Yes, there are and they review the various reports they get in accordance to our policies. As others mentioned though, just because a thread is reported doesn’t mean it is considered to be against policy.
These forums are here for players to discuss aspects of the game with each other and to provide suggestions and feedback on what they would like to see. That may include topics that have been discussed before, or that some disagree with or feel shouldn’t be in game. The suggestions are still valid, even if others believe that the person posting them isn’t being genuine.
Trolling is, however, a lot of what people consider trolling, isn’t. As I mentioned above, the threads aren’t necessarily considered trolling just because it’s a subject that has been discussed before, or you feel the person is not being genuine in their request.
What is more often considered trolling are the comments folks post in the thread, such as constantly accusing someone of posting with their alts, or accusing them of trolling/spamming and numerous other, often disparaging, comments.
I would clarify, their alleged alts. As I have noted previously in similar threads, the accusations I’ve seen of folks posting on alts are often, though not in every case, wrong.
For instance, let’s speak to those generally considered the “T’s”. Often they all rolled into one, but which very much are not the same person.
Yes, we have a number of similar names, which feels purposeful, but that doesn’t make them the same person or otherwise associated with one another. That isn’t to say that one person hasn’t posted on multiple accounts over time. I know of one that has adopted a new posting character over time, as previous accounts were no longer viable to post. Nothing nefarious with that.
I can sort of agree here. I will say though, moderators do see patterns and can recognize names that they’ve seen before. Can it be missed in the grand scheme of things? Yes, but they aren’t oblivious to some troublesome folks and do deal with them as they are verified. That is the trick, verification. A lot of times the suspicions and accusations I’ve seen of the person being the same aren’t at all verified. There just isn’t evidence that they are, and to be clear, it is more than just looking at an IP to see if it is the same.
Assuming we are just talking about the threads themselves and not the alleged posting on alts to create a narrative I’d say it is opinion. The subject matter often controversial and can be divisive for some, but I would argue that it not necessarily intentional or a problem.
Could it be intentional? Yes, but in most cases the suggestion is still very much valid, which is what the moderators are looking at. With no other indicators, other than some folks saying “we don’t want you to post this”, it should otherwise be allowed.
The issue isn’t exactly looking into sock-puppeting, our moderators do that all the time. It’s that our moderation team would be unable to communicate to the reporting person that their accusation proved to be false, which has been the case in many of these instances. That nothing happens as the result of a report isn’t usually seen as the accusation was incorrect, but that the moderators aren’t doing anything about it.
The most I can say, Idontknowhow, is that we’re very much aware of the current limitations on the forums and how easy it is for some to use alternate characters to both report and support posts and that it is being worked on.