In the subreddit of Final Fantasy XIV, users are heatedly discussing the issue of stalking in the MMORPG. Many wish for an improvement of the block options in the online role-playing game to achieve more protection – especially from ex-partners.
Here’s what it’s about: A heated discussion about stalking in Final Fantasy XIV erupted on reddit a few days ago. The user ItsTracer published a post (via reddit) stating that the social features of the popular MMORPG cannot protect its players from stalking.
The thread is not the first of its kind, but it has received much more attention than most previous complaints, with over 5,500 upvotes and more than 1,400 comments (via reddit).
ItsTracer outlines how problematic stalking can become in FFXIV and how little players are protected by features like blacklist. He also asks the FFXIV team to take action against the problem and provide players with more options for blocking and managing their privacy in the game.
Social features facilitate the tracking of players
Why is stalking in FFXIV so easy? The main reason lies in the social features of the MMORPG, which operate unilaterally.
If you have had such a severe argument with a friend that the friendship completely breaks down, you can initially remove that person from your friend list in the game. However, this only happens on your side, as long as the person does not do the same, you remain on their friend list. This means it is visible to them when you are online and where your character is currently located.
A bigger problem arises for players who have “divorced” their spouses in FFXIV after an argument. When you get married in the game, both partners receive rings that allow free teleportation to each other.
While you can return the ring to an NPC and thus “get divorced”, the partner’s ring will continue to work, and the person can still teleport to you. The teleportation happens even if the person has been blocked via blacklist (via reddit).
“Block” function in Final Fantasy XIV is too porous
This is how blocking works: Of course, there is also a blacklist in FFXIV. It ensures that you cannot receive messages from the blocked person, whether private or in public chat. They also cannot join your party search if you are the group leader.
However, it is still possible to end up in the same dungeon or raid fight with the blocked person through the content search. Blocked individuals are also not prevented from entering your house if it is open to all players.
The block also only refers to one character and not the entire account. This means a stalker could theoretically create an infinite number of characters to continue sending messages to the person.
The character you want to block must be online for it to work. Offline characters cannot be blocked.
This is how Lodestone works: Another element that facilitates stalking in FFXIV is the official website Lodestone. The database there records every single character created in FFXIV and assigns it a unique ID. So, if someone decides to change servers or their character name, you can still find that player through Lodestone if you know their character ID.
It does not matter what server or data center the person flees to; it will be displayed visibly on Lodestone. You can only hide a handful of information:
Report stalkers to support
This has been done so far: In fact, the issue of stalking in FFXIV is not entirely new. Regular posts on the subject have appeared for years on the official game forums, on reddit, and social media. However, they rarely receive as much attention as the current reddit post by ItsTracer (via reddit). Often, the thread creators do not know how to deal with the stalking situation.
In most cases, they are advised to report their stalkers to the Game Masters, which initially seems to be a reasonable approach. In 2019, Square Enix added a series of new additions to their code of conduct. The focus was specifically on harassment and stalking.
However, it is unclear how high the chances of success of such a report are and whether the stalking actually stops. In some cases, players have even stated that their reports to support have done nothing, as in this incident in October 2020:
My girlfriend and in-game wife is being stalked by a guy consistently. This goes back to an incident in the FC, after which my girlfriend kicked him. Since then, he follows her everywhere. We talked to him and asked him to leave, we blocked and ignored him and reported him several times (even others from the FC, sure about 50 reports in total). Still, it doesn’t stop.
User Lord_Kaese in the official forums
Yesterday, we finally received a response from a GM stating basically: “He is not breaking any rules. You did the right thing by contacting us. Have a nice day.” She even went to the police, who agreed that it is a clear case of stalking. But it has to be handled by Square.
reddit user nate_ranney about a year ago
Normally, the Game Masters of FFXIV do not joke when it comes to harassment. For example, the mention of parsers (DPS meters) or badmouthing other players for their DPS results in punishment when reported.
However, since stalking cases continue to be brought up, there seem to still be loopholes and gaps that can be exploited.
Suggested improvements: In the reddit thread, players discuss how the current blocking system of FFXIV could be improved. Suggestions include:
- Account-wide block list
- Private mode for the Lodestone account that hides all information
- Mutual removal of players from their respective friend lists
- Mutual deactivation of the teleport function of the wedding rings
- Exclusion of a blocked person from the house if it is open to other players
- A way to make blocked characters completely invisible
- Blocked individuals cannot be matched in the same content anymore
While some of the suggestions like invisibility are likely technically difficult to implement, the revision of the block options seems rather feasible.
What do you think about the situation? Have you ever fallen victim to stalking or do you know someone who has? What do you think of the current block options in FFXIV and what would you change? Let us know in the comments.
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