Final Fantasy 14's blacklisting functionality is getting an overdue overhaul: 'it is time we implement features to protect everyone's experience'

With expansion Dawntrail around the corner, there are some big changes coming to Final Fantasy 14. Some of these were outlined in a 14-hour livestream that took place over the weekend, and one in particular stood out to me: an overhaul to how blacklisting players works.

The MMO's blacklist feature is notorious for being pretty weak. Currently, all the blacklist does is prevent you from seeing any messages from the person you blocked, as well as hiding any party finders you're hosting. It does little in the way of preventing any actual stalking or harassment that can unfortunately take place—blacklisted players are still cool to enter your player housing and, if you were friends prior to the blocking, it won't actually remove you from their friend list. 

That's looking to change in Dawntrail, with director and producer Naoki Yoshida going through some of the additional measures being implemented later this year. Blacklisting is set to be looking a lot more robust, with the addition of a separate mute list continuing to serve the current blacklist's purpose.

«We have so many players now that use this game as sort of a second world,» Yoshida said according to a translation over on the Final Fantasy 14 Discord. «I think it is time we implement features to protect everyone's experience.»

Messages sent by the blacklisted player will still shoot off into the void, but additionally their character model will also be hidden from whoever they've been blocked by. Not only that, but any additional characters made on that person's account will also be invisible—though it's worth noting that this part only applies to any characters who are made from Dawntrail's release onward, and the blacklist will be able to distinguish between ones made pre and post-expansion.

Unfortunately, something that isn't changing is the ability to end up in a dungeon or raid with someone you've blacklisted. «We understand concerns that asked to just prevent matching with those players, but that would