The Let's Play with Fire userbase has grown considerably since launch - and some of the challenges of a larger site are starting to come into view. Specifically, along with the increase in new users came an increase in account abuse, such as fake accounts, spam accounts, and attempts to cheat download limits.
To curtail abuse, I've made several changes:
- Action has been taken against a large number of accounts for abuse. Some legitimate accounts may have been swept up by the abuse detection algorithm. If you discover that your account was disabled in error, let me know on Discord and your account will be reinstated.
- Usernames have been deprecated. New users can register, and existing users can log in, with only an email address and password. If you had registered with a throwaway email address and you do not remember your credentials, you will need to create a new account. (See below.)
- Email addresses with labels are valid login names. Labels are suffixes starting with the + symbol that can be used to organize your inbox (e.g.,
myname+mylabel@gmail.com.) Gmail natively supports labels, for example. Just remember: if you register an account with a label, the label will be part of your login name. - Password recovery is now possible. You can click the "Lost your password?" link on the Log In page.
- New users can tell me how they got here. I'm interested in where users learned about the site, so I've added a super simple survey question to the registration flow.
- Anti-spam experiments. First, I tried manual approvals, and although effective, this hurt me physically. Second, I tried redirecting users to Discord for a key to unlock registration. Not only did this not work and add four more steps, I felt evil. As of Nov 15, I'm testing a single-question quiz.
Regarding throwaway email addresses: they are, and have always been, prohibited. A valid permanent email address is required to use this website. Recognizing the need for truly secure communications in some parts of the world, the use of email addresses provided by encrypted email providers are allowed.
—fire
Edited at 9:43 PM (PT) on 15 Nov 2021