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Yesterday I encountered an answer I thought was not really an answer. I clicked Flag, and got only three options:

  • spam
  • rude or abusive
  • in need of moderator intervention

Due to lack of any other flags available to me, I selected last one, and got it declined with description that's pretty ridiculous given the circumstances:

declined - Using standard flags helps us prioritize problems and resolve them faster. Please familiarize yourself with the list of standard flags: see What is Flagging?

I am familiar with standard flags all right. Simply, NAA and VLQ flags wasn't available yesterday.

Today, the same answer, with the same score, no edits made, and suddenly NAA flag is available. How is that possible? Why set of flags I could see changed, when the post did not?

Note: I omitted flagged post on purpose. This is not about this answer, it is about flags and how site works. I'm sure moderators and devs can check it with ease, if needed.

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  • $\begingroup$ I know very old answers have limited flag options, but it doesn't sound like that was the case here. $\endgroup$
    – F1Krazy
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 12:16
  • $\begingroup$ @F1Krazy nope, it was posted yesterday. Also, flag repertoire actually increased with time. $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 12:19
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    $\begingroup$ For context, that's one of four standard post flag decline reasons. When declining a flag, a moderator can choose among the four standard decline reasons, or type up a reason of their own. It's required by the UI to provide or select a reason when declining a post flag. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 14:20
  • $\begingroup$ Are you sure it was NAA and not VLQ that you were trying? I believe VLQ is only available on downvoted posts, but I thought NAA was always available. Also, the mod who declined that flag probably didn't know that the correct flag wasn't available to you; sorry 'bout that. $\endgroup$
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 20:12
  • $\begingroup$ @MonicaCellio yes, I'm sure. Both were unavailable. Might be helpful if I made a screenshot, I guess. As for the decline reason, no problem. With my % of flags marked helpful one decline didn't change much. $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 20:34
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    $\begingroup$ Molot, the SE Secret Police have been monitoring your flagging behavior and they're concerned... very concerned.... They'd like you to come in for a "talk." They'd also like to speak with your friends, associates, parents, children, coworkers, church affiliations, old school mates, your poodle, and the wino down the street from where you work. Oh, and any worldbuilding users who aren't yet on the Homeland Security watch list. They just want to make... sure... that you're flagging correctly. It's nothing to worry about. You're perfectly safe! They just need a few moments of your time.... $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Dec 19, 2018 at 4:20
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    $\begingroup$ @JBH so you figured I've been playing Paranoia recently? XD $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Commented Dec 19, 2018 at 7:30
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    $\begingroup$ @MonicaCellio VLQ is not available once an answer has net upvotes, IIRC. Zero-scored answers can be flagged VLQ; they do not need to have received downvotes. (I just verified the latter on Stack Overflow.) $\endgroup$
    – user
    Commented Dec 19, 2018 at 14:03

1 Answer 1

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This is my guess: you flag a lot.

We have similar levels of activity in the site, but you have placed more than 5x more helpful flags than I have. And I consider myself a flagger!

And notice that we have a limit for how many flags we can place at a time.

Flag limits

This limit is refreshed here and there, though I don't know by which logic; I believe you reached yours before a refresh.

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  • $\begingroup$ My current limit is: 70 flags remaining. And that's after I already used up some today ;) I highly doubt I exceeded limit. Maybe there is some per-type limit? Because with my current max it would be really, really hard to exceed it $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 12:41
  • $\begingroup$ I think you got 70 after a refresh. Also I think there is a limit per type too. $\endgroup$
    – The Square-Cube Law
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 12:49
  • $\begingroup$ Without per type limits, I just can't believe I have used up 70-something flags in a day. I flag a lot, agreed, but not quite that much :D $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 14:33
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    $\begingroup$ I don't believe there are per-type limits, just the overall daily limit. $\endgroup$
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 20:09
  • $\begingroup$ Downvote is not from me. I also didn't upvote because it's bit hard for me to believe I have used up my 70-something limit. $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Commented Dec 21, 2018 at 9:30

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