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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.
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".[ citation needed ]
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. [4]
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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 [8] to refer to a person who uses the internet to cause distress to others as a prank, [9] [10] 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. [11] [12] [13]
Many subscription-based games actively oppose griefers, since their behavior can drive away business. [14] 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. [15]
Blizzard Entertainment has enacted software components to combat griefing. [16] 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.[ citation needed ]
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. [17]
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. [18] Sanctions include warnings, suspension from Second Life, or being banned altogether.[ citation needed ]
Eve Online has incorporated activities typically considered griefing into the gameplay mechanisms. [19] [20] 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. [21] [22] [23] [24] 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. [25]
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.[ citation needed ]
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.[ citation needed ]
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. [26] 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.[ citation needed ]
Bethesda Softworks Games, a division of ZeniMax Media Inc., has a clear code of conduct [27] that does not allow griefing, as indicated in section 3.2. Whether this has any effect is debatable, with numerous forum posts about ongoing griefing behaviour. Because the boilerplate response to generating a ticket about such a player, contains the clause "Please note, to protect individual privacy, we do not disclose the outcome of our investigation.", there is unfortunately no transparency to indicate whether violations to the code of conduct (by griefing) are taken seriously by Bethesda/ZeniMax.
Fallout 76 attempted to discourage 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. However, this has instead become another mechanism to engage in griefing, by luring other players into PvP, in which they largely have no chance to survive because of the perk loadout and weapons used by the griefer. An example of this is by breaking resource locks in a player camp, which will make the griefer wanted, with the hope that the camp owner will find them to retaliate, and thereby initiate PvP with the griefer.[ citation needed ]
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
Asheron's Call (AC) was a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows PCs, developed and published by Turbine Entertainment Software. Though it was developed by the Turbine team, it was published as a Microsoft title until 2004. The game was set on the island continent of Dereth and several surrounding smaller islands and archipelagos on the fictional planet of Auberean. The game was played in a large seamless 3D virtual world which could host thousands of players' characters at a time.
Twinking is a type of behavior in role-playing games that is disapproved of by other players. A player who engages in such behavior is known as a twink. The precise definition of twinking varies depending on the variety of role-playing game:
A massively multiplayer online game is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are games that differ. These games can be found for most network-capable platforms, including the personal computer, video game console, or smartphones and other mobile devices.
Player versus player (PvP) is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between human players. This is often compared to player versus environment (PvE), in which the game itself controls its players' opponents. The terms are most often used in games where both activities exist, particularly MMORPGs, MUDs, and other role-playing video games, to distinguish between gamemodes. PvP can be broadly used to describe any game, or aspect of a game, where players compete against each other. PvP is often controversial when used in role-playing games. In most cases, there are vast differences in abilities between players. PvP can even encourage experienced players to immediately attack and kill inexperienced players. PvP is often referred to as player killing in the cases of games which contain, but do not focus on, such interaction.
Tibia is a multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 1997, developed and published by CipSoft. It is one of the earliest and longest-running MMORPGs, reaching its peak popularity in 2007. The game is free to play but players may pay to upgrade to a premium account. Tibia is a two-dimensional tile-based game set in a fantasy world with pixel art graphics and a top-down perspective.
Meridian 59 is a 1996 video game developed by Archetype Interactive and published by The 3DO Company. It was the first 3D graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and one of the longest running original online role-playing games. The development team included John Hanke, who later founded Niantic, Inc. and codeveloped Google Earth and Pokémon Go.
The Realm Online, originally known as The Realm, is a long-running massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) initially launched by Sierra On-Line in December 1996 for Windows PC. It was designed in the tradition of graphical MUDs, before the usage of the terms "massively multiplayer" and "MMORPG". Since launch, The Realm has been online through the game server Despothes' Grove (1996) followed by three fresh start servers: Finvarra's Fortress (2018), Elphame's Arena (2021), and Mabon's Gamble (2023).
Player versus environment is a term used for both single player and online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, other online role-playing video games and survival games to refer to fighting computer-controlled enemies - in contrast to PvP which is fighting other players in the game. In survival games a large part may be fighting the elements, controlling hunger and thirst, learning to adapt to the environment and exploration.
In role-playing games, an alternate character, often referred to in slang as alt, alt char, or less commonly multi, is a character in addition to one's "primary" or "main" player character. Players are generally not secretive about their alternate characters, unless having multiple characters is against the rules of the game, or in a role-playing environment where alternate characters might be judged by the actions of the primary character. In games where multiple characters are disallowed, enforcement of this restriction can be difficult, especially without specialized tools.
In massively multiplayer online games, an instance is a special area, typically a dungeon, that generates a new copy of the location for each group, or for a certain number of players, that enters the area. Instancing, the general term for the use of this technique, addresses several problems encountered by players in the shared spaces of virtual worlds. It is not widely known when instances were first used in this genre. However, The Realm Online (1996) is sometimes credited as introducing the concept.
Grinding is a term within video game culture that describes time spent in the game in which a player repeats a general task in order to gain rewards like in-game currency, in-game experience, player stats or other reward types. The method was first seen in dnd, and though there are many adaptations of it, it has since become an entire category of gameplay.
In video games, an exploit is the use of a bug or glitch, in a way that gives a substantial unfair advantage to players using it. However, whether particular acts constitute an exploit can be controversial, typically involving the argument that the issues are part of the game, and no changes or external programs are needed to take advantage of them.
Permadeath or permanent death is a game mechanic in both tabletop games and video games in which player characters who lose all of their health are considered dead and cannot be used anymore. Depending on the situation, this could require the player to create a new character to continue, or completely restart the game potentially losing nearly all progress made. Other terms include persona death and player death. Some video games offer a hardcore mode that features this mechanic, rather than making it part of the core game.
The Corrupted Blood incident took place between September 13 and October 8, 2005, in World of Warcraft, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment. When participating in a certain boss battle at the end of a raid, player characters would become infected with a debuff that was transmitted between characters in close proximity. While developers intended to keep the effects of the debuff within this boss's game region, a programming oversight soon led to an in-game pandemic throughout the fictional world of Azeroth.
The history of massively multiplayer online games spans over thirty years and hundreds of massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) titles. The origin and influence on MMO games stems from MUDs, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and earlier social games.
Turf Battles, often referred to as TB, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). It is IMAZIC's first released game first introduced in 2002. Turf Battles takes place within the world of Fomalhaut, years after a major war. Originally published under HyperEngines LLC, the open beta was announced around September 2005. Due to many technical issues, the game ultimately failed, and Hyper Engines LLC closed its operations mid-2008, but due to popular player support, the title was picked up for the American audience by Aeria Games and Entertainment, who announced Turf Battles in December 2008. After three closed betas, Turf Battles has gone into a final Beta Stress Test, which moved into an open beta. Aeria Games closed down the Turf Battles servers in June 2010, citing several technical issues that continued during the development.
Survival games are a subgenre of action games which are often set in hostile, intense, open-world environments. Players generally start with minimal equipment and are required to survive as long as possible by finding the resources necessary to manage hunger, thirst, disease and/or mental state. Many survival games are based on randomly or procedurally generated persistent environments; more recently, survival games are often playable online, allowing players to interact in a single world. Survival games are generally open-ended with no set goals and often closely related to the survival horror genre, where the player must survive within a supernatural setting, such as a zombie apocalypse.
Fiesta is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows. Fiesta features an anime style characters rendered in 3D. Fiesta Online was originally published in 2003 but was later published by Outspark and subsequently taken over by Gamigo AG.
Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms.
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.
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.
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