Why doesn't Blizz automatically mute players for harassment?

Someone today was harassing me via chat for 20+ mins just because I play Vulpera saying {Inappropriate things}, other really toxic/bad words used to harass myself and others using Vulpera. He also riled other people up to insult me too and called me a “{Inappropriate things}”

Just curious why not just put an automatic mute feature? There’s no reason at all for players to use certain words like {Example Removed{, etc.

Just feels hard to feel welcome when people call others out in chat and harass them, and even when you report them, months go by and repeat offenders still here doing it again and again.

There are some elements of the reporting system that are automated, such as for spam. However, these systems aren’t robust enough yet to always operate entirely on their own. They generally need staff to review it.

Lots of companies are looking into smarter systems with various algorithms that would allow for reports to be quickly analyzed and addressed without any human intervention, including ours, but it isn’t there yet.

Please be sure that you use the right click reporting system when encountering someone like this. Make sure to place them on ignore and not engage. If they are encouraging others to contact you on their behalf, basically circumventing the ignore system, report that under “Ongoing Harassment”.

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If a player gets enough unique reports in a short enough period of time, they will get auto Squelched pending GM review.

To prevent unwanted communications, you will want to report the person which will auto mute them to you for the remainder of your loggin session. You can also put them on your permanent Ignore list.

If they continue to get around the Ignore function by using other accounts, report them for Ongoing Harassment

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I hate that. I’ve gotten harassed idk how many times for playing a vulpera. Right click report ignore like everyone else has stated.

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Sorry to hear it, Fuzz and Barkblood. I love my little Vulpera, even if I don’t play him as much as I’d like. I will never understand peoples need to be rude and harassing.

Just know that while the systems in place aren’t perfect, they do work and our goal is to put in systems and tools to deal with all kinds of toxic behavior.

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Is there any particular reason why you tolerated 20+ mins instead of putting the person on ignore?

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Ultimately nothing would have happened until the reporting system has been used. There’s technically no auto mute. A squelch would not have been applied. A report would not have been placed. The ignore system didn’t trigger.

OP, for future reference, please be advised to the right click and report system to ensure these instances are reported, to keep it from happening in the future.

It actually is totally relevant. The OP should understand that ignoring/reporting someone will instantly stop the harassment. “Eating it” from someone else for an extended period of time is unnecessary.

If the person stood there and just took abuse for “20+ minutes”, then either of these things happened, neither of which are desirable:

  • The person needlessly exposed themselves to abuse for 19 minutes and 30 seconds longer than was necessary. I’d save them that pain in the future. A report or ignore in the first 30 seconds will accomplish that.

  • The person allowed the ‘abuse’ to go on that long because they were participating in a ‘discussion’ with the perpetrator. That serves no purpose except to place the OP in a “you gave as good as you got,” situation, which helps no one.

Either way, it’s extremely relevant to the issue to have the OP cogitate over why they waited that extra 19m30, to their own detriment.

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