Is there a report option for chat messages in the game already or in the update to chat that’s coming? One common thread I see in all these stories is that the griefer messages the other players and very clearly states their malicious intent. Should be able to report those messages (and the recent convo) to the devs. The new chat system will hold offline messages for 30 days or something, so it should be very easy now for them to hold onto reported conversations for review.
Next thing I see a lot is totem spamming. I can’t name one public event I’ve been at where someone didn’t start totem spamming. Literally every hunt I’ve been on, events at people’s beacons, etc. This is done with totems because they stack at 9 and can be crafted for no cost at any time. There will never be a way to report or moderate this behavior so the game rules have to be changed to stop this. I suggest making it so unaugmented, unforged totems which are thrown on the ground are never seen by other players. They can always make their own from the UI if they want one so why would a player ever need to throw one? They can still trade them if they ever need to, for some crazy reason.
Next on the list I see a lot of digging out the ground under players. If you mute a player the game should make sure they unfollow you and can no longer follow you with their radar. Then you could just shake them with a quick sanctum trip and warp to the local PS hub. If you find something else to do for 15 minutes they won’t sit there waiting for you they’ll move on to the next sucker. Presumably you were away from home already, because the griefer doesn’t have permissions on your plots to dig them out in the first place. When we all start muting them and warping away, then they will learn that kind of griefing is pointless.
Devs are having a hard time figuring out how to take punitive action, maybe they can invest for now in some preventative action for the more popular harassment techniques.