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Dublin
Posts: 400
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
This supports my brand-new, tastier than ever, improved recipe theory that Sunday was in fact JJ's alter-ego....
__________________
Reality is only a perception.
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16 Jun 2005, 22:02
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#17
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share the <3
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Location: Location:
Posts: 2,709
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Actually Mr Thermodynamics i haven't seen you around before and your noob reg date makes me believe you are infact a gimmick, as is onetwothree and alki.
Never trust a foreigner.
__________________
Sophie is hotter than you
though ive gone off her now; the way Susanna Reid squirms around on sml is, however, awesome
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16 Jun 2005, 22:09
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#18
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I am.
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,580
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
oh i love this
we all start accusing eachother of being gimmick accounts
It's like going to one of the 'murder mystery weekends' hosted by scope.
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hi
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16 Jun 2005, 22:12
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#19
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share the <3
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Location: Location:
Posts: 2,709
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
When you came back to GD after a two year hiatus i thought you were sword incognito.
Edit
I have no idea why sword would be you incognito but thats the level of paranoia now
__________________
Sophie is hotter than you
though ive gone off her now; the way Susanna Reid squirms around on sml is, however, awesome
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16 Jun 2005, 22:19
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#20
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Twisted
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Down with the sickness
Posts: 2,484
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
After all this time I am going to have to admit it..................
The Sarina_Joy account is and always has been a gimmick :(((((((((((((((((((((((
The gimmick is based upon the character 'Serena Joy' from the novel 'The Handmaids Tale' by Margaret Atwood. I apologise to those to all those who have chatted with, and grown to love, the gimmickbot known as 'Sarina' on irc.
Signing off.
Account owner: Swissrebel
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Me
In my sleep I grind my teeth.
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16 Jun 2005, 22:21
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#21
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Guest
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarina_Joy
After all this time I am going to have to admit it..................
The Sarina_Joy account is and always has been a gimmick ((((((((((((((((((((((
The gimmick is based upon the character 'Serena Joy' from the novel 'The Handmaids Tale' by Margaret Atwood. I apologise to those to all those who have chatted with, and grown to love, the gimmickbot known as 'Sarina' on irc.
Signing off.
Account owner: Swissrebel
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i'm sorry, i'm so sorry
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16 Jun 2005, 22:29
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#22
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Twisted
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Down with the sickness
Posts: 2,484
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Give me children, or else I die. Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Behold my maid Bilhah. She shall bear fruit upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
__________________
Me
In my sleep I grind my teeth.
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16 Jun 2005, 22:37
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#23
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Henry Kelly
Join Date: Apr 2000
Posts: 7,374
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
hi i'm deerbarn
__________________
You're now playing ketchup
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16 Jun 2005, 22:43
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#24
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Powering your life...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Dublin
Posts: 400
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nusselt
Actually Mr Thermodynamics i haven't seen you around before and your noob reg date makes me believe you are infact a gimmick, as is onetwothree and alki.
Never trust a foreigner.
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A true liar never confesses his crime.
__________________
Reality is only a perception.
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16 Jun 2005, 22:44
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#25
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Powering your life...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Dublin
Posts: 400
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
How could you accuse me Nusslet *sob*
You know I never would do a thing like that....
__________________
Reality is only a perception.
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16 Jun 2005, 23:11
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#26
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USS Oklahoma
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,500
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Did you ever consider that maybe everyone is Yahwe and that he just has multiple personalities and is talking to himself?
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16 Jun 2005, 23:16
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#27
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Twisted
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Down with the sickness
Posts: 2,484
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
No......... but that thought terrifies me.
I shall have nightmares tonight while I'm in bed with one of Yahwe's other alter egos
:eek: :eek:
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Me
In my sleep I grind my teeth.
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16 Jun 2005, 23:24
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#28
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Gone
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 14,656
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by pablissimo
hi i'm deerbarn
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Pab needs therapy.
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16 Jun 2005, 23:38
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#29
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I am.
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,580
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by dda
Did you ever consider that maybe everyone is Yahwe and that he just has multiple personalities and is talking to himself?
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yes i did.
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hi
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16 Jun 2005, 23:43
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#30
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Gone
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 14,656
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I'm not inside Yahwe. How queer!
'ere, where's me washboard?
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17 Jun 2005, 01:36
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#31
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I dunno...
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: manchester
Posts: 1,502
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
It's all a SHAM.
__________________
He shall drink naught but brine, for I'll not show him / Where the quick freshes are.
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17 Jun 2005, 02:31
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#32
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Gone
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 14,656
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boogster
It's all a SHAM.
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SilverSmoke's supposed hetrosexuality?
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17 Jun 2005, 04:57
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#33
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share the <3
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Location: Location:
Posts: 2,709
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
was/is vermillion a gimmick? dante and others alluded to it but i never figured it out, someone pm me the answer.
__________________
Sophie is hotter than you
though ive gone off her now; the way Susanna Reid squirms around on sml is, however, awesome
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17 Jun 2005, 08:13
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#34
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.
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 3,382
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
why pm?!
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17 Jun 2005, 10:43
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#35
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Next goal wins!
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: London
Posts: 5,406
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nusselt
was/is vermillion a gimmick? dante and others alluded to it but i never figured it out, someone pm me the answer.
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i don't think so, he seemed too knowledgeable in areas others weren't.
although, to be fair, i never actually checked any of the stuff he posted about, so he could have just been talking complete bollocks.
P.S im Saytan, come to take revenge after my channel four forum was destroyed
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bastard bastard bastard bastard
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17 Jun 2005, 10:52
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#36
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Lord Denning
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: City of London
Posts: 2,548
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I've never had a gimmick account, and since a collection of gimmicks seems to be necessary to be a GD poster I suspect I may in fact be a gimmick account myself. Now all I have to do is work out whose imagination I am a figment of.
__________________
Please bear in mind when reading the above post that I am always right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marilyn Manson
He was crowned in York Cathedral as 'Expert in the West' by Pope Urban III in 1186.
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17 Jun 2005, 17:15
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#37
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Black Power MotherF*ckas!
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: JAPAN
Posts: 1,812
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante Hicks
Well, it depends. With certain posters it's credible they stumbled across the forums through a search, or by a link from a friend.
Generally, it's easy to spot a gimmick :
1. They'll be much much more active than a "normal" new user.
2. There posts will be directed towards specific members of the community for no good reason. Use of other forum member's nicks is a bit suspicious. Most new users can't tell one user from another at first.
3. There'll have a specific obsession which will often be reflected in their nick.
4. They'll have the same typing style as Kura
5. They'll be unnecessarily shit / controversial and try to spin out at least one (very active) thread focused on them.
6. They'll ask frankly redundant questions, esp about forum users or history which no-one is really interested in, let alone new users.
I'd say we've not had many lately, not counting the spambots which the mods delete quite quickly.
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I touched on all 6 of these points when I first came to GD. and I'm not gimmick.*
*Or am I.
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Ascendancy
When Doves Cry
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17 Jun 2005, 17:18
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#38
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cynic
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Bishop Auckland Co. Durham
Posts: 8,809
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
vermillion wasn't a gimmick i believe
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lazy
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17 Jun 2005, 17:47
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#39
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Clerk
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 13,940
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I never said Vermillion was a gimmick. I said that I would have kept an open mind how true some (and only some) of the things he posted were.
I also said it didn't matter one bit or affect the quality of his posts.
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17 Jun 2005, 17:48
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#40
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cynic
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Bishop Auckland Co. Durham
Posts: 8,809
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nusselt
was/is vermillion a gimmick? dante and others alluded to it but i never figured it out, someone pm me the answer.
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sorry, i was answering this post dante... must have missed yours
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lazy
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18 Jun 2005, 10:09
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#41
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Caveat Lector
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Posts: 3,038
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Yeah okay so how would someone find their way to GD? Probably by playing PA. I see that as a pretty much the only way into these forums. Any web link to these forums or google searches would probably have been browser game related. At least in America, where Planetarion is all but unknown, especially to legal professionals with twenty years of education and a government billet. Don't be so damned gullible.
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18 Jun 2005, 10:36
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#42
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Clerk
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 13,940
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by s|k
Yeah okay so how would someone find their way to GD? Probably by playing PA. I see that as a pretty much the only way into these forums. Any web link to these forums or google searches would probably have been browser game related. At least in America, where Planetarion is all but unknown, especially to legal professionals with twenty years of education and a government billet. Don't be so damned gullible.
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I'm all for suspicion (see my first posts on the subject), but going on about is pretty dull. Especially when you make remarks like "no-one calls them interstates!" only to be disproved by other Americans almost immediately.
But anyway, the Google page rank is a mysterious thing. At one point searching for "Dante Hicks" (a character in a reasonably popular movie and subsequent TV series) brought up my profile before anything else. So someone searching for that would come here before anywhere else. Now, I'm not even on the first page of resuts.
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18 Jun 2005, 10:50
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#43
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mmm.. pills
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,152
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
s|k, Planetarion is better known than you give it credit for. 5 years is a reasonable time to gain status. It didn't even need that long, I'd rate the first 2 years of it's operation as its most popular.
It's also got a huge demographic of players & visitors. You'd be surprised at just how far the game has spread. When I had the privilige of being a in-game mod I was surprised even at not only the number of players from the same country, but even in my local, middle of no-where and certainly anti-geek own town.
Also, web forums & blogs are immensly popular these days. They draw all crowds, anyone that's been a part of any such community realises this. It's not specific to this board but elsewhere as well, but GD certainly isn't focused around the game in anyway, that was half the point of naming it General Discussion in the first place. It's linked to by popular sites, web blogs, other major forums, and other such communities. You don't have to be googling for Planetarion to stumble upon it.
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18 Jun 2005, 11:55
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#44
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Powering your life...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Dublin
Posts: 400
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by djbass
s|k, Planetarion is better known than you give it credit for. 5 years is a reasonable time to gain status. It didn't even need that long, I'd rate the first 2 years of it's operation as its most popular.
It's also got a huge demographic of players & visitors. You'd be surprised at just how far the game has spread. When I had the privilige of being a in-game mod I was surprised even at not only the number of players from the same country, but even in my local, middle of no-where and certainly anti-geek own town.
Also, web forums & blogs are immensly popular these days. They draw all crowds, anyone that's been a part of any such community realises this. It's not specific to this board but elsewhere as well, but GD certainly isn't focused around the game in anyway, that was half the point of naming it General Discussion in the first place. It's linked to by popular sites, web blogs, other major forums, and other such communities. You don't have to be googling for Planetarion to stumble upon it.
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Agreed, though I must admit I found my way here after i stopped playing PA for a bit, I'm sure I wasn't the only one.
__________________
Reality is only a perception.
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18 Jun 2005, 12:20
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#45
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Ajaj Kapten!
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Sweden
Posts: 638
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Is it important?
Does it matter if the people you are talking to are gimmickaccounts? If the person who created the account actually can keep separate styles, then bravo!
Will it hurt anyones feelings?
__________________
Godwin's Law prov. [Usenet] "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one." There is a tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin's Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups. However there is also a widely- recognized codicil that any intentional triggering of Godwin's Law in order to invoke its thread-ending effects will be unsuccessful.
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18 Jun 2005, 15:36
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#46
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I am.
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,580
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
and they say that taking drugs makes you paranoid s|k....
__________________
hi
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18 Jun 2005, 16:07
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#47
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USS Oklahoma
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,500
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by s|k
Yeah okay so how would someone find their way to GD? Probably by playing PA. I see that as a pretty much the only way into these forums. Any web link to these forums or google searches would probably have been browser game related. At least in America, where Planetarion is all but unknown, especially to legal professionals with twenty years of education and a government billet. Don't be so damned gullible.
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The way I found it was I put Annika Deasy into google. I wanted to find out what someone people in Sweden were saying about her situation. However, I don't speak Swedish, or English that well as far as that goes, so I needed to find an English speking blog or forum. I found Battleangel and a blog by Bjorn Hallberg, sounded Swedish to me so I went there and had rather a nice chat with Mr. Hallberg. I also came across Planatarion on about page 9 of results. Connected with this forum was the name Arketrollmannen. Didn't sound like an American name to me so I checked it out. I didn't know that there was any basic annamosity between GD and the RPG sides. I was quickly informed. I enjoyed many of the comments in the 24 years thread and decided to look at other threads. I got hooked. I am sorry if this causes you any distress.Oh god! Now I'm carrying on conversations with s|k! Now he will think I am his gimmick account.
__________________
Ignorance is curable, stupidity is not.
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20 Jun 2005, 15:28
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#48
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Mathamagician
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: At the very edge of existance
Posts: 1,803
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
I think most people have gotten over the RP-GD hatred thing.
__________________
I think I just had an evilgasm
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20 Jun 2005, 20:27
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#49
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Aardvark is a funny word
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: I'm No Nino Rota
Posts: 5,923
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by vampire_lestat
I think most people have gotten over the RP-GD hatred thing.
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he was talking about PD-GD. keep up, even if just the once
__________________
Efficiency, efficiency they say
Get to know the date and tell the time of day
As the crowds begin complaining
How the Beaujolais is raining
Down on darkened meetings on the Champs Élysées
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20 Jun 2005, 22:26
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#50
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Mathamagician
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: At the very edge of existance
Posts: 1,803
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Re: Gimmick Accounts
Quote:
I didn't know that there was any basic annamosity between GD and the RPG sides. I was quickly informed.
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really?
__________________
I think I just had an evilgasm
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