Board Game Arena

My child just yelled for help because a player repeatedly tried to start a video chat at the table.

The child denied the video repeatedly and the player abandoned the game.

I tried to report him but as he didn't SAY anything in chat, there's nothing to report. I can give him a red thumb but there's no obvious BLOCK option that I can see. I know from prior experience that a red thumb does not stop you meeting said player in a tournament.


Suggestions?

My child is a premium user and a high frequency player for over a year. There is nothing identifying in their bio.

One mistaken video request is understandable, but to keep on going? Eventually he left the game.

Child said NO in chat.

I think switching off possible video calls completely should be included in parental control system as announced here: https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewto ... =5&t=20339

It appears they didn't think of it at the time, but I think it should be updated now.

Apart from that: What Ze Monstah said

Thank you- my child has had the account longer than that and I wasn't aware of the parental controls. I've applied them now.

I do not agree with the way this case is handled here.

Constantly asking the same question (if for video chat or anything else), ignoring each „No“ is a form of agression and seems threatening to me! Whether towards an adult or even a child, this should not be accepted.

I don't think it's okay that here the perpetrator is excused. („He / she probably didn‘t know what they did. If it wasn't malicious, there's no reason to complain.“) Everyone is responsible for their actions and the effect on others, no matter what their intentions were. I find the attitude expressed here unsettling.

Also: To escape the situation, the victim may have to quit the game and receive negative karma. Is that fair?

How to find a solution to this is, of course, a different question. But the community (and even more the officials) should definitely state that such behavior is not acceptable.

Just want to second what cigma said.

Requesting video chat with a stranger, then asking repeatedly after it is rejected is creep behaviour - regardless of age. The video button is definitely not easy to press by mistake, especially when there is no text chat happening.

Really weirds me out how people were so keen to say this is not something you should be able to report.

Ze Monstah wrote: ↑03 February 2022, 01:27 When you go to someone's page to report him/her... do you see "Insistent Video Requests" as one of the many REPORT REASONS offered by the site?
No? OK. Then it is ok to say that this is not something players should (momentarily) be able to report.

...

You appear to be saying that "can currently do" and "should be able to do" mean the same thing. They do not. Should be able to report means they would ideally be allowed to report this. It does not mean that BGA currently allows them to.

I am pleased OP has found a way to prevent future unwanted requests from strangers, but they should still have been able to report this user.

OP should be able to report this user because their behaviour as described reads as harassing, which is against BGA's terms of use. If BGA lacks a simple way to report harassment of this nature, that is bad.

To address your site feature argument: BGA allows users to send each other messages, choose usernames, set table descriptions and set avatars - and will moderate users if they misuse those site features. This reads like something that should be considered a misuse of the video call site feature, and should be treated similarly to misuse of other site features.

Sure, there may be an acceptable reason for the requests. That's also true for perceived insults and potentially inappropriate avatars, table descriptions or usernames - all of which can already be reported. This is probably why there is a mod team who can choose how severely to act (if at all) and not a mod robot blindly processing reports.

To be clear, I am arguing that if this is not currently an accepted reason to report then BGA should add a new reason or alter an existing reason be able to accept this issue. Harassment is not trivial, no matter how sarcastically you dismiss it.