Limits
For the past several years, since it started, LiveJournal hasn't really had any limits on what users could do.... sure, you were limited in how many userpics you could have and how big they could be, but that was about it.

We haven't limited posting frequency, post size, number of comments per post, comment posting frequency, protocol request rate, etc....

Our lax policy worked with 10,000 users, but doesn't work when we're approaching nearly a million users. Once you get this many people using the system, there are going to be malicious people trying to break things and be annoying. There's also plenty of people unknowingly harming the system, but how much they're using it.

So, we're finally getting around to doing limits, a couple years later than we should've.

But, don't fear... the limits are all being researched, looking at historic data, so we don't disrupt normal usage patterns. An incredibly small percentage of people will be negatively affected. However, the end result to everybody else using the system normally is less spikes of bad performance, when we're under attack by an idiot with a 10 line Perl script. (and really, we feel like the idiots for letting it go on this long without automation.... blocking these people by hand when detected isn't reliable)

We'll be rolling out the limits one at a time and watching the results until we move on to the next one.

The first limit to be going live is post frequency, per 24 hour rolling window...

Free users: 3 posts (maybe 4 or 5?)
Early adopters: 10 posts
Paid/Perm Users: 20 posts [See next post]

I know a lot of you are going to be angry about limits that weren't there before, but I hope at least one side of you understands why these are necessary to run a reliable service.

As for the state of site performance lately: we're still moving users to the new database clusters. Once things are leveled out a bit, things will speed up.

Clarifications:

• posts, not comments.
• posts to communities count
• our intention is not to be evil. we may change 3 to 4 or 5, depending on how things look after a couple of days.
• some communities will be exempt from the count (lj_* site-related ones) and some (paid communities) will allow one free post/day that doesn't count toward your existing limit (but that's not done yet...we just thought of it)

Okay... it's off. It's my birthday ... I don't need a flamewar today. The few minutes it was on though, it stopped a bunch of crap . I'll turn it on in a couple of days after I implement the community posting elements.

(Post a new comment)

	andrew_jp_reyes 2003-02-05 05:09 pm UTC (link)
	Will lifetime members be treated as early adopters or paid users? (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

Just a guess... - shoutingboy, 2003-02-05 05:37 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a guess... - torquemada, 2003-02-05 05:50 pm UTC (Expand)

Humph. - shoutingboy, 2003-02-05 05:57 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Humph. - ciannait, 2003-02-05 06:24 pm UTC (Expand)

... - sewcute, 2003-02-05 07:03 pm UTC (Expand)

... - llewelyn, 2003-02-05 07:57 pm UTC (Expand)

... - sewcute, 2003-02-05 08:04 pm UTC (Expand)

... - llewelyn, 2003-02-05 08:38 pm UTC (Expand)

... - sewcute, 2003-02-05 09:17 pm UTC (Expand)

... - kingfox, 2003-02-06 08:33 am UTC (Expand)

... - armybitch, 2003-02-06 06:40 pm UTC (Expand)

... - dementia, 2003-02-06 09:50 am UTC (Expand)

... - fuckandrun, 2003-02-05 07:25 pm UTC (Expand)

... - pirogoeth, 2003-02-05 08:57 pm UTC (Expand)

... - halima, 2003-02-06 05:28 am UTC (Expand)

... - dwaggie, 2003-02-06 05:39 am UTC (Expand)

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	ciannait 2003-02-05 05:11 pm UTC (link)
	How do permanent users figure in to these new limits? (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - stimps, 2003-02-05 09:24 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - digitalshephed, 2003-02-06 07:24 am UTC (Expand)

	How do the limits work? term 2003-02-05 05:12 pm UTC (link)
	Can I post the max limit of entries, delete one, and post another entry for that day? Or would I have to edit an existing one? The entries seem really fair to me, even the free users. Any thoughts on offering a higher post limit for a fee? (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: How do the limits work? - shiromaguro, 2003-02-05 05:51 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: How do the limits work? - flashfire, 2003-02-05 06:48 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: How do the limits work? - ex_neville87, 2003-02-05 08:52 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: How do the limits work? - feste, 2003-02-06 01:25 am UTC (Expand)

Re: How do the limits work? - trostlos, 2003-02-06 04:17 am UTC (Expand)

Re: How do the limits work? - crawl27, 2003-02-06 04:55 am UTC (Expand)

Re: How do the limits work? - plymouth, 2003-02-06 07:16 am UTC (Expand)

Re: How do the limits work? - escalier, 2003-02-06 05:35 am UTC (Expand)

Re: How do the limits work? - zexos, 2003-02-09 11:48 am UTC (Expand)

	wikkid_smaht 2003-02-05 05:13 pm UTC (link)
	what's an early adopter? (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - noweb4u, 2003-02-05 05:19 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - lexielex, 2003-02-05 07:33 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - noweb4u, 2003-02-05 07:44 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - chibiakki, 2003-02-06 08:28 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - kandyman, 2003-02-06 10:40 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - ruakh, 2003-02-05 05:23 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: - wikkid_smaht, 2003-02-05 05:33 pm UTC (Expand)

	happypenguin 2003-02-05 05:13 pm UTC (link)
	Oh man, the fallout from this one is going to be fun ^_^ *dons sunglasses and protective clothing* (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - fidgetgoblinfly, 2003-02-05 06:02 pm UTC (Expand)

<lj comm="we_love_brad"> - milkyscarabs, 2003-02-06 01:10 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - tigery, 2003-02-06 04:24 pm UTC (Expand)

	jus' wondering trukkle 2003-02-05 05:13 pm UTC (link)
	The limits are on journal posts, but do they cover comments too? (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: jus' wondering - dottey, 2003-02-05 06:47 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: jus' wondering - trukkle, 2003-02-06 07:12 am UTC (Expand)

Re: jus' wondering - dottey, 2003-02-06 07:25 am UTC (Expand)

Re: jus' wondering - mandiferous, 2003-02-05 10:07 pm UTC (Expand)

titsy_mcclure 2003-02-05 05:14 pm UTC (link)

Limits aren't ridiculous. They're understandable. THREE POSTS A DAY for a free user is totally shocking. Make it 5, and most people can live with it. But three is really unfair when you consider the other two have 10 and 20 posts. 60% of people make over 3 posts a day. MAYBE 30% make more than 10, and I don't know anyone that makes over 20 a day. It would be easier to swallow if you spread the numbers more easily and fairly. (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - sewcute, 2003-02-05 05:17 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - titsy_mcclure, 2003-02-05 05:20 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - sewcute, 2003-02-05 05:23 pm UTC (Expand)

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