The Tavern

It is my personal opinion that the "Mark as foe" feature doesn't really deserve to exist. The function is supposed to hide posts made by users thus marked (basically an ignore/ mute list), and the user can directly unhide the posts if they so desire. I will try to give my perspective on it, by way of pointing out the apparent failings or inconsistencies of it:
1) It doesn't promote learning or growth
Hiding posts made by another taverner means their contribution to a thread is selectively ignored for the sake of personal bias. If a taverner marked as foe actually helps a discussion, introduces a good idea, or further develops an existing one - the user(s) who marked them will not learn what they would otherwise. Even with the possibility of unhiding posts like this, it promotes ignorance and stagnancy first, learning only by choice second. I dislike this for the simple reason that spending time here has helped me learn a lot about the gameplay and game design. English practice, too, but that's an added bonus.
2) It introduces needless additional steps
This is closely tied to the first point, because having to manually unhide posts to see what was added to a thread is one problem - making the exact same points as an ignored taverner leads to bloated threads where an idea or counterpoint is repeated multiple times without any need to do so. It's a lose-lose situation by design: you either post something that exists already and has been responded to, or you have get through extra steps to get the same content from the thread you'd get without the "Mark as foe" filter.
3) It encourages bad relationships between people
This one is very much a moot point on arrival, but I really want to make sure the personal implications are known. This is a public forum, it is open to all sorts of people from around the world, and GIFT is in full effect because internets. Having a tool to tune out others at any time you please is just another way to deny others basic respect. Not even bothering to know what someone else thinks or feels is not a good thing. Which leads well into the next one...
4) It is already functional through other means
Posts that are made in ill intent, whether they are troll posts, interpersonal attacks, rude language, or just generally obnoxious can be dealt with. They can be denied attention, for whichever reason. Posts can also be reported, and can be dealt with accordingly. Posts that are made in ignorance or have flawed logic, bad structure, or are otherwise lacking in substance can be corrected. They can be added to, or cut down to the parts that do make sense and taken up from there. We are all also free to edit our posts for any reason, including "whoops that was stupid, this is better". Finally, some things don't even need to be posted in a thread to begin with: PMs work just as well, and are as personal as can be.
5) Does anyone actually use this "feature"?
Self-explanatory. I have no idea how many people make use of this functionality, and if so why they do.

Thoughts?

If you don't like this feature, don't use it. The ability for people to ignore posts by someone they don't like is a fundamental feature of internet forums, from mailing lists to Facebook.

I've been on this forum for a very long time, am very active and have added exactly one person as a foe ever, and that was a very long time ago, IIRC it was because the person was contributing nothing and making personal attacks, and I felt that hiding them was easier to skip awful, incoherent rambling posts that contributed nothing and were outright hostile, it was literally just a convenience thing for me.

That being said, there are some people who would be unable (or unwilling) to contribute *at all* without some kind of blocking feature, some people are not able to ignore hostile (or perceived hostile) tones on the internet without feeling too upset or angry to make it worthwhile, as such it's a useful tool for those sorts of people to block users who they can't interact with productively.

I wasn't actually aware of this feature. I might use it. There is one specific poster who I've already decided to ignore, because I've only seen him post something productive in one thread. Calling him out in public feels a bit rude though.
Then again, there are the disadvantages you point out.
Thanks for pointing out this exists...

I have exactly one foe. I would find it highly unsatisfactory not to have this feature.

Thanks for the feedback on this matter. I will concede that in some cases the convenience of using can outweigh the drawbacks.

I hope I am providing somebody the pleasure of being their foe.