Well, we as players can’t do more than we really have already. Way before these threads existed Blizzard was aware of the issues on the WoW forums that would be resolved by having a single ID. According to the Blue posts, they recognize it, want to change it (no mention of how), and have raised the issues with the powers that be. What the mgt has said, what might happen, and when, is not something they are going to share with us right now.
So yes, Blizz agrees something needs to change, but can’t talk about it.
The lack of a single forum ID like the rest of the forums is a Blizzard/software caused issue based on a design decision. It was not a bad idea in theory, but has not worked out well in practical terms on the new software.
It is actually a lot more than “just trolls”.
Trust level, post history, post count, likes/flags, are all tied to the forum account which is currently charname-server. Every time someone transfers or has a name change, it wipes their forum account to the start. Any new char they use, starts at zero. That gets a fair amount of tickets/complaints to CS.
Treating char-server as forum accounts means Ignore is only for that one char instead of all the chars on that Bnet account. It means people can, and do, make more chars to evade ignores and keep bothering individuals.
Char-server allows people to add you in-game without your permission, message you, find where you are, mail you, etc. Even see if you get a name change. Btags don’t. They keep anyone from talking to you without you giving them permission to add you as a friend.
Using multiple characters to abuse the reporting system. Each char has a set of flags, so when someone runs out on one char, they use the other chars to report the same person. Yes, it is against the forum rules and some people do get suspended, but it makes more work for the mods and they don’t catch it all. One Bnet with one set of flags greatly reduces false flagging. Same with a more minor issue of “fake likes”, although that is not really damaging.
Last, sock puppets and people switching chars to just make trolling threads. Those do cause a lot of disruption and extra mod work. It costs Blizz money to clean it up and it can interfere with attempts at honest discourse.
I don’t care if they do Battletags like all the other Blizzard forums, or a WoW single ID for the forums, it would all be resolved by changing the forum structure back.
Of course, nobody wants chars to go away or transmogs, so using those for the avatar is welcomed. It would just also denote the Btag/forum account name.
Players TALKING about the issue does not mean they caused it. The forum software allows for disruptive behavior and frustrating account based mechanics.
No, it wasn’t. I hate that the phrases “false flag/false report” are so bloody prevalent. People can flag something, whether with good intentions or bad and none of us know which it is. That does not make it a false flag. The thread being restored only means that it was reported, probably temporarily hidden until a GM could properly look everything over - and the GM disagreed with the reports. That’s it. That doesn’t make them false flags.
I’m sorry you’ve had this hiccup, and I do give kudos for wanting something (anything) positive over in GD. All the best to you and I hope things resolve themselves for you!
No. And to go with what I said above, Blizzard can see if reports are being weaponized and the person(s) behind it can and will get sanctioned for that. It only takes one flag to bring something to a GM’s attention. More flags only make it more of a priority. But like is said over and over again on CS - people can flag or report any little thing that they want to. If that thread or person isn’t doing anything? Then nothing will happen due to those reports. The worst that can happen is a temporary safety measure to limit further chaos, but that temporary bit is only until a GM can properly review the thread or person.
No, it simply means that the moderator did not find it objectionable as the players did. Just because a moderator doesn’t agree with the reason it was flagged, doesn’t make it a “false” flag. It simply means that the player’s opinion was not the moderator’s decision.
No, you don’t. People could have hit your thread as spam, considering that there have been several threads about this topic - no matter your good intentions. A great deal of people are likely to be tired of seeing the topic. It’s not an attack, it’s a legitimate flag. You disagree that it is spam, and that is absolutely okay. Just as it’s okay for other people to be sick of the discourse and flag your thread.
A GM decided that the thread did not meet the metric for spam. That does not make those peoples’ reports false, it just means that the people who make the ultimate decisions disagreed.
You could report me for trolling. It would flag my post, and the staff on this forum would have to make the decision whether to agree with your flag or to disagree and my replies remain. That doesn’t make your flag a false one.
Rhielle, I understand you want to be helpful so have chosen to only post here, due to the harassment on the regular forums. Maybe don’t be aggressive ok?
I explained the subject to those who did not know. If you find my post to be against the rules, flag it. Orlyia and Vrak will moderate.
Nothing I said was aggressive and I don’t think we need to be making up reasons as to where I do and do not post, considering I have been posting elsewhere. This truly just is not the forum for this. Nor do I appreciate the accusations or the misinformation concerning myself. I would also appreciate if you would stop using that name, as I do not identify by it any longer and that character no longer even exists. Thank you.
That is not the real reason it was flagged. Orlyia already responded with why it was flagged. People are absolutely allowed to see the thread as spam if there were others of the same topic and that is a valid reason to flag if they see fit. The moderators make their decisions from there.
Looks like I misunderstood this post at first, unfortunately. The thread may have been flagged for spam, but it was restored. So, I assumed it was deleted due to toxicity, though I am not sure if you can check that. There were no other threads about Battletags by the time OP made that thread. The large megathread was closed and unlisted.
Edit: I just saw your next post again, whoops. Looks like you did confirm it was because of toxicity.
There were no other active posts on GD at the time. The first Btag request megathread was deleted, but no action was taken to stop a second version. The second version was unlisted and closed after it got close to 15k responses. The third version seemed to be relatively civil, despite the fact that generally the same handful of people did their best to derail it and provoke toxicity specifically to get it shut down, and it was deleted over the weekend. A fourth version went up and was deleted a day after.
None of those threads overlapped. The request for Btags to be used as a unique identifier on the forums with people’s posts in the hopes that it would help discourage trolling and sockpuppeting, give people greater controls over ignoring people they didn’t want to hear from and make moderation easier and more consistent isn’t much different from requests that Worgen have tails or that the game get a High Elf race. There was only ever one “megathread” up at a time (although there were at some points several “Don’t use Btags on the forums” threads that were all eventually taken down to consolidate the discussion to one post).
If the topic isn’t allowed to be discussed anymore, it would be appreciated that we have some clarity on the matter. But I don’t personally see why support for solutions to make the WoW forums friendlier and more useable is a verboten topic unless it’s intended that a few people should be able to shut down really any topic of discussion by consistently hammering any posts that come up on the subject with purposeful misinformation to provoke an argument.
There had been others and many knew of the megathread. If someone decided they didn’t want to see yet another thread come up with the topic, they are allowed to flag it as spam. That’s not a false flag. It’s simply their opinion using the flagging options that exist.
From what we’ve gathered, the thread went downhill, as did others, so the moderators opted to delete it. Often times, when multiple of the same topic are deleted, it can be assumed that perhaps that topic isn’t the best idea, because it seems to breed too much negativity. Moderators will not comment on such things.
