How does reporting work in this game?

[Deus Fatorum.2473]

I have friends banned for saying minor curse words yet someone sends me threats and flames me for 10 mins also asking me to kill myself as well, and they get to continue playing the game? Is it due to auto-ban filters vs devs not checking reports?

It isn't fun having to play with someone who has sent you death threats.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Did you happen to respond to said whispers/mail/whatever? Or fail to 'Block' after the first unwanted message? That can void any report. Your best course is to Block, then Report. Never respond.

Good luck.

[Danikat.8537]

From what Anet have said it's not an automated system. A report is basically an alert for one of the customer support team to look at what's been reported - messages in chat, a player name or whatever else. Then they decide what needs to be done and take action.

The downside of that is there's always a delay between reporting someone and anything happening, because it needs to wait for someone to check it and make a decision. It also means the effect might be invisible for everyone else - they might be given a warning, or a temporary ban and be back in the game before you got around to checking if they were banned.

The upside is that, even allowing for biased reporting, false positives seem to be relatively rare. Of course there are always stories of completely innocent people being banned for doing nothing at all, but in the rare cases Anet has commented on it there was a lot more to the story. Even when they didn't there's often another player who was involved, or claims to be involved, saying they weren't nearly as innocent as they claimed.

I'm not saying your friends deserved whatever happened to them. But I will say from my own experience outside GW2 one persons "minor curse words" is another persons thing you do not ever say especially not directed at another person and more offensive than physically assaulting them. I once really upset my friend by saying "Will you shut up a second?" Apparently she'd have been less offended if I'd slapped her and said...well something I can't repeat here because it will be changed to kitten, something I wouldn't have said to a friend even jokingly, but to her it was apparently less offensive than 'shut up'.

However, it's not for us to decide. If your friends think a moderator decision was inappropriate they'll need to submit a Support ticket, explain their side as calmly as they can and ask Anet to reconsider. Having worked in customer service (although for a different kind of company) I'd strongly recommend they carefully consider how it's worded because any angry or aggressive language will count against them, especially when they're objecting to a warning for verbal abuse.

[Deus Fatorum.2473]

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:Did you happen to respond to said whispers/mail/whatever? Or fail to 'Block' after the first unwanted message? That can void any report. Your best course is to Block, then Report. Never respond.

Good luck.

It started with me apologizing for my necro play, i said nothing after

[Charrbeque.8729]

@"Deus Fatorum.2473" said:I have friends banned for saying minor curse words yet someone sends me threats and flames me for 10 mins also asking me to kill myself as well, and they get to continue playing the game? Is it due to auto-ban filters vs devs not checking reports?

It isn't fun having to play with someone who has sent you death threats.

Someone on Reddit a few days ago had the typical "got banned for no reason" complaint.

Dornsinger responded: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/bbzzcz/banned_for_toxic_behaviour_in_a_closed_lobby_of/ekmr88i/?context=1000

...........As for the offence, I'll be happy to give more info, as you have forgotten a few things. You've not gotten banned based on "feg", as you put it. You have, however, gotten suspended for racially charged comments, homophobic language, and telling other players to kill themselves. If you have forgotten these bits, they were sent to you by the team, both in the ticket created / email sent the first time you were suspended, as well as in the answer to your appeal. "KYS" gets treated as a real-life threat by us, as it only takes one person who is in a bad place already to get that one final push... and a life could be lost. We have no tolerance for it. It's not needed, ever, to tell another human being to end their live. It is not funny, it is not something to just casually throw at people, and if found / reported to us, we will absolutely action it.

When a player tells someone to "KYS" (kill yourself), ArenaNet takes it very seriously.

Just report and block the player in game who is treating you that way. The GM's do in fact take action.

Edit: Also keep in mind: you will never be notified if action was taken against a player who was being abusive to you.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

tl;dr from various reports

• ANet doesn't actively monitor chat: if you don't report alleged violations of the rules, they can't do anything
• they do not suspend for "minor" offenses; it takes more than off-hand comments
• they do not consider it acceptable to "defend yourself." Instead: block, ignore, and /report.

GM Lead Dornsinger, writing as u/Dornsinger on Reddithttps://old.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/bdp5b0/anet_banned_me_when_i_was_the_one_getting/el0wf8u/!! > Disclaimer: Any "you" used is general and addresses any reader - or none, if you don't feel addressed!! >! > There's not enough to find the actual situation / the user involved, no ticket number or similar. As such, I can only give some general comments to maybe help folks understand the situation.! >! >> I never reported him because I'm not a snitch like that.! >! > Then we cannot assist you. We do not actively monitor chat. We respond to player reports. If you do not report users who abuse you, then we will literally not know. There's never a reason to not report someone who is being offensive, crude, or harassing folks in the game. Yes, it may be that we do not action someone you report, and the report button is not the button to summon the banhammer. For example, someone who gets upset at you not being Murder McKillington in a WvW group, who whispers you "your uslsess, worst dedey evir", even if I would want to suspend them for abusing the English language, would not get actioned. Because we give allowances for salt in PvP-type situations. ((Can we call that a salary?))! >! >> I MAY have said "[redacted]" or something of the like.! >! > We do not suspend users for one, single, offhand "[redacted]". If we did, the PvP landscape would be utterly deserted. For a suspension, a user needs to either spam that; they need to use MUCH stronger language; or they do something else that breaks these rules - and get reported for it.! >! > OP If you feel you were suspended for a "[redacted]" and it seems my team broke policy on that, please let me know the ticket number of your appeal and I will absolutely check if my team went rouge.! >! > However - there's just no need to 'defend yourself'. The concept should not be one in anyone's minds. You do not have to do this on your own, because - yes, you have the Game Master team for that. You get harassed? Block and report. That's literally the most mature thing to do in such situations. You get stalked or someone creates new accounts to circumvent blocks? That's worse, so the action could be a harder one! But without us knowing, there's simply nothing we could possibly do.! >! > Do note that being harassed does not excuse harassment. If two parties go at it, then it's consensual, and that leads to either both folks being told to stop it, or both sides being actioned. If you're actioned already and say "but they started it", that won't lift your suspension.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@Deus Fatorum.2473 said:

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:Did you happen to respond to said whispers/mail/whatever? Or fail to 'Block' after the first unwanted message? That can void any report. Your best course is to Block, then Report. Never respond.

Good luck.

It started with me apologizing for my necro play, i said nothing after

If you block immediately, rather than let another send messages for 10 minutes, you will fare far better.

Again, block and report is the best avenue to take.

[lare.5129]

my choose is:On pvp my chat window set to view only my guild chat.Wispers is settend in other tab too, but I don't switch during fight.If someone start write wisper on non pvp time and I not like - block.

[Stand The Wall.6987]

im not sure it works too well. a person had a ranger pet named the n word for weeks before I stopped seeing them.

[MoriMoriMori.5349]

@"Danikat.8537" said:I'm not saying your friends deserved whatever happened to them. But I will say from my own experience outside GW2 one persons "minor curse words" is another persons thing you do not ever say especially not directed at another person and more offensive than physically assaulting them. I once really upset my friend by saying "Will you shut up a second?" Apparently she'd have been less offended if I'd slapped her and said...well something I can't repeat here because it will be changed to kitten, something I wouldn't have said to a friend even jokingly, but to her it was apparently less offensive than 'shut up'.

Not very good example, imo. Things like "kill yourself" when told online over a trifle matter is so obviously over-blown they are not taken seriously by almost everybody (like, no one really think they are suggested to un-do themselves). While thing like "shut up" (i.e. exactly like this, not like "oh, c'mon, shuddup" or other more obviously joking variations) are taken at face value, and it indeed sounds quite rude, even from a friend.

[Rasimir.6239]

@MoriMoriMori.5349 said:

@"Danikat.8537" said:I'm not saying your friends deserved whatever happened to them. But I will say from my own experience outside GW2 one persons "minor curse words" is another persons thing you do not

ever

say especially not directed at another person and more offensive than physically assaulting them. I once really upset my friend by saying "Will you shut up a second?" Apparently she'd have been less offended if I'd slapped her and said...well something I can't repeat here because it will be changed to kitten, something I wouldn't have said to a friend even jokingly, but to her it was apparently

less

offensive than 'shut up'.

Not very good example, imo. Things like "kill yourself" when told online over a trifle matter is so obviously over-blown they are not taken seriously by almost everybody. While thing like "shut up" (i.e. exactly like this, not like "oh, c'mon, shuddup" or other more obviously joking variations) are taken at face value, and it indeed sounds quite rude, even from a friend.

Like Danikat said, it depends a lot on the person (and possibly culture they come from). I personally find "kill yourself" a lot more offensive than "will you shut up a second". Just because you don't doesn't make it a universal truth.

[Dawdler.8521]

@Rasimir.6239 said:

@MoriMoriMori.5349 said:

@"Danikat.8537" said:I'm not saying your friends deserved whatever happened to them. But I will say from my own experience outside GW2 one persons "minor curse words" is another persons thing you do not

ever

say especially not directed at another person and more offensive than physically assaulting them. I once really upset my friend by saying "Will you shut up a second?" Apparently she'd have been less offended if I'd slapped her and said...well something I can't repeat here because it will be changed to kitten, something I wouldn't have said to a friend even jokingly, but to her it was apparently

less

offensive than 'shut up'.

Not very good example, imo. Things like "kill yourself" when told online over a trifle matter is so obviously over-blown they are not taken seriously by almost everybody. While thing like "shut up" (i.e. exactly like this, not like "oh, c'mon, shuddup" or other more obviously joking variations) are taken at face value, and it indeed sounds quite rude, even from a friend.

Like Danikat said, it depends a lot on the person (and possibly culture they come from). I personally find "kill yourself" a lot more offensive than "will you shut up a second". Just because you don't doesn't make it a universal truth.Fun fact: Many years ago I was doing hardware inventory on a massive production site (100ish building). A month or so in I mentioned in a mail I was dead tired of walking around buildings, in what I thought was a casual and somewhat jokingly tone to my closest boss. Well that got forwarded up the ranks without thinking more on it and oh boy... "Is he alright?", "Do we need to do something?!".

People just interpret things in their own way.

[GM Magister.8736]

It seems like the users who have replied so far have summarized our stance pretty well so far! But, I thought I would stop by to clear up any remaining misconceptions and confirm the bits that they got right. :)

First off, we generally don't ban for "minor curse words," and we do so even less in PvP scenarios. We understand just as well as anyone else how heated things can be, especially when you just got killed for the 13th time by that guy on the enemy team. Context matters, and a few simple curse words are only going to result in a ban if they are used repetitively or alongside more targeted language or threats.

To expand on the above - we take any sort of threat or prejudiced language very seriously. Unlike with simple curse words, a player running around telling others to kill themselves or using language that is hateful towards any group (racial, sexual, or otherwise) will almost definitely find themself with an account action, as will those who might reference certain illegal activities, such as inappropriate behavior with a minor.

But, of course, all of that requires us to actually know that the problem is occurring, and that's where you all come in! We rely on your reports to find players who are behaving badly since, as outlined above, context matters, and even the most well thought out automated system or algorithm would make mistakes. As such, all account actions are enforced by actual agents who will read through chat logs and check a user's history before deciding whether to suspend an account and for how long. (Also - be patient! We deal with lots of reports, so it's not like that person is going to get the boot the moment you hit the report button.)

Still, agents will make mistakes, and we are more than happy to take a second look if you feel you are being unfairly punished. However, we do ask that you have some patience with us and gracefully accept the outcome of our investigation, even if it's not what you were hoping for. If you fight us, we're less likely to be flexible, and you might even find yourself with a longer suspension if you're particularly unkind to our agents.

The best advice I can give to anyone who might be dealing with unfriendly players is to just block and report them and move on. Don't engage them or retaliate, as tempting as it might be, as it can be far to easy to end up saying something that could actually be ban-worthy. Even though we take context into account, that doesn't give you the right to call someone a (censored for public consumption) "degenerate, skritt-for-brains moron." If you're a jerk in return, then you're just as likely to be actioned as the instigator.

So, tl;dr - Be kind to one another, and when that doesn't work, just be the bigger person: Don't retaliate, don't escalate. Block them, report them, and move on. Go outside and get some fresh air, take in the sights around the Grove, or beat up on world bosses for a few hours instead, then head back into the Mists to keep pwning noobs. We'll handle the rest in due time!

PS: Unfortunately, we don’t currently have a formal system for reporting or censoring pet names and similar, but we’re working on improving the system going forward. You’re free to still report them using the means available, but we won’t be able to guarantee a change given our current lack of a means to do so. Sorry. :(

[kharmin.7683]

Awesome post @"GM Magister.8736"! Thanks for taking the time to present it. Might I suggest it be copied to https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/categories/arenanet-guild-wars-2-policies for better visibility as this thread will inevitably fall off the first page?

[Linken.6345]

@Stand The Wall.6987 said:im not sure it works too well. a person had a ranger pet named the n word for weeks before I stopped seeing them.

You sure it wasent a Spanish or Portuguese player calling its black bear Negro=Black?

[Yannir.4132]

@"GM Magister.8736" said:PS: Unfortunately, we don’t currently have a formal system for reporting or censoring pet names and similar, but we’re working on improving the system going forward. You’re free to still report them using the means available, but we won’t be able to guarantee a change given our current lack of a means to do so. Sorry. :(

Speaking of that, could we get an "Other"-category into the report function? Which would pop up a text box where you can write up the perceived transgression?

[Stand The Wall.6987]

@Linken.6345 said:

@Stand The Wall.6987 said:im not sure it works too well. a person had a ranger pet named the n word for weeks before I stopped seeing them.

You sure it wasent a Spanish or Portuguese player calling its black bear kitten=Black?

is that a joke? I know what the n word looks like.

[Calvsie.3675]

@Stand The Wall.6987 said:

@Linken.6345 said:

@Stand The Wall.6987 said:im not sure it works too well. a person had a ranger pet named the n word for weeks before I stopped seeing them.

You sure it wasent a Spanish or Portuguese player calling its black bear kitten=Black?

is that a joke? I know what the n word looks like.

Black in Spanish is an N word...

[Ben K.6238]

Spanish and Portuguese-speaking players are usually aware of the meanings of such words in English as well. And it's a safe bet that the player in question was fluent in English.

[sewenewes.4176]

In my experience, harassment goes completely ignored unless you can draw a lot of attention to your case via Reddit and Twitter. Similarly, curse words and insults are only punished if you're either insulting the company themselves or any of the currently trending demographics in America. As an example, you can spout Irish jokes as much as you like but you'll be suspended in a few hours tops if you make Mexican jokes. Similarly, jokes at the expense of men are a-ok but don't even think about dropping a line (even if done completely and obviously in jest) involving sandwiches and kitchens.

Generally speaking your best bet is to not use the in-game chat for anything but organizing group events and maybe to say hello to guildies. Keep everything to Discord and whatever website your guild may use. If you're being harrassed and blocking them doesn't make them leave you be (as blocked people can still see where you are, follow you around, and engage in disruptive behaviour - not to mention the possibility of them making free alt accounts) then put whispers in a separate chat window and let them rant at you. Occasionally check the window, see if they have used any insults or slurs that can get them suspended and if they did then screenshot away, report, and bring it to Reddit for good measure. That's about all you can do.

[Shikigami.4013]

I have used map chat for 6 years and haven't even gotten a warning. If the "best bet" is to use discord, that the fault probably is in the things someone says and not Anet being overly restrictive.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@GM Magister.8736 wrotePS: Unfortunately, we don’t currently have a formal system for reporting or censoring pet names and similar, but we’re working on improving the system going forward. You’re free to still report them using the means available, but we won’t be able to guarantee a change given our current lack of a means to do so. Sorry. :(

Does this mean that the only way to report a pet name is via a support ticket?I had been under the impression that using report offensive character name would also result in the current pet's name being reviewed.

[sewenewes.4176]

@"Shikigami.4013" said:I have used map chat for 6 years and haven't even gotten a warning. If the "best bet" is to use discord, that the fault probably is in the things someone says and not Anet being overly restrictive.

I have never gotten one either but I ascribe that to EU side being largely unmoderated. Not that I ever used offensive language or insulted anybody but, having seen some of the suspensions gaming acquaintances got over at the US side, you don't actually have to say anything offensive to trip an algorithm. People have been suspended based on party chat where they had only friends from real life in the party - joking around with each other. Lets not forget the infamous case of the player suspended over messages he was sending within an empty custom arena map.

[Linken.6345]

@ewenness.6482 said:In my experience, harassment goes completely ignored unless you can draw a lot of attention to your case via Reddit and Twitter. Similarly, curse words and insults are only punished if you're either insulting the company themselves or any of the currently trending demographics in America. As an example, you can spout Irish jokes as much as you like but you'll be suspended in a few hours tops if you make Mexican jokes. Similarly, jokes at the expense of men are a-ok but don't even think about dropping a line (even if done completely and obviously in jest) involving sandwiches and kitchens.

Generally speaking your best bet is to not use the in-game chat for anything but organizing group events and maybe to say hello to guildies. Keep everything to Discord and whatever website your guild may use. If you're being harrassed and blocking them doesn't make them leave you be (as blocked people can still see where you are, follow you around, and engage in disruptive behaviour - not to mention the possibility of them making free alt accounts) then put whispers in a separate chat window and let them rant at you. Occasionally check the window, see if they have used any insults or slurs that can get them suspended and if they did then screenshot away, report, and bring it to Reddit for good measure. That's about all you can do.

No need to put whispers in a separate window since ftp accounts cant whisper if friendship aint accepted from both parts.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@"ewenness.6482" said:you don't actually have to say anything offensive to trip an algorithm.There is no algorithm. ANet doesn't monitor chat at all. Unless there's a report, they aren't looking.

People have been suspended based on party chat where they had only friends from real life in the party - joking around with each other.In all the cases in which we've been privy to the details, it's turned out that one of the friends filed a report. (In most cases, we only have the word of the person complaining about the suspension that (a) it was only friends and (b) that they even know what they were suspended for; a lot of times, people turn out to have "forgotten" other things they said.)

Lets not forget the infamous case of the player suspended over messages he was sending within an empty custom arena map.The apocryphal case? Maybe I missed it then so perhaps you could share the details in which there's independent verification that the person was suspended for saying something in an empty map, rather than for something they posted publicly (and don't remember having typed).