Elite Dangerous Blocking System: A Call for Change

[CMDR DT]

I am a long-time player of Elite Dangerous and would like to express my concern regarding the current blocking system in the game. While I understand the need to protect players from harassment and unwanted communication, the current system of unlimited blocking is causing more harm than good.

As a game with a strong emphasis on player interaction and open-world exploration, Elite Dangerous is unique in its genre. However, the current blocking system has created a divide between players and has the potential to severely damage the player experience. With the current system, players can effectively disappear from each other's game world entirely, making it difficult to engage in player-vs-player combat or even participate in player-run events and activities.

I would like to suggest a more reasonable solution to this issue. Given that the game already has a solo mode, which essentially blocks all player interaction, I believe that the blocking system should only affect communication, rather than the entire player. This means that blocked players would still exist in the same game world, but communication between the blocked and blocking players would be restricted.

I strongly urge you to consider this proposal, as I believe it would help to maintain a healthy player community and prevent further division among players. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

 

[MickyG1982]

It's a no from me on that one, if I don't want to play with you (or be the object of your entertainment) then I do not have to under the current system.

You (not you personally but the player that I have blocked) disappearing from my game is actually the point.

 

[nemolomen]

So blocking communication (only) from another player would result in the blocking player being attackable but not able to get ANY communication from the attacker? Seems worse than what we have now...

 

[CMDR DT]

So blocking communication (only) from another player would result in the blocking player being attackable but not able to get ANY communication from the attacker? Seems worse than what we have now...

Thank you for your response. I believe that stronger criminal consequences could be a way to prevent harassment in open play. However, I think the current system of unlimited blocking and complete disappearance is extreme and could lead to negative experiences for players.

 

[nemolomen]

I'm sure it does degrade the experience, as blocking a player also prevents me from instancing with anyone who they're friends with IIRC.

 

[CMDR DT]

It's a no from me on that one, if I don't want to play with you (or be the object of your entertainment) then I do not have to under the current system.

You (not you personally but the player that I have blocked) disappearing from my game is actually the point.

Thank you for clarifying your point. It is true that in other games like EVE and SC, players can still exist in the game world even if they are not interacting with others directly, whereas in ED, blocking someone results in a complete disappearance from the game world. I also agree that the private group feature in ED can be a good alternative to avoid unwanted interactions instead of relying solely on the blocking system. Thank you for your input on this matter.

 

[alex192004]

Thank you for your response. I believe that stronger criminal consequences could be a way to prevent harassment in open play. However, I think the current system of unlimited blocking and complete disappearance is extreme and could lead to negative experiences for players.

could lead to negative experiences for players....how?

The only negative experience is for the ganker, that runs out of "entertainment"

 

[nemolomen]

I have an empty block list and play in Open mostly (when I'm playing alone usually)...

 

[TobiasFuzz]

Thank you for your response. I believe that stronger criminal consequences could be a way to prevent harassment in open play. However, I think the current system of unlimited blocking and complete disappearance is extreme and could lead to negative experiences for players.

There are only positive effects for the blocking player. And the blocked player might have some negative effects what is only a appropriate consequence for his/her previous behavior.

 

[CMDR DT]

There are only positive effects for the blocking player. And the blocked player might have some negative effects what is only a appropriate consequence for his/her previous behavior.

could lead to negative experiences for players....how?

The only negative experience is for the ganker, that runs out of "entertainment"

I think we can rely on in-game punishment system to provide more severe penalties instead of having a harsh block system that lacks responsibility. In fact, many anti-gankers have been blocked by gankers, which leads to even more rampant behavior, but that's also a part of the game.

 

[nemolomen]

I think we can rely on in-game punishment system to provide more severe penalties instead of having a harsh block system that lacks responsibility.

In fact, many anti-gankers have been blocked by gankers, ...

Good! Guarantees they don't meet ever.

Anti Ganker gets "everything they want" and more...empty Open mode...

 

[alex192004]

I think we can rely on in-game punishment system to provide more severe penalties instead of having a harsh block system that lacks responsibility. In fact, many anti-gankers have been blocked by gankers, which leads to even more rampant behavior, but that's also a part of the game.

if you implement a punishment harsh enough to prevent ganking, you are going to have the same consequences, 0 interactions. The block mechanism is perfect, blocking gankers is just perfect. I don´t really see your point, are you a ganker??? sorry a non consensual pvp player that do pvp in group against trade and exploration vessels.

 

[Thatchinho]

It is true that in other games like EVE and SC, players can still exist in the game world even if they are not interacting with others directly, whereas in ED, blocking someone results in a complete disappearance from the game world.

Players in ED are all still in the same game universe even if they’re not interacting directly.*

The block is just a rule for the matchmaking server saying ‘don’t match me with player x’. There’s a whole load of other reasons that people don’t get matched together by the matchmaking server as well. Getting rid of blocking wouldn’t suddenly there’s one big instance which everyone is in, people would still end up in different instances.


*not counting the live/legacy split and shadow bans here, obviously.

 

[CMDR DT]

if you implement a punishment harsh enough to prevent ganking, you are going to have the same consequences, 0 interactions. The block mechanism is perfect, blocking gankers is just perfect. I don´t really see your point, are you a ganker??? sorry a non consensual pvp player that do pvp in group against trade and exploration vessels.

Im not a ganker, excluding ED, have you ever play any other open world multiplayer online universe games? your request has satisfy in private group.

 

[CMDR DT]

Players in ED are all still in the same game universe even if they’re not interacting directly.*

The block is just a rule for the matchmaking server saying ‘don’t match me with player x’. There’s a whole load of other reasons that people don’t get matched together by the matchmaking server as well. Getting rid of blocking wouldn’t suddenly there’s one big instance which everyone is in, people would still end up in different instances.


*not counting the live/legacy split and shadow bans here, obviously.

I agree with you, it's unlikely that Frontier Developments will change the P2P server model in the short term. However, I do hope to see ED with even grander scenes in my lifetime . The current block system is a big obstacle to that, but it's clear from the replies that most players enjoy such a safer environment. I am only representing the discussion results of myself and my friends.

 

[alex192004]

Im not a ganker, excluding ED, have you ever play any other open world multiplayer online universe games? your request has satisfy in private group.

Yes i play mmo, elite it´s not one of them. Whats really your point? you don´t answer that. Could you tell me the negative consequences for the player that block other player? Yes i play also in private group, if you remove the block and all player that block someone move to a private group. You are still in the same problem, and the player that move to the private group has a small playerbase to play with, private groups has a maximum number of players. Block it´s a very nice solution to not play with undesirable players. It´s not just gankers, i encountered players inside shinrata ramming every ship in sight.

What kind of penalties you think it could work? i am genuinely interested.

 

[Chrystoph]

Equality is that state of being where all participants are equal in nature and limitations.

The original post does not present an equal position for players that would be blocking other players because they will not be enjoying the content of the game when they become the content of the player whose position the original post represents.

 

[Chrystoph]

Also, why is it every time a person who is player against player (versus includes the concept of competition, which is obviously not intended here) wants to abuse other people, they euphamize what they intend with the word interaction?

 

[CMDR DT]

Yes i play mmo, elite it´s not one of them. Whats really your point? you don´t answer that. Could you tell me the negative consequences for the player that block other player? Yes i play also in private group, if you remove the block and all player that block someone move to a private group. You are still in the same problem, and the player that move to the private group has a small playerbase to play with, private groups has a maximum number of players. Block it´s a very nice solution to not play with undesirable players. It´s not just gankers, i encountered players inside shinrata ramming every ship in sight.

Can you give me an example, according to Ed's world view, the same type of games, which can pull the block directly the whole person is evaporated. I can understand that the blacklist system is designed to prevent language conflicts, but I can't understand that the blocklist system can directly vaporize a player. For example, If two squadrons are in conflict, a squadron can simply black out all the other squadron members, which is very game-breaking and not good for the game. But if you're saying that this part of the content isn't important at all, and it's okay without this part, then forget it, and I will suggest the ED changes its name as ES (Elite Safety). I'd like to ask you one last question, dude, don't you think it's ridiculous that there are limits to the private group, but there's no limit to blocking?

 

[Thatchinho]

However, I think the current system of unlimited blocking and complete disappearance is extreme and could lead to negative experiences for players.

Much as I would personally like open only with everyone in the same instance (and iron man mode for that matter), it's not for everyone. The problem with what you're proposing is that getting rid of blocking will definitely lead to negative experiences for players. So it's not fixing the perceived issue, it's swapping one set of problems for a different set of problems (which would arguably be worse in general).