I don’t report people per se, i only really use the report spam function to give me a temp ignore on someone when they’re spamming their macro too often, or even if I’m in a raid and someone has their addon set to be way too chatty lol
Like, i really don’t need to know every little cooldown that every single person is using and when they are expiring!
Trade ‘suggested’ to be about trade is certainly something I never saw enforced at all going back to 2005. Is this some kind of new change? Trade was always the ‘general chat’ channel because people tended to be in cities and it broadcasted to multiple cities.
Blizzard could have remedied years ago by just having a global gen chat channel and having trade be specifically for that purpose.
I think at one time there may have been some kind of crack-down on trade because I remember my server attempting a created chat channel to get around it, but then ownership would get stolen and people silenced and it usually end up cancelled.
There are certain topics I wish were simply not allowed and got smashed with the hammer with merciless impunity. Politics is a big one. I don’t care about that. Here I’m a Dwarf. My politics are Dark Beer vs. Light Beer. Lager vs. Ale. 
Point I am making is that we come here to escape the crap that is reality. Is it such a terrible thing to ask a reprieve from it while on our down-time? I don’t need to hear about either of them or other topics.
What I do want to discuss is World of Warcraft.
This game has changed so much! We used to roast each other in the server forums! Folks would get down right ruthless and now we are reporting players for talking politics and calling people names. Game is full of 
s
usually spamming the chat box or threats and crap
No, it is not new. The policy is “Trade is the suggested use for the channel, but it does not have to be about trade. Players can discuss other things.” So Blizzard does not enforce “Trade” as ONLY being about Trade.
It is, as you said, a global channel for everyone in cities to talk in. Blizz knows that and is fine with that.
Agreed though that it would have been nicer if they just created a World Chat channel and were done with it.
From one of the many topics on it. Blue post.
That was 2020 so obviously did not have the new Boosting restrictions on it. It should answer the question though about the policy.
Vrak also has another post in that thread quoting back to the older versions of the forums discussing the same policy.
Of course intentionally baiting, trolling, and trying to cause drama in those channels can get someone reported and actioned. Politics and religion tend to be hot topics best avoided.
Actually, I reported someone yesterday over a racist comment. Some things yes, should be reported, but some small things such as talking politics in the trade chat, I have the trade and trade services disabled.
Nope. I’m not the thought police and don’t care what is being said in global chat. I only converse in Discord. Never in game.
That can be minor and ignored sometimes. Other times the “politics” is fairly extreme views held by certain leaders or groups, often about marginalized sub groups. Done normally to cause disruption of chat. Flame bait, trolling, etc.
Other times it can be blatant campaign advertising, “Stumping”, etc. Blizz does not allow their platforms to be used to promote or advertise for anything else. Streamers, politicians, or even ice cream brands.
If all people were doing was discussing tax policy nobody would bat an eyelash at it.
I’ve reported extremely vile racism and sexism and homophobia. It’s all vile, but when someone is just so gross that I figure anybody new might just leave in anger or despair? I report the jerk spouting off.
I remember how it felt to be new, way back in BC. I remember crying on my keyboard at some of the comments. If I hadn’t been with friends and not too young even then, I might have quit. Eventually I decided that worthless adolescent-minded guys weren’t worth crying over.
And you know what IS sad? I came to WoW thinking the best of the guys who played it. Men in my family are really good dudes, and so are my guy friends and the guys I went to school with that I knew, so I wasn’t expecting men and boys in this game to be awful. WoW really changed my mind about men. I no longer think most of them are decent people. Remove immediate consequences as a deterrent and over half of them are mean little creeps. And that’s too bad because I trusted y’all and thought nastiness was the exception, not the rule. So much for idealism and thinking the best, huh?
To quote Dylan:
Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
“Rip down all hate,” I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now
I’ve reported two players in my entire time playing since TBC, one for endlessly spamming me, dude must have made SEVERAL alts because he filled up my ignore list and kept showing up lmao. Absolute chad level dedication but it was annoying as hell.
Second was a guy on my server in OG Wrath, posting paragraphs in order, from Mein Kampf in trade.
Doing something annoying in chat.
I use Report instead of Ignore, because it puts them on an automatic 24 ignore. 99.999% of the time I never hear from them again. After 18 years in WoW, I have a single player on ignore.
I reported players for talking shih to me and verbally abuse. These players are ironically always druids. I feel like most druid players in PvP are hella toxic as players.
Well, I mean, if I said it here I could be reported, but yeah, I reported some one yesterday for saying something, let’s just say, unambiguously racist on the zep tower by the Org docks. It was a real, ‘Really, you’re just gonna say that out loud? Ok, time to report you’ moment.
“They beat me in the game, mommy please ban them!”
Exactly who i report
I report for names. People shouldn’t have certain sites, or use alt codes to get around saying slurs/disparaging words for their character’s name.
Other than that I don’t care if idiots argue in chat or cuss.
Also report bots.
Same. Everything else is usually whatever. If I don’t like what people are saying in trade, I could just not read trade.
I’ll also report people for racist stuff on TRP3 nameplates. Some people make dark skinned characters and literally name them as inappropriately as you can imagine. It’s pretty crappy so I give them a report too. Those people deserve vacations from wow for a little while.
Yeah I’ve seen a few of those rolling around way more in SL than I can ever remember before. Not funny.
Man, people like you are why Barren’s chat isn’t fun anymore.
I have never reported anyone in-game. I think it’s weaksauce.