Blocking feature being abused or was it intended to be this way? FDEV?

[Noctover]

My 2 credits worth is that you can use it or not. If you don't like it then don't use it and vice versa but asking for a feature to be removed that you don't use because you don't like it is, if you don't mind me saying so, nonsense.

So you don't use it but others might wish to do so.

This response dosent make much sense to me.

Lets say someone is a good, honest pirate IE ransoms, uses limpets etc to play the game their way, add some player interaction etc. This person is doing no wrong, but if someone see's them in the system and decides; you know what? Instead of flying smart, accepting the risk, switching mode, or taking a detour accordingly they are just going to block them outright with no message, no interaction, no warning...Basically the other player has done nothing wrong but now he is on someones blacklist.

Your solution "it dosent effect you, he decided to use it you don't have to" dosent work because this feature has directly effected the pirates game, even though he chooses not to use it.

If every answer to ever complaint about every feature was "you don't have to use it" i don't think the game would be particularly good.

 

[GreyAreaUK]

So in effect it has become a "choose who I see in Open" option.

Well, more of a "choose who I don't​ see" option. Hopefully it's a much smaller list.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

This response dosent make much sense to me.

Lets say someone is a good, honest pirate IE ransoms, uses limpets etc to play the game their way, add some player interaction etc. This person is doing no wrong, but if someone see's them in the system and decides; you know what? Instead of flying smart, accepting the risk, switching mode, or taking a detour accordingly they are just going to block them outright with no message, no interaction, no warning...Basically the other player has done nothing wrong but now he is on someones blacklist.

Your solution "it dosent effect you, he decided to use it you don't have to" dosent work because this feature has directly effected the pirates game, even though he chooses not to use it.

If every answer to ever complaint about every feature was "you don't have to use it" i don't think the game would be particularly good.

For the pirate, does it make any difference that this player has blocked him instead of going into a private group?

 

[StiTch]

Which is bad because ...?

A) Because if that's what FD wanted to implement they should do it properly - not under the guise of some tool that doesn't actually work consistently

B) Because you already can. It's called not playing in Open

C) Because it's an abusable tool among those that play in Open. "I want to wing up to gank this power's CMDRs in their home system and then just block anyone that could stop me? W00t!"

In riposte, I ask you - what's wrong with a single game mode where players have to interact but don't get to choose everything that happens to you like the game is futuristic pick n' mix?

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Serial blockers do it because it makes them feel smug and powerful. I bet they pop a little grin every time they hit that button, regardless if the player had every done anything wrong to them

Which is also fine. They get their small "victory" and nobody else is any the wiser.

 

[Ozric]

Well said.

You're saying well said to someone who doesn't know how the mechanics work.

This response dosent make much sense to me.

Lets say someone is a good, honest pirate IE ransoms, uses limpets etc to play the game their way, add some player interaction etc. This person is doing no wrong, but if someone see's them in the system and decides; you know what? Instead of flying smart, accepting the risk, switching mode, or taking a detour accordingly they are just going to block them outright with no message, no interaction, no warning...Basically the other player has done nothing wrong but now he is on someones blacklist.

Your solution "it dosent effect you, he decided to use it you don't have to" dosent work because this feature has directly effected the pirates game, even though he chooses not to use it.

If every answer to ever complaint about every feature was "you don't have to use it" i don't think the game would be particularly good.

Why are you assuming that someone is blocking an honest pirate (which is a contradiction in terms). You're making up situations to fit your argument.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

A) Because if that's what FD wanted to implement they should do it properly - not under the guise of some tool that doesn't consistently block instancing

B) Because you already can. It's called not playing in Open

Regarding A, read my earlier post. It might be guaranteed blocking would increase the algorithm complexity to a state where it becomes a performance issue. A fuzzy blocking algorithm should be pretty lightweight though.

Of course, just pure speculation, but this whole thread is founded on speculation.

 

[Jason Lightning]

This response dosent make much sense to me.

Lets say someone is a good, honest pirate IE ransoms, uses limpets etc to play the game their way, add some player interaction etc. This person is doing no wrong, but if someone see's them in the system and decides; you know what? Instead of flying smart, accepting the risk, switching mode, or taking a detour accordingly they are just going to block them outright with no message, no interaction, no warning...Basically the other player has done nothing wrong but now he is on someones blacklist.

Your solution "it dosent effect you, he decided to use it you don't have to" dosent work because this feature has directly effected the pirates game, even though he chooses not to use it.

If every answer to ever complaint about every feature was "you don't have to use it" i don't think the game would be particularly good.

Welcome to my dilemma, I play that type of pirate, and there are times when I'll 'win' and get blocked. Apparently only the bad pirates stay unblocked, because a smart pirate ruins the immersion of being a capable trader.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

A) Because if that's what FD wanted to implement they should do it properly - not under the guise of some tool that doesn't consistently block instancing

B) Because you already can. It's called not playing in Open

In riposte, I ask you - what's wrong with a single game mode where players don't get to choose everything that happens to you like the game is futuristic pick n' mix?

A&B are no arguments why it's bad. I don't get A) at all.

B) suggests it's bad to have alternatives.

Players don't get to choose everything that happens to them. That's an hyperbole.

 

[Ashnak]

...
Lets say someone is a good, honest pirate IE ransoms, uses limpets etc to play the game their way, add some player interaction etc. This person is doing no wrong, but if someone see's them in the system and decides; you know what? Instead of flying smart, accepting the risk, switching mode, or taking a detour accordingly they are just going to block them outright with no message, no interaction, no warning...Basically the other player has done nothing wrong but now he is on someones blacklist...

Right.

And what exactly is your problem with this?

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

If people start blocking me as often as the log off when I say "o7", I'm going to end up in a very lonely galaxy.

IMHO, you should be able to comms block anyone. No questions asked.

But you should only be able to actually instance block someone you've had "physical contact" with(gunfire, ramming, interdiction, wings or multicrew).

Why?

Because I play in Open to see other CMDRs and interact with them. If everyone I meet blocks me because I said 'Hello' from my Anaconda, I'm going to end up in a very lonely galaxy.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[TheNavvie]

Odd... Once again... "PvP" crowd members are complaining about Players who just aren't there.

Does it matter that someone is not there because they
- are using a Block List (i.e. they might enjoy Piracy or even Anarchy PvP engagements - but i.e. not Station Rammers, Gankers at the Founders World or Farseer Pad-Hogging Exploiters)
- are using a different Platform
- are using a different Game Mode
- are online during another Time-of-Day / Timezone
- are... *gasp* not playing (imagine that... blasphemy!)

Seriously, what's the difference to someone looking at his Left Ship Contacts Panel or Scanner? They're just not there. Carry on. Nothing to see here (literally).

Honestly, I don't have anything against legit PvP seekers - but that constant Forum drive "Open is ours! We rule this place - everybody do as we say and adhere to the rules we make up as we go!" is sure annoying.
And these guys wonder why they're not "the most popular children in the Sandbox to play with"...

I wish I could rep this more than once.

 

[MarkAusten]

This response dosent make much sense to me.

Lets say someone is a good, honest pirate IE ransoms, uses limpets etc to play the game their way, add some player interaction etc. This person is doing no wrong, but if someone see's them in the system and decides; you know what? Instead of flying smart, accepting the risk, switching mode, or taking a detour accordingly they are just going to block them outright with no message, no interaction, no warning...Basically the other player has done nothing wrong but now he is on someones blacklist.

Your solution "it dosent effect you, he decided to use it you don't have to" dosent work because this feature has directly effected the pirates game, even though he chooses not to use it.

If every answer to ever complaint about every feature was "you don't have to use it" i don't think the game would be particularly good.

Nor is your response 'people shouldent be able to use it as such'. So a small percentage of people mis-use the feature? So what? How about being able to avoid winged attacks by players much better than you with message like 'git gud'. Yes, I know that doesn't happen often but it does happen and to someone that is new to the game it may also be the final straw. Being able to avoid that for now and having a chance to 'git gud' sounds like a fairly good idea.

Yes, I know that they can join a Player Group but they may want to play in Open but not with the prats!

Seems reasonable to me.

And the argument of not removing something just because you don't like it even though you don't use it is pretty reasonable to me also.

As for 'If every answer to ever complaint about every feature was "you don't have to use it" i don't think the game would be particularly good.', well that's what the game is all about. You play your way, I'll play mine.

 

[ForeverN00b]

For the pirate, does it make any difference that this player has blocked him instead of going into a private group?

It could, actually. Imagine the following scenario: Pirate A interdicts and pirates Trader B. Trader B blocks Pirate A. Now, whenever Trader B is in supercruise, the game farms players somewhat evenly between both instances rather than having a more crowded single instance. In this scenario, Pirate A would see less traffic than if Trader B went to solo or PG.

I know there would naturally be multiple instances, but that is more a function of geography. Initially, Pirate A and Trader B instanced together, so they would likely continue to do so without the block.

 

[Noctover]

For the pirate, does it make any difference that this player has blocked him instead of going into a private group?

Yes. The block tool should not be used to eliminate risk from the game, and the annoying thing is there is a lot of goal post moving going on in regards to what people think is ok and what isnt.

A lot of the Solo crowd were going mental on the forum about that engineering exploit, i could argue that other players having OP ships does not affect players who will never encounter them anyway, but they stated that cheats are detrimental to the game.

Now, when it comes to using the block tool to eliminate risk from the 1 risky mode, the attitude is "it dosent affect other people" i find to be double standards.

I would love to actually hear an official response from FD on the blocking procedure because it may well block instancing, and they may be hesitant to change that, but im willing to bet officially; the feature was created to block communication rather than a safe open mode.

 

[metascrawl]

Serial blockers do it because it makes them feel smug and powerful.

How do you know?

Basically the other player has done nothing wrong but now he is on someones blacklist.

Why would that bother them? They'll just never see that player again (probably) which is the same result as if the player played in solo as you suggest.

I accept that there's little point to playing in open if you're just going to block everyone, but I can't see why the people being blocked would care. It's not like there's any penalty for people having you on their block list.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Because I play in Open to see other CMDRs and interact with them. If everyone I meet blocks me because I said 'Hello' from my Anaconda, I'm going to end up in a very lonely galaxy.

So you think this is bad, because if everyone will block you, you'll be lonely.

Now I bolded the important word there. Do you think the condition you described is very likely?

 

[Kingston@#]

if I was in space for real I would not expect to be able to block any pilot. I play this game the same as I would probably live my life out in the black.
no in game blocks and no forum blocks.

 

[Ozric]

Well, as is always the way with these threads, the OP is rather conspicuous by their absence since the thread started.

Welcome to my dilemma, I play that type of pirate, and there are times when I'll 'win' and get blocked. Apparently only the bad pirates stay unblocked, because a smart pirate ruins the immersion of being a capable trader.

How do you know you get blocked, because you believe what someone tells you while they're sitting there patiently waiting for the limpets to work? I love meeting proper pirates at CGs, it's great to see people playing the game that way, even better when another player jumps in to distract the pirate and tells me to make a run for it. It's awesome gameplay!

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Yes.

Ok, lets pause here and read my question again: "For the pirate, does it make any difference that this player has blocked him instead of going into a private group?"

The block tool should not be used to eliminate risk from the game, and the annoying thing is there is a lot of goal post moving going on in regards to what people think is ok and what isnt.

A lot of the Solo crowd were going mental on the forum about that engineering exploit, i could argue that other players having OP ships does not affect players who will never encounter them anyway, but they stated that cheats are detrimental to the game.

Now, when it comes to using the block tool to eliminate risk from the 1 risky mode, the attitude is "it dosent affect other people" i find to be double standards.

I would love to actually hear an official response from FD on the blocking procedure because it may well block instancing, and they may be hesitant to change that, but im willing to bet officially; the feature was created to block communication rather than a safe open mode.

There's nothing in there that tells me: "does it make any difference that this player has blocked him instead of going into a private group?".