I found a spammer account with each of its about 20 comments containing a link to some fishy site. After giving -- to most of its comments I noticed that its ++ count had gone back to what it was when I started. So my use of the -- button got banned. What's the point?

@Puroguramingu I did both. That doesn't sound like a mass to me.

Could have just reported and left it imho

@Puroguramingu nope. It's as if giving -- is against the rules and you get punished at an arbitrary point by canceling your right to vote.

Yeah the -- is supposed to regulate shitty content away, but if you use it, your -- right gets cancelled, so better don't use it much. Brilliant design.

Also, there's no way to reinstate, you have lost them for good, and @dfox will not answer. Not least because the platform is abandoned anyway, so why bother.

Got downvote banned too, and never have been aware of any abuse on my end. Asked David about it, he'd look into it (nothing happened) and that apparently my downvote ban was one among a bunch at once.

I get that making downvoting as accessible as it is on Reddit isn't the solution either, but this is just ridiculous. What's the point of having the feature in the first place then? Things like this make me wonder why I'm still paying for it.

Well, to be fair, you shouldn't need to give 20-- in a row, if it's just one user then just use the report button. If it's multiple don't do it fast because it might take that as abuse, just my two cents

If there's protection against mass downvoting, is there also protection against mass upvoting? 🤔

I know this is kind of a sensitive/troublesom topic, but it's still important.

@Puroguramingu @ScribeOfGoD Reporting doesn't seem to do much. :< I've reported spammy bot accounts before and saw them still spamming several days later. I realize this is just a hobby project for dfox, so expecting a quick response is unreasonable, but that's why the -- system is around: to allow the community to self-moderate. Sadly, using it for this purpose ends with you being banned from using it. Seems quite silly.

@electrineer ikr 😕 Perhaps the amount of --'s you can perform before being softbanned should increase with your ++ count (and maybe how long you've been around)? That might be a little more fair than a flat cap, as I'm assuming the system has. Regardless, it's too easy to get downvote-banned as it is. I'd also like to see a "downvoted for being incorrect" option. Seeing an incorrect comment with ++'s is misleading to others, but downvoting for "offensive/spam" to reduce its count just feels wrong. (I realize this isn't a QA site, but still).

@Fast-Nop According to dfox, the automatic downvote ban system automatically lifts the ban after a few days, so his ban shouldn't be permanent. I was downvote banned before this system was in place / finished, so mine was permanent until I made a fuss about it a year or so later.

@Condor Wait a few days (if you haven't already) and it should be fine. If not, contact dfox.

@ScribeOfGoD I believe the banning window is `x` downvotes within maybe a day, so "slowing down" won't actually help.

@VaderNT Nope. There is no ++ spam protection, so ++ bombs are a thing.

@VaderNT none that I'm aware of. When I rejoined the platform last year or so there was a massive upvote spree on my account. In less than a month I was back at 20k or so and (fortunately) no action was taken against it. Very grateful for it towards the community of course.. but at the same time it's kind of odd...

Update: I'm still banned and the account is still posting new comments

@Root how long should the ban last?

@electrineer No idea. I didn't design the current system, and haven't given much thought to how I might redesign it.

Update: The spammer's comments were removed after @ewpratten mentioned @dfox asking him to take a look. I'm still downvote banned.

Upvote/Downvote systems are dopamine poison anyway.

Shills will manipulate them to build and sell accounts for later anyway. Or use them for censorship, or a host of other abusive petty shit.

Why concern yourself.

Downvote this comment. Allow me to teach you why other people's approval doesn't matter.

@Wisecrack I can't downvote anything

Downvotes don't seem to work at all anymore.

@PrivateGER did you give a lot of downvotes within a day?

@electrineer Never, really. Recently tried to downvote a literal spambot as spam and it had absolutely zero effect.

Update: my downvote ban has lasted ever since

DevRant should learn from Stackoverflow, A downvote should take 2 ++ from the Downvoter, In that case, It will be used only when absolutely required and Bots/Newbies won't be able to abuse it.

And here I was naively thinking my --s help cater the algo feed to my liking. What's the point?

Just register accounts without `--` permission and add it when a user reaches 1k - problem solved - by then people are invested and no hater will go through the hassle just so he could diss somebody.