Blocking Ineffective

[Piikoi]

I block people who consistently don't play well with others. Examples: residents who make continual unwanted advances, or residents who are physically or emotionally abusive. While blocking helps prevent me from seeing the abuses, the abusers can still see me. I can block what I see, but not what they see. This makes SL blocking something like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand. Is there a different way to block, a way to make me invisible to the abusers, something that would prevent abusers from seeing me rather than just prevent me from seeing them? Yes, I report the more aggressive residents, but nothing changes because it's not illegal to be a F*^&^% in SL. My aim isn't to interfere with other residents' lifestyles - if you want to be an #*)&^ then go ahead, you be you - I just want to enjoy SL without being harassed. 

[Madelaine McMasters]

Hi Piikoi,

A few months ago, someone else wanted the same ability...

Here's my reply from that thread...

 

[Solar Legion]

The blocking as is is quite effective - you are blocking them which means you cannot properly see them nor can they properly interact with you anymore.

A full Mute and Block turns them gray on your end as well as blocking messages and transactions. If you're using some TPVs you can also opt to Derender/Blacklist an Avatar which wholly removes them from your view.

This is all one needs. They can still see you - big whoop. If they're in the same groups as you, they can still see your name in there and when you were last on. Some scripted systems can still report your online status (by design) and some TPVs even still report blocked/muted/derendered/blacklisted avatars as part of their radar systems.

Block/mute (and derender/blacklist if using a TPV that supports such) and move on.

[cunomar]

The worst know all the rules upside down and backwards so very easily side step them .

If your specifically targeted by this type then your choice is either to quit or become aggressive seeking every opportunity to slag them off publicly . Force them to block you .

I blocked and walked away , maybe 2 years later they quit griefing me perhaps because they learned i was actively seeking a real name and address .

[Love Zhaoying]

8 minutes ago, cunomar said:

or become aggressive seeking every opportunity to slag them off publicly .

That sounds like it may be a violation of the TOS!

[cunomar]

There are no rules "they" taught me that . Create an alt a week for 10 years like they did because nobody can report everybody .

[Scylla Rhiadra]

19 minutes ago, cunomar said:

I was actively seeking a real name and address .

So that you could do what?

Contact their RL employer? Or their RL spouse and family?

Show up at their door armed and ready to fight?

Dox them?

Send a letter bomb?

Do you not see that there might be a connection between your admitted inability to find friends, and the fact that you sometimes sound like a dangerous and threatening psychopath?

[Love Zhaoying]

10 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Do you not see that there might be a connection between your admitted inability to find friends, and the fact that you sometimes sound like a dangerous and threatening psychopath?

I would stop at "sociopath". But nice take on it!

[Piikoi]

2 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

 

Thanks Madelaine, I hadn't considered how griefers would use that capacity. Ugghh...

[cunomar]

I deserve that Scylla and its understandable that anyone who never met me before all this started will find it difficult to believe that i was once very easy to get along with and had time for everyone .

As for making friends in sl i make no effort to , not any more . I still occasionally get messaged from the past , friends who don't want to give up on me and i let them know its appreciated but pointless .

I just want to punch him however many times it takes to teach a gamer about consequence .

[Rowan Amore]

48 minutes ago, cunomar said:

If your specifically targeted by this type then your choice is either to quit or become aggressive

You forgot the option to not keep going to the same places.  I've stopped going to places for.periods of time when they became.havens for rude and obnoxious people.  They moved on, I went back.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

5 minutes ago, cunomar said:

I just want to punch him however many times it takes to teach a gamer about consequence .

I am literally and genuinely pleading with you now to find a way to better control your anger, and gain a bit of perspective.

Yes, emotional hurt is very real. But this kind of response is never the right one.

[cunomar]

I was invited back maybe 3 years later when the owner finally figured things out and banned the instigators . I looked in for 2 minutes but im not that guy any more .

I'm sure won't believe me but i'm known to be very tolerant in comparison to my rl peers , a peace maker even given my habit of stepping between violent opponents . When the line is crossed though i have no interest in talking - the feral child in me is cornered and coming out and he learned very young to run at the threat because any attempt to go around it will fail when your opponent is twice your size . 

Not sure where this "hurt" business comes into it .

Imagine finding a flat tyre on your car every single morning for 2 years , you know who is doing it but you can't find or catch him . Would you not want to punch him ?

Edited February 15, 2023 by cunomar

[Janet Voxel]

I don’t know…..blocking works fine for me. As long as I can’t see what they’re saying or doing I don’t care. They can see me all they want, because my blocked auto response is hilarious. As for other people, if they’re into what the troll is doing. I probably don’t want to be around them either.

[Ceka Cianci]

I don't know what I have set in FS, but whatever  it is it works pretty good..  I blocked someone for the first time in a long time and they just went *Flit*..

I didn't see them on the mini map and didn't see even the grey of them.. They just went *Flit* out of my life.. hehehe

I was kind of like, wow they really are doing wonderful things with blocking these days.. 

That or he TP'd right when I flipped the switch, but could still see his name on the radar for a little bit after..

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Ceka Cianci

[Marigold Devin]

3 hours ago, Piikoi said:

I block people who consistently don't play well with others. Examples: residents who make continual unwanted advances, or residents who are physically or emotionally abusive. While blocking helps prevent me from seeing the abuses, the abusers can still see me. I can block what I see, but not what they see. This makes SL blocking something like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand. Is there a different way to block, a way to make me invisible to the abusers, something that would prevent abusers from seeing me rather than just prevent me from seeing them? Yes, I report the more aggressive residents, but nothing changes because it's not illegal to be a F*^&^% in SL. My aim isn't to interfere with other residents' lifestyles - if you want to be an #*)&^ then go ahead, you be you - I just want to enjoy SL without being harassed. 

It really would be very nice if the block was two-way like it is on Facebook. 

I suppose this could be requested at a User Group meeting or via Jira?

[LittleMe Jewell]

3 hours ago, Piikoi said:

My aim isn't to interfere with other residents' lifestyles

Except by insiting the other person not see you, you are interfering in their SL lifestyle.

 

 

3 hours ago, Piikoi said:

Yes, I report the more aggressive residents, but nothing changes because it's not illegal to be a F*^&^% in SL.

If you have them blocked, how do you know whether anything changes or not?  You cannot see them, you cannot see their chat or IM, they will not be able to give you anything. 

[cunomar]

Their alts will tell you - wherever you go whatever you do they will follow you , private message anyone they suspect is talking to you , turning sl into a hostile zombie infested wasteland where you will wander alone ready to shoot down any approach .

I would be astonished if i have spoken to a single stranger in the last 3 years who wasn't the alt of somebody i knew before . Sad part is some are surely well intentioned but its just easier to assume all carry the zombie infection .

[Istelathis]

4 hours ago, Marigold Devin said:

It really would be very nice if the block was two-way like it is on Facebook. 

I suppose this could be requested at a User Group meeting or via Jira?

This is my view as well, if someone wants an extra layer of privacy this would provide it more efficiently.  Surely, they could bypass it with alts, but it becomes tedious for them and extra effort is required on their part to do so.  I've been fairly lucky not to have been put in a scenario where I have needed to block others in SL, but if I needed to do so I would rather have the option to absolutely ghost them so that they would not have any access to my avatar, nor me theirs.  As far as I am concerned, out of sight, out of mind, both parties involved no longer exist in the virtual world and can hopefully move on with their lives oblivious to one another existing.

I mean, in real life.. if I had a stalker and had the option of just making them vanish from my own sight while they still had full access to my life, I would be less likely to block them.  I would rather they had a harder time stalking me than me being aware of them in the first place.  It seems almost weird that people think that it works the other way around, and that it is better that they have full access to you, while you are not aware of them.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

38 minutes ago, Istelathis said:

This is my view as well, if someone wants an extra layer of privacy this would provide it more efficiently.  Surely, they could bypass it with alts, but it becomes tedious for them and extra effort is required on their part to do so.  I've been fairly lucky not to have been put in a scenario where I have needed to block others in SL, but if I needed to do so I would rather have the option to absolutely ghost them so that they would not have any access to my avatar, nor me theirs.  As far as I am concerned, out of sight, out of mind, both parties involved no longer exist in the virtual world and can hopefully move on with their lives oblivious to one another existing.

I mean, in real life.. if I had a stalker and had the option of just making them vanish from my own sight while they still had full access to my life, I would be less likely to block them.  I would rather they had a harder time stalking me than me being aware of them in the first place.  It seems almost weird that people think that it works the other way around, and that it is better that they have full access to you, while you are not aware of them.

The problem with this idea -- and I do have a lot of sympathy for it, because simply hiding abuse from view doesn't prevent it from happening -- is that it could be a griefer tool. It would effectively work as a way of passing unseen by others from whom you want to hide. 

So, imagine a griefer in a club for instance, who wants to create havoc under the nose of the DJ or club employees: all he would need to do is "block" those people, and they wouldn't even know he was there until they were told by someone else.

[Arielle Popstar]

13 hours ago, Piikoi said:

I hadn't considered how griefers would use that capacity. Ugghh...

They already can visually by alpha'ing themselves out and in fact often do while griefing, so using that excuse as a justification is questionable.

What would be nice though is if the Lindens in response to an AR, had the ability to block two avatars from seeing or being aware of each other whenever in the same space. That would give them an option between outright banning someone on the say so of someone upset at the actions of another or doing nothing at all. In any of these sort of interactions there are 2 sides to the argument so instead of having to spend time sorting it out, the most expedient response would be to just block both of them from each other since they can't play together nicely.

[Theresa Tennyson]

15 hours ago, Piikoi said:

Thanks Madelaine, I hadn't considered how griefers would use that capacity. Ugghh...

Having you "vanish" to others would also advertise to them that they've been blocked, meaning that they now know they're successfully "getting to you" and can look into other ways of harassing you.

[cunomar]

Those trusted to move furniture have a vested interest in keeping the peace , would it be extremely complicated to ensure they know exactly who is on sim regardless of the block feature ?

[EliseAnne85]

10 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

The problem with this idea -- and I do have a lot of sympathy for it, because simply hiding abuse from view doesn't prevent it from happening -- is that it could be a griefer tool. It would effectively work as a way of passing unseen by others from whom you want to hide. 

So, imagine a griefer in a club for instance, who wants to create havoc under the nose of the DJ or club employees: all he would need to do is "block" those people, and they wouldn't even know he was there until they were told by someone else.

Perhaps the blocking of one's avatar would not happen instantly.  So, perhaps it could be one has to file their abuse reports to the Lindens and wait for acceptance to disappear to those they have blocked.  Although this could be gamed too but the Lindens are God-mode surely they might know if one is truly being stalked and emotionally harassed and cyber-bullied or if they are faking it.  

[Arielle Popstar]

1 hour ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

Having you "vanish" to others would also advertise to them that they've been blocked, meaning that they now know they're successfully "getting to you" and can look into other ways of harassing you.

So you are admitting that blocking both with the normal existing method plus a visual/presence block is not enough to prevent being harassed?