As the title says, it would be useful (dare I say "helpful"?) to be able to report hreads that have become abusive. There is a thread in the hardware section which could have been a helpful thread, but has been pretty much swamped with a few people getting very abusive toward each other for several pages and a couple of weeks. Well, when I say toward each other, there is one person whose opinion differs from most, and a few people are getting very abusive toward him, including swearing. I don't think that sort of thing is helpful in any forum, least of all one that is a public face of a large and well known publisher. It shouldn't matter how valid a members opinions are, what should matter is how people who disagree deal with it. And when that comes to insults and swearing, I think it becomes destructive.
Just report the first abusive post. In determining how to intervene we always read the whole thread to determine who started the abuse, who contributed to it and whether there was any deliberate provocation. We like to share the blame fairly because it means there's more people to whack with the ban hammer.
Just saw this thread and I'll be grateful for advice to resolve the conflict. I've report one of the abusive posts some time ago but nothing came about. So I had no choice but to fight back in a controlled manner. Regards.
And please don't forget to post in the thread to say "I've reported this for the mods". No need for 5 reports about the same one.