Ignore feature
Quartz
Member Posts: 3,853
I would very much appreciate having an ignore feature.
Sometimes there are people that don't really need reporting but they get under your skin constantly, and you and the rest of the forum would be better off without your frustration being heightened by them constantly.
Thanks.
Sometimes there are people that don't really need reporting but they get under your skin constantly, and you and the rest of the forum would be better off without your frustration being heightened by them constantly.
Thanks.
2
Comments
Also, since this is a forum and not a chatroom that sounds kinda unrealistic. Unless you are getting bothered in PM that is.
Not to mention that the site rules say something like respect everyone and such and everyone has a right to express their views (I can only imagine that that means they can extend their views to everyone else as well) as long as they are civil. Ignoring people, even in real life, is considered rude I believe (social skills aren't my strong point).
I mean, I understand where you are coming from. People can seem like jerks and sometimes it feels better to not have to deal with them, but I don't think this is a good solution.
@mlnevese I have someone who is getting under my skin, but it is, as one might say, a personal problem. What they are doing is not worthy of being banned. They just personally bother me, a lot. While they rarely do anything outright rude, they literally feed on nothing but negative energy, never contributing positive energy to the forums. That is not worthy of banishment, but it personally annoys me.
I hope you can understand better now.
Never mind, I forgot I wasn't supposed to read that post.
As much as possible we try to encourage discussion and engagement on the forums; a feature that allows people to ignore other users runs counter to that mission. As @mlnevese said, if you're having an issue with someone, send a moderator a message and we'll take a look. Even if it's not someone breaking a rule, we might be able to help you work through whatever it is that's bothering you. I've been told I make a good mediator (and by a lawyer, no less!).
If it turns out that you can't get over your personal issues with another person, the best thing to do is walk away--which, in the internets, means that whenever you see something that's liable to get you riled up, just stop reading, step away from your computer, take a shower, read a book, play some Gauntlet Legends or Dynasty Warriors, and come back with a clear head (everything looks rosier at the bottom of a glass filled with the armies of the Yellow Turbans).
(If you still feel like banging your fist against a wall, then definitely don't keep reading those posts. There are enough threads on this site that no one should feel like they can't go anywhere without being faced with their own nemeses.)
Plus it's hard to ignore your "nemesis" when they find you and insist on tagging you with the @ and all.
In case you guys didn't get this: I don't want to involve moderators. It's that simple. There is a time to involve moderators, but this is not such a time. It's not nearly that severe, just a constant small annoyance. Thus why I am requesting an ignore feature be implemented: For times when it's more simple to just let things be, but at the same time, you are doing yourself a favor. It entails far less drama, and in a lot of cases it's the mature thing to do.
Or maybe instead relieving some of that frustration or annoyance by embracing charname's heritage?
I am a venerable old man by internet standards. I started learning my way around the internet when we had nothing but dial-up connections and AOL for a "browser".
In the old days, there was no such thing as a "forum". We had "chatrooms", and "bulletin boards".
Now, in those ancient days of yore, we had all the same social problems as people have today. Given the cover of most convenient anonymity, many people drop all pretense of polite society, and follow their darkest and worst impulses of behavior.
And in those ancient days of AOL "chatrooms" and "bulletin boards", we had the "ignore" feature readily available. Please let me tell you how people treat each other when given that option. Frankly, they wield it as a weapon.
"I don't like your opinions. If you don't change your mind immediately and agree with me this instant, I am going to put you on ignore!" (They actually didn't put it quite that politely most of the time.)
"If you keep up this stupid nonsense, I am going to put you on ignore!"
"I don't like you, and you're full of poop! (click)!" (Yes, they actually typed the word "click", in various creative ways meant to maximize the insult.)
We had a cute little expression in those days. "The goddess Ignora." She was worshipped quite widely in the old days.
"You're stupid. I am now praying to the goddess Ignora. Yay! She smites you from my computer! *click*"
"If you don't stop being a doody turd, I'm going to the goddess Ignora!"
After someone had "ignored" a troublesome community member, who, in the current vernacular would have been called a "troll" (we didn't have that word for it, if I remember), the conversation would proceed thusly:
"I just put so-and-so on ignore! Thanks to the great goddess Ignora!" "I worship Ignora too - I'm gonna get her to smite Trollboy on my computer!"
And they would try to organize mobs against Trollboy (who probably was nothing of the sort - he only dared to disagree with them).
"Let's all ignore Trollboy! C'mon y'all, click it now! You know you want to!" "Methinks Trollboy deserves to be sacrificed on the altar of the great Ignora *stabs Trollboy - click*"
Etc., etc. It's about the same as the fabled "disagree" button that I hear used to be part of this forum. It's a way for forum members who don't like each other to punish each other. And, it's a very bad idea, that encourages very bad behavior. That's human nature, my friend.
Without naming names here's what happened: Someone asked "Have any of you ever recruited this ridiculously hard to recruit character?" and I answered with complete honesty "Yes, I did that." Then that someone who had obviously never recruited that character said "Yeah, right! What level was it then?" Again I honestly answered "90" Then this person said "You liar! You just made up a high number. I'm going to ignore you now!"
But that isn't really where the story ends though because I believe I got the last laugh...
I stayed on the chatroom for a bit after that happened and when someone who missed the above conversation asked me why I was being ignored by the doorknob he un-ignored me for some reason just as I gave my answer "He's just jealous that I recruited this character." Of course the doorknob denied it, but I still think that was the real reason I got ignored.
And since this is the only encounter I have ever had with an ignore feature, I'm sure you can understand my initial reaction.
I'm big on the "human nature" thing, but I don't see how everyone threatening to ignore each other is human nature. Something like anonymity causing people to reveal the worst of themselves, that's human nature. Being loud and obnoxious about "ignoring" other people, that varies person to person quite a lot.
That said, I'm not without sympathy to your problem. You said it wasn't bad enough to report them to the moderators. If it was actual harassment of one member by another, I think our moderators would do something about it.
I've occasionally run into "thorn in my side" people here, and what I do is to just let it go. I don't post in that thread anymore, or I close my internet browser and go play Baldur's Gate. Or watch TV. Or go outside. Get the grocery shopping done. Mow the grass. Feed my cats. Etc., etc. It's really just not worth it to get upset about what people post in forums. We're nominally doing this to entertain ourselves and share ideas.
So, you know, if it stops serving its purpose, turn it off.
And interestingly, I've sometimes later become friends with and had interesting conversations with some of those people who started out as "thorns in my side", upsetting me with everything they posted.
And I'll say it again: I personally feel harassed by someone on this forum, but it does not warrant a banning or even me using those stupid "Abuse" flags (that nine times out of ten, people just use back and forth on each other to get at each other, instead of using them responsibly) as it is clearly not intentional. I just happen to feel incredibly annoyed by their insistence on bringing negative energy into any and every topic they touch. That wouldn't be a huge issue, except for the fact that they use the @ tagging feature constantly, making it impossible for me to ignore them on a personal level.
If that doesnt help make a thread in the OT forum with his name so he has to say something why his inner demon needs your attention...
So while belgarathmth tells me that ignore features are for audacious jerks, I'm going to go ahead and insist it's for people who are humble. :P
Now, a multiplayer game or any kind of online chat is another matter, and those should always have the most flexible ignore features.