How to fix a report system 101

[highlanders]

As we all know, the customer support in RS is not exactly tip top. Every day, the customer support team is flooded by ban appeals, questions and abuse reports. So many that they seemingly dont even bother trying to answer to them correctly any longer. They cant because there are too many.

 

 

 

So, why is the system overflowed with all this crap? Lets take a look at the causes

 

 

 

1: The report system

 

It is too easy to access, and too easy to misuse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice the If you misuse this form you will be banned? That would be a great idea if Jagex actually applied it.

 

 

 

2: Ban appeals

 

They are unnecessary and do nothing else than waste the CS teams time. If the customer support pays attention to report abuse the first time around, and makes sure the punishment is adequate, theres no need to double check it.

 

 

 

 

 

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Now here are some of my ideas/solutions:

 

 

 

A) Report system limits

 

 

 

First, the report system must have requirements, and limits.

 

 

 

When there is an obvious rule-breaker, haft the people around him report it. That is not necessary, only 1 report is needed.

 

 

 

When a player has been reported by somebody, he cannot be reported again for another 5 minutes. That way, the CS is not flooded by doubles for the same person and offence.

 

 

 

Also, each player is allowed 5 reports/week for use whenever during that week. At the end of the week the points are reset (they dont stack).

 

 

 

So for instance, you spend most of the week with no problems, but on Friday you get a particularly nasty day and use 4 of your points leaving you with 1 point for the weekend. People are going to be more careful about what they report because they know their points are limited.

 

 

 

Keep in mind that the 1 report/person/5 mins will reduce the loss of abuse report points. So if for instance you try to report somebody, a message pops up saying he has already been reported within the next 5 mins. So your mind is at peace he has been reported, and you havent wasted one of your points.

 

 

 

 

 

B) Report system requirements

 

 

 

Not everyone should be allowed to use the abuse report system until they have PROVEN to the community that they are responsible enough to use it properly.

 

 

 

What I propose is a small pseudo-quest in which players are educated about how to use the report system properly, the points system, and so on. You CANNOT skip any dialogue during the quest; it stays there for a few seconds until the skip button appears. And at the end of the quest there is a quiz with A/B/C/D questions to make sure the player was listening properly. The right answer is a different letter every time, so no quest guides to walk you out of it. Once the quest is done, players can use the report system.

 

 

 

The quest will have requirements: you will need to meet any ONE of those requirements.

 

-50 combat -> For meleers

 

-xx hours of gameplay -> For people who dont do activities that make you gain much exp (mini-games/chatting/etc)

 

-xxx total level -> For lvl 3 skillers and the likes

 

-xx quest points -> Questers

 

 

 

The requirements are easy to meet, they are just there to separate people who are actually serious about the game and those are not.

 

 

 

C) Consequences for misuse

 

 

 

There should be consequences for individuals who misuse the report system.

 

 

 

So I propose this:

 

 

 

Each account will have 5 chances when making a false report abuse. Which means you can screw up 5 times before there are consequences. After the 5 times, you will get a black mark for every additional report you make that is false. The policy should be very strict. If something is off the mark, even an innocent error, it will be punished accordingly, 5 chances are plenty enough.

 

 

 

D) No more interpretations

 

 

 

The rule about offensive language needs to be stricter. Anything can be perceived as offensive. And a lot of people get innocently banned or black marked for stupid things that dont actual offend anybody.

 

 

 

The report will be considered invalid unless there are solid, clear, and precise reasons as to why something is offensive. If somebody makes racist, sexist, or highly offensive statements: report. If somebody calls you a poop or argues with you, just deal with it. Jagex shouldnt encourage reports from whiny idiots any longer.

 

 

 

 

 

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Now, all of this should help unclog a lot of the crap that floods the CS, so that they may actually provide some real service to us.

 

 

 

 

 

I know this might look like a suggestion but thats not my point, I want an actual discussion about it. This isnt a rigid idea of what I think should happen, all of this is simply common sense, and I want to hear your ideas too.

 

 

 

Are you happy with the current report system weve got?

 

 

 

Are you happy with the current customer support?

 

 

 

How do you think Jagex could improve their system?

[Made0f12une]

Hell, sounds like a good idea to me. I'm not entirely sure about the consequences bit. You might not be aware of the circumstances that go on with a "rule breaker" and could use up your chances/get a black mark when all you had was good intentions.

 

 

 

Looks good though, I don't have any complainants. Just maybe have something else, like a side quest for you to use the report system. I don't think it should contribute to the quest cape.

[ajk822]

I'm pretty sure I would just not do the quest then. Just my take, since I don't usually report people.

[games_sneak]

At the same time.. this may put people off reporting a genuinly guilty player.

 

 

 

And Im not sure about a quest to be able to report... for those who dont like quests arent going to do one if the reward is the ability to report people... and it cant really have a huge reward due to the lowish requirements.

[Fairness]

Interesting topic. While I'd rather see a more player-friendly anti RWT measure first I'll still share my opinion.

 

 

 

Firstly:

 

 

 

I think that the amount of 'report points' you get could be dependent on a few factors:

 

-Minus 0.5 report points per 1 blackmark, report points are rounded down. Decimal value blackmarks have no effect.

 

-x2 if you are a Pmod. Pmods should, however, be choosen more carefully. Abuse of Pmod power should be an immediate ban IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE.

 

-A bit more if you have been playing for long enough. Only active playtime should count, and only while you break no rules - bonus points are all negated as soon as a single offence is committed.

 

 

 

For the others:

 

 

 

Report system requirements - the quest for a report system idea is, no offence, idiotic. I don't want to go through such a stupid quest with every character I make for fun, as I don't want to do the tutorial island again and again either. Requirements for reporting is also stupid. Yay, I can scam weaker players with less risk because they might not have played for long! Yay, let's swear at that level 3 and pester him because he might not even be able to use the report system! There shouldn't be a requirement for the report system, the other factors will make sure abusers are banned. An optional but recommended guide to reporting would be a good solution, with a nice big warning that misuse of the abuse system will REALLY ban you.

 

 

 

Consequences for misuse - okay, the 5 chances might be a bit much. It should be a looser system, with reporting someone calling you "noob" being less strict than reporting someone more intelligent than you. (the two can't coincide very often, or?) Or give 2 or 3 chances and if you make a bad report afterwards, time to start handing out the temp bans! (evolving into a perm ban if repeated) 5 chances is plently of time to be an @sshole. (And no, that's not an offensive word.)

[Topazjewel]

Are you happy with the current report system weve got?

 

Yes.

 

 

 

Are you happy with the current customer support?

 

Yes.

 

 

 

How do you think Jagex could improve their system?

 

Expand the customer support team so there are more people able to answer and respond to reports.

 

 

 

(By the way, this belongs more in the Suggestion forum I think?)

[Omali]

I have some ideas that will cause a lot more people to shut up on forums (I'm not referring to this thread, you'll see what I mean)

 

 

 

1. Anytime you report someone for offensive language, encouraging others to break rules, scamming, or anything to do with speech or trade, they are put on ignore automatically and cannot be removed for at least a day. This will stop someone reporting the same person multiple times and also fix those with no common sense to put the person on ignore.

 

2. As for the limit on reporting someone, it should be rule based. Each rule would have its own time limit.

 

3. I dunno about 5 reports per week, it should start at 5 and go up or down based on your report history.

 

4. I love the idea about the stronghold of player reporting. Maybe release the final Stronghold of ___ and make it a requirement to finish all 3 before you can report? Those can be easily done by a level 3.

 

5. Instead of the chances, Jagex should just roll out blackmarks for misusing the report system, it's already on the rule list.

 

6. Absolutely to D

[bean824]

You're blowing everything out of proportion. All you need to do is get the Jagex Customer Support working more efficiently; meaning fewer, wasteful reports. You do not need all of the quest stuff, that just over-complicates matters. All that is needed are methods to reduce the numbers of reports that the CS receives and you're sorted.

 

 

 

Your idea's are pretty good though, especially the point system.

[Zierro]

Nice thread, Highlanders. This has always been a large issue in my eyes, although I have never been effected by it personally. It's always sad to see an innocent man get in trouble.

 

 

 

 

Are you happy with the current report system weve got?

 

 

 

Not really. One minute (or is it 30 seconds?) in between reports is the only safeguard from preventing a lot of unnecessary reports. This makes for a huge waste of time on Jagex's part. I'm sure you don't see rulebreakers every one minute of playing.

 

 

 

Are you happy with the current customer support?

 

 

 

Not at all. Jagex needs to read through the reports thoroughly the first time. Like you said, the Ban Appeal just proves that the whole system is currently ridiculous.

 

 

 

How do you think Jagex could improve their system?

 

 

 

I think you answered this question yourself in the first post. :)

[Naruto_1001]

If you need to do a quest before you can report maybe the CS team will have less reports, but we will have way more rule breakers in RuneScape that don't get there ban when they ask for it.

 

 

 

How can one check be enough, everyone is sometimes having a bad day and your telling me one check should be enough? No way.

 

 

 

When you make a maximum amount of reports you can do, not everyone that should be reported gets reported.

 

 

 

I don't think any of this is good for RuneScape, everything you suggest will make it for rule breakers easier to do so. The only good point about this topic is that you didnt suggest rule breaking should be legaliced because then the CS team can help us in a other way.

[Georgelemmons]

Imo, you should get at LEAST 1 report a day.

[builtom]

How about instead of everyone starts off with the report limit, it can be used as a form of punishment to those (who are on their second warning) that misuse it. This would get rid of the not reporting those who deserve to be reported, and would act as a leash on those who go a little report happy.

 

 

 

 

 

I do agree about not wiping the [wagon] of every little kid who complains that the bad man over there sad poop, and it offended them. The maturity of the community is going to go down the drain (Assuming it isn't already) if people, especially those younger of age, are effectively put in a protective bubble and aren't made to stand on their own feet.

[highlanders]

Bump

[highlanders]

Bump

[Hawks]

This sounds awesome, stupid people won't be able to abuse it and other fun stuff. Perhaps as an additional part of the new Tut Island, you need to take a quest similar to the Stronghold of Security telling you exactly what is and isn't against the rules, instead of Brother whatshisname just saying you should use your best judgement.