The reporting system in OW is broken. As it is currently set up it allows for frivolous reporting based on the whim or aggravation of any player. The game already allows one to leave team and match chat and voice as well as squelch and block players so why is there a reporting system that eventually ends in the banning of an account? This seems an unnecessary extreme considering how reporting works in its current incarnation.
Anyone who has solo queued ending up with a 5 stack or any stack for that matter knows if you don’t swap off widow, heal the way they want, tank the way they want or if you have the audacity to ask them to group up or stop trickling you are guaranteed 5 reports regardless of its validity. The current reporting system counts ALL these reports as valid. I have attempted to file a ticket with Blizz about my concern right after an invalid 5 stack report and the response was “you haven’t been penalized officially yet so there is nothing to contest” to which I responded “but the reports still are counted toward the report total that triggers a silence or suspension or ban and this is unfair” to which I got a “yes but until there is a penalty triggered there is nothing to do.”
This example carries forward in all forms. I have screen shots of a 5 stack who, after we lost, I wrote “solid team work great heals gg thanks” and they presumed sarcasm and proceeded to go on a profane rampage of insults involving every variant of degradation verbally possible along with stating I was going to get reported 5 times. My reply was “I am being insulted and reported for complimenting you?”
I have asked Blizz for a list of items that were classified as abusive chat of which i also kept screen shots and printed transcripts of and they included (no joke) saying “gg” saying “not gonna heal this” and “lolz”. When I challenged the validity of these comments being abusive chat the response I got was “Per the code of conduct we can actually close any account for any reason that we deem fit.”
THAT IS THE POINT AND ISSUE! They have created a system that promotes weaponized reporting. There is NO RECOURSE for a false report and NO reset based on “good behavior” or any other metric. It is purely a numbers game and volume based system that has SO MUCH subjectivity upon the lucky chance of a review they just shut you down. With all the self protection options available in game why is this childish banning option even on the table? The irony is the suggestion the GM gave me was “you can leave voice, chat, etc” to which I replied, “I have, I got reported for not communicating in voice” and that report counted against me never to be erased removed or cleared as bogus.
I submit there is a better way to handle toxicity as it is truly a subjective thing. What bothers one doesn’t bother another. Blizz has given players the ability to silence, block or leave chats/voice to avoid toxic interactions. Back in the WoW LFR early days there was a vote to kick options. Institute this in OW. Yes it will be abused as will anything established but it won’t result in losing your account over fake or unfounded reports. In competitive where kicking isn’t an option there can be a time-out option where after the game a “vote to kick” style option can be submitted as in WoW and if everyone in the group agrees to the suggestion that said player was toxic they get a mark against them. After 3 marks against (for example) they get a time-out from a comp game of 5 min that increases by a minute amount after successive negative votes. Eventually they may end up with hours of time out but they don’t lose their account they lose their ability to be toxic. They can still play arcade and QP which allow insta-kick options based on the difference of the queue system. If they keep getting kicked from games either they learn to shut up or they never get more than a minute or two of a game before getting kicked. This will promote better behavior and team work and even though, like ANY system established, it will be abused it WON’T cost someone their account based on frivolous reporting, false reporting, or revenge reporting. The other option is report reviews etc but this never goes in favor of the one requesting review because of available workers and the extreme vague and subjective nature of the code of conduct.
Please consider the current system and how EASILY it can be abused and the COST. The weaponized system has INCREASED bullying and decreased actual discussion about game strat and team work. “Group up” = REPORTED. “Heal please” = REPORTED. Widow or Hanzo = reported for throwing. Aggressive tank = reported. Moira doing “too much” dps = reported. Saying “gg” too early = reported. Complimenting or encouraging your team = you are being sarcastic so REPORTED! All of these things have happened over and over costing, eventually, accounts. This is UNACCEPTABLE!