Indigo™ wrote:It's probably not the goal to simulate growth on the site. I'm absolutely sure that there's other motivations. But you're a Mod, you can check the IP addresses, and the accounts that are tied ... I'd bet my left arm that there's users out there with a few usernames.
1: IP is not the same as a person. In fact, there are any number of reasons why that tie can not be made, and fortunately the legal system, at least in my own country, is finally getting to terms with this simple fact. The most basic example being ANY open, free W-LAN, as well as dormitories and companies where a lot of people access the net from a single IP address. So forget using IP as an indication of anything at all. It simply is not useful, as temping as it might be. It doesn't even serve the purpose of a physical address, since it can easily be spoofed/faked
2: If several people from the same IP has multiple accounts, why should that count any less?
Sera: No apology needed - if you feel attacked, rightfully or not, you should feel free to "defend yourself", whether it's actually needed or not.
Also, regarding the topic of growth, how interesting is it really? For my own part, the far more interesting metric is the quality of teases. Which has had a bit of a low for the last few months. 1885 was a breath of fresh air, but frankly, no offense to anyone (really I mean that!), the quality of flash teases (being the only part I'm personally interested in) has dropped quite bad lately. There are a few happy exceptions, but the frequency of good teases has been lower lately. I'm sure it will pick back up though, these things tend to come and go in waves - some periods being great, some less so.