SE's inability to protect players from stalking/harassment

[AiUsagi]

It won't. Honestly, as others have pointed out, I doubt the devs even pay attention to the forums. It's unfortunate, really. Almost any other official game forum has some presence. We have some big threads with suggestions on these forums with pretty much no interaction at all.. but deleted posts.

You're right. I doubt this thread alone will be enough. That's why I have every intention to post multiple places regarding this matter and I encourage everyone else to do so too. Theyre only going to take notice if it causes a real stir in the community.

[Jojoya]

You're right. I doubt this thread alone will be enough. That's why I have every intention to post multiple places regarding this matter and I encourage everyone else to do so too. Theyre only going to take notice if it causes a real stir in the community.

You're going to have a hard time stirring up the community when the community is not being affected. Such harassment as you describe is relatively rare in games. Most harassers get bored with their activity and give it up after a few weeks.

It's even rarer that a game company doesn't take any action against a player engaging in genuine, prolonged harassment. They don't want to have to deal with subpoenas and the need to present records if the issue should end up in court. They definitely don't want to be involved in publicity if that harassment leads to real life tragedy. SE is usually very prompt in responding to player harassment claims and I don't know anyone who has reported harassment that continued to have a problem after. I have no idea why it's different in your case.

If it's been going on as long and is as severe as you say, it may be time to take legal action. Make certain you've got everything well documented, including your reports to SE and their response, then contact an attorney. Depending on how online harassment is viewed and prosecuted where you live, they may refer you to law enforcement. Or they may decide some sort of civil suit is appropriate.

But honestly, the best way to escape harassment in a game is to make a new character and leave the one known to the harasser behind. They've got no way to trace your new character unless you or someone else who knows about the new character shares the information. Should it be necessary? No, but sometimes it's the only effective course to take.

[AiUsagi]

You're going to have a hard time stirring up the community when the community is not being affected. Such harassment as you describe is relatively rare in games. Most harassers get bored with their activity and give it up after a few weeks.

While it likely is rare for someones stalker to have persisted for as long as mine has, it doesn't make it any less of an issue. Proper prevention wouldn't allow for this sort of thing to even occur. Originally my stalker was someone else's, but when that player quit the game (after this person visited them in real life two days after they blocked them on everything), they started to follow me around in-game and have continued to do so for the past last year. This other individual did contact authorities, but ultimately ended up just letting it go. I became their stalkers next target because I was friends with this other person (hanging out daily) and in some way or another I'm sure they blame me for this "long-time-coming" separation of friendship. I'm not sure what their goal is other than to be an eternal pest, but it certainly should not have gone unnoticed for as long as has. My friend had even reported her for stalking them in real life and their response was to contact the local authorities, but SE did nothing on their part to prevent stalking in-game either (even after being told this person showed up at their front door). Thankfully, I don't know this stalker irl and she has yet to show up at my house, but that still doesn't dismiss that my friend quit and I've wasted my time trying to prevent further stalking, without success. I have plenty of evidence of this stalking; but what's interesting to me is that when I asked GM's about receiving copies of my reports, they said they couldn't provide them. (And yes, I have screenies of this conversation as well as many others).
The best way to escape in-game harassment is to have better tactics in effect to handle players who act irrationally. No one should have to switch data centers or create a new character because of someone else's stalking. What is taking legal action going to do but cause more head aches for me and SE? I'd rather see changes made to the FFXIV community so that no one should have to deal with any of that in the first place, and SE should want that for everyone too, including themselves.
-I'd like to also note that I haven't been harassed by my stalker since I made this thread....- :X

[Absurdity]

But honestly, the best way to escape harassment in a game is to make a new character and leave the one known to the harasser behind. They've got no way to trace your new character unless you or someone else who knows about the new character shares the information. Should it be necessary? No, but sometimes it's the only effective course to take.

Let's be honest here. If having to abandon your current character is the best way to escape harassment it doesn't exactly speak well of the game and it's systems in place to prevent said harassment.

The simple fact that you can remove someone from your friend list and even blacklist them but you still show up on their friendlist, with all the functionality that includes, is a joke, and not the "haha funny" kind of joke.

[AiUsagi]

Let's be honest here. If having to abandon your current character is the best way to escape harassment it doesn't exactly speak well of the game and it's systems in place to prevent said harassment.

The simple fact that you can remove someone from your friend list and even blacklist them but you still show up on their friendlist, with all the functionality that includes, is a joke, and not the "haha funny" kind of joke.

So much this, I couldn't agree more!!!

[RajNish]

There are just three options that should work as expected. Two-way deletion from friends list. Ignore list, which excludes any possibility of communication, even meeting in dungeon/raid roulettes. And a list of persons who are prohibited from entering your house. The problem would be solved. I do not understand why SE cannot do this when other developers have been using this system quite successfully.

[Arillyn]

There are just three options that should work as expected. Two-way deletion from friends list. Ignore list, which excludes any possibility of communication, even meeting in dungeon/raid roulettes. And a list of persons who are prohibited from entering your house. The problem would be solved. I do not understand why SE cannot do this when other developers have been using this system quite successfully.

I agree with this 100%. I have been fortunate to not have been stalked in this game, but I did deal with it in another game. I also dealt with a stalker once-upon-a-time IRL. Stalkers are not something to be taken lightly in-game anymore than they are IRL. SE needs to get it together and give the tools to help prevent stalking and/or end it.

[Jojoya]

The simple fact that you can remove someone from your friend list and even blacklist them but you still show up on their friendlist, with all the functionality that includes, is a joke, and not the "haha funny" kind of joke.

Except that's the way most games function when it comes to friends and blacklists, even if players don't realize it. In WoW, you can add another player's character to your friends list without their knowledge or consent at all. It's only if you want to add them as a Battle.net friend so you can see if they're online regardless of what character they're playing or what server they're on that you need consent.

It's situations like the OP's where the problem with the system becomes apparent but these situations are extremely rare. There are plenty of things players can do that don't technically fall into the category of harassment even if they're annoying and game companies won't bother taking action against the other player.

As I said before, SE is usually very good about dealing with genuine harassment issues. They're definitely more responsive than Blizzard was to a harassment situation I experienced in WoW that led me to quit playing on my main server for a few months (and no more harassment was experienced once I returned). We can't know why SE is apparently not addressing this situation like they normally would. All we have to go by is the OP's version of events.

Ultimately, we're responsible for protecting ourselves and we're the ones that have to take actions even if it's inconvenient. It's not up to SE to protect us. If the harassment is continuing and is that bad, playing on a new character for a while or quitting the game altogether is what needs to be done. If the harassment is at criminal levels, get law enforcement involved.

[AiUsagi]

https://imgur.com/YxJYHqB <---- Around the start of the Harassment Stalking
>WITH DOZENS OF REPORTS IN-BETWEEN<
https://imgur.com/s5bJEKV <----My most recent report of stalking and harassment.

[SturmChurro]

SE is only "really good" with dealing with harassment if there is evidence in the chat. Heavy-handed actually. If there isn't any evidence of that type, they won't touch it. As someone else posted, the friends list thing is not an oversight, but rather intended. So, that's another hurdle. This OP's problem will probably never be resolved, unless they mess up.

https://imgur.com/YxJYHqB <---- Around the start of the Harassment Stalking
>WITH DOZENS OF REPORTS IN-BETWEEN<
https://imgur.com/s5bJEKV <----My most recent report of stalking and harassment.

If you've sent over 100 reports, I think that is probably more of a detriment to your cause than anything else.