The secrets of a successful report!
In this guide, you will learn the fundamentals of the "Report button" that is located on the
bottom of every post on the official Matrix Online Forums. You can click it to notify a
moderator about inappropriate posts and threads.
When you report a post, all Moderators are notified. We strive to ensure an enjoyable
experience for all members of the forum community and it is our job to maintain order
and ensure every user stays within the framework of the Official Forum Rules.
We evaluate each reported thread to determine if it violates the rules and if so, what action
should be taken.
How to create a report:
When you click the 'Report this post to a moderator' link at the bottom of the post, you are
redirected to a new page where you will write the report.
It isn't necessary to write an essay but the more information you can give us, the easier it will
be for us to determine what (if any) rules have been broken so we can act on your concerns.
A single word may summarize the issue; however, "trolling" is an all-encompassing term and
- along with other single word explanations - does not always help us understand the problem.
Even Moderators are sometimes puzzled by short or empty reports and then we must spend time
trying to understand why the post was reported.
We rely on our judgement and experience when dealing with your reports. Something that
is obvious to you may appear harmless to us - since it is possible that we do not understand
the intent behind a particular post and the expected action may not be taken.
Once you click the send button, you can look in your Private Message Outbox to see a copy of
the report that was generated - This is also your confirmation that the forums accepted your
report and delivered it to us.
Here is a short summary which will help us to moderate efficiently:
Do's
- Do write a brief, descriptive statement of why you are reporting a post.
- Do try to remain constructive and neutral in your wording.
Don'ts
- Do not abuse the report function. Using the report feature to harass the Moderators is not acceptable forum use,
and users doing so will be dealt with accordingly. - Do not use it to harass other players. You should not report posts just because you don't agree with someone.
- Do not report multiple posts in the same thread. It is unnecessary and just spams our mailbox. We usually have
a look at the entire thread and then decide what kind of action to take.
- Do not participate in bad behavior or engage in 'fanning the flames' within the reported thread. If someone steps
out of line, report their post and then move on. The phrase "two wrongs don't make a right" definitely applies here.
Some final thoughts:
Remember, reporting a post doesn't give you immunity from moderator action.
If you participate in inappropriate behavior, you are just as guilty as the person you are reporting.
When you submit a report, your identity remains anonymous, thus no one outside of the
Forum Moderators or Community Team will know who reported the post.
There are literally thousands of posts made on the forums every day and there is no way we
can possibly read them all. Therefore, we rely on you, the community, to help us look for posts
that violate the rules so we can work to provide a positive experience for everyone.
Depending on the backlog of reports, it may take us a while to get to the post you reported.
While it's true that sometimes reports can "slip through the cracks", please be patient and give us
time to have a look at your report; if you do not see any moderator action taken against your report
within a reasonable amount of time, it is safe to say that we decided that action was not warranted.
If you have a question about why Moderator action was (or was not) taken, please feel free
to send one of us a PM.
(Thanks to a SWG mod for making this post!)
