Topic: So, You Can Now Ignore Users

Look, if you find it impossible to have a conversation that doesn’t involve the one person that blocked you, that’s kind of on you.

This is a forum. More than one branch of conversation can take place in one thread. While at the same time not any one of those branches are of obligatory participation for everyone.

All I’m saying is that being sneaky and logging out just to see what other people, people who specifically don’t want you to read their comments, are saying doesn’t seem healthy.

If this was a bigger forum where multiple conversations were happening simultaneously in a thread, I would agree with you, but the forum isn't that active.

I think until this botched ignore system is fixed, using any work around you need to balance it out should be promoted.

@Eel But it's a public forum not a social media site like Twitter or Facebook so using a block like a social media site is wrong.

If you don't want people to look for a work around don't have such a flawed system that treats people like they are a bad guy. People have don't nothing wrong yet other people are just allowed to say they did??

@Eel You really don't get it. It's not about me wanting to interact with this person. Heck, half the time when I do it (which is like once a month) it's because it's someone I ignored. The point is that sometimes a conversation you're already in stops making sense, and you have to check to see what happened.

Unless you're saying that the moment someone who blocked you posts in a conversation you're in, you should leave the thread?

And there's no way to stop them from doing so, since they can't even see that you had already replied.

Edit: I'd like to point out most of the confusion comes from the fact that I can't even tell there's a missing post to begin with, so I have to figure out if I'm misunderstanding people or if there's a blocked post. Currently the only way to be sure is to circumvent the system.

Edit2: also, if we aren't supposed to post in threads where people block us and you do make a change to make that clear, you also need to allow for duplicate threads. Like, I want to discuss the Nintendo Direct today, but I'm sure that would be an issue as is.

Yeah I feel like anyone who isn't on an ignore list really should save their comments, because you don't see how broken the forum becomes until it happens, so making flippant comments is not helpful at all.

What's going on in this thread, are people just posting pictures of blank white A4 paper or something? ;p

Don't log out or go incognito to see what people are talking about around you though, whatever you do. Exclusion is fine though.

I realized I wasn't being clear, so let me rephrase. I would suggest the following:
1. Allow messages for ignored / blocked messages - Instead of making people doubt themselves, make it clear whether or not there is a message missing in a conversation. This should be solely for the forums, not the comments, as forums are about conversations. Understanding if you're missing context is key, and users shouldn't have to either doubt their own judgement or bypass restrictions to understand what's going on.
2. Allow ignores / blocks separately for comments and forums - This is more of an aside from the current conversation, but comments and forums are very different. Just because I don't want to see someone's reactionary instincts to an article, doesn't mean I don't want to see them on the forum. I'd like to see options to block for one or both. As is, I just try my best to never ignore someone who's also in the forum. Although, at least knowing if I did so by accident would be useful, since that's the other reason I used incognito in the past.

Yeah that top idea was similar to mine in that I think if someone ignores you, from that point forwards every time they are quoted or mentioned, these posts are also autohidden as well as if they were posted by the ignorer directly. This means you won't see a part of a conversation in a thread, it will all be hidden and you'll be none the wiser and not trying to take part in a partial conversation.

@Pizzamorg Are quoted posts hidden too? I could've sworn I saw one of my blocked users either quoted or tagged in a post recently

Currently no, but I am suggesting they should be, as it saves the feeling of exclusion caused by the current system, where you may not even realise you have been ignored until a conversation starts happening around you with chunks missing.

Nobody is ever asked to explain their reasons behind blocking somebody. However I can assure you that most people who do resort to blocking must have a good reason to do so.

I know it’s not easy to accept that perhaps you’re incompatible with other people, or that they find you disagreeable, but that’s not something the site can help you with.

You’re kinda missing the point. No one is wanting to really know why they are blocked. They just want to be able to use threads where discussion is ongoing without being completely alienated or ruining the ongoing conversation. People do have their reasons for blocking someone, you’re right, but if it’s a frequent user and you aren’t able to see their posts, then you have to use a workaround if you want to comment on a current topic, without ruining the subject for absolutely everyone.

Seeing this feature in a new light pretty much makes me want to clear my own ignore list, since while the people on there make me want to roll my eyes, they still deserve to be able to read stuff I post.

@VoidofLight I was replying to Tasuki in specific, because, similarly to Anti-Matter, he seems to take personal offense to the feature. So it’s kind of an ongoing thing with him.

About you clearing out your own ignore list, do go on, ultimately it is the users gating content away from each other.

About the recurring theme of “missing context and feeling excluded”, I have nothing more to add to that.

@VoidofLight I have a user on ignore, and I would take mine off, But one time I was signed out, they reply'd to me, so maybe they can see your post?

@VoidofLight So basically the feature is here to stay, you we aren't going to get them to change it find a work around. Which is sad that we have to but it is what it is.

What people here don't seem to get, is that the feature was not created to bother you specifically; it's there to allow users to protect themselves from harassment.

The loss of context in a small percentage of discussions for the offending person, and yes if you're being blocked you are the offender in this case, is a small price for a feature that allows other people to feel safer.

Can it be misused by petty people? Absolutely. But that's a separate issue.

And what you don't get is if all you have are useless, flippant, pithy comments that add nothing to a discussion about the very real flaws of the ignore system, I don't know why you are commenting at all? You are always quick to remove unconstructive posts that add nothing to a discussion, yet seem to be happy here to do it yourself?

@Eel So if a user who blocks me makes a new thread say for example, Nintendo Direct thread and I make a Nintendo Direct thread, according to the rules of the site mine will be locked because it's a duplicate thread, bit how is that right since I have no idea that the thread was created. Not only that but let's say I speak up and say hey OMG the GoldenEye remake reveal was awesome only thing a user that blocked me said that 10 posts ago but I couldn't see it and I am now derailing the thread.

Not only that but have you seen the mess that the This and That thread or the Video Game Alphabet thread have become because people have other people block.

I am believing like someone said either your blind to the flaws cause your not effected by it or you aren't allowed to say anything bad about it because your a member of the staff.

And for the record I am not taking it personal, I am just trying to point out the flaws, but no one from the staff wants to listen. You guys basically took the side of a small group and refused to listen to anyone else, which is not how things should be. I get it its your site you are free to do what you want but, the staff needs to reassess the this feature.

@Tasuki These threads were already a mess because certain people pretended to ignore each other before ignoring was even a feature, the other users playing have been kind enough to accommodate for your situation though. Threads made by ignored users still show up for you, and having a repeated opinion with someone else is not derailing a thread.

I'm not a member of staff. And I'm not blind to the flaws of the system, but people seem to be fixating on this.