ANSWERED:Blocking Users

[MysticTiger]

I can't see what's wrong with blocking posts. Within invision there is the facility to hide them - as kerrikins says - what you get is "this post is hidden because you have chosen not to see thus user's posts" and there is a button to view an individual post. What is wrong with that ? Why should I have to read the posts of people who make me so angry that I am likely to cop myself a warn (*has short fuse* ) - and why should all of you who hate MY posts have to read those ???

I..Uhh... Did you not read past my first sentence? >_<;;

I said I wouldn't be opposed to blocking posts as long as there was some sort of option to also view it after it's been blocked. I just don't think the idea of erasing the post entirely from your view is a good idea as it could cause more problems then fix them. That's why I think the idea of a simply blocking the text, having something there that allows you to see that is it indeed blocked and then giving you the option to see it is a good idea.

 

Also, i'll say it again. I would like the option to block certain posts as well. I don't think i'd really want to block a person because of one thing they've said. I'd much rather block that one post that irking me instead. Just a button that you click that allows you to block that one post. That's what I would like.

[Fuzzbucket]

I..Uhh... Did you not read past my first sentence? >_<;;

I said I wouldn't be opposed to blocking posts as long as there was some sort of option to also view it after it's been blocked. I just don't think the idea of erasing the post entirely from your view is a good idea as it could cause more problems then fix them. That's why I think the idea of a simply blocking the text, having something there that allows you to see that is it indeed blocked and then giving you the option to see it is a good idea.

 

Also, i'll say it again. I would like the option to block certain posts as well. I don't think i'd really want to block a person because of one thing they've said. I'd much rather block that one post that irking me instead. Just a button that you click that allows you to block that one post. That's what I would like.

I thought you were suggesting ONLY having a single post block, not the facility to block a person. Sorry. We could maybe have both - I don't know if invision allows that. But - by the time you've seen the post - what's the point in hiding it ? Too late by then

 

I sometimes find I really feel a NEED to block a person. Maybe I am just an awful person , but I do like not to lose my temper here

 

And I would never suggest totally "erasing" their posts - just having them as most forums do - hidden, with a button you can click if you want to see one.

 

Here's an example of what you would see - and to the right there is a button that says "view this post"

 

 

 

[Syleye]

Bumping this thread as I feel that it really needs to be addressed, blocking people who we know are going to set us off would just make life for everyone happier I think.

[skauble]

I would be okay with this if it could be set for everywhere except the Suggestion section. The idea of trying to work out a suggestion that addresses all concerns and is beneficial to the site is difficult enough without adding a conversation between 20 people where a third of them have blocked other participants in the discussion.

 

Other than that, I don't see why it would hurt to block another user since those conversations don't require considering all angles of a matter.

[Syleye]

That is a good point Skauble. I totally agree in the case of a suggestion thread seeing all sides is very important

[Nectaris]

I would question that actually. I don't think anyone other than the OP and TJ really NEEDS to see everyone's post in a suggestion. One of the people who I would most likely block most frequently posts here in suggestions and it is the track of their suggestions that gets under my skin so. Making it where you can still see their posts in suggestions would mean that it would be practically worthless to block them as I cannot escape them as they rarely leave this section.

Edited August 8, 2013 by Nectaris

[Fuzzbucket]

I would question that actually. I don't think anyone other than the OP and TJ really NEEDS to see everyone's post in a suggestion. One of the people who I would most likely block most frequently posts here in suggestions and it is the track of their suggestions that gets under my skin so. Making it where you can still see their posts in suggestions would mean that it would be practically worthless to block them as I cannot escape them as they rarely leave this section.

I'm ashamed to say I am with Nectaris here. I would LOVE not to have my hackles raised by a couple of people posting in suggestions... My own comments would then be much more moderate. Probably...

[Syphoneira]

Personally, I'd never use any option to block anyone's posts, as I'd rather know what was going on, and if someone's just being chronically nasty, (haven't noticed this sort of thing here lately myself, but have been off a lot) I don't actually need to read their posts.

 

And I don't much like the idea of hiding posts/information at all - the Mods can always delete anything seriously obnoxious.

 

But I don't have a hair-trigger temper or tend to get steamed up over things, so don't have the same needs as some to avoid the possibility of being set off.

 

 

Edit: I'd also like to add that if some of the people most likely to provide a reasoned response to people making annoying posts have them blocked, the problems they raise mightn't be answered adequately and, if in Suggestions, might find their way into policy decisions, since nobody was pointing out objections.

 

 

Re-edit: and thanks to skauble for once again getting to the meat of the matter!

Edited August 8, 2013 by Syphoneira

[skauble]

I would question that actually.  I don't think anyone other than the OP and TJ really NEEDS to see everyone's post in a suggestion.  One of the people who I would most likely block most frequently posts here in suggestions and it is the track of their suggestions that gets under my skin so.  Making it where you can still see their posts in suggestions would mean that it would be practically worthless to block them as I cannot escape them as they rarely leave this section.

Suggestions is, IMO, unlike any other part of the board because here we need to have informed opinions to effectively contribute. And I'm not sure how that can happen when some of the discussion is getting screened out.

 

My concern is that people tend to build off of points that other people make in suggestion threads. If someone has made a salient point or solved part of the issue and those posts are blocked, then the person who has blocked them is now having a conversation without being aware that the particulars of it have changed.

 

A debate can be hard to manage when people are working with different levels of information - especially when we're all doing so blind, because if Person A blocks Person B, then they have no clue how that person may have influenced the discussion. And since Persons C - M have no idea that Person A was blocking some of the comments, they won't even know to course correct if the conversation starts getting kind of wonky.

 

Also, there tends to be a lot of heavy quoting in these threads. How would that be blocked?

 

Which isn't to say that I don't get where you're coming from. Some of the most annoying discussions I've been in have been in this section, so I totally understand wanting to tune some of that annoyance out. I just think it would begin to break down the functionality of this part of the forum in a way that it wouldn't anywhere else.

[Fuzzbucket]

Suggestions is, IMO, unlike any other part of the board because here we need to have informed opinions to effectively contribute. And I'm not sure how that can happen when some of the discussion is getting screened out.

 

My concern is that people tend to build off of points that other people make in suggestion threads. If someone has made a salient point or solved part of the issue and those posts are blocked, then the person who has blocked them is now having a conversation without being aware that the particulars of it have changed.

 

A debate can be hard to manage when people are working with different levels of information - especially when we're all doing so blind, because if Person A blocks Person B, then they have no clue how that person may have influenced the discussion. And since Persons C - M have no idea that Person A was blocking some of the comments, they won't even know to course correct if the conversation starts getting kind of wonky.

 

Also, there tends to be a lot of heavy quoting in these threads. How would that be blocked?

 

Which isn't to say that I don't get where you're coming from. Some of the most annoying discussions I've been in have been in this section, so I totally understand wanting to tune some of that annoyance out. I just think it would begin to break down the functionality of this part of the forum in a way that it wouldn't anywhere else.

What I want to block is the "yes I know everyone else is against it but I am right and I am going to go on saying I am right till I get what I want" posts.

 

Which DON'T actually contribute ANYTHING. And it is easy to SEE posts - in invision there is a link saying "view this post anyway" and yes, you can see when they are quoted - and if they are worth quoting, I am happy to read them. But...

[skauble]

What I want to block is the "yes I know everyone else is against it but I am right and I am going to go on saying I am right till I get what I want" posts.

 

Which DON'T actually contribute ANYTHING. And it is easy to SEE posts - in invision there is a link saying "view this post anyway" and yes, you can see when they are quoted - and if they are worth quoting, I am happy to read them. But...

But it will be impossible to tell which posts are ones with needed info, which are the obnoxious ones, and which are (and I'm guessing that this would be quite common) both. And if other people in the discussion don't directly reference the blocked person's post then the thread of discussion can be lost and people blocking posts won't even know why.

 

Some of the threads here aren't very involved and are more about simply talking about how something might be useful to us, personally. But quite a few of them are very complex issues that cover crucial segments of the game and often effect people differently depending on gameplay style, location, technical matters, etc. and there's difficulty in keeping those on track and making progress if some of the participants are only listening to part of the ongoing debate.

 

Like I said, I totally understand the urge. There used to be someone here who was so passive aggressive it made my teeth grind every time I saw their user name. But they still said things that needed to be addressed in the discussion.

 

In other sections it doesn't matter if information gets screened out. But this section needs to be functional, and people having a discussion where they may all only be talking with some of the other participants - and not all the same ones - makes that less functional. And I may be totally out-voted here (which would be fair and, oh so sadly, not the first time it's happened ) but I think that this particular section working at it's best is more important than screening out even teeth-grinding annoyances.

[Syleye]

My experience so far is those people whom I would block, and really there is only a couple, rarely have anything constructive to say anyways. Even when they do, it comes out so bad that it makes me want to scream anyways . This is a hard one, suggestions made by the community are important and even obnoxious people can have good points on the other hand....do I even care at that point to read what they have say.

[Pokemonfan13]

Maybe a "block this user's posts in this thread" button? That way if a person has devolved into posting the same counter-public-opinion post again and again and again without actually adding something to the discussion they can be blocked in that thread, but not anywhere else.

 

And I definitely think that it would have to be more like spoiler tags than as if they never posted, that way you know they posted and you can read the post if you want to, but you have to click something to read their post.

[Fuzzbucket]

Maybe a "block this user's posts in this thread" button? That way if a person has devolved into posting the same counter-public-opinion post again and again and again without actually adding something to the discussion they can be blocked in that thread, but not anywhere else.

 

And I definitely think that it would have to be more like spoiler tags than as if they never posted, that way you know they posted and you can read the post if you want to, but you have to click something to read their post.

That's what you get in invision - a little thing with the poster's name where the post would be, and "you have chosen to ignore this user. View post anyway ?" and if you click - there's the post !

[TJ09]

I'm going to close this, since it isn't possible with the current forum software. The feature would become available if I were to upgrade to a newer version of IPB; if that were to happen, I would re-open this thread, but for now, there's no point discussion whether or not something should happen when it can't in the current environment.