How do I deal with duplicate bug reports?

Group them into a single issue with an occurrence count rather than deleting them, automatic grouping collapses duplicate reports (and same-signature crashes) into distinct issues, each labeled with how many players it affects. This cleans up your tracker while preserving the count, which is valuable: the number of duplicates measures a bug's reach and is your best prioritization signal.

Should I delete duplicate bug reports?

No, deleting them throws away your best measure of how many players a bug affects. Group them into one counted issue instead. The duplicate count is reach signal: a bug reported two hundred times is clearly hitting more players than one reported once, which is exactly what you need to prioritize. Grouping cleans the clutter while keeping the information.

How do I reduce the number of duplicate reports I get?

Publish a known-issues page (or public tracker) so players who hit a bug can see it's already reported and don't file a fresh duplicate. Players report repeatedly because they don't know you're aware, each thinks it's new. A visible known-issues list deflects a large share of fresh duplicates while reassuring players you're on it, addressing the duplicate stream at its source.

How to Reduce Duplicate Bug Reports

Quick answer: Reduce the burden of duplicate bug reports two ways: automatically group duplicates into a single issue with an occurrence count so the flood collapses into distinct problems, and reduce new duplicates by publishing a known-issues page so players who see their bug already listed don't refile it. Duplicates are valuable reach signal, so the goal is to harness them, not eliminate the information.

Getting the same bug reported many times can feel like noise drowning your tracker, but duplicates aren't worthless, they measure how many players a bug affects. The goal isn't to eliminate duplicates (which destroys that signal) but to manage them: collapse them into counted issues, and reduce the stream of fresh ones with good communication.

Don't Delete Duplicates, Group Them

The instinct to delete duplicates throws away your best prioritization signal: the number of times a bug is reported measures how many players it affects. Instead of deleting, group duplicates into a single canonical issue with an occurrence count. The flood collapses into distinct problems, each labeled with its reach, so your tracker is clean and the signal is preserved.

Bugnet's occurrence grouping does this automatically, collapsing duplicate reports of the same bug (and crashes with the same signature) into one ranked issue with a running count. You see distinct issues sorted by impact rather than a stream of repeats, which both reduces the apparent clutter and turns the duplicate volume into a usable measure of severity.

Reduce Fresh Duplicates With Communication

Beyond grouping the duplicates you have, you can reduce the stream of new ones. Players report a bug repeatedly because they don't know you're already aware, each thinks they're reporting something new. A visible known-issues page (or public tracker) tells players the bug is already known, so many won't bother filing another report.

Bugnet's public tracker can serve as this known-issues list, driven by your real tracked issues, so players see acknowledged bugs and their status without contacting you. A known-issues page deflects a large share of fresh duplicate reports while reassuring players you're on it, addressing the duplicate stream at its source.

Treat the Count as Useful, Not Annoying

Reframe duplicates as data, not noise. A bug reported two hundred times isn't an annoyance; it's the bug telling you it's hitting a lot of players and deserves priority. Grouping turns that repetition into a clear count you can sort by, and the highest-count issues are exactly where fixing reduces the most player pain.

So reducing duplicate bug reports is really about managing them well: group them automatically so they don't clutter (while preserving the count), communicate via a known-issues page to deflect fresh ones, and use the resulting counts to prioritize. Handled this way, duplicates become one of your most useful signals rather than a burden.

Duplicates are reach signal, not noise. Group them automatically into counted issues (don't delete), and publish a known-issues page to deflect fresh ones, then use the counts to prioritize.