I thought this was interesting:
wow.ogaming.com/info/Articles~11.php
Griefer: (noun) Someone who griefs other players. Causes grief.
What is a griefer, really? What differentiates a griefer from someone who is role-playing or keeping with the spirit of the game? Here are a few examples of what is, and is NOT, a griefer.
The griefer is the guy that plays an online game for no other reason than to give others a hard time and laugh at their misfortune (I use the term AC/a,!A"guyAC/a,!? here because, in my experience, the ratio of male to female griefers is about 10,000:1). The griefer is the one that will run up to you, out of nowhere and either attack you or, in the case of some games that require certain items to be used for spells, etcAC/a,!A| will first steal whatever you have that is needed to defend yourself, THEN attack you. They also rejoice in finding ways to break into your house or your clanAC/a,!a,,C/s house, usually through the use of bugs in the software, after which they will proceed to rob you blind. The griefer is the guy that will stand over your corpse, after having killed you, making comments about your mother and her choice of footwear.
Someone that stands right behind a portal drop, weapon in hand, in attack mode, waiting for some hapless victim to come through so that they can slaughter and lootAC/a,!A|ThatAC/a,!a,,C/s a griefer. Someone who waits a good distance away from the same drop, waiting for people to come through and be prepared for combat before attacking them (or even giving a warning) is NOT a griefer.
Someone that stacks shovels, axes, picks, bags of grain etcAC/a,!A| in order to climb over the walls around your home so they can break in and rob you blindAC/a,!A| ThatAC/a,!a,,C/s a griefer. Someone who kills you in fair combat, takes the keys to your home (or other method of entry that you should NOT have been carrying), then uses that key and robs you blind could be called a griefer, but could also be called a role-player. If they walk in and steal a few ultra-valuable items, then leave your key on a table inside; they definitely do NOT qualify as a griefer.
Someone exploits a bug in the game to buy the uber magic staff you just found, for 1 gold pieceAC/a,!A| griefer. Someone offers you 5% of what that staff is worth because they know what it is and you donAC/a,!a,,C/t, and you acceptAC/a,!A| shrewd businessman.
Someone in your party stands there and does nothing to help while you get slaughtered by the 6-headed beast of certain death, then runs away leaving your body behind to be looted by ruffiansAC/a,!A| not a griefer, but certainly a putz. That same guy goes invis right after you die, then ninja-loots your corpse and runs away with all your goodiesAC/a,!A| griefer. Someone that runs around, invisible, through high level areas, looting the corpses of people unfortunate enough to meet their demiseAC/a,!A| scavenger.
Griefers are the bane of the MMORPG. They exist solely to ruin the experience for others and are responsible for more people quitting MMORPGs than any other reason. Once griefers get a foothold in a game or on a server, they are like a cancer. They grow and spread and begin to destroy the game from the inside out. They spend all of their early days in the game finding exploits that will allow them to create very powerful characters or, failing that, macroing or treadmilling to build their stats. Once they feel they are powerful enough, they set out in search of victims. They prefer to pick on the weak, the wounded, or those engaged in combat. There is no reasoning with them and any attempt to dissuade them from their actions usually results in them telling you to AC/a,!A"sux0rAC/a,!? on something.
I have been out, collecting ingredients for crafting, and had one of these types run up while I was in combat with one of the mobs that drops a crafting item or chopping on a tree or the like. TheyAC/a,!a,,C/ll pull out their +90 longbow of fission-fusion-fission that they looted from someone they were supposed to be grouped with, and then attack. (They usually hit very hard and fast with no warning), then stand over my corpse, looting the crafting items I was carrying, spouting out AC/a,!A"h4h4h4h4! I pwnd j00, n00b! j00 R sux0r n I R l33tz0r!AC/a,!?
Yes, griefers have been around since the dawn of the MMORPG. No, theyAC/a,!a,,C/re not likely to be leaving us any time soon. Blizzard says that they wonAC/a,!a,,C/t be tolerated in WoW, and I hope that they keep their word on that. The impact that these people can have on someone goes well beyond the simple frustration that comes along with the gaming experience. There was a situation with a popular MMORPG, which I will discuss, that led to much more dire consequences than someone getting angry and quitting or filing a lawsuit against a griefer.
Enter Shawn Woolley, a 21-year-old man from Wisconsin. Shawn had become AC/a,!A"addictedAC/a,!? to a popular MMORPG, spending upwards of 12 hours per day online. At one point, one of ShawnAC/a,!a,,C/s close, online AC/a,!A"friendsAC/a,!? turned on him, stealing everything that Shawn had amassed. Shawn was so devastated by this event that he even quit playing for a while, but then the addiction caught up with him. He took a job that allowed him to get an apartment and purchase a used computer.
On November 11, 2001, Shawn quit his job and began a marathon playing session. He stopped answering his phone or even buying food. After 2 days of attempting to get in to his apartment, his mother, Liz Woolley, finally had the chain lock on his door cut. When she entered his apartment, on the morning of Thanksgiving, 2001, she found him dead, in front of his computer, from a self inflicted .22 caliber gunshot wound.
While theories abound as to what led to this young man taking his own life his mother knows, in her heart, that it had to do with him getting emotionally crushed by something in the game. Someone, somewhere, hurt Shawn so badly that this was the only escape he could find from the torment. It appears that one of these griefers was able to reach beyond the world of the MMORPG and actually take a human life.
In March of 2003, a popular magazine ran an article about grief players in online games. In it they interviewed some of these griefers and were able to provide a bit of an insight into the mentality of the people that are there to ruin it for others. Looking at online posts from a character named AC/a,!A"XanderAC/a,!? they got a story about the first kill and the beginning of a career in griefing.
Xander recounts walking up to another character in the game Ultima Online and striking up a conversation. He remembers his heart pounding when, out of nowhere, he attacked and killed the other player. He remembers feeling as if he were on a roller coaster, rocking back and forth in his chair.
Then there are entire clans that devote themselves to griefing. They kill innocent players, ambush one another and do everything they can to ruin the game for everyone around them. They say that their joy comes from AC/a,!A"Looting someone even though you donAC/a,!a,,C/t really need the items. And then hanging out and waiting for their return so you can rub it in their face. ItAC/a,!a,,C/s killing someone over and over and over again. ItAC/a,!a,,C/s coming up with clever ways to ruin someoneAC/a,!a,,C/s game.AC/a,!? In another post, we read AC/a,!A"We kill, we steal, we build our fortune, we make people crazy and we do our best to spread chaos and ill feeling. And guess what we get from all that? The greatest pleasure and satisfaction of all our playersAC/a,!a,,C/ careers.AC/a,!?
Whose responsibility is it to deal with grief players? Is it something that should be dealt with by the player community or by the game developers? This writer believes that the burden of controlling these people falls squarely on the shoulders of the company that created the game. There is very little that the players can do against griefers because the griefers donAC/a,!a,,C/t care about being killed or looted. The things that they carry are of no consequence to them. They donAC/a,!a,,C/t care about building a personal fortune or having friends in the game and they donAC/a,!a,,C/t care if everything they have is taken from them. They know that they will simply rebuild and start to grief again.
The only solution that will help stem the tide of the griefer is to remove them from the equation. When a player exploits a bug in the game in order to grief another player, they have to be disciplined. We know that most of the grief players donAC/a,!a,,C/t care if they are warned or given a weeklong ban from the game so the only solution left is to block their accounts, permanently. Yes, they can go buy another copy of the game but if they use that one to grief as well, it should be blocked. Eventually, the expense will override the urge to hurt others and they will either fall in line or move on to another game. Either way, they are dealt with.
Now, a word to those who may read this article that just happen to be the type of people weAC/a,!a,,C/re discussing hereAC/a,!A|A quick statement, to the griefer, from me.
When you approach someone, in this game or any other, intent on doing something to them just for the fun of watching them squirm or for the boost in self esteem you get from ruining the game for someone else, think about somethingAC/a,!A|What would you do if your Mother, Father, Sister or Brother were a player and someone griefed them? How would you feel if you came home from work or school one day and found that one of your loved ones had taken their own life over something that someone did to them in the game? How would it effect you if someone did this to you, in the real world? Imagine how you would feel if you were walking down the street and someone approached you and struck up a conversation, then out of nowhere hit you in the head with a bat and took everything you had with you. How would you feel if someone did that to your Mother? Imagine getting a phone call and the police telling you that your little sister was murdered and robbedAC/a,!A|
I know what youAC/a,!a,,C/re thinking. YouAC/a,!a,,C/re thinking, AC/a,!A"ItAC/a,!a,,C/s only a gameAC/a,!?. TrueAC/a,!A|it IS only a gameAC/a,!A|to some. To others, those that become immersed in the experience, it is much more than just a game. You may not understand it or agree with it, but itAC/a,!a,,C/s true. Shawn Woolley proved that to all of us. Do YOU want to be responsible for carrying out the act that pushed another human being to end their life? Yes, you could be the one. You could be the catalyst in the death of a real, flesh and blood human being. You may not care about any of this. You may read these words and scoff, thinking me a fool for bothering to type them out. You may even come looking for me in game just to rub them in my face. Just know that, in the end, you or anyone you interact with could be the next Shawn Woolley. I know I wouldnAC/a,!a,,C/t want that on MY conscience.
- Until next time, Terraphon
I decided to add a little side note to this before submitting it. There has been quite a bit of a stir over Blizzards decision to add an NPC to the game that is named after a fan site staff member that was killed in a car accident. There are many forum postings on many sites where people insult Blizzard over this and even make negative comments about the person being commemorated.
Before any of you start to make negative comments about Shawn Woolley and the situation that I discussed here, please think twice. The loss of any human life, whether you know and care about the person or not is not anything to be made light of. I ask that you please not fill our forum or any others with flames regarding this subject.
Thank You.
Liz Woolley