Has this been discussed before? Friend List issues.

[Homestuckergrl]

This is a topic that I've seen a lot of people complain about in game when the topic comes up, but not something I've really ever seen on the forums before. Though, I confess, I don't really come here all that often.
A friend and I had been talking recently, and we've been wondering if anyone has spoken about the friend list issue. What I mean by this is, let's say that you made a friend with someone. But over time, they're not the person you thought they were, so you unfriend them. Maybe block them. For you, things seem to be over, but then you see that person everywhere you go. AFKing in the same spots you AFK, as an example. Why? Because even though you deleted that person and blocked them, they kept you on their friend list, and now they're following you around the game to harass you. But you can't prove it or report it unless they do something directly against you in game.
Not to say this sort of thing has ever happened to me before, but I've seen it happen to others. People can be very petty and vindictive, so I think it was kind of an oversight to allow someone to keep you on their friend list even if you took them off your own.
Friendships are a mutual thing, and if someone doesn't want to be your friend anymore, then that should be that, as harsh as that might sound to some.
I know that this issue can still persist for those vindictive enough to player search you, and some people will even be petty enough to go to your housing. These are related issues, stemming from the same problem (if not similar).
So my question is, why has the community not spoken up about this more? And if they have, why has Square not taken steps to help prevent these community issues? It's obvious this system encourages spite stalking, so surely this is something they'd want to steer away from, right?

[Breakbeat]

So my question is, why has the community not spoken up about this more? And if they have, why has Square not taken steps to help prevent these community issues?

As to the former, they have.

As to the latter, because the incident(s) you describe don't happen often enough or to enough people for it to be feasible to spend money to change. "But it seems so simple to change," isn't a sound defense. They code; we assume.

Google "being stalked in FFXIV" and you will see something interesting. Actual, personal reports of stalking are few and far between. There are a couple discussions a year started by people actually claiming to be stalked. The remaining hundreds or thousands of threads all start out similar to how this one did. "I've heard people talking and they say this is a huge problem. I had a friend once who said they..." Yeah, they talk a lot, don't they? They've all had a friend or a friend of a friend who was harassed and stalked, but in 2022 all of those who are being harassed and stalked aren't talking about it online? Yeah. Right.

Going out on a limb here, but IMVHO this "stalking" is something people unnecessarily fear that happens rarely. We humans do this nonsense all the time, all day, every day, and it's sad. We fear things and vehemently complain about them when they literally affect one in a million people, or have a very small chance of occurring. We then get in our cars and speed on the freeway, which kills 45,000 people a year in the United States alone (1 in 100 lifetime chance of being killed in an auto accident), and we don't give a crap about that at all. Nah, screw that. Street takeovers!

We have our priorities so far out of whack, I am not sure many people understand what normal, logical priorities even are anymore. /shrug

Despite public insistence, it's illogical and unfeasible to accommodate every single possible negative thing that can happen to a person anywhere in life. Some things will remain how they are, and grievances will be dealt with individually. Such as when you're being "stalked" in a video game. And I do put that in quotes intentionally. When one has the option of logging out, one might prioritize their mental health above playing a fun game, and go do something else until the "stalker" gets bored. I'm almost embarrassed to call it "stalking" as it pales in comparison to actual stalking perpetuated in real life by sick human beings, and diminishes the severity of that real crime.