Operation Audacious Phoenix

I'm not sure if this is something already in the works but lately I've grown especially uncomfortable with someone I have blocked being able to still see all the information on my characters pages, their journal entries, and what not.

Yeah they can get around it by being logged out, but if they're willing to go that far then that is clearly an even bigger issue.

I've had people who I have blocked continue to sort of 'stalk' me via my characters profile pages and journal entries, and bring these things up on other websites and chats that we are both in where I also have them blocked but can still see what they are saying because it's group chats.

As an example, after my ex and I broke up before he left RPR and I had him blocked, he continuously scanned my character pages and journal entries and brought things he didn't like up in group chats, ect and made me very uncomfortable.

In general it just makes me uncomfortable more and more the idea of people I blocked still having access to that information, frankly I'd also enjoy their being a feature to keep people who aren't logged in from seeing my characters pages unless otherwise given permission.

I second this, it would go a long way for making people feel safe to ensure logging in is the only way to access character pages and forums, as well as the ability to block other profiles completely.

Right! and I know the 'only logged in' feature would probably need to be a thing chosen by each user though since a lot of people link their rpr character pages on other websites and need people who aren't logged in to be able to see the pages.

I have always had an internal gripe about blocked people being able to see me, and vice versa.

I'd be a lot happier if I didn't have to see their posts (which at times in the past have shown up in my dashboard in relation to forum replies etc) because if someone is speaking in a way which is pointed..it can be upsetting.

Yeah, they can't send me a message but I can see them, they can see me..

I don't know how other sites like Facebook do it, but when you block someone it'd be nice if it just appeared like they didn't exist.

I'd really prefer to block the whole person (ANON CHARACTERS AND ALL), not just their contact.

I agree, I had a very similar issue on RPR and on a different website before coming to RPR where I had blocked the person because they were making me uncomfortable and they were commenting on my character pages or group chats, and just making me even more uncomfortable because they wanted to disagree with everything in my character’s personality designs. By not allowing them to look at the characters either it might help prevent situations like that.

If I'm not mistaken, blocking a user blocks their anons also, and vice versa. Blocking an anon also blocks that user, but just in the way blocking is currently setup (just in case you didnt realize this)

On a side note, if a user was forced to log in to view character pages, wouldn't this also help prevent casual art theft from someone taking artwork from rpr characters to use somewhere else? I'm not 100% sure because Google's eyes are hard to dodge, but I feel like I could be.

Edit: I also believe that if you are intentionally harassing someone you are fully aware has blocked you then that is against rpr rules. If this happens I would encourage all of you to report every instance of that immediately and let the mods sort this out. I'm not trying to detract from the OPs idea one bit, just trying to advise there are still ways to currently handle that situation

i agree with most things said here, top work.

I personally would really rather I be able to block someone in this manner (not that I block many people, mind you!) because I've had some issues with stalking and harassment in the past.

I just wonder how it would work logistically -- blocking someone in this way could potentially be used to suss out anonymous characters, which in and of itself opens up the possibility for abuse. Say, for example, I suspect a character belongs to person A, so I block their account and bam -- that character I suspected is now blocked. Now I could tell person B, or C, or D... etc. thus violating person A's right to anonymity just because I don't like them. This could itself be used for stalking and create problematic situations.

It would be a tricky thing to implement, but I for one would be in favor of a more "thorough" kind of block.

Huh, I was under the impression that blocking a user stopped the ability to see their activity, profiles and characters. Frankly I am surprised to hear it doesn't. I think you're right that blocking should do that.

*As you may be able to tell, I don't have a lot of experience with blocking users on RPR.

In the past on other sites I have been on there was no feature like this and I have seen it end badly for myself and those I care about. Stalking, harassment, cyber bullying, the whole nine. (There were other issues with the site...) So I am in favor of that protection for those who need it.

Well the way I am seeing this being implemented wouldn't mean if you block someone you can't see their character profiles anon or other wise, but that they can't see yours.

You would only be prevented from viewing character profiles of people who have blocked you, not who you have blocked.

Sorry if I was unclear -- I was going off what Volka said about not seeing someone else and vice versa. I should have quoted her in my reply.

I do support tweaks to the blocking system, I'm just not sure how best to go about that!

What happens when they're linked a profile or see it referenced, and they can't see it because it's yours and you have them blocked, but now they notice they also can't see your user profile and it's easy to guess that's your character? That seems like it makes it less safe.

I tend to agree with Sanne. Blocking in itself can be used as a tool of harassment by the blocker.

This is a very interesting topic. Thanks for starting it Mercy. Having been recently blocked by someone, I guess I'm curious what a person blocking, that a person who is blocked, can and cannot see. I know that as a blocked person, I can still open previous messages and even open a new message to the person blocking me. It is when the message is sent that you are informed you are blocked. This also applies I found out to trying to post a reply in a forum thread of a person that has blocked you. from what I can tell, that is the only things prevented by blocking.

Personally, I shrug it off and let things go and not concern myself why I was blocked, and I carry on with my activities on the site and only sidestep when I happen to run in to a situation that prevents me to post due to the block. I myself dont think I have ever blocked anyone except by accident when I hit the link. But it would be good to know what is the effect for the person doing the blocking, and those who are blocked.

I never said anything about user profiles being unable to be seen, only character profiles. User profiles would still be visible. At least in my head of the idea.

I also want to add that I believe we are getting an option to set characters as 'friends only'.

So there will already be a 'you do not have permission to view this character' message of some sort in place.

So imagine the message for an unviewable character could be : 'you cannot view this character, either the user has set this character as friends only or you have been blocked.'

Suppose if you're blocked and stumble across an anonymous character profile -- suddenly you have conjecture of who the user is and can continue to talk about them and harass them. I worry that's just sign posting your private ocs.

Ahh I think I'm missing something from their post cause I'm not quite reading what you read from it, but yeah the general idea I have is not you being unable to see theirs, only them being unable to see/view yours.

* personal opinion below that you can agree or disagree with*

Block should be far more robust and work both ways.

If you don't like them enough that you feel the need to block a person or character, you shouldn't be able to see anything about them (forum posts, group posts, PMs, characters, profiles, activity feeds from your friends interacting with them) else... if they can't see nothing about you... all the while you are still reading and seeing what they say about you/your character, what they create and post and do, you can gossip about them to your other friends, perhaps so they block them too... is as if you are stalking them!

and even if you are not stalking them, or searching for them in any way, you still have to see their name pop up in your screen when they are befriending your friends or roleplaying with them... as if the blocked person/character is stalking you through activity feeds!

If they don't like you enough to feel the need to block you, or vice versa, you shouldn't be able to see anything about them, and vice versa, since there shouldn't be direct or indirect interaction (through forums, activity feeds, groups...) for everyone's safety and comfort

Even if someone you blocked (or they blocked you) tried to insult you or make poignant remarks about you, you wouldn't feel hurt because you wouldn't be able to read it. Eyes that don't see, heart that don't hurt

I feel that my right to feel safe and to be safe from blocked people/characters and be able to blank them out entirely across the site for my own peace of mind and be able to move on quicker, should not be less important than their right to anonymity.

End of the day there are thousands of users and even more thousands of characters on the site.

Blocking and being blocked does not really 'prove' you know the real writer behind an anon. character without major guess work.

Even if they did figure you out, or you did figure them out, since they can't see you, and vice versa, we're all safe and all the better for it than the currently too relaxed system where their names and posts sprawl everywhere (private activity feels, group and public forum posts..) leaving an uncomfortable distaste that you can never be totally rid of them

As for the profiles and characters, privacy should be elevated to the point that by default, you must log into the site to be able to see and read the information stored in RPR.

As a bonus / additional feature for those users who share their characters or link their characters/profiles on other sites, the characters or profiles should have a toggle that you can enable for sharing purposes

- view: only me
- view: friends only
- view: site users only
- view: everyone

Or... by default everyone (characters and profiles) are viewable only RPR site wide after you log in and you get a toggle to make it a "shareable" profile/character if you want to make this information available outside RPR

Much like it happens on google drive, where information is private at first and you can toggle the "share" feature and you get a URL to share the documents with others, which can be specific people or everyone anywhere

This has been brought up multiple times in the past and it always gets pushback. Or it seems to get silenced altogether. Many users are not comfortable with seeing someone that they blocked, and being seen by them in turn. Whenever we block someone, we really don’t want to see them anymore.

I can see why people would be leery of their private characters being potentially exposed. But this issue has been brought up multiple times and the issue of blocking needs to be addressed and revised. Clearly a lot of people are concerned about it, with good reason.

I’ve never blocked anyone, or been blocked. But it will inevitably happen. And when that times comes, I want to be able to put them out of my mind. I come here for an escape, not to relive an experience with someone who upset me so much I blocked them.

Some kind of compromise where a user can choose different levels of blocking could be used.

Personally I think this idea just sort of makes sense logically tbh. Of course if I block someone, it means I have an issue with them, whether that's how they speak in forums, their characters, some other reason - blocking is complex.

But obviously there's an issue - I should be able to control what that person does / does not see. Personally the people I have blocked, I've blocked over objectively minor issues, I really don't care if they see what I do / do not post.

But, as shown in at least one of the replies, some people obviously deal with much worse reasons for blocking, and, imo, should have the option to feel as safe as possible when they block the people causing them issues.... Just makes sense.


I think this could be a nice little addition; Maybe on the same page as "Add a note for why you blocked this person", it also gives little check boxes as to what they're still allowed to see of yours - and, if it goes the way other people seem to want, check boxes as to what you and see of theirs