Blocking in messages

[+Deepdiggingmole]

I have on occasion had to block other cachers on the messaging system - i was under the impression that this meant they could no longer contact me (nor me them) 
However I received a message from a cacher who i had blocked - with the message "this cacher is blocked if you wish to reply this will unblock them" (or similar)  
How is it that despite being blocked they could message me - or did they get a message their end (when the clicked on send) saying you have been blocked the recipient may chose to ignore this 

Either way what is the point of blocking someone if they can still send messages 

or is this another glitch 

[+arisoft]

This text is displayed when you have blocked a user. It does not come with a message, it stays on the top of the conversation all the time until you unblock the user.

 

I tried this with a friend and the friend could message me after I blocked him.  So the blocking has no effect - really

 

If the blocked friend send me a message when I have not opened the conversation, then the user disappeared totally from my message center and I can not even unblock him. This is really weird.

 

Edit: I can see the blocked user by selecting "Show hidden" from the option menu and then all "blocked messages" appeared again. Practically speaking "blocking" just hides the blocked player from the list.

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by arisoft

[+Max and 99]

6 hours ago, Deepdiggingmole said:

or did they get a message their end (when the clicked on send) saying you have been blocked the recipient may chose to ignore this 

According to the help center:

Blocked players cannot see they have been blocked. 

[+Deepdiggingmole]

Yes - we tried with an old account to see what happens either end - blocking took place and messages sent and received - all seen as if nothing had happened 

 

Makes the blocking process completely pointless 

[+Deepdiggingmole]

On 8/23/2023 at 10:35 PM, Max and 99 said:

According to the help center:

Blocked players cannot see they have been blocked. 

Defeats the whole object of blocking someone !!!

[+Deepdiggingmole]

Please can someone from HQ take a look at this 

[+niraD]

45 minutes ago, Deepdiggingmole said:

Defeats the whole object of blocking someone !!!

I've observed the same thing on FB, where hiding/blocking/unfollowing doesn't actually stop the noise from appearing in my FB news feed. I ended up using a third-party browser plugin to filter my FB news feed.

 

I wonder if there is a third-party solution to Groundspeak's message center.

[+arisoft]

I studied this blocking further. It has some effects that are useful. At first it seems to block e-mail notifications from the blocked user and secondly it hides the blocked user from the message list. Practically this means that I can not see messages from a blocked user unless I want to see them. I am satisfied with this way of blocking. If someone needs to inform the blocked player about blocking then they must send this infomation just before blocking the user and then cease to peek any hidden messages the user may send.

 

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by arisoft

[+Deepdiggingmole]

15 hours ago, arisoft said:

it hides the blocked user from the message list. Practically this means that I can not see messages from a blocked user unless I want to see them

I am not sure that is true - I blocked another cacher - yes the name may disappear from the LHS i.e. the message list - however as soon as he messaged me (which was over a year later ) it all appeared in front of me again !!! I didn't have to peek as the message was there on the system - I went to reply having forgotten I had blocked him and the 'You've blocked this player' message appears

[+arisoft]

 

Check this first that is is not selected.

[+Deepdiggingmole]

2 hours ago, arisoft said:

 

Check this first that is is not selected.

Yea - but that wasn't my point 
The fact that I have blocked a player should mean that at their end they can't message me or if they do they get a message their end to say so - a blocked player doesn't know they have been blocked - they send a message and it doesn't get responded to  -  because I can't see it or I choose not to reply as I have blocked them - either way they just simply think I am ignoring it. I don't want that as an outcome - I want them to know they have been blocked and so won't get a response for that reason.
It does make me think with all the messages I send out - all those that don't reply .... is it because I have been blocked ? - I don't think so but the outcome is the same I don't get a response 
Me saying to someone - OK I'm blocking you - a year down the line they may have forgotten that and message me and wont know any different because the message is sent with no reminder that they have been blocked 
Hiding their messaging list is simply that - it isn't blocking them 

[+arisoft]

4 hours ago, Deepdiggingmole said:

Yea - but that wasn't my point

 

I understand that you want to prevent sending messages when blocked instead of preventing you to see them. Both ways messages are somehow blocked. The system could inform this better in the red warning message that blocking does not prevent sending messages.

[+Deepdiggingmole]

On 8/28/2023 at 3:17 PM, arisoft said:

The system could inform this better in the red warning message that blocking does not prevent sending messages.

Or simply informing the person blocked when they click on send a message - with a pop-up saying 'this cacher has blocked you, they may therefore not see this message and so not reply'

[+arisoft]

12 hours ago, Deepdiggingmole said:

Or simply informing the person blocked when they click on send a message - with a pop-up saying 'this cacher has blocked you, they may therefore not see this message and so not reply'

 

How do you put this message on e-mail client? Many players use e-mail instead of web. E-mail could reply with an error message but only after sending the message.

 

What surprises me is that I thought that blocking really prevent sending messages. Maybe it did earlier?

Edited August 30, 2023 by arisoft

[+TeamRabbitRun]

22 hours ago, Deepdiggingmole said:

Or simply informing the person blocked when they click on send a message - with a pop-up saying 'this cacher has blocked you, they may therefore not see this message and so not reply'

 

Part of the point of blocking is so that the person blocked gets no info from the system about the blocker. 

 

In some scenarios, explicitly telling an aggressive person that another person has blocked them could make a situation worse,

[+Deepdiggingmole]

On 8/30/2023 at 5:18 PM, TeamRabbitRun said:

Part of the point of blocking is so that the person blocked gets no info from the system about the blocker. 

H'm - seems pointless
 

 

On 8/30/2023 at 5:18 PM, TeamRabbitRun said:

In some scenarios, explicitly telling an aggressive person that another person has blocked them could make a situation worse,

I would suggest those sorts of situations are few and far between - but if the situation has got to the point where that would happen then I would have taken alternative action prior to that anyway 

[+Deepdiggingmole]

On 8/30/2023 at 6:55 AM, arisoft said:

ow do you put this message on e-mail client? Many players use e-mail instead of web. E-mail could reply with an error message but only after sending the message.

 

What surprises me is that I thought that blocking really prevent sending messages. Maybe it did earlier?

error message will do 

No - messages can still be sent and they therefore have no idea that they have been blocked - as I said seems totally pointless to have a blocking system if it doesn't actually prevent communication from still happening 
It was mentioned earlier that their name disappears off the message list on the left and so they are 'no longer visible' thus blocked - again that is fine up until the moment they send you a message as it all comes back into view again - all you get is a message saying you have blocked them, if you reply they are unblocked 
They are still none the wiser 

[+Deepdiggingmole]

To highlight this issue - and not looking for advice here as to how to deal with this scenario that is not in question here

I have become aware very recently of another cacher who has been receiving rude and abusive messages (on the GC messaging system) from a handful of different accounts - These accounts are new and would appear to be youngsters. Among the much advice given as to how to deal with these one of them was to block them using the block a player facility subject of this OP
However as has been highlighted here - blocking them will do nothing to stop the messages as the abusive senders are unaware that they have been blocked and are not prevented from continuing to send messages even when they have been blocked - Yes, it is down to the cacher to not reply - but he will still get the messages popping up on his screen (and notifications in his email) - so highlights that blocking is just not fit for purpose  

[+arisoft]

2 hours ago, Deepdiggingmole said:

that is fine up until the moment they send you a message as it all comes back into view again

 

I didn't see this happening when I tried it. I tried it again now and the message did not bring the blocked user back on the list even after refresh. May be this bug is already fixed?

[+arisoft]

2 hours ago, Deepdiggingmole said:

but he will still get the messages popping up on his screen

 

This is how the "Hide" function works. I now used hide to "block" a user and the hidden user appeared again when posted a new message. Are you sure that he used the block function instead of the hide as the opposite seems to be the case.

[+Deepdiggingmole]

On 9/2/2023 at 4:17 PM, arisoft said:

 

This is how the "Hide" function works. I now used hide to "block" a user and the hidden user appeared again when posted a new message. Are you sure that he used the block function instead of the hide as the opposite seems to be the case.

I have tried both these - though hide seems more suitable it wasn't foolproof - though I did note that if you 'blocked' someone you dont have the facility to hide them ??
Also the issue whether you use 'hide' or 'block' it would appear that it has to take both sides to function these in order for the facility to work (and it didn't work every time)  which would  mean I would have to ask the other cacher to click on block and click on hide etc etc  - but they are unlikely to do that if don't want to stop conversing 

 

All seems counter productive

[+arisoft]

1 hour ago, Deepdiggingmole said:

I did note that if you 'blocked' someone you dont have the facility to hide them

 

Reloading the page hides blocked users.