THE ROBLOXIAN POST®
Written by T_Fam
October 29, 2017
ROBLOX REPORTING SYSTEM
The Robloxian Post
Roblox Reporting System
Written by T_Fam
October 29, 2017
Today’s editorial will take a look at the Roblox Reporting System, which is often the subject of discussions around the world. Does it work? Or doesn’t it? Well, to answer that question, it kind of depends how you are defining “work.”
To get started, let’s first consider the facts. In a December 2016 interview, Roblox co-founder and CEO Dave Baszucki said that Roblox had more than 30 million active, monthly subscribers. During peak hours, there are hundreds of thousands of players on the game at the same time, with a peak of nearly 900,000, according to Baszucki. In this same interview, he also said that the entire team of customer service staff at Roblox was “well over 200.”
So, I’m no mathematician, but with 200+ people following up on abuse reports from more than 30 million active users, it seems perfectly understandable that Roblox staff are going to need to prioritize. Yes, it’s annoying when other players swear or make inappropriate comments. But, that kind of violation would likely be less of a priority than reports regarding real life threats or illegal activity. It’s also important to keep in mind that customer service staff need to manage several different areas, and reporting is just one of them.
Given the sheer volume of active Roblox users and limited number of actual customer service staff, it seems reasonable to expect staff to prioritize cases and immediately follow-up and react to the most severe violations (i.e. those that violate real life laws). The reporting system itself would also necessarily likely be automated for most offenses, as they violate community rules but not actual laws in the real world.
User feedback online seems to suggest that the reporting system does not work all that well. However, with over 30 million active users, there is not nearly enough information out there to say definitely one way or the other. You would need a well designed study which included a statistically significant test group, control group, etc. Without this type of approach, all of the anecdotal evidence you read online is just that- one person’s experience. And while there are hundreds, if not thousands of online reviews of the reporting system, it’s just not enough of a sample to say for sure that the entire system is terrible. Just because someone is mean or bullies you or makes inappropriate comments to you- that doesn’t mean Roblox isn’t doing anything about it. It may just mean you won’t necessarily know what they do with your reported information. And while these types of issues are certainly clear violations, they are simply not as serious as things that are actually illegal in real life like real life threats and child endangerment. And personally, I would prefer Roblox staff to address the most serious cases first. If that means the guy bullying me isn’t permanently banned right away, I’m ok with that.
It is also important to remember, that you can and should block anyone who is bothering you. Somebody trying to date you or being mean? Report them. Block them. Get on with your gaming experience and don’t give them another thought.
In conclusion, given the millions of active users and just a couple hundred Roblox staff to take care of all those customers, it’s not realistic to expect a personal response to every reported violation. And I would hope that any follow up would focus on the most serious cases involving real life threats and illegal activity. As an average user with a free Roblox account, I don’t expect anything more really. It would be great if the automated reporting system was better able to handle the volume of less serious offenses, but I’ll take what I can get from a free gaming platform.
Let us know what you think. How has the reporting system worked for you?
References:
December 2017 Interview with Dave Baszucki
Roblox Community Rules
https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/203313410
How to Report Rule Violations and Block a User
https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/203312410
Reporting Abuse and Blocking Chat-In Game
https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/203314270-Reporting-Abuse-and-Blocking-Chat-In-Game
Keeping Our Community Safe (step by step instructions for selecting parental controls and safety settings)