Registration disabled at Classic Arcade Gaming forums?

[vanrose72]

I have tried on several occasions to register at Classic Arcade Gaming forums (www.classicarcadegaming.com/forums), but I keep getting this error:

An Error Has Occurred! Sorry, registration is currently disabled.

Anyone have any inside information? Is this a technical error, or are they just not accepting new members anymore?

[quintinbiker]

The adminastrator of the forum that you're trying to register at disabled registration, it's not an error i did web design and had my own website years ago, and i by accidently disabled it for a week and didn't realise it lol

[vanrose72]

Thanks, quintinbiker! 

I figured so much. I was hoping someone here might know the administrator and send a message his/her way.

It's either that or wait until they figure out what has happened on their own.

[Malenko]

it's probably the resurgence of Driverman, at least I'm going to blame him until proved otherwise.

[ark_ader]

I run a SMF forum and I recently turned off registration due to bots.  Same with Drupal 7.

Maybe the admin is waiting for a fix (again).

[vanrose72]

it's probably the resurgence of Driverman, at least I'm going to blame him until proved otherwise.

  I am pretty clueless about the history of Driverman and what exactly he did. I've been following the posts and getting some good laughs. Everyone seems to be taking his attack in stride, which is good.

I run a SMF forum and I recently turned off registration due to bots.  Same with Drupal 7.

Maybe the admin is waiting for a fix (again).

That makes sense, ark_ader. I'd imagine registration will be up soon. At least I hope so.

[vanrose72]

I just read this sticky post from Mark Alpiger:
http://www.classicarcadegaming.com/forums/index.php/topic,4016.0.html

... One of the reasons that registration is disabled is, indeed, spammers (as some have speculated).  But, they're only a small part of it.  The main reason is that a couple of jugheads got onto the forums in the last year or so, and slandered some people / entities in the hobby.

In order to register, you must send Mark an email specifying your real name, intended handle, and email address. But here's the kicker:

DO NOT contact me if you are not being either referred by someone who is an established and well-known member in the community, and / or on these forums or Twin Galaxies (tho I may consider other gaming forums... maybe), and / or if you are not an established member at the TG forums (or possibly other gaming forums).

[Gray_Area]

It's becoming more common. Unfortunately in some cases the attendance is so low that it hurts the activity of the forum.

[404]

with all due respect to webmasters (including saint). I can't understand why anyone is running software like SMF. Most of these free boards are riddled with security holes and are vulnerable to bots. While most of the paid boards also suffer from bots and exploits from time to time, there are more than enough tools for them to help fend off bots. Even phpbb, which was notorious for having security holes has cleaned up their act as of late and offer custom captcha's to help fend off bots.