Kick Function Needs an Update

We have all used the kick function in the game.  Even someone like myself who rarely if ever kicks someone has.  It is just part of the game when using the random grouping feature. 

There is a built in problem with the feature however.  It doesn't help the designers any, it doesn't help the community any, it doesn't help the players any, it basically is just a way to kick someone you do not want around regardless of reason.

There needs to be a complete redesign of the system for it to hold any useful purpose in the game.  And it can be very useful.  If the players make it useful and the company backs it up.

As it is now, it could have been useful but the player base is not all that helpful so it isn't.  There is a little line where you need to put a reason for kicking people and no one ever really uses it.  The few times people do use it what they write there is some sort of an insult, which is really not of any use.  The one and only kick I ever started I put, 2K DPS as a boomkin is not acceptable in a heroic.  In my opinion I thought that was a good reason for the kick and it was not insulting, it was just stating facts and the fact is, 2K for any damage dealing class is not acceptable in a cataclysm heroic.  You can not argue that.

In a well designed system the boomkin in question would have not been kicked and left wondering why, they would know exactly the reason they where kicked.  Lets face it, how can someone get better if they don't know they are doing something wrong.

Like someone said in comments the other day.  If a mage is running around questing, doing everything else, and never having any problems and he enters a random dungeon and is doing horrible DPS, not following appropriate group behavior, doesn't know mechanics or anything else, just kicking him is not going to help him.

If he got a message saying it was kicked because he could not understand mechanics, he knows what he needs to work on.  If he got kicked because he was doing low damage, he knows what he needs to work on.  If he got kicked because he was pulling mobs, he would know what he needs to work on.  Things like that.

There should be a new system in that requires people to put meaningful reasons for kicking people and not just saying "day stoopid", yes I have seen it just like that, isn't that ironic?

Of course with an updated kick system there needs to be something else put into the game, something blizzard seems wholeheartedly against.  They are going to need to actively take action to back up the new system instead of just making it to make people feel better about it.

As it stands the kick system is too easy, click on the name of the person you do not like, start up a kick, watch them go bye bye.  Heck, I have seen people kick people that did not deserve to get kicked by tricking people.  Ready check going up, they said in raid, the vote to kick pops up, people that don't read kick the best player in the group because the leader did not like him because he won something he wanted and would not give it to them.  Normally, no one would kick the one good DPS in a looking for raid group.  Lets face it, seeing even one person over 20K DPS in looking for raid is a miracle. 

I saw this one when I was healing, a DPS doing 43K over all and was kicked.  I nearly cried because the next highest was 18K.  That one person was basically carrying the whole raid and some person with a bug up their ass kicked them for some reason.  Good DPS, following mechanics, never said anything rude in raid, never pulled for the tank, never gave any reason to kick them, why kick someone like that, personally I think most people should be like that, we should not be kicking people like that.  We should have kicked nearly everyone else in that raid and hoped to get more like him if anything.

Enough of my story, lets get to how I think it needs to be changed.

First off, it needs to be completely and totally different looking, so it stands out, so no more tricking people into kicking people.  I know it looks different to me and you, but apparently a fair amount of players are just to click happy and never really look at what they are clicking.  Something pops up, click yes, that is the standard mentality of the game it seems.

Now to how the new kick feature should be.  It should take a page out of the new report system and gives options as to why you are reporting the person.

Here is a basic idea of some of the things I think should be options when kicking people, and you should be required to pick one of them.

- Disconnected.
- AFK more than 5 minutes.
- Not preforming the role they signed up for.
- Not meeting minimum standards for this dungeon/raid.
- Will not follow group assignments. IE: Damage dealer pulling mobs.
- Being rude/abusive in chat.
- Causing grief.
- Can not handle encounter mechanics.

And other things like that.  I am sure we can all think of a few good reasons for a kick that I did not put there.

People should be forced to pick one of those things and should be given the option of adding a comment under it as well. 

When someone is kicked, they will get a system mail that will tell them why they where kicked.  This way, they will know what they did wrong.  I think the only way for people to learn is to tell them what they did wrong. 

Just kicking someone does not do anything to teach a person.I think that when the person starts the kick and picks one of those options they should be given a line to post a comment if they wish.  After they start the kick and it goes out to others, the others would see the reason for the kick and be allowed to agree or disagree and post a comment as well.

Example of how it would work.

In looking for raid a person signed up as a healer, for the fast queue most likely, and is playing the role of damage dealer.  A kick starts up and the person chooses the option not preforming the role they signed up for and adds the comment priest in shadow spec refuses to change to healing spec.

It would now go to vote with the reason and the comment for everyone else to see.  They would all get the following options.

Yes to the kick, I agree with the kick reasons.

Yes to the kick, but for other reasons.

No to the kick, I do not agree with the kick reasons.

Each option would leave a place for comment to the person voting as well.

Now the idea that the person would know why they were kicked comes into play.  They would realize that people where not just being jerks kicking them, there was a valid reason supported by the system.

Now what if we get this situation, someone starts a kick in a normal cataclysm heroic, the starter ones, and picks the reason not meeting minimum standards for this dungeon/raid and puts low DPS.  You could choose no and put as a comment that 8K is fine for a random cata heroic.

Now, blizzard would have to start collecting the data from these kicks and using it to adjust things as needed.  This is where the whole thing hangs on them.  We all know how blizzard hates to do something that might actually benefit the community and the game as a whole.  They fear they will lose subscriptions if they actually enforce their own rules but I say it is time they start thinking about enforcing their own rules instead of letting people run all over the place like children left at home with no babysitter.

If someone keeps getting kicked for signing up as a healer and not healing, they would lose the right to tick the healer box for a month.

If someone keeps trying to kick people saying they are not doing well when they are doing just fine, they will lose their ability to start a vote kick for a month.

If people keep getting kicked for under performing, griefing, or being rude, they would lose the ability to queue up for a month.

All things like that.  All things blizzard would need to actively support and do, because no matter how often we kick it means nothing without some support from blizzard. 

It would help the game if people would not be allowed to get away with abusing the system and the people that use it.  For those people that get kicks for decent reasons they would now have a note in their mailbox with the reason for the kick that all the people agreed on.  They would not see the comments, that would be for someone at blizzard to get more information from to assign the penalty, if need be.

My idea might not be the best idea because it requires good information from the community and I have very little faith in our community but the bottom line is I would like to see the kick function updated.

I think the key points of a good kick feature would be...

1) People can not abuse it kicking people that don't deserve to be kicked.
2) People can not abuse it by doing what they want forcing people to kick them.
3) People that get kicked should know why.
4) Blizzard should take an active stance in kicks.

Perhaps if blizzard actually gives a crap about the community when someone gets kicked for under performing they can provide them with some links that they can go to so they will learn how to play better instead of just entering the queue again and hoping for a group that will either carry them or has kicked so many people like them they are not allowed to kick any more.

The way it is now, bad players will never get better, they will always blame the people that kicked them for being bad.

Griefers will continue to grief because it is fun to them and will just queue up again to grief another group because they know nothing will ever happen to them.

People that kick people for no good reason will continue to do so just because they do not like you or you might roll on something they want or they think people need 20K DPS for a normal cataclysm heroic dungeon when 8K is fine.

The kick system is useless the way it is.  There is no real penalty for the people that abuse it or no penalty for the people that deserved to be kicked that abuse it.

Either way, my idea for a redesign or leaving it as it is, nothing will ever get better unless blizzard actually starts to play an active role in moderating the community.  Which I doubt will ever happen.