Just thinking out loud, feel free to ignore this.
Not that I like spam very much, but can we take a second and think about this witch hunt?
A post in games and rounds can hardly be constructive, same goes for many threads in off topic. Are those actually a problem though? Who visits the "what did you drink today?" thread and expects a discussion? Who visists a giveaway thread and is offened by people posting what is needed to claim the reward instead of long paragraphs of thought out ideas? We dont want spam where its annoying and distracting, where it hinders discussions, where it might even be dangerous (e.g. bullshit advice in tech support). Yes, it is sad if a thread that had potential dumbs down to mere examples, lists or opinions without substance, so shallow no one can reply. If the posts are not removed though, is the ban a solution?
I dont know the answers, but I hope you BadBear (and anyone else currently handing out bans) think about this as well. I have never seen you give out a ban towards a spammer that was undeserved or if it happened I dont remember it.
Well this thread was made for three purposes:
1) Secondstrade notice this thread and kick out the spammers
2) For moderators to notice and either consider a ban or warn the members, for which I had made another thread but decided to stick with this one: (will post as soon as I find it; link)
3) A public shame list.
Gotta say BadBear reponse was quite surprising, I'd say its because of this:
I do agree that sig spam is a problem, but punishing/banning people isn't really working, there's too much of it, and eventually too many people are going to end up banned. It's all we can do right now though.
Only viable long term option is to remove the incentive to spam
The mass banning may serve as a reminder for others to not spam, be it any thread.