In light of recent events with appeals being removed, I realized there’s actually a way to potentially help people avoid getting unfairly banned because of someone else’s emotions.
The idea is simple: restrict the ability to use reports to accounts with a high enough level and significant playtime. Let’s say the minimum threshold is 1000 levels and just as many hours played. That should be enough to ensure that people using the system have some actual experience and are capable of using it more rationally. Maybe not everyone will be able to do that due to individual differences, but the majority will.
Let me explain why I came to this idea: Just a few days ago, I played a match with some of the most fascinating teammates you can imagine. They were each living in their own little world. The match was a total loss, but that’s not even the interesting part. On the enemy team, there was a Junk main I’ve seen regularly in QP matches for over half a year now. I know they play Junk really well.
But the majority of my team, in the team chat, decided they were “obviously a cheater” and reported them without checking the replay, without looking at their profile, nothing. This time, it wasn’t happening to me and that’s when I saw how such decisions look when they’re made from the outside.
I know pretty much everyone would say this idea isn’t great, mostly because everyone wants access to that feature. But in my opinion, not everyone deserves it and the way some players behave only reinforces that belief.
Sure, people might try to shift the topic and say, “Just improve the matchmaking system instead,” but let’s be real, that’s not going to happen. Because… people. Different moods, different attitudes, different everything, even with the same person every day and we’re talking about hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of them.
When it comes to chat abuse, Blizzard could easily automate real-time moderation using keyword detection or tone analysis. Warnings could be issued automatically the moment someone crosses a line whether it’s through offensive language or a consistently negative tone.
The technology is already there, and both changes would reduce the number of false reports while holding actual toxic players accountable more efficiently.