Chase Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Hello folks, As some of you may know, we have a 'report' function on the forums. Leaving a report gives moderators a notification that there is something that needs attention, so it is a very useful and -almost- integral part of our jobs. ....which is fanstastic, if only it were used consistantly. The current ritual for forum infractions by most of the community seems to be as follows: Immediately point out the problem and encourage a fix, and leave without leaving a report. This is detrimental to all parties involved in one form or another, whereas the 'Report' function would make fixing the problem seamless and maintaining the forums much, much easier. How does using the report button help out the person making the infraction? Nobody likes being ridiculed in public (unless you're some sort of masochist or attention hog, but that's beside the point.). The report button, contrary to popular belief, doesn't "condemn" the person who made the infraction, and in fact, does so -less- than calling them out with a responding post. When a moderator tackles the issue, the following discussion between the user and the mod can be held privately, which spares the user any embarassment. How does using the report button help out the thread author? It keeps the thread on topic. Nobody is wasting post space by complaining a forum rule being broken, Mods aren't swooping in to fix issues, Users aren't apologizing. The author keeps his or her right to a continuous, on-topic discussion. How does using the report button help out the Moderators? It pinpoints problems and saves us the trouble of swimming in "Thread Hell" to look for infractions, or -worse-....assuming there are not problems to be fixed in the first place, which leads to misplaced complacency on our end and increased workload on people who are much more meticulous by nature. To put this in perspective, let me provide a scenario. Reports automatically cause a red notification to appear in Hilda's left-hand site menu. When a report is made and Hilda logs into the forums, she can see that -something- needs immediate attention and can easily find and rectfiy the problem. Let's say there aren't any reports made however. This causes Hilda to believe that the coast is clear, and on most days, will cause her to attend to her own projects and read the threads she's interested in. Just because there isn't a report, doesn't mean there isn't something I can fix, but if I were to look for it, I would have to look in thread after thread, and page after page, to find the infraction. If I'm lazy, well.....that doesn't happen, and the problem either doesn't get fixed, or it gets fixed by someone like Amethyst or Dan, who have made at least more of a habit to read threads a bit more meticulously than I have. Since Ame and Dan are kinda responsible for making the game and fixing bugs first and foremost, they really don't need to be doing -my- job better than I am, where fixing mistakes in the forums is half of my given responsibility in the first place. It's a two way street here folks. I -do- need to step up my efforts and ensure things are not left unattended, but it would be a WHOLE lot easier if instead of calling the person out and walking away, we use the report option instead. We as moderators then wouldn't have to play 'Hide and Seek' with the infractions! How does using the report button help YOU? You don't have to be "that guy". Part of a moderator's job is to deal with infractions and those making them, and sometimes that doesn't make us very many friends. Using the report button would put the target rightfully where it belongs - not on you guys. It also allows you to respond to the poster as you would if the post was clean and gives you the right to continuous relevant conversation. TL;DR - From double posting to extremely insensitive content, and everything in between, instead of playing the hero or being the messenger, just USE the report button. It's beneficial for EVERYONE involved! ~ Hilda, Forum Team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jelly Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 *reports this post* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickCrash Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) ^ I caught myself considering it... You should mention there will be consequences for people reporting everything from now on. (even things that are not worth reporting, like mild swearing) we are clean of flame-wars but you never know how people think Edited January 17, 2015 by nickcrash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 On the contrary, there may be consequensial talking-tos to people to FAIL to report threads for now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamitako Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 ...I'm afraid of report buttons in general for... absolutely no reason. Sorry ;n; (That has got to be the stupidest phobia you've ever heard of >_>) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhi Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 ...I'm afraid of report buttons in general for... absolutely no reason. Sorry ;n; (That has got to be the stupidest phobia you've ever heard of >_>) After using it twice, I can say it's much less frightening than telling the auth directly. You just gotta tag 'em and bag 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 No, It can be a rather scary in other places, but here all it does is flag attention where it's needed. You can do it discretely, and it won't necessarilly end with someone getting into trouble. Regardless, it needs to be used much more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 If you truly think something is against the rules, then there's no harm in reporting it. If it's actually within the bounds of the rules, one of the moderators will reply to you via PM saying as such. It goes without saying, just don't abuse it if you know there's clearly nothing wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taska Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Maybe this should be pinned? Or in the FAQ? Or both. Seems pretty important. I don't usually see a post that should be reported. But when I do, I don't report it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Yeah, pretty much what Jericho just said. It doesn't hurt to report a post if there is a reasonable "concern" of there being something wrong. It will be apparent if the button is getting abused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaunt Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Usually i simply forget there IS a "report" button but when i do i always "fear" that i'm wrong and the post in question is ok so i never used it...will try to from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etherwolf Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I had this long rant typed, then Chromed decided to GO BACK BECAUSE HEY YOU SHOULD SIGN IN AGAIN. I think moderators should only be involved as a final resort, y'know? A little chastising here and there from standard users isn't too bad. Only when arguments and such result unnecessarily should the report button be used, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I had this long rant typed, then Chromed decided to GO BACK BECAUSE HEY YOU SHOULD SIGN IN AGAIN. I think moderators should only be involved as a final resort, y'know? A little chastising here and there from standard users isn't too bad. Only when arguments and such result unnecessarily should the report button be used, I think. The thing is, we don't want the flow of the conversation at hand even more so interrupted by one or sometimes more people pointing out small things that others have done wrong, the Moderators can deal with it and speak to the individual much more effectively and under wraps. Also there's no need to publicly chastise someone for something like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Mewdeon ft Dan Punk Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 The thing is, we don't want the flow of the conversation at hand even more so interrupted by one or sometimes more people pointing out small things that others have done wrong, the Moderators can deal with it and speak to the individual much more effectively and under wraps. Also there's no need to publicly chastise someone for something like this. Global Moderator here showing up in support of these statements. Use of the Report button is just cleaner overall and prevents unneeded confrontations. "If it leads to arguments and such" is one thing, but when the simple use of this feature avoids all of that I think I'd prefer the latter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Didn't know there was a report button O_o (never had a reason to report anyone anyways) but from what I read i'll pay attention to it more. This is mostly cause I got called out semi recently, and personally I'd just prefer to be told in a message rather than in a post cause A) less embarrassment on my end! and Sometimes i feel like some people say it in a not so pleasant way if you can guess what I mean :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapphire Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 (Slight Necro) Would it be possible for mods to PM the reporter, just so they know tat something was done? Just saying something along the lines of 'Matter was not report-worth' o 'Action was taken'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 (Slight Necro) Would it be possible for mods to PM the reporter, just so they know tat something was done? Just saying something along the lines of 'Matter was not report-worth' o 'Action was taken'. Using the report button is still preferred even if it's not something that's warning worthy, as it notifies all of us. Just specify what you believe is the issue at hand. e.g. someone makes a Rate My Team thread in the Reborn City thread, just Report the original post and say something along the lines 'Belongs in Rate My Team Section' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapphire Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 No, you've misunderstood me. After using the report button, just so the person doing the reporting knows something has been done. The mod would then PM the person who pressed the report button, saying something like 'action was taken' or 'not report-worthy' or 'not report-worthy but action was taken' (for things like a topic needing to be moved). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 Sec was talking about giving feedback to the person who made the report, Jericho. It's possible, but it's also possible for some offenses to see on your own - such as threads that need to be moved and what-not. For other things though, it may be possible to get back to you - although probably not really needed. Edit: Ninja'd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheep Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Well it adds a nice sense of closure to the case from the reporters point of view and also helps them to feel like they're helping us out (or if not report worthy it helps them to understand what is). I don't see an issue with providing feedback and it's not like it's hard so I think it's an entirely reasonable idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shing Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I gotta remember the report button next time. I forgot this everytime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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