Using OBR to Grief - Actionable?

Right now, there are many players that are upset about the Leaver function. We need clarification on many aspects of it, but right now there is a glaring issue.

Players are saying that, in order to bypass the Mark or any future punishment system, that instead of continuing to play as they normally would, at their full skill level, they will instead switch to OBR and watch TV.

Now, I know, and you and everybody knows, Blizzard is never going to action someone just because they use OBR or are a bad player. But I think it is very clear that Blizzard should be able to know when a player uses their entire kit, but only switches to OBR as a means of tacit leaving.

Can we get confirmation that using OBR to ‘tacitly leave’, as I am putting it, is a reportable offense? Can we get clarification on the Leaver system as a whole?

The blues arent gona give a clear yes or no because policiies change rather quickly.

Blizzard has internal mechanics that will let them know stuff sooner or later this will catch up to the players.

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No, using a function that Blizzard implemented into the game will not ever be actionable. That’s ridiculous. If someone wants to watch TV while they’re using it, then that’s up to them. Blizzard made that option available.

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I refer you to the CoC.

Behavior that intentionally detracts from others’ enjoyment (such as griefing, throwing, feeding, etc.) is unacceptable. We expect our players to treat each other with respect and promote an enjoyable environment. Acceptable behavior is determined by player reports and Blizzard’s decision, and violating these guidelines will result in account and gameplay restrictions.

The two key phrases in that quote are “griefing”, and “throwing”.

Blizzard has clear defined usages of OBR, in the announcement:

“For those who want or need a little extra help, This assistant is designed to aid those who are looking for additional help, or for those who want to experience the story or game on a more casual basis.”

Using OBR as a way to avoid using another Blizzard feature, /abandon, and to avoid a punishment, would logically be an actionable offense.

Why are you trying to convince anyone here of your position? No one here has any input into how policies are designed, implemented, or enforced.

The answer is “no one knows, and no one here would be able to change anything to match your desired state.”

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…Person replied to my question, which was pretty much directed at a Blue, so we could get clarification, with a clear statement of no, and then you chime in with a “nobody knows”…

Which further serves as evidence that Blizzard needs to tell us more.

And now, I ask you, whats with the third degree about my reply?

If you want to give yoru feedback on on rules and what can or can’t be against said rules, general would be the place or in-game suggestion box. The CS forum isn’t a place for debate, nor the blues here would know some random off chance rule for something. Even then, the ones who make such calls ain’t in the CS forum.

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Im not giving feedback or debating, I am asking for clarification from the blues. I didnt ask for anything other than that in my original post.

I’m trying to ascertain your objectives here.

Many people are unaware that any kind of argument or advocacy here is a waste of electrons and attention.

Also, many people are unaware that no one is in a position to demand a response from a Blizzard employee, or a ruling in advance as to whether an arguable action violates any stated or unstated rule. (Hint: historically, “griefing” nearly never applies to situations that people claiming to have been griefed think it should.)

Suggestions on policy belong in a non-Support forum like General Discussion or Dungeons, Raids, and Scenarios.

The blues arent gona give a direct yes or no as i stated before policies change quickly what maybe ok one day could be not the next.

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Using a system that Blizzard introduced is not a ‘reportable offense’. I mean, you can report it if you want to, but nothing will be done.

To add to that, “griefing” is not something that is actionable in WoW. In fact, the only time I have ever seen Blizzard refer to it as something they’ve taken action on was when they used their internal logs to determine if/when players were abandoning more than 50% of their mythic+ games. Otherwise, it’s never been something that they’ve actioned in WoW.

While they may choose to provide more info, asking specifically for a blue is frowned upon in the forums. Just a heads-up.

So to answer your overall question, using one button rotations is not a violation of the rules. Your determination that it’s “griefing” is also not actionable.

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How is that? Its explicitly called out in the Code of Conduct.

No, you THINK it is. Anyone who needs to use such, the OBR, isn’t breaking the rule. The Cs forum isn’t try to rules lawyer into getting folks action.

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I would say the short answer is no the long answer is “it depends” doing it once or twice is not gonna do anything doing it repeatedly 20 or 40 times is maybe (and that’s a huge maybe at that). Overall, the system is meant to go after people who are leaving prematurely on purpose, sandbagging or just under performing is not what the system is designed to enforce. In that case, you would just have to put them on ignore if you believe they are actively sabotaging you like that.

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`Behavior that intentionally detracts from others’ enjoyment (such as griefing, throwing, feeding, etc.) is unacceptable.

https://us.support.blizzard.com/en/article/42673

The meaningful* threshold for declaring a behavior to be “griefing” is very high and generally requires pervasiveness and large-area affect (like denying the use of an entire town).

*“Meaningful” means "in the opinion of the GM assessing the report, not the player reporting.

Players are NOT required to perform at their best in those activities. They’re required to participate. That’s it. If they’re sitting afk in the corner, that may be reportable. Using OBR is not. If Blizzard didn’t want OBR useable in M+, they wouldn’t have made it useable in M+. Period.

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By the wording of their rules, yes. Will they enforce that? Unlikely.

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I am not asking if bad players will be actioned. Of course they wont. I am asking if the wording of the CoC in regards to griefing and throwing applies to purposefully switching to OBR as a method of punishment avoidance.

Yes, for their entire gaming portfolio. It’s enforced in some of their other games. Unfortunately, in a game like WoW, everything anyone doesn’t like it “griefing”.

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