A man was arrested in Tokyo for stalking a woman using social media such as LINE (a popular Japanese app), Twitter, and the MMORPG Final Fantasy 14. As reported by Kobe Shimbun (translated by Siliconera), the man sent more than 22 messages through these apps in an attempt to reconnect.

But in Final Fantasy 14, he could just follow her around. This is due to a problem the MMO has had with its friend list system since it launched: blacklisting someone does not remove them from your friend list.

Because of this, the person you blocked can see when you are online and what zone you are in. Oddly enough, they can also still leave messages in your message book. The message book is a player housing feature that allows visitors to leave notes.

For some players, this is a big problem. Even a cursory check of the game's subreddit reveals a variety of complaints, like this post that got 6,000 upvotes a while back. Dig deeper and you will find that the complaints go back years.

Harassment and stalking are still against the rules. If there is enough evidence, the GM can be notified. However, that would be an enormous effort on the part of players who just want to enjoy the game.

Until recently, it was all intentional: in 2021, PCGamesN asked the game's director, Naoki Yoshida (also known as Yoshi P), if he would consider redesigning the blacklist feature.

"I've seen cases in other games where [blocking someone] eventually turns into stalking because of the design of the friend list.

Indeed, this is a complex subject, and Yoshida is not just being nonchalant here. Some experts in the field point out that ignoring a stalker altogether can lead to escalation, and that it is better to get the authorities involved than to ignore him altogether and hope he goes away.

Still, this should be considered a choice that should be left to the player concerned. It should also be noted that if the stalker is using other means (following the player around, emoting to the player, leaving messages in the guestbook), they are already aware that they are being blocked. Basically, it's just a matter of time.

There is also an understandable technical problem with preventing blacklisted players from showing up to matchmade parties: in an interview with MMORPG.com, Yoshida said: "Players are not aware of what is going on in the matching process. It may be hard to understand because you can't see what's happening, but applying player blacklists to the matchmaking process can significantly slow down the matching speed if there are too many people on the blacklist. I would like to do something about it, but I would appreciate it if [the players] could understand that this is a bigger job than it appears at face value."

But there is hope for change on some of the issues I mentioned. In a live letter in Korean earlier this year (translated by user Gestriden and friends on the game's subreddit), Yoshi P floated the idea of revamping the block function." Yoshi P wants to increase the friend limit and is also working on an overhaul that would allow people who delete you to also remove you from their own friend list." I haven't seen this discussed since the Q&A, but thankfully it's in the pipeline. Unfortunately for some players, this is a long overdue change.