There has been umpteen threads about Military Honor and they often contain a mix of cogent argument and nonsensical ranting. Personally, I've had mixed feelings about it with my primarily complaint being that WG has largely abdicated responsibility for issuing appropriate bans as they let the system play out.
However, Mad Games has shown Military Honor worked to tamp down the worst conduct in battle chat. As you know, Mad Games does not feature up or down votes. It is easy to see why WG decided to eliminate the up/down given the wild nature of the battles. I would argue that it could have been modified, but that is a thread for another time.
What cannot be debated is that the level of discourse in battle chat (now free from consequences*) is, ummmm, quite low. Rage and chat spam are doubled or tripled. Worse, overt racism and other forms of the powerless exerting influence in a stupid game is through the roof. I had three games out of six feature the n-word. None of the players using the word were duplicated. In two of the games multiple players went on offensive tirades. Apparently "retard" is huge with the subset of tankers that find battle chat a place for diatribes.
It was nice to see folks I know in game and joke around here and there. The utility of battle chat, however, was nil as it was spammed with garbage and became little more than an annoyance on my screen. Thanks WG for allowing me to turn chat off as will remain my chosen setting for the duration of Mad Games.
Debate the merits or flaws of Military Honor all you want, but it was serving as a deterrent and evidence of its effectiveness only requires a dozen games where downvotes do not exist.
*Yes, their could be consequences if players submit multiple tickets with replays and go through the entire follow up. If any consequences are given it will be a minimal penalty and the reporter will end up experiencing more hassle than the reportee. Military Honor (to its benefit and detriment) is primarily a streamlined reporting system. With the increased burden of navigating the ticket system, racist/garbage people know they can say whatever they want in chat with almost no risk of penalty.
On the plus side, I had somehow forgotten how serene playing with no chat can be and I now tank in silence.