How does the current blacklist/block/anti-harassment measures work?

[Alicie]

Moreover, I do not understand why I am not hidden from a player that I have blacklisted. It's like whole thing was made in reverse.

[Astronis]

Moreover, I do not understand why I am not hidden from a player that I have blacklisted. It's like whole thing was made in reverse.

Imagine for a moment that someone who is a real shitheel manages to convince hundreds of other players that YOU are the problem, and they all blacklist you. Now your game is suddenly far more empty than before and your duty finders are inexplicably full of Unknown 01 - 03 and everything said in them is (this message is from a blacklisted player)...when your blacklist is empty. It would take some dedications, but serious harassers are nothing if not dedicated.

And in many cases where the blacklist is useful it would be complete overkill to do anything more than remove that person from one's virtual existence. The game doesn't need to affect someone else's client and force them to blacklist me just because I'm irritated that they afk using /shakedrink or they have a habit of playing annoying bard music. If someone is harassing someone so much that making them invisible, inaudible, unable to join PFs, and banned from houses isn't good enough, more stringent measures than a blacklist likely need to be taken anyway.

[Remolia]

And in many cases where the blacklist is useful it would be complete overkill to do anything more than remove that person from one's virtual existence. The game doesn't need to affect someone else's client and force them to blacklist me just because I'm irritated that they afk using /shakedrink or they have a habit of playing annoying bard music. If someone is harassing someone so much that making them invisible, inaudible, unable to join PFs, and banned from houses isn't good enough, more stringent measures than a blacklist likely need to be taken anyway.

Totally agree here, the game should able to partially restrict characters. Like, to hide their ugly glam, silence their awful bard performance or hide their "emote spam", block trades/party invites. Instead, game just suggest to totally "erase the player" or mute them in chat forever.
Not even an option, to "mute for 1 day" or "mute until current duty". Not even a single note. Mute list and blacklist is just a big mess to work with.

[Aidorouge]

Imagine for a moment that someone who is a real shitheel manages to convince hundreds of other players that YOU are the problem, and they all blacklist you. Now your game is suddenly far more empty than before and your duty finders are inexplicably full of Unknown 01 - 03 and everything said in them is (this message is from a blacklisted player)...when your blacklist is empty. It would take some dedications, but serious harassers are nothing if not dedicated.

And in many cases where the blacklist is useful it would be complete overkill to do anything more than remove that person from one's virtual existence. The game doesn't need to affect someone else's client and force them to blacklist me just because I'm irritated that they afk using /shakedrink or they have a habit of playing annoying bard music. If someone is harassing someone so much that making them invisible, inaudible, unable to join PFs, and banned from houses isn't good enough, more stringent measures than a blacklist likely need to be taken anyway.

It's also the same reason the blacklist doesn't block people from showing up in one's duty finder, because again, if a committed harasser got even a quarter of the people on a world/data center to block someone, then their queues would become agonizing long (if they ever popped at all), to say nothing of how it would extend the time of EVERYONE'S queues after a while if the game is having to cross-reference every single person's blacklist to make sure nobody ends up partied with anyone else on each other's blacklists. Some people claim they would be okay with longer queues if it means never ever seeing somebody they blacklisted ever again (even as an Unknown), but they never stop to consider that THEY are the ones that might have been blacklisted to keep then out of duties, or if not them, then one of their friends/FC mates they grouped with that day.

The blacklist has shortcomings (it's too small for starters), but giving it too much power can end up doing more harm than good.

[Astronis]

It's also the same reason the blacklist doesn't block people from showing up in one's duty finder (...)

Yeah...I wish it did, just as an ideal world kind of thing, but I completely understand why it doesn't. DF would just stop functioning.

[Amarande]

Blocking, especially anything more than the traditional old school client side ignore, is hard.

Do it wrong and it can even cause worse problems than it was intended to solve, such as the stalker issues in FFXIV or the material influence on discussion (sometimes to the point of even actively aiding in the promotion of misinformation) that Reddit's most recent iteration of the block feature has caused.

Harassment sucks, but it's important to ensure the solution isn't worse than the problem.

[Alicie]

Blocking, especially anything more than the traditional old school client side ignore, is hard.

Do it wrong and it can even cause worse problems than it was intended to solve, such as the stalker issues in FFXIV or the material influence on discussion (sometimes to the point of even actively aiding in the promotion of misinformation) that Reddit's most recent iteration of the block feature has caused.

Harassment sucks, but it's important to ensure the solution isn't worse than the problem.

Currently, solution is worse than the problem

[Astronis]

Currently, solution is worse than the problem

I would have been extremely grateful for a FFXIV-style blacklist in another game I played where I had an issue with another player who not only did not respect boundaries, but intentionally pushed against them, leaping past them in ways no one should ever have to put up with. Wouldn't call her a stalker, but I would have been very relieved to delete all that person's characters and any future characters from my digital existence, as well as prevent any other kind of contact.