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This happened on World Building subwebsite. I'll try to post my answer below the separator line if the anti-spam will allow me.

Please, can I get any help on why is this considered a spam message, because I have no clue what that bot thinks I'm selling. What should I cut from this answer? I spend a lot of time writing this and it's really annoying that I'm not allowed to post. I have a hunch the bot detects "dwarven" as a misspelling of some unrelated word or simply doesn't like the repeation (which hardly can be avoided if I'm talking about dwarves and nothing else). Another theory of mine is that anti-spam bot doesn't like the s*x word, and considering that I was writing about evolution, mostly s****l selection, maybe it assumed I was promoting some sleazy website.

No luck, still getting flagged as spam. Here is the pastebin link: https://pastebin.com/dJk0JdQ8

And just for completness, the link to the question I was trying to answer: Why might dwarves be black skinned in a medieval fantasy world?

Edit: below is the error message after I press "Post Your Answer" as requested. It shows up every time I try to post, even after refreshing the page.

Error message

Error message

Update: I thought that maybe posting from behind the proxy and/or in private mode might have been an issue, so I tried to post from my home PC and the problem still persists. There must be a problem with contents of the answer itself. I've read a little more and it appears that spam-bot is very rudimentary, counting trigger words appearing frequently in spam campaigns and nothing else. It's not hard to imagine that race might be such trigger word, either used in political, racist context or trolling campaigns. Evolution can be flagged for creationists spam campaigns. Combination of sex, race and evolution in a very long post most likely raised more red flags that 1st May on the Red Square.

Update2: as advised, I posted a short test answer and it was accepted. After that I was able to edit the answer and paste the actual answer in it's place. However, the spam filter is unacceptable and circumventing it by exploiting what is basically a security gap is not really an answer. I leave this question up because I feel this still should be properly resolved.

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  • When did you write your answer? The question in question seems to have been closed two years ago as a duplicate.
    – AlexP
    Aug 14, 2021 at 17:19
  • @AlexP I pasted a wrong link, see my edit.
    – Reverent Lapwing
    Aug 14, 2021 at 20:27
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    Well, in my opinion that is a normal answer as far as this site goes, and not spam. I had no idea that the site had a mindless robot at work classifying answers in spam and not spam. I think that this is a very good meta question. (And, about the answer. Very white skin was not always perceived as beautiful. Ancient Greeks thought that their skin tone was just right, and that both paler northeners and swarthier southerners were deviating from the ideal; and the very pale Cimbri were perceived as frightful by the ancient Romans, which is notable because the Romans were mostly race-blind.)
    – AlexP
    Aug 14, 2021 at 20:50
  • 3
    Can you post the exact message you're seeing when you try posting that answer? As AlexP noted, I don't believe Stack Overflow has an automated spam filter. If it does, it's a pretty lousy one, considering the amount of spam that does get through.
    – F1Krazy
    Aug 14, 2021 at 20:57
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    If that pastebin is a character-for-character copy of the post, I can't imagine why it's experiencing problems. There is the "community" user that's an automated system that does all kinds of things - and I wouldn't be surprised if identifying spam was one of them - but spam by definition would expect a link to the outside world or a "buy my crap now!" kind of message. I haven't the foggiest idea.
    – Join JBH on Codidact
    Aug 15, 2021 at 2:59
  • @F1Krazy added a screenshot as requested.
    – Reverent Lapwing
    Aug 16, 2021 at 9:09
  • Were you able to try a shorter less "triggering" answer? Before escalating, you should make sure that the problem is with your account vs your answer. As I said in my own update, I was able to post your answer without any problem. I'd still suggest you either answer that original question, or some random question with a "test" answer. Then, when you approach the great Lords of the Instrumentality, humbly laying your meagre petition at their sacred and holy feet, you'll at least be armed with some data!
    – elemtilas
    Aug 17, 2021 at 11:23
  • @AlexP It seems that I was able to post my answer. I would be glad to see the comment you wrote under that answer if you wish to contribute :)
    – Reverent Lapwing
    Aug 17, 2021 at 14:17
  • @ReverentLapwing I'm a member of Worldbuilding and regard your answer as something I would have up-voted happily as it adds value to the site. I've no answer to this question as I've never seen anything like it before and can't guess from the content of your answer why it would receive this odd and inappropriate treatment. #supportive.
    – Jiminy Cricket.
    Aug 18, 2021 at 3:34
  • @ReverentLapwing I've just tried to post the answer and it was flagged by the system as a duplicate of elemtilas' (fair enough, I'd not realized that she'd tried to post it). It was able to be posted then - apparently just not by you, and since you were able to post another test answer, I assume that it's to do with post length/content being in some way (I've not heard of before) being limited for new users. I await attention from the staff who can give a definitive answer.
    – Jiminy Cricket.
    Aug 18, 2021 at 3:44
  • @SonictheAnonymousHedgehog I should say it doesn't, as previously stated, the answer was able to be posted in full by another member without triggering the digital beast.
    – Jiminy Cricket.
    Aug 18, 2021 at 3:55
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    @F1Krazy There is, in fact, an automated spam filter. The amount of spam that slips through is nothing compared to what a site the size of Stack Exchange would get without automated protections.
    – Ryan M
    Aug 18, 2021 at 4:54
  • These answers express the same sentiment: meta.stackexchange.com/a/258727/282094 meta.stackexchange.com/a/289513/282094 meta.stackexchange.com/a/258662/282094 meta.stackexchange.com/a/311148/282094 - that, combined with a few obvious words and probably "Vitamin D" (if that's not obvious) led to this problem; solved by either a shorter post or slightly higher reputation.
    – Rob
    Aug 18, 2021 at 5:37
  • @Rob I never even considered Vit D as something that can be sold in a spam message, but that makes more sense than anything else. As for the reputation, I have well above 100 on Stack Overflow and have been here for years, shouldn't it count for something on other subsites?
    – Reverent Lapwing
    Aug 18, 2021 at 5:58
  • @ReverentLapwing Unfortunately not. If you had 200 rep on Stack Overflow, you'd automatically receive a 100-rep association bonus on every site on the network, which probably would have been enough to bypass the spam filter. Without that, all the filter saw was a 1-rep user.
    – F1Krazy
    Aug 18, 2021 at 6:35

1 Answer 1

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Update
I just tried to post the given text as an answer and was able to get it through without any issues or errors.

Today's suggestion: could you try posting a different answer to that question? For testing purposes, it can be a "fake" answer, e.g. "This can't be done because Dwarves don't actually exist. They're fantasy creatures and are not subject to the laws of normality."

I'd like to see if you get the same error message with a shorter answer.

A Revised Guess!
Thank you for updating the link. At least the text you linked to makes sense in the context of this other question!

There are still a couple yellow flags: first, I don't see any evidence that you ever answered that question. Also, it appears that you joined WB.SE yesterday (13 Aug 2021) and have neither asked nor answered a question. I don't understand what you mean by not being "allowed to post". Unless you've been booted for being a rascal, there's no reason you can't post an answer. Not sure what to make of those data points!

Anyway, my advice now is to simply repost your answer! It's a lot better than some of the answers already given, and I'd judge it a solidly ordinary worldbuilding answer!

So give it a try! Just post your answer again! I'm following the question, so I'll most likely get a notification when you repost your answer.

A Reasonable Guess?
I skimmed through your answer. You seemed fixated on skin colouration. The query itself doesn't mention skin colouration at all, so that's a red flag as it means you're possibly not answering the question.

Since the question was asked and closed two years ago, I wonder why this is even an issue for you?

I can't see your answer, so I'm assuming that it was flagged and one or more other members agreed that the answer was spammy enough to delete.

My suggestions would be the following. Since the question you were trying to answer was closed a couple years ago, you won't be able to answer it -- because it's closed. Since the answer you wrote doesn't have anything to do with what the OP was asking about (practicalities of a subterranean lifestyle), I'd argue that even if you did answer that way, it would be deleted for not answering the question.

So, I think your best bet will be to spend a few more minutes devising a good worldbuilding question that fits the answer you wrote. You've already got the title -- Why Black Dwarves Make Sense in a Fantasy Setting -- just compose a well written question to go with it! Post the question, wait a day or two and then post your answer! Community will decide how well you answered your own question!

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  • 1
    Sorry, I had multiple tabs open and accidentally pasted a wrong link to the question. I'll fix that shortly. The question I was answering was specifically for an explenation for dark complexion in underground-dwelling dwarves
    – Reverent Lapwing
    Aug 14, 2021 at 20:25
  • I cannot repost, because I couldn't post in the first place. The filter triggers before I can post my answer, when I press "Post My Answer" button.
    – Reverent Lapwing
    Aug 16, 2021 at 9:20
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    @ReverentLapwing IMO we're officially up to posting (or, better yet, migrating) this issue on Meta Stack Exchange and asking the Stack Exchange Overlords for assistance. It's almost as if your account has been flagged and it's time to ask those-who-control-the-database to explain it. If you're up to migrating, flag the question, select "in need of moderator intervention" and ask that it be migrated. You might need to edit the question to indicate where this all took place.
    – Join JBH on Codidact
    Aug 16, 2021 at 21:46

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