A Japanese man has been arrested for allegedly stalking a woman, both in real-life and online via Square Enix's hit MMO Final Fantasy XIV. The 38-year-old man had apparently been threatening the 28-year-old female in order to force her to speak with him again.
The stalker, currently unnamed, had been sending the victim messages in Final Fantasy XIV, threatening to expose their past connection and conversations to the woman's family. But the behaviour and messages also happened in real life, where the accuser had apparently been stalking the victim on social media (both on LINE, the Japanese equivalent of Whatsapp, and on X).
Japanese police reports that the man claims to hold no feelings towards the woman, while also denying some of the accusations made against him. Still, his actions seem to be in direct violation of Japan’s Anti-Stalking Control Law, according to the police.
The man's behaviour in Final Fantasy XIV amounted to that of the classic stalker. The woman reported that the man followed her around continuously, without permission, while continuing to send her threatening messages. Even after being put on the block list, he still continued to follow her.
In fact, in Final Fantasy XIV, even after a user has been blocked, they still can continue seeing the online presence of their former "friend". They can also continue leaving messages on their guestbooks, thus leaving wide open the option for the man to continue his harassing behaviour.
While reports about these limitations with the block feature have been made to Square-Enix in the past, no changes have been made. While it is possible to report a player for inappropriate behaviour in-game, it is quite a long and tedious process. In the end, it is always better to report the matter to the authorities.
We will see if this alarming news will bring about some changes to the block feature in Final Fantasy XIV. But this is just another example of how easy it is to mix the virtual and the real world, in quite the dangerous ways.
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