Ok…so a thread was closed for 4 hours because one user was spamming messages and getting flagged…after the 4 hours it just auto updated to closed again. Can something be done about this? One single user can shut down any thread they dont like by spamming the thread? Please fix.
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I kind of get the idea (of closing threads temporarily) but wouldn’t it be better to ban a player that gets flagged from posting for X hours than closing the thread?
I know I got carried away myself and went way off topic so had I gotten a 4h time out because of that I could have understood.
Closing the thread for everyone just because other users flag messages (rightfully so) seems to open the door for misuse by trolls who intentionally derail threads.
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Considering how several of us involved in the original dungeon revamp analysis thread were temporarily banned for unspecified ‘insults’, this sort of leniency towards posters who actually break forum rules is quite indicative of the mods’ priorities…
…again.
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we as a community should activly promote how to ignore that guy to which we are refering. and not be tempted to click show message. or just ignore him completly and dont even react to his messages in any way. he will get bored and crawl back under his rock in his mothers basement.
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The very same guy went trolling over another thread and was flagged down with the same intensity. Thread was not locked.
As a rule, never feed the troll, not even with flags.
On a not unrelated note, that discussion was closed for eight hours and the whole Thursday went on with not a breath from the Devs.
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Maybe it was a internal test of there auto flagging system? 
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but there is no auto systems of any kind until there is
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The person who caused it is doing it on purpose to get the threads auto locked. People need to ignore him/her, instead of flagging posts and snowflaking out.
The Dev’s won’t do anything because that person is shutting down embarrassing topics for them. That’s the only reasonable explanation.
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Just chiming in to say that auto-locking threads makes sense from a moderation standpoint. During forum-user cat-fights, things tend to escalate, getting more and more aggressive and heated. That means there are more people getting upset and more posts/users to review when moderators log in.
The auto-lock exists to give users a time to cool down, discourage aggression on the forums, and give moderators time to get in and clean up whatever petty fight was happening. Unfortunately that doesn’t always happen on time, but that’s the idea, anyway.
While I haven’t managed a forum, I’ve moderated several Discord servers and can definitely say that temporary mutes and locks - yes, even when automated - can be hugely helpful in shutting down chaos and nonsense before it gets wildly out of hand.
Also worth mentioning that this system is activated only when several flags are put up by community members themselves - there is no AI deciding which threads to lock 
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The auto locking system still has not released the thread, so if you are going to have one in place, it needs to have something in place to free the thread after a time or a moderator needs to do their job.
Also, an auto locking system is better if it targets the user who is disruptive. If a user is being flagged by multiple people, a system that auto blocks them from posting in the thread until a live person can check what is going on is much better than one that locks the whole thread, especially when 12 to 24 hours later the thread is still locked.
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I wonder if the amount of time it locks relates to how many people report it? I’m not sure 
If past locks are any indication, then the thread will just get locked again (and for a longer period) as soon as the lock is about to expire - repeat until the thread gets buried on page 5.
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I think it serves three purposes, honestly.
- It gives people time to chill so things don’t get really ugly.
- It’s an automated thing, so it stops things and gives time for an actual person/mod to see if someone needs to be banned. Said person/mod might be asleep when the flags are happening.
- It discourages gratuitous flagging.
It’s kind of annoying, I agree. But chilling out is not the worst thing. And letting mods get a night’s sleep, and avoiding a flag-free-for-all seem good to me too.
This this this this this… and THIS! I’m not sure I agree with the devs not doing anything. But I agree that auto-lock is a thing and some people just want to watch the world burn. So take away their matches and they will get bored and move on.
They should do that - put posters in timeout, not locking a whole thread.
I don’t think a timeout is bad, but preventing people who didn’t do anything wrong from posting is kind of missing the mark for me.
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