Reporting users

First, I appreciate the new thumbs-up/thumbs-down ratings and the easy link to report users.

Second, this site still suffers from an extraordinary number of people who time out or abandon games.

With regard to this, I'd like to offer some feedback on the reporting:

One option when reporting people is for "stalling" or "quitting" games. There is nothing wrong with playing slowly or resigning. Don't you know how frustrating it is to be timed out on? Finally there is some catharsis in being able to report the user with one click, but then the most common reasons, by far, are not listed! Include an option for "timing out" or "abandoning games"!

Beyond that, if you look at comments left about users, it is clear that some people have been timing out or abandoning games for years! Am I just wasting time in reporting them? You guys need to close these accounts, they are seriously degrading the playing experience. In addition, I think people who report a problem account should be able to get notifications when those accounts are closed.

It isn't clear exactly how the post game rating will ultimately be used. As far as I'm aware, no staff has posted about it. That said, the site already uses the Fair Play Policy to pool players that abandon a lot.

https://support.chess.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1444922-fair-play-policy

My guess is that the sportsmanship question will be used to enhance that process. I don't think accounts are closed for that.

You said "the site already uses the Fair Play Policy to pool players that abandon a lot." With all due respect, I don't think that is true. There are plenty of users whose profiles contain notes describing chronic bad sportsmanship. It just seems like a feel-good policy. Players who play fair continue to be matched against these shnooks, and it is a lousy experience.

Players how abandon more than 25% of their games are only allowed to play other people who also abandon that often. 

 However, we are working on making a lot of changes to improve this logic. 

The Thumbs Up/ Thumps Down is just the beginning here and you are certainly not wasting your time. 

You have to consider that if a person habitually lets time run out, closing their account does nothing... they'll be back with a new account in less than 24 hours.

Other penalties are attractive, but false positives make it tough.

Thanks for the response.

I like the thumbs up/down because I can easily annoy people who impress me in some way with a friend request or block someone who times out or tries to win a dead drawn position on time because they have ten seconds more.