Ignore should only be used when you want to use it. Whenever that may be.
Everyone is different. I've never used the Ignore button because I know well enough how to blow off what I don't like and seek out what I do. I symbolically press it sometimes tho.
I play alerts every single time I log in. They're pugs. Try putting together a pug 'irl' and see how it goes.
In general, we're all just logging in to have fun. Some people's version of fun conflicts with others and then no one has fun. It's the human condition and no number of admins or rules will override that.
I personally prefer to police myself and haven't had any more negative experiences in CO than in any other online game I've ever played and I've played in far more pugs in CO than any other game.
Unless someone is just going out of their way to screw things up for everyone, on purpose or not, it generally doesn't bother me how other people play because I accept that I am in a pug and will encounter a wide variety of playstyles - all of them valid to the person using them.
People can and often do get banned/muted/whatever for being @ssholes. If you encounter someone that affects you so deeply, get them banned. Otherwise, I would advise to simply move on. You aren't going to get every person on the server to play in a way that fits your sensibilities and why even try. Sharpen your own game. This, you have some control over.
Believe it or not we *all* ruin someone's fun at some point. Some of these people are even liked and respected by other players, We don't mean to, we just don't fit with the other person.
Mostly I run into decent players and I *always* have been able to easily and painlessly avoid the few that bother me. Maybe it's because I'm focusing on what to do next rather than what the hell just happened hehe.
Seriously tho, game time should be about finding the fun things not lamenting the bad. If that isn't possible then it sounds like it's time to find a new game to me. If we had a wild wild west situation going on with CO and we were fighting to save our game then that'd be different but we don't and we aren't.
In a way CO is in a wild wild west situation. Most of the time when people get muted it's because someone got a group of their buddies together to use the player controlled ban system, which is abused. The mods don't do much, report someone, they tell you simply ignore them and that is it. The guess what, that person is still there, probably moved on to some other minority and acting a plum fool. And in a way I don't blame them. They only do what they are allowed to do.
Then you have people that go out of their way to bother people. Not talking about playstyles, and some stuff would probably get them arrested if they wasn't online, but the style is that it's the victim's fault. Which in turns sends the message it's ok to go out and ruin other's fun for the hell of it. There is a difference between merely a conflict of what is fun on a team and go out of one;s way to harass a person.
I don't mind the wild west style but what bothers me is if rules are not going to be enforced or cant be enforced then why even bother having them? If they are not going to do anything about racial slurs being thrown around like candy, or players harassing each other, death threats, even hacking and finding their real personal information, then why even bother stating it's not tolerated, if in reality it is tolerated?And really while the victim could find a new game, that still don't solve the problem and that is another way to blame the victim. "Don't like people harassing you, find a new game". Shouldn't it be the person that is following the rules have just as much if not more of a right to play that game thant the person doing the harassing?
The reason the problem is growing is because instead of taking care of it, the victim is expected to run, even though they probably invested well into the game, put their head I nthe head, and keep quiet instead of enforcing the rules in place. If the ruels said, warning, there are no social rules, then yeah they kind of walked into that but when they post the rules and say they will be enforced and certain behavior is not tolerated, then they tricked. And if the victim must leave, then they should be refuned for every single penny they put into that game because one, the victim shouldn't have to leave. It should be the offender that should be leaving. And two, Even if the victim leave, that still don't solve the problem it basically says "it's ok to use racuial slurs, it's ok to ignore the ToS rules, it's ok to make everyone else life a living hell, it's ok to expect the up most respect but disreapect everyone around ya. Because when you do break the rules, nothing will happen to you because it's the victim's fault for being there and if they don't like it they should leave, even if they invested well into the game even if they enjoy the game, they have no right being there if they don't like being harassed or called by racial slurs.
In real life that is called disturbing the peace and is usually a misdemeanor. And usually the owner the establishment have enough balls to kick the people that don't follow the established written rules out. MMO mods either are severely understaffed don't care about their job and just like the title or lazy.
The problem is large now, but one that easy to fix simpy by enforcing the stated rules. Rules become toothless, as they are in many MMOs, when they are not enforced by the people that are supposed to be enforcing them. It's simple. Don't enforce then of course the butts will run amok. Enforce them, then most people will think twice before putting their account on the line by harssing people. Probably cant solve general rudeness how ever as that varies. A straight talking no sugar coated opinionated person can be considered rude but as long as they don't take it further by harassing people then in general they are not breaking rules. But seen too many people get away with stuff that is supposedly strictly forbidden but yet it is some how the victim's fault. Well then maybe they should supply useful tools for the victim to defend themselves. Like upgrade ignore. If they ignore a person then the offender should not be only invisible in text to the victim. The offender should not be able to see, find, contact, end up on the same team, or even type the victim's name. Although not sure how that last one, typing the victim name would be implemented. Ignore should be so that the offender cannot continue their behavior against the victim not victim simply cannot see what the offender type. And reports should be investigated and if rules were broken, regardless of the offender status, friendship, connections, they should not be allowed to continue the behavior. In CO with the chat ban seen many times that system over all punish the victim more than the offender who goes and gets a few of his buddies to make sure the victim cant talk in chat for days and still affect the victim's gameplay and interaction even when the victim ignored them and usually because the victim used the tool and ignored them. People do only what they can get away with.
