The Friendslist, Why I think it needs to be changed [Merged]

[captrowdy.9561]

I saw this spam in map chat advertising this post. I consider that a type of harassment. Anytime spent by the devs implementing this system could be used for something else that’s why I’m against it. Block them and move on. Sticks and stones may break bones…..

[Epsilon Indi.2031]

Runescape has the exact same system with regards to how the friends list functions.  Anyone can add you, however, Runescape has better privacy options as it has settings that allow you to show as offline to anyone you don't also have added.  Something as simple as introducing that system here would likely solve everyone's problem if there was a way to customize who you show online to.

[Charall.4710]

16 hours ago, captrowdy.9561 said:

No absolutely not. Some folks like a little friendly smack talk and competition. It’s fun going up against the same player and recognizing them. 

That's absolutely incorrect, there are more salty tells to commanders and players that kill other players sent every day to a point if you log into your servers wvw discords commanders typically meme about it. There is also the wvw salt forums and much much more. 

If you're new to WvW I understand how you could feel that way but trust me that honeymoon period will end, but the fact that whispers can be sent by adding players to a blacklist, double clicking their name, then unblocking them again is a bit of a problem. It doesn't show "Whatever" invader, it shows the actual player name.

[Charall.4710]

13 hours ago, Sir Alymer.3406 said:

Runescape has the exact same system with regards to how the friends list functions.  Anyone can add you, however, Runescape has better privacy options as it has settings that allow you to show as offline to anyone you don't also have added.  Something as simple as introducing that system here would likely solve everyone's problem if there was a way to customize who you show online to.

It's a good idea, there are pros and cons to that system. But still needing to go offline for any reason regarding harassment should not be something one has to do.

[Arnox.5128]

Yes, people can see whether you're online or not when they friend you, but what difference does it make when they can't even see what location you are at in the game? (Unless you also have them friended for some reason, in which case, why do you have them friended if they're harassing you?)

Even IF they somehow magically knew your location, they probably won't even be able to join your same instance anyway without you partying up with them and letting them join your instance.

As to unwanted whispering, just block them. I guess more in-depth whisper settings would be nice to be fair, and it would be nice to be able to have it set a default status upon login, but beyond that, I fail to see any issue here.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Arnox.5128

[Charall.4710]

6 hours ago, Arnox.5128 said:

Even IF they somehow magically knew your location, they probably won't even be able to join your same instance anyway without you partying up with them and letting them join your instance.

Sorry friend, I would rather not stay in home instances or dungeons every day for my entire gameplay. Systems like this allow people to know where you are, stop defending it.

[Arnox.5128]

2 minutes ago, Dravvi.3146 said:

Sorry friend, I would rather not stay in home instances or dungeons every day for my entire gameplay. Systems like this allow people to know where you are, stop defending it.

What? Who said anything about that? I mean just because someone knows your in Lion's Arch doesn't mean they even know what instance of LA you're in. And even IF they knew, they can't even get to it in the first place without someone giving them a taxi. And no, they can't know where you are unless you've friended them as well. That's how the system works. If you haven't friended them, literally the only thing you can see is their account name and whether they're online or not.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Arnox.5128

[AgentMoore.9453]

7 hours ago, Arnox.5128 said:

just block them

Multiple posters have already offered examples of how and why 'just block them' isn't cutting it largely because the block/friend/follow systems in GW2 don't function as expected, so I'm not sure why this suggestion is still being repeated or why defense of the status quo is more important to people than considering where things can be improved for everyone.

More importantly though, why are you opposed to changes that would reduce stress for players when you started a thread not long ago about wanting the forum reactions gone because of the stress/negative interactions they contribute to? Having blocked people be able to track you in any capacity should be as weird to you as the fact that people can spam out your notifications with no option to shut them off. I can't imagine someone telling you to 'just turn off all of your notifications completely' would be a satisfying answer.

Would both situations not be improved with the addition of more settings that let you curate your experience?

Edited November 22, 2021 by AgentMoore.9453
The word 'or' jumped into a sentence where it didn't belong.

[kharmin.7683]

That simply isn't true.  I have several people from these very forums on my friend list who I know haven't put me on theirs, and when they're online I know which map they're on.

[Epsilon Indi.2031]

8 hours ago, Dravvi.3146 said:

It's a good idea, there are pros and cons to that system. But still needing to go offline for any reason regarding harassment should not be something one has to do.

You don't seem to understand how it works in Runescape.

There's a Friends List
There's a Blocklist
There's Clan Chat (Which is basically guild chat)

There's a few settings below the chatbox (At least on OSRS, I have no idea for Runescape 3.)  Here's a few examples of those settings:

Game, Public, Private, Channel, Clan, Trade, Report.
 

The Game filter can be toggled between two modes. On and Filtered.

     The On option will display all game messages (i.e. "You swing your axe at the tree." or "You get some logs." as mentioned above).

     The Filtered option will only display major messages to the player such as level advancements, or alerts.
 

The Public filter allows the player to filter out public player messages. There are five different filter options, as well as an option to filter by content, and an autochat option.

•      The Show autochat option will show only auto-chatted messages.
•      The Show standard option will show all public messages.
•      The Show friends option will only show public messages from Friends.
•      The Show none option will cease the display of all public messages on the screen.
•      The Hide option will filter all public messages from the chat panel.
•      The Filter public chat function will filter out any messages that do not contain a certain word or words. To set a filter, click "Filter public chat" and then type the desired filter. To clear the filter, click "Filter public chat", and press enter on the blank prompt.
•      The Autochat function will automatically chat a set message about every four seconds. To set up autochat, click "Setup your autochat", then type in the desired phrase you wish to autochat. After the message is entered, the game will begin to chat automatically. There is then a new option to "Pause autochat". When clicked, it will Pause the autochat, and an option to "Resume autochat" will be added. To clear autochat, click "Setup your autochat", and press enter when the blank prompt appears.

• 
  The Private filter allows players to filter who can send them messages.

•      The Show all option will show all private messages received.
•      The Show friends option filters out all private messages from players who are not on your Friends List.
•      The Show none option will cease to show any received private messages.
  
  Etc.
  
  Basically, you have huge control over what you see.  Any new person coming in to stalk or harass you is one blocklist addition away from  never being able to find you again without outside help.

[mercury ranique.2170]

On 11/15/2021 at 1:55 PM, Dravvi.3146 said:

 So buckle up cause this is gonna be a bit of a more serious one than my usual posts, yep its another opinion piece and yes I mean all of this.

For many years now gw2 has had a serious problem with people harassing others in one form or another, the GM's typically ignore the problematic players and target the ones trying to defend themselves. The system is utterly broken and needs a major revision in terms of safety alone, I am a very big fan of this game but one thing I am not a big fan of is how the friendslist works in guild wars 2. It is far too easily exploitable.
 

 

On 11/15/2021 at 1:55 PM, Dravvi.3146 said:

I'm more on this than ever now since a friend of mine quit gw2 yesterday after being harassed because these systems allowed it to happen so I am calling for action to be taken, something to be set in place to stop this kinda stuff from happening. Anet I support you, I don't like all aspects of your game. But this is something that needs to be changed.

I've quoted two parts of your post that are most relevant in my opinion.

In short: you are judging a system based on a story a friend told you?
Every story  told has a sender and a medium. Both are telling one side of this story. There is also the side of the person who has been harassing your friend and off course, Arenanet's side of the story.

first off all, I symphatise to your friend for having a bad experience and I symphatise with you on losing a friend. I'm a great fan of Harry Potter and my favourite quote is "Off course it is happening inside your mind, but how on earth does it make it less true".

But from my point of view I also see a weak story based on the assumption it is not taken seriously.
Just recently there was a delete conversation here about someone complaining about a suspension where he was all innocent. his post however was covered with an entire litter of kittens and he told he engaged the trol he was complaining about.

In my experience. When you contact support, action is taken. When you block someone and ignore, this is enough.
The most important advice I can give is to never feed the troll. Once you have fed him, he will come back and haunt you anytime he graves attention. 
If you have a bad experience:
1: Step out of the situation.
2: report
3: block and ignore
4: move along and live happily ever after!

(even if step two would not be taken seriously, it still doesn't matter as step 3 and 4 ensure you are no longer troubled).

[captrowdy.9561]

15 hours ago, Dravvi.3146 said:

That's absolutely incorrect, there are more salty tells to commanders and players that kill other players sent every day to a point if you log into your servers wvw discords commanders typically meme about it. There is also the wvw salt forums and much much more. 

If you're new to WvW I understand how you could feel that way but trust me that honeymoon period will end, but the fact that whispers can be sent by adding players to a blacklist, double clicking their name, then unblocking them again is a bit of a problem. It doesn't show "Whatever" invader, it shows the actual player name.

I’ve been playing pvp games for a very longtime. Every game has a community that trash talks. Just because you are bothered does not mean you should try and force a system that disrupts communication for the whole community. 

[Epsilon Indi.2031]

1 hour ago, captrowdy.9561 said:

I’ve been playing pvp games for a very longtime. Every game has a community that trash talks. Just because you are bothered does not mean you should try and force a system that disrupts communication for the whole community. 

Y'know, crap behavior elsewhere doesn't mean it should be allowed here.

There shouldn't be a way for other enemy players to communicate with anyone on other teams that aren't their own. At least not ingame.

[Arnox.5128]

6 hours ago, kharmin.7683 said:

That simply isn't true.  I have several people from these very forums on my friend list who I know haven't put me on theirs, and when they're online I know which map they're on.

That sounds like a bug. I'd file that in the appropriate sub-forum. Were you guys in a squad though? The game will give you location details of all party members in a squad. Or a regular party.

6 hours ago, AgentMoore.9453 said:

Multiple posters have already offered examples of how and why 'just block them' isn't cutting it largely because the block/friend/follow systems in GW2 don't function as expected

Alright, fine. After checking in-game, apparently you are right in that blocking shows a person's location regardless of who friended who. I apologize. I VERY rarely use the blocklist and it gets ignored by me 99.99% of the time, so that's why I didn't know what you guys were talking about.

Ok then. Remove the location feature of the blocklist. Not sure why the game gives your location guaranteed just because someone blocked you. Maybe it was given with the intent that you would be able to avoid the blocked person? Who knows. It doesn't make any sense either way though.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Arnox.5128

[Charall.4710]

On 11/22/2021 at 1:42 PM, Arnox.5128 said:

Ok then. Remove the location feature of the blocklist. Not sure why the game gives your location guaranteed just because someone blocked you. Maybe it was given with the intent that you would be able to avoid the blocked person? Who knows. It doesn't make any sense either way though.

That's just a bandaid fix to the larger problem.

[zealex.9410]

The "i never had this problem therefore its not a real problem" crowd is going haaaaard which is weird because changing and updating the friend list feature wouldnt really hurt them in any way yet it would make the experience for others alot more enjoyable.

Edited November 23, 2021 by zealex.9410

[Fuchslein.8639]

26 minutes ago, zealex.9410 said:

The "i never had this problem therefore its not a real problem" crowd is going haaaaard which is weird because changing and updating the friend list feature wouldnt really hurt them in any way yet it would make the experience for others alot more enjoyable.

As alway's~

Meanwhile, a good working friends list (without followers you do not want to have) should be the cornerstone of a good MMO ...

[Arnox.5128]

2 hours ago, Dravvi.3146 said:

That's just a bandaid fix to the larger problem.

What else is the problem?

[captrowdy.9561]

On 11/22/2021 at 11:51 AM, Sir Alymer.3406 said:

Y'know, crap behavior elsewhere doesn't mean it should be allowed here.

There shouldn't be a way for other enemy players to communicate with anyone on other teams that aren't their own. At least not ingame.

That’s your opinion. Stop trying to force your  opinion on other people. 

Edited November 24, 2021 by captrowdy.9561

[Epsilon Indi.2031]

3 minutes ago, captrowdy.9561 said:

That’s your opinion. Stop trying to force your  opinion on other people. 

Nope.  Allow me to elaborate why.

If people are throwing trash in the streets in one city, does that mean it's okay for a ll cities to do it?  Nope!  Why?  It causes problems for everyone in the community and has ripple effects throughout the community as a whole.

But also, please, elaborate why it's just fine for people to be completely salty online towards others and how it's workin' out for the PvP game mode as a whole.  (Hint: it's not.  Game mode is so dead people can rig wins.)

[Charall.4710]

On 11/23/2021 at 11:56 PM, captrowdy.9561 said:

That’s your opinion. Stop trying to force your  opinion on other people. 

kitten that's like, a good solid opinion with alot of reason behind it and actually makes sense. Must tell him how wrong he is so we can be edgy and appeal to the mass spam posters!

[Xanadrine.4352]

On 11/22/2021 at 10:46 AM, captrowdy.9561 said:

I’ve been playing pvp games for a very longtime. Every game has a community that trash talks. Just because you are bothered does not mean you should try and force a system that disrupts communication for the whole community. 

Trash talk never bothered me, I played wow for 14 years lol. But when people go out of their way to stalk and harass the account yeah thats a bit much. I always hated that anet allows your account name to be visible. Such a naive thing to do, now they can harass you on all your characters. I think we should have the option to only allow guild and people we want to know our account name have it. Not every random joe.

[Charall.4710]

 

On 11/26/2021 at 1:19 AM, Zuldari.3940 said:

Trash talk never bothered me, I played wow for 14 years lol. But when people go out of their way to stalk and harass the account yeah thats a bit much. I always hated that anet allows your account name to be visible. Such a naive thing to do, now they can harass you on all your characters.

And so they do, over, and over, and over. Because of their insecurities.

[Linken.6345]

30 minutes ago, Dravvi.3146 said:

 

And so they do, over, and over, and over. Because of their insecurities.

Block and they cant do anything to you so yea dont really matter.

[Aridon.8362]

A problem that only 0.0005% of players have is serious?