the only defense against droppers is using RepBot regularly, indeed every time you get an invite from someone you don't know .. this has also been discussed extensively
here on fibsboard .. next to droppers, RepBot probably is the next most frequently criticized topic on FIBS
if you use
javafibs, you can easily set up programmable buttons to have RepBot readily available to check players you might want to invite or inviters .. here is the code i use for my two most frequently used programmable buttons (the capitalization after the % is required)
Tell repbot ask %Player
Tell Repbot ask %Inviter
i use the blue-i (for information) on the first for players on the player list i may like to invite and the open-hand (warning caution) for players inviting me
further when i play with someone and would again or just know they've got a good rep and not many saved games, i'll add them to my javafibs friends list .. then when those players invite me or i'm looking for a game, i can proceed without concern to accept or invite
as a rule of thumb, when a player has more than 10 saved games, i'm suspicious; more than 20, leery; more than 30, never unless i know them; more than 40, forget about it .. some new players unaware of droppers or with a bad connection problem can get themselves in a huge hole with saved games .. i once had over 60 saved games when i first started playing at FIBS .. after a period of time (six months?), Patti, the FIBS admin, will remove unfinished saved games .. but to take care of them yourself use
RepBot Alerts On .. RepBot will then send you a tell anytime a person with whom you have a saved game is logged in
a saved game or two is nothing to get too excited about, but look for patterns and avoid players with whom you've had problems or with whom others have had sufficient problems that they're being labelled as droppers in shouts .. often old Abe is correct, but then Abe never played on FIBS
I don't like that man. I must get to know him better. -- Abraham Lincoln 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)