I’ve had a few alerts that some of my posts were flagged as inappropriate. They’ve since been restored by staff. What gives? Do we have people just reporting because they were upset about the post? What’s happening to correct this? Can we institute a reverse ban for frivolous, or false reporting? Is there something in the TOS about this?
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To make a long story short; folks would report posts they feel they ain’t helping/just trolling. It’s their right to report a given post, and if the mods restore/delete the post? That’s them either agreeing or disagree with it.
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Some people use the reporting option as “I don’t agree with you”, or just don’t fully understand what may or may not be against the forum code of conduct.
If there are enough reports they may temporarily hide the post until the report is reviewed.
We do not penalize people for using the report option, only for abusing it. So if there is indication if that, such as if someone uses multiple characters on their account to report a post, they may find themselves with a suspension.
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That answers my question Vrakthris, thank you!
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Sure thing. Do you have a recent sample of a post that was temporarily hidden? I don’t see any of your recent posts getting reported, but sometimes my search can be funky.
I’ll edit the URL after you post it so we don’t drag unwanted elements into it.
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This is the latest one, but this is also happening to some friends as well:
{URL Removed - Thanks}
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Also look at the post when it was restored, Was it edited as all? Sometimes instead of deleted a post a moderator might edit something out that might violate the forum code of conduct. Such as a name and shame, They could edit out the names.
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It looks like that thread is from 3 years ago. That’s why it was reported. Not necessarily because the post itself was inappropriate, but because the thread was really old and/or because the post itself would be better suited in a different forum (Bug Report for example).
We don’t specifically prohibit posting in older threads, but it is discouraged. We want to make sure that discussions are current and operating on the here and now.
We don’t have a “hey mod, this should be moved” or “oh, this is a zombie post” category, so folks just draw our attention to a thread however they can.
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This does happen quite a bit, partially because I feel “flag” doesn’t sound as serious as “report,” and “trolling” is quite vague.
I always felt that changing “flag” to “report” with better descriptions for the CoC violations and a warning on false reports might curb it. But I could just be too optimistic. lol
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In the past we had a comment section after clicking report, I always added extra context in it like if it’s a whole chain of spam threads? All spam threads mentioned in the same report and so on.
I really miss that with the new Discourse forum report option.
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Well, that’s the thing; there are grey area and topics that would normally be fine, but would get out of hand if left alone, like with folks posting the same topic, or when people basically with one another in CS forums about a given thing when personal input isn’t a factor.
Omg yes i would love a comment box for reporting
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Yeah it is abused and sometimes things are removed that shouldn’t be.
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If a post does not violate the forum code of conduct it will not be removed. Also note some entire threads can be removed if there is a lot of violations going on or the entire thread is against policy.
Such as I have seen posts to list those players who people wish to black list. Those type of posts are never permitted.
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As a moderator (not here, and this statement is a generalization), the comment boxes aren’t that useful. If you have to explain it to me, it’s clearly not an obvious violation. Being someone that prefers erring on the course of NOT removing posts (which it seems Bliz is, just based on what I see being restored), the comment boxes meant nothing. I have my assigned definition of ‘trolling’ (or whatever violation it is). Does it meet this or not. If you think the quality of an average thread is lacking, you should see the reports. 
this software has the ability to auto-lock threads past a certain date.
this really should be applied in places like GD, and especially tech and bug forums, where current info is important.
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I think the problem with those type threads is they are brought up in the search, people don’t pay attention to the date posted (I’m guilty of this as well), I try to find a thread that’s already covered the problem and add to the thread that’s already started. It does get a little frustrating when you post a new thread to be told “Search for the problem first”, or “This issue has already been brought up”, its catch 22. With that particular post maybe it was reported as a necro, but that can’t be said for all the reports I have in my notifications (All have been restored by staff.) But thanks for answering my question and resolving the issue.
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Just my thoughts. Personally I don’t think they should auto lock threads on this forum after a certain time. While usually frowned upon there can be times where bumping old threads has a good purpose. Like to continue an old discussion with specific people or maybe someone never got their questioned answered and you can try answering it. There is of course also old megathreads which are places to consolidate discussion.
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To be fair on the matter; most of the folks made said threads and folks replying to it years later could’ve found their answer, moved on or the info isn’t really ralated to it as time changes and things changed. Like with a bug, what seem like a bug four or so years ago doesn’t mean it’s the same bug now on the surface.
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Push come to shove - if it’s been that long enough to be considered a necro (i.e. a week or two here on CS), none of that matters. The old thread can maybe be referenced, but when you get into older threads that are months and even years later? All that was the case at the start of a thread likely isn’t the case at current. When you weigh in all of the hotfixes, the patches - heck. Even entire expansions and systems overhauled, there isn’t any valid reason to bring back an old thread. Start a new one with things current. Again, referencing an old thread isn’t necessarily frowned upon like reviving an old and dead thread.
But all of that aside, this really isn’t the proper place for any us to be adding a voice to, bumping or any of that because absolutely no data is collected from this forum. Our SFAs (the only Blues anyone will see post on this forum) do not collect information/suggestions/feedback, nor do they relay it along to the proper staff.
In this case, the Website Bug Forums (the name is irrelevant, but that forum sticky does say it is the place for feedback and suggestions re: the website forums) is the correct place or even General Discussion.
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