Want to start by saying i’m not here to appeal my chat suspension, i already have a ticket in the works for that using the appropriate medium. Now that being said I’ve scoured the internet for information regarding this automated report system and would like some more solid clarification on some things, for starters
How many reports does it take to warrant an automated chat suspension?
Can a player log into alts and report me on the same account via different characters?
What happens to accounts that abuse this report system specifically if anything at all?
How are those accounts in question reviewed a case by case basis via GM or an automated mass suspension of accounts found falsely reporting?
Can trial accounts on a free to play basis have an effect on the automated report system’s decision?
How can one prevent being falsely mass reported?
What determines the account action, and duration thereof?
Do these false reports get reviewed on a case by case basis if the appeal is found in the accused’s favor?
Are there any alternative methods to appeal bans or expedite the process aside from the slow paced support website where you won’t get an answer until after half the ban is over?
I’ve been reported many times, i won’t lie a lot of the times i deserved what i got but after reading what i was reported for before submitting my appeal it is clear to me this automated system is easily abusable and I truly believe that as paying customers we are owed some type of explanation before action is taken against our accounts. My hope is that with this post perhaps someone with the information I’m requesting would be able to better shed light on this sketchy topic for my own sake as well as that of the community.
Thank you for your time and again, to reiterate I’m not trying to appeal my ban here i have a ticket appropriately in place for that
That’s a squelch and the number has never been released.
They can but it doesn’t add to the number of reports. It can result in account action on them though, especially if they make a habit of it.
There was a streamer that tested the squelch system and misreported it as an automatic silence. The streamer was actioned for abusing the report system. AFAIK that is the only public confirmation. Any account action is between Blizzard and the player being actioned.
All reports are reviewed by a GM. There is no automated mass suspension of chat violations. That is why there is no instantaneous response when you report someone. They are handled in the order they are received. A large number of reports in a short period of time may speed up the violation being addressed. The squelch is there so that the problem account can be blocked until someone investigates.
Yes. Trial accounts can report chat violations the same as regular accounts. They have the same restriction as regular accounts. One account, one report.
You can’t.
Account action is determined by policy. A GM review is required for account action. The duration is determined by policy and account history. For silences the duration doubles every time it is applied. https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/44277
That would be an internal policy. We as players would not know this.
No. The only way to appeal an account action has always been through tickets.
Ruffle and Amaelalin have handled most of what you wanted to know, but a big red flag for me is this. As Rufflebottom mentioned, every time you’re found in breech of the ToS/CoC, your punishment doubles. If you’ve got a history of incidents, they will be there for the GM to see when they’re reviewing the squelch. You had your warning with the first time you were hit with a sanction. There is no warning after that. You mess up, you’re in time out for double the time you were the last time you found yourself in the same situation. It’s not on Blizzard to hold your hand and tell you what is wrong and inappropriate, it’s on you to follow the rules you agreed to every time you pay your subscription and every time the terms are updated and you hit that “OK” button.
And to be honest, all of your questions? While you may honestly be seeking some sort of clarity, it also reads as trying to find a loophole or to get something black and white to argue against. Blizzard keeps their terms vague for this very reason. That, and things are always fluid and changing.
Given you describing yourself as someone who gets reported all the time and deserves it, I would focus more on your own behavior and things you can do to stop breaking the rules and hence stop getting reported, than I would whether blizzard is going to investigate the mass false reporting ring that’s allegedly picking on you.
In the past when i’ve seen similar complaints to yours, at best the person was engaging in borderline behavior that others disliked but the person thought was ok or was even technically within the rules. This is especially true if reported for spam, as when something becomes spam is subjective.
If it is truly obvious that the reporting was malicious, blizzard will take a look at it when they review the reports.
I put guild ads up every time someone started talking politics in trade chat, the people bickering about politics decided to mass report me for interrupting their spam so i don’t feel this time it’s my fault or my behavior. Yes i flooded trade chat, but not anymore than what the system allows me to post and not any more than the people spewing politics in trade. that being said i digress as my questions have been answered for the most part thank you.
Gotcha, I kind of figured it was something like that.
The only thing I’d like to add is that there is no blanket “ok” to post a repeated message as often as the system allows you to. How often you can post it is subjective. It depends on how many other people are posting, how long your message is, what your message is, etc. Blizzard gives some latitude to the server community itself to decide what it does and doesn’t want to see. I would recommend ignoring players, or reporting the others in trade chat if you think they’re breaking the rules, rather than spamming yourself in the future.
However, whether you were spamming or not can only be decided by a GM. Good luck to getting it overturned.
That makes you equally as guilty in my eyes, as it apparently does your realm mates. If you dislike the political discourse, then right click, report them and move on. Spamming anything in response to anything being spoken of in trade chat isn’t just trolling, it’s really just ignorance. It makes you a part of the problem.
there is no other recourse to this problem. Blizzard will ban a streamer for talking politics or posting pepes sure but there is simply no way to counter the immense number of people using trade chat for political advertising. What are they gonna do chat suspend all of them? no way, It’s honestly disgusting at this point and for those of us with capped ignore lists the report system is a temporary band-aid at best. I’d rather see thunderfury anal spam all day for a week then see another damn post about covid or politics. You can feel free to think how you like but when there are no other viable solutions on the table players take matters into their own hands and try to come up with creative solutions. This wouldn’t be a problem if the ignore list had no limit.
I beg to differ. That’s like say it’s okay to swear in game because there is a mature language filter. However, two wrongs don’t make it right - but that’s beside the point as we’re not arguing your account action here.
Sadly, even with infinite ignore lists people will spam or talk about contentious issues (like politics, world events etc).
You’re certainly free to report anyone talking politics in-game, as well as those with politics-related names too.
That’s not true, if i had infinite ignore i wouldn’t feel the need to spam trade chat because i’d be able to self silence anyone i don’t want to hear from without hesitation the report system removes indiscriminately which means messages i may want to read are gone on a report also lets not pretend that the report system will remove the constant spam. they started at 6 am this morning and are already en-masse arguing about covid / election politics. it never stops.
it’s true these people will always exist but with an unlimited ignore you can stop seeing messages from those players without feeling punished by being forced to leave a chat designed for everyone.
It’s not a perfect answer but then the best thing I know to do is suggest that you leave the trade channel. It’s just the unfortunate truth that politics are everywhere no matter where you try to hide, and while I agree it’s not fair that you should have to be ‘punished’ and do without, that seems to be the best option for the moment. I know there used to be add-ons to extend your ignore list, and I know there are chat spam filtering add-ons that will block any post with a particular word or phrase. Perhaps poke through add-ons if you’re not wanting to completely pull yourself out of the global channels since there isn’t anything else that can be done if there isn’t reporting going on.
Mostly think everything was addressed. The squelch is a temporary measure and is not an account penalty. The silence, however, is. It does take a significant number of spam reports (only those reports generate a squelch) to trigger a squelch, and the majority of instances of people claiming to have been squelched via abuse of the report system have actually been well deserved silences that had little ambiguity to whether they were deserved (Blizzard’s policies are deliberately designed to create very little ambiguity).
It’s true, though, that the primary purpose of the squelch function is to put out gold spammers and stuff of that nature. So it can be a bit awkward to attempt to repurpose it for other situations and types of spam. Regardless, it’s typically a very short inconvenience if it was genuinely the result of an abuse of the system.
As to the ignore stuff; while it’s true that the feature is meant to allow you to cut contact with people you don’t wish to see, the rules of communicating within Blizzard’s games apply to all avenues. That includes whispers. Blizzard has ESRB rules to obey, and what kind of online interactions are allowed will factor into that.
While trade is a suggested use for the Trade channel, Blizzard does not require only trade to be discussed. People can use it for whatever they want within the rules of the game. Discussing politics in general though is allowed, even if it is annoying to you.
There are exceptions of course which apply to anything:
Trolling to intentionally insult individuals, using hate speech against a person or group, attempting to cause widespread unrest, threats of violence, etc. can be reported as language.
ADVERTISING for a candidate (stumping for candidates) would be reportable as spam. Again though, if someone is advertising and repeating the same phrases (spam), report them as such. It also temp mutes that person for the rest of your gaming session.
Just because the system throttles how often you post does not mean that you cannot be actioned for spamming. If people find your spamming to be too much, they can report and Blizzard can action. Their personal motives for reporting are irrelevant.
You can report them for spam, though I would caution that people having a conversation (even a highly incendiary and discouraged one like politics), you are putting yourself at risk to be actioned for the very abuse you just asked about.
So, your other recourse is to put them on ignore.
Well, yes. If every person in the game broke the rules and was reported, Blizzard would suspend everyone. Especially chat violations, because it doesn’t stop you from playing the game.
There are options, but you are choosing to not use them. Regardless, it’s not on you to “take matters into your own hands”. Because there’s nothing you CAN do. You can’t stop them from speaking. You can’t clean up the channel on your own. Blizzard is the only one who can stop another player from speaking when they violate the rules.
The only thing you are doing is adding to the spam in the channel, and even though you think it is acceptable spam, it’s still spam and it’s breaking the rules.
It’s intended to be. I would say that if you’re using your guild recruitment messages to be disruptive in chat, you are not being any better than the individuals you are taking an issue with.
Reviewing your message, I see you hitting chat multiple times within seconds and often within the same minute.
Additionally, your recruitment messages contained inappropriate language which would also result in a silence if reported.
I’m going to go ahead and close this thread down. I think everything that needed to be covered has been and we don’t allow discussion of disciplinary actions on the forums (which is what this inevitably turned into).