Ability to flag users (instead of blocking)

[TailsFox12]

Not sure if this has been suggested already but here goes...

I think it would be handy to have an option to flag users (instead of blocking them).

What I mean by flagging is a less extreme (one-sided?) alternative to blocking.
You would still be able to interact with the other user but there would be some kind of visual cue/message whenever you do so.
Not sure if it would be useful to be able to add notes/have different categories to help you remember why you flagged someone or if simply being able to flag someone would be enough.

Here's a bit of context:
A lot of users seem to block players for letting trades rot.
This seems rather harsh to me.
Blocking feels like something that should be reserved for people who are outright rude towards you (talking disrespectfully etc.)

There could be several reasons as to why a trade gets ignored: being busy IRL, needing time to figure out whether the trade is fair, simply forgetting about it etc.

Some people also don't seem to understand that trading in this game can be quite complicated, even for older players. Just look at how lengthy the trading guides are. It's quite a lot to grasp with the abbreviations and all. (A huge thank you for the players who put all the time and effort into compiling these guides btw!)

If we had the ability to flag a user (e.g. for letting trades rot), they could still get back to you. Right now, blocking is final and it means that you cannot ever interact with the other person again, even if you genuinely forgot about a trade or didn't have the time to look at it.

I'm interested to hear what you guys think.

[lukas_stop]

Not sure I quite understand your suggestion? If the main focus is on adding a description for why you would hide a user i'd be all for it! I know there's some folks in my block list who I know I have blocked for a reason but can't remember why (and would much rather they stay blocked than unblock them to remember imo)

But your suggestion just sounds like another block feature aside from that. I know blocking for many folks seems harsh but genuinely its just a way of saying "I don't want to see/interact with you right now." Unless the person blocks you back, it isn't final. You can always go and unblock them when you feel comfortable doing so. And folks are allowed to block for whatever reasons they want, not just when something upsets/annoys them

[TailsFox12]

Not sure I quite understand your suggestion? If the main focus is on adding a description for why you would hide a user i'd be all for it! I know there's some folks in my block list who I know I have blocked for a reason but can't remember why (and would much rather they stay blocked than unblock them to remember imo)

But your suggestion just sounds like another block feature aside from that. I know blocking for many folks seems harsh but genuinely its just a way of saying "I don't want to see/interact with you right now." Unless the person blocks you back, it isn't final. You can always go and unblock them when you feel comfortable doing so. And folks are allowed to block for whatever reasons they want, not just when something upsets/annoys them

Sorry if it's a bit unclear.

My point is that blocking goes both ways; if someone blocks you, you can no longer interact with them and they can no longer interact with you. If you forgot to respond to a trade and the other person blocked you because they think that you're ignoring them, you have no way to get back to them and apologise. Also, I feel like very few people are going to unblock people once they've done it (as is the case with you and the users you've blocked) so it is final in that sense.

Flagging, on the other hand, could be a less extreme, one-sided alternative. What I mean by one-sided is that only the person who flagged the other would see them as flagged. The other person would see no difference. They would still be able to view the other person's profile and threads and send trades and messages. So the parties could still interact with each other but the person who flagged the other would be reminded of whatever it is that they flagged them for (e.g. letting trades rot).

That way, people who don't like to "waste their time" sending trades to people who let trades rot could flag such users as a reminder to not bother sending trades to those people.
Flagging would be more forgiving than blocking in that the other person could still get back to you or send trades to you in the future.

Hope that clarifies it.

[Fleckihund]

Support.
This would be very useful to me! I try to avoid blocking the people even when they have been rude, literally none of the trades go through etc., but I honestly would love a possibility to know that I don't want to integrate with these people to save myself the trouble and time. I can't remember everyone and have gotten some less friendly messages from sending the same trade twice.

I'd like to reserve the blocking for extreme cases only.

[Shooting Stars]

I mostly support! But maybe something like different toggles or settings for how blocked players can interact with you instead? So you can choose if blocked players can still send you trades or see your posts, and these settings can be custom set for each person if desired!
And I definitely support a way to add a note on blocked users like lukas_stop said!

I confess I'm someone who blocks people for letting trades rot. I'm not just blocking everyone who lets my trade sit longer than thirty minutes. I do check after a few days to see if they're asking for help, been offline, busy, or anything like that! None of those reasons equal trade rotting.
But it doesn't take a week to decide if you want to swap uncommons, and I will block if I see them frequently bumping their trade thread while my trade has been waiting for days. That is disrespectful and inconsiderate of me and my time and I won't risk wasting the time and effort again. Deliberately ignoring people is rude, and it's a perfectly acceptable reason to block someone.

[manuscript]

Flagging for trading behavior that isn’t that severe is good!

[bark]

support!

[Pallastronomy]

Support! As someone who doesn’t like blocking over certain trading pet peeves of mine (Letting a trade rot instead of just outright cancelling if they just got an outcome I was offering from someone else and aren’t interested anymore is the big one) but would like some kind of reminder without inconveniencing the other person this would be so so helpful