Yes, contrary to what some malcontents may bemoan, reports are investigated and dealt with. You will never know the outcome as they don't discuss disciplinary action.

I doubt it, now if I report someone using Xbox's report feature e.g. someone yelling super loud or cheating oh yeah they get it. I'll get a message from xbox stating that they took action.
If I report using ESOs report feature... well nope they don't get banned. I reported a player who scammed multiple players with that tempering alloy citrine scam, not only was he never banned I wasn't even the only person to report him too.

I've reported people who yelled racial slurs at someone in game-chat and wouldn't stop when I said for them to stop and they were never banned too. In fact each time I reported someone they were never banned or received any kind of communication ban unless I reported via Xbox.

MaxwellCrystal wrote: »

I reported a player who scammed multiple players with that tempering alloy citrine scam, not only was he never banned I wasn't even the only person to report him too.

That has happened to me too. I reported the player and they gave me the gold I'd lost that way (63k), even though it was my own fault for not properly checking the COD. I don't know if he ever got banned, but I'm guessing he didn't. Because a few months ago there was the time that people abused a duping bug and got loads of items, and ZOS only fixed the bug. The players were never banned.

So the answer is either yes or no, depending on what you mean by "does it actually do anything".

stewhead2ub17_ESO wrote: »

Yes, contrary to what some malcontents may bemoan, reports are investigated and dealt with. You will never know the outcome as they don't discuss disciplinary action.

That part contributes greatly to the general low-intensity feeling of unfairness, distrust of the developers, and suspicion of generic Zos. And it entirely originates from Zos. As with most things, individuals "get a pass" such as those with which we interact here, but the generic impersonal 'Zos' doesn't.

Whether Zos wants it or not, whether they realize it or not, the millions of people who play this game are a population very much like any other western population - we all come here with relatively similar ideas on what is and is not fair - what is or is not 'just'.

Part of how we determine if a process is fair or 'just' is whether we are able to access it for scrutiny, whether it is "open" or "secret", whether it is done "publicly" or "behind closed doors".

It's no secret that in the US there has been a command for Justice to be a public thing, right from the start. The 'public' trial was included in the 6th amendment, and "Open Records" acts across the nation endeavor to prevent instances of favoritism by making governmental processes available for public scrutiny.

The UK also has a desire for open Justice. I'll pull some lines from this dissertation "Secret Justice Is No Justice":
The essence of fairness in the UK legal system stems from Lord Shaw quoting the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, "Publicity is the very soul of justice"

Michael Fordham QC states, "Secret trials undermine the principles of open justice and natural justice on which the rule of law is built."

The practice of open justice is also fundamental to the dispensation of justice
because the public must be able to visibly see justice being carried out. Lord Neuberger confirms this by saying, "unless justice is carried out publicly, there is a real risk that the public will lose confidence in the justice system."

Of course, there are limits. I don't think anybody expects to be able to open up their browser and scroll down the list of complaints that Zos receives about players breaking the rules in some manner. However, when Zos won't inform a person of the results of a complaint ticket that they filed, that person does not visibly see justice happen and thus doubts that Zos cares at all. I've heard about a person threatening another with false claims of child abuse, and I'm imagining what it would be like to report that threat and then never hear from Zos what was done about the person who threatened my home... It would be a source of tension and unease, never hearing if Zos did anything at all.

I say again - whether Zos wanted it or not, they have a population of people here and Zos is the managing government. That population largely walked in carrying some form of western cultural idea about a process of Upholding Fairness (Synonym for Just) being a thing that happens out in the open, able to be seen. Our Australian players included, through their 'fair trial and fair hearing' rights, are not strangers to these concepts. 3 continents of people, all coming from roughly the same Open Justice sort of background, and Zos has been acting like justice is something to be done ONLY behind closed doors in secret. Secret trials. Secret judgments. Secrecy in the process of Justice implies Injustice.

What I want - Start informing the people who file a ticket about the results of that ticket. It requires NO coding of any type. It requires nothing beyond a memo letting the staff know that when a complaint ticket is judged a short 1 or 2 sentence reply should go to the person who opened the ticket informing them of the action taken. Example "Reviewed the video, looks like blatant breaking of rule X. Ban for 2 days, lesson taught." or "Reviewed the video, watched it on super slow a few times, hard to definitively determine if it was X or just an innocent event of Y or Z. Sorry, I can't do anything with this the way it is now. Take care and watch out for frost trolls!"

Justice done behind closed doors is not justice.

KaiVox22 wrote: »

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

MaxwellCrystal wrote: »

I doubt it, now if I report someone using Xbox's report feature e.g. someone yelling super loud or cheating oh yeah they get it. I'll get a message from xbox stating that they took action.
If I report using ESOs report feature... well nope they don't get banned. I reported a player who scammed multiple players with that tempering alloy citrine scam, not only was he never banned I wasn't even the only person to report him too.

I've reported people who yelled racial slurs at someone in game-chat and wouldn't stop when I said for them to stop and they were never banned too. In fact each time I reported someone they were never banned or received any kind of communication ban unless I reported via Xbox.

Keep in mind Zenimax runs a 3-strikes system so if it was their first offense a warning is all they get, a temp ban is for their second offense, and permaban is their third, and final offense.

Palidon wrote: »

Question: "Does reporting people actually do anything?"

I will give you a short answer that does not go into a lot of detail.............................. YES

FTFY

KaiVox22 wrote: »

Reporting gap close exploiters doesn't

Despite what you may personally believe, it does. Refer to my mentioning of the 3-strikes program for more details.

N 0 P E

Nope all you want but you cannot prove they are not enforcing their 3-strike system. The string of reports as of late is likely triggering a lot of first offense actions, therefore you won't actually SEE people getting banned. Those that HAVE made multiple offenses and be caught for them though WILL get banned.

Amsel_McKay wrote: »

I wondered this as well, with some stonefalls conversations... I have played since beta and never seen a GM. If one dropped into a zone while said conversations happened it would be helpful.

Every game's GMs have an invisibility mode that nothing can break or detect. They could be standing right behind you at all times and you'd never know it. Remaining oblivious to the eyes of the public, both in method and presence, is how they catch people in the act and don't raise flags for people to lower their cheating to below-the-radar levels to continue getting away with it. Of course some still do, but not as many.