Mutual blocking?

[Ukdswear]

Does the forum "foe" function just hide the other user's posts?

That's what just about every forum does, and it's a complete waste of time at best. The troll can still litter your threads with their garbage. No point whatsoever in hiding it from the original poster, it has the same negative effect. The troll has a blast talking behind your back. Doesn't do anything but advantage the troll.

Mutual blocking would not only prevent you from seeing their posts, it would prevent them from seeing yours. That would do a world of good, eliminating 90% of the personal problems in user forums. But apparently moderators love moderating.

Thanks.

[joedf]

I am not aware of any built-in phpbb feature or plugin for mutual blocking...

[nnnik]

The point of a forum is to be able to talk publically and have potential conflicts between the groups that make up one community.
The point is not to create parallel bubbles that coexist without interacting.
If you have troubles with what you assume to be a troll feel free to contact the staff.

[joedf]

Makes sense, well said.

[SOTE]

I do think there is merit to what Udkswear is saying. If you have 2 people that can't get along, are not endangering or trying to hack the website, but are providing benefit to the community, the better path could be stop them from commenting about each other as oppose to banning. In the case of jeeswg, people still comment on posts that he has made and use the code that he created. So it's debatably unfair, or at least alternatives can be thought about, because he can't communicate with his supporters or code users, or they with him. Once a ban is done, its often more permanent, but the problem might be more about users squabbling and not something that is a threat to the website. It might be better to differentiate between what are low level user disputes and what are threats to the website, and use options that can handle the difference.

I don't think "mutual blocking" will solve all problems, but rather it might be a tool that moderators or users have for certain situations. Seems like it makes a bit more sense than the simple "friend" or "foe" options that we have now.

[boiler]

Mutual blocking wouldn't stop a troll if they really want to continue troll someone. If their account is blocked from seeing the other user's posts, they could still see them even if the "view post" feature is removed by viewing the thread while not being logged in to their account. Then they can go ahead and post whatever they want from their account. And if it gets to that point, mods are typically going to step in anyway if it is persistent trolling.

That doesn't mean the current "foe" feature isn't useful. It can be used to avoid having to view someone's posts that you would rather not see, and it can be used to tag a user to remind you that it's someone you might have an issue with for some reason so you don't have to remember them.

If someone continues to make posts about you and you don't reply to any of them (whether it's because you don't see the posts or not), it says more about them than what they want others to think about you. The other forum members are smart and can see what's happening. Nobody is impressed by trolls because they keep posting zingers about another member.