How to escalate bug reports?

[houseofsuns]

I'm maintaining Race for the Galaxy and deal with the steady stream of bugs that are filed. Most are misunderstandings, some are actual bugs with the code base and then there are those that pertain to some aspect of the platform I (as a maintainer) do not have under control. The question: what to do about these (in the best case more useful than letting the author of the bug know that I cannot help)?
Some examples:

• https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=222375 Issues with ELO system I cannot influence (like no ELO awarded after many consecutive wins against the same opponent)
• https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=223925 weird runtime issues like games stuck in the final recording phase which would need access to the production environment to debug (thus preventing the players from starting a new game)
• https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=223891 strange behaviour of the timer system where I have no leverage (a player was kicked after the time ran out but was nevertheless able to still play more moves)

[Kayvon]

I respond with this:

"What you're describing is a problem with the site, not a bug with the implementation with the game itself.

"As game developers, we can control aspects of the game's specific implementation. We're not BGA employees, so we have no access to configure servers, elo ranking, turn timeouts, connectivity, etc.

"Closing as not a game bug, but feel free to file a bug on the site level or discuss in the forums if this is a recurring problem for you."

You can craft your own, of course, but I've found most site issues are elo or connectivity of some sort. Players usually won't read an FAQ, so I try to redirect them individually.

[menettm]

For TTR games I review several bugs for your second case these last hours.
I close them with "Won’t fix" status and the following text :

That is not a TTR bug but a BGA problem.
You may write a new bug/suggestion but for the BGA site.

[BaronFraser]

It's certainly annoying, and I have a pre-written response that directs reports to the BGA system. But don't forget:

1. If a player is making a bug report over something going wrong, they're probably already a bit frustrated, and
2. The average player has no idea of the distinction between the game developer and the site

...so we need to take care not to be abrupt in saying "This isn't my problem" as we want players to give us legitimate bug reports and not feel punished that they did it the wrong way.

My template thanks them for making a bug report, explains that this is a BGA site issue and so apologises that I can't handle it, and then explains to them how to make a report to the right place (which is often the "Contact Us / Support" link at the bottom of the page and not a bug report - particularly when the dreaded "BGA thinks it's the wrong player's turn" bug hits -, which may not be apparent to users).

In terms of your actual question, I don't really escalate. I experimented with making support claims on behalf of players, but found that me being the middle man didn't help anybody and just left me with a lot of Open bug reports. I just explain in detail and give them enough info to pursue it themselves.

[houseofsuns]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll prepare some standard replies cushioning the let-down.