[2020] Does ANet actually read reports for 'verbal abuse'?

Thanks for posting this! Came here to link the same thing.

@OP, if you want another look into our process, I also made a post on the official forums recently. While it echos Dornsinger's post almost exactly, I know some people appreciate a different take/different format, so maybe more context can be useful to you!

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/889851/#Comment_889851

Hey there! I'll try to answer these as best as I can. There are quite a few reasons why I can't go into all the bells and whistles with our reporting or account action policies, but hopefully this will be enough info for you!

1. Yes, any and all offensive or prejudiced language can potentially be grounds for suspension - "racial, sexual, or otherwise," as mentioned in my post.

   I say potentially since we of course need to be aware of the incident, but also because context and frequency will matter in some cases. Like, for this case, there are obviously other contexts and definitions where "r------d" can be used non-offensively, such as in a musical context, or where a simple discussion between friends might arise in an educational manner, such as explaining to a non-native speaker or someone else who might not know why any given word is offensive to help them to avoid trouble.

   That being said, for anyone who might be trying to take advantage of the above rule regarding context... Trust me, our agents are very good at determining this after dealing with it for years. While we're willing to look into the situation and might honor an appeal in certain cases, we can almost always tell the intent behind any given message which results in a suspension.

2. You probably won't see something like this in our game, though I may not be the best person to ask and things can definitely change. Currently, however, the GM team has a rule to never discuss actions taken against an account with anyone other than the account owner. While I understand the context in the games you mention do their best to remain anonymous, it's still risky and runs the potential of going against that general policy. If I only ever reported one person in my life - say, Mordremoth, for being a jerk to my Sylvari - it'll be pretty obvious who was affected if I suddenly get a message saying someone I reported has had action taken against them.