Gamers Don't Want Grief

An article at the Guardian Gamesblog looks at the frustrations of online griefers. They talk about some of the unpleasant activities online gamers engage in, and briefly discuss the future of dealing with griefers. Scott Jennings and Richard Bartle chime in with ideas on how things might be handled. From the article: "'I expect we'll see more and more self-government,' says Scott Jennings, game developer and author of Massively Multiplayer Games For Dummies. 'The reason is fairly obvious if not particularly noble: it's less expensive for game companies to have their customers police themselves than hire people to do it. The trick, and why you don't see it generally, is to construct self-policing schemes in such a way that they don't enable unscrupulous players to use them as tools of grief.'" Darniaq disagrees, on the basis that players just don't care about immersion.

Re:Art imitates Life

[CSZeus]

Wiretapping != griefing.

G.I.F.T. [penny-arcade.com] is probably more accurate.

Mod parent down!

[Anonymous Coward]

He's on to us.

Re:Forget it

[Anonymous Coward]

Last time I checked, no one was buying a game called Fascism Tycoon.

Is that like Railroad Tycoon, except the trains run on time? ;-)

Re:Art imitates Life

[voice_of_all_reason]

That's why all pay MMORPGS should make the billing address of the credit card they're charging visible when you legend/finger/whois another player. They can even throw in other stats contributed by the community in order to facilitate RL pkills.

Joe Smith the Hobbit Deathmaster
123 Fraud St
New York, New York, 10138
+5% to the Obesity skill
+3% to Yu Gi Oh cards skill
0 points in "Times Laid" stat
Weak against: twinkies, sunlight, chores. Key to back door under the mat.

Re:And I thought

[ClamIAm]

Holy shit, Jack Thompson is just a griefer! Except instead of getting the banhammer, people listen to him :(

Re:Forget it

[coyotecult]

Last time I checked, no one was buying a game called Fascism Tycoon.

All of the sudden I have an intense desire to acquire such a game.

Game Over - Insert Coin?

[tepples]

No other game has such harsh penalties. What EVE brings to the world of MMO's is truly lacking in every other game out there. When you win -- you REALLY win, when you lose, you REALLY lose.

I have never played the game, and Wikipedia's article isn't much to go on, but does that include losing one's account if one performs poorly in the game?

Re:Stereotypes and racial hatred

[Anonymous Coward]

dude, if you're relying on WOW for your memorable life moments you need to cancel your account and go outside.