Griefer Explained

A griefer or bad-faith player is a player in a multiplayer video game who deliberately and intentionally irritates, annoys or trolls other players within the game. Griefing is often accomplished by destroying things constructed by other players or stealing items. [1] A griefer derives pleasure from the act of annoying other users, and as such, is a nuisance in online gaming communities.

History

The term "griefing" was applied to online multiplayer video games by the year 2000 or earlier, as illustrated by postings to the rec.games.computer.ultima.online USENET group.[2] The player is said to cause "grief" in the sense of "giving someone grief".

The term "griefing" dates to the late 1990s, when it was used to describe the willfully antisocial behaviors seen in early massively multiplayer online games like Ultima Online, and later, in the 2000s, first-person shooters such as Counter-Strike. Even before it had a name, griefer-like behavior was familiar in the virtual worlds of text-based Multi-User Domains (MUDs), where joyriding invaders inflicted "virtual rape" and similar offenses on the local populace.[3] Julian Dibbell's 1993 article "A Rape in Cyberspace" analyzed the griefing events in a particular MUD, LambdaMOO, and the staff's response.

In the culture of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) in Taiwan, such as Lineage, griefers are known as "white-eyed"—a metaphor meaning that their eyes have no pupils and so they look without seeing. Behaviors other than griefing that can cause players to be stigmatized as "white-eyed" include cursing, cheating, stealing, or unreasonable killing.

Methods

Methods of griefing differ from game to game. What might be considered griefing in one area of a game, may even be an intended function or mechanic in another area. Common methods may include but are not limited to:

The term is sometimes applied more generally[7] to refer to a person who uses the internet to cause distress to others as a prank,[8] [9] or to intentionally inflict harm, as when it was used to describe an incident in March 2008, when malicious users posted seizure-inducing animations on epilepsy forums.[10] [11] [12]

Industry response

Many subscription-based games actively oppose griefers, since their behavior can drive away business.[13] It is common for developers to release server-side upgrades and patches to annul griefing methods. Many online games employ gamemasters that reprimand offenders. Some use a crowdsourcing approach, where players can report griefing. Malicious players are then red-flagged, and are then dealt with at a gamemaster's discretion. As many as 25% of customer support calls to companies operating online games deal specifically with griefing.[14]

Blizzard Entertainment has enacted software components to combat griefing.[15] To prevent non-consensual attacks between players, some games such as Ultima Online have created separate realms for those who wish to be able to attack anyone at any time, and for those who do not. Others implemented separate servers.

When EverQuest was released, Sony included a PvP switch where people could fight each other only if they had enabled that option. This was done in order to prevent the player-killing that was driving people away from Ultima Online, which at that time had no protection on any of its servers.[16]

Second Life bans players for harassment (defined as being rude or threatening, making unwelcome sexual advances, or performing activities likely to annoy or alarm somebody) and assault (shooting, pushing, or shoving in a safe area, or creating scripted objects that target another user and hinder their enjoyment of the game) in its community standards.[17] Sanctions include warnings, suspension from Second Life, or being banned altogether.

Eve Online has incorporated activities typically considered griefing into the gameplay mechanisms.[18] [19] Corporate spying, theft, scams, gate-camping, and PvP on non-PvP players are all part of the gaming experience. This does not mean that the developers are indifferent to the negative effect that these activities may have on players, it is simply their choice with regards to the culture and atmosphere that they intended for the game. Players are advised to approach unfamiliar situations in the game with an appropriate level of caution, develop strategies to deal with the presence of these elements, and take personal responsibility for their in-game actions.[20] [21] [22] [23] Certain activities are allowed by the developers, but are still considered illegal in the game itself and result in in-game consequences, such as the unavoidable loss of the attacker's ship when engaging in combat with a non-allowed target in high-security space.[24]

Shooters such as Counter Strike: Global Offensive have implemented peer review systems, where if a player is reported too many times, multiple higher ranked players are allowed to review the player and determine if the reports are valid, and apply a temporary ban to the player's account if necessary. The player's name is omitted during the replay, as well as those of the other 9 players in the game. In October 2016, Valve implemented a change that will permanently ban a player if they receive two penalties for griefing.

Many Minecraft servers have rules against griefing. In Minecraft freebuild servers, griefing is often the destruction of another player's build, and in other servers the definition ranges, but almost all servers recognize griefing as harassment. Most servers use temporary bans for minor and/or first-time incidents, and indefinite bans from the server for more serious and/or repeat offences. While many servers try to fight this, other servers, like 2b2t, allow griefing as part of the gameplay.

By the early 2020s, Grand Theft Auto Online has experienced a drastic increase in griefing, due in part to the emergence of bugs and better money-making opportunities. Common griefing techniques within the game abuse passive mode and trivially accessible weaponized vehicles.[25] Developer Rockstar has implemented measures such as a longer cool-down on passive mode, patching invincibility glitches, and removing passive mode from weaponized vehicles in recent updates. In addition, the game also features a reputation system that, in effect, after excessive "bad sport point" accumulation, will mark players as "bad sports", allowing them to only play in lobbies with other "bad sports". Such points are either accumulated over time or gained within a certain time frame and are acquired by actions such as destroying another player's personal vehicle, or quitting jobs early. This is one of the more controversial features of the game, as some point out flaws such as the game not considering if destruction of a vehicle was self-defense.

Fallout 76 discourages players from griefing by marking them as wanted criminals, which one can get a reward for killing. Wanted players cannot see any other players on the world map, and must rely on their normal player view.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Warner. Dorothy. Raiter. Mike. December 2005. Social Context in Massively-Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs): Ethical Questions in Shared Space. International Review of Information Ethics. 4. 10.29173/irie172.
  2. Web site: Google Groups: August 14, 2000 rec.games.computer.ultima.online. 16 June 2015.
  3. Dibbell. Julian. Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, the Sociopaths of the Virtual World. Wired. WIRED magazine. 18 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20110508211328/http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/16-02/mf_goons?currentPage=1. 8 May 2011. 18 January 2008. live.
  4. Web site: Meet the Griefers. 4 January 2012. Eurogamer.net. 16 June 2015.
  5. Web site: The Griefer Future. 16 June 2015.
  6. Web site: The Division Trolls Are Blocking Other Players' Progress By Standing In A Doorway. Kotaku. 8 March 2016 . 12 October 2019.
  7. Book: Dibbell, Julian. https://books.google.com/books?id=6r-pcB5WL8wC&q=best+technology+writing+2009+Julian+Dibbell&pg=PA9. Steven. Johnson. Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, the Sociopaths of the Virtual World. The Best Technology Writing 2009. 2009. University of Michigan Press. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 978-0-300-15410-8. 10 February 2010. 9–19.
  8. Nick Douglas, Internet's Most Wanted: A Rogue's Gallery, Jan 25 2007,
  9. http://techdirt.com/articles/20090418/1728344551.shtml Craigslist Griefer Ordered To Pay Up Over Both Copyright And Privacy Violations
  10. Kevin Poulsen, March 28, 2008, "Hackers Assault Epilepsy Patients via Computer", Wired.
  11. [Cory Doctorow]
  12. See also "lulz", for griefer slang referring to enjoyment at others' expense.
  13. News: Online Bullies Give Grief to Gamers. Pham. Alex. 2 September 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20071009161333/http://www.gamegirladvance.com/mmog/archives/2002/10/21/online_bullies_give_grief_to_games.html. 2007-10-09. Los Angeles Times. Main News. 1.
  14. News: Gamers don't want any more grief. The Guardian. Martin. Davies. June 15, 2006.
  15. Web site: Official forum changes, real life names to be displayed. 2013-05-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20130619033415/http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/07/06/official-forum-changes-real-life-names-to-be-displayed/. 2013-06-19. dead.
  16. Web site: Darktide Rising. Glenn Barnett. April 1, 2000.
  17. Web site: Community Standards. 16 June 2015.
  18. Web site: Scams and exploits . . eveonline.com . January 15, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131122112420/http://community.eveonline.com/support/knowledge-base/article.aspx?articleId=34 . November 22, 2013 . mdy-all .
  19. Web site: Grief play . . eveonline.com . July 20, 2010 . February 23, 2018 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150304092931/http://community.eveonline.com/support/knowledge-base/article.aspx?articleId=336 . March 4, 2015 . mdy-all .
  20. Web site: Griefing. Evelopedia. May 26, 2014. In EVE, 'griefing' refers to various activities, some of which can be argued not to be 'griefing' in the classic sense, but parts of valid gameplay.. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140527213408/https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Griefing. 27 May 2014.
  21. Web site: Scams in EVE Online. UNIWIKI. August 1, 2024. Scammers aim for those who are greedy, hasty, and/or ignorant. 90% of scams can be avoided by double checking a contract inventory, or carefully thinking a situation through..
  22. Web site: Safety Tips for Operating in Low Sec. UNIWIKI. August 1, 2024.
  23. Web site: How to (Maybe) Survive Combat. UNIWIKI. August 1, 2024.
  24. Web site: Suicide ganking. UNIWIKI. August 1, 2024.
  25. Web site: O'Connor. Alice. 2020-03-13. Watch out: GTA Online's most reviled griefmobile is cheap this week. 2020-10-30. Rock, Paper, Shotgun. en-US.