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A number of player actions over the weekend in Star Trek Online had many members of the forum community calling for Cryptic to roll out the ban wagon. But what constitutes griefing, and how much should players be penalized for what the actual (not implied) rules of the game allow them to do, especially when said actions are purely for entertainment rather than gear, levels, and credits? Who's treating the game as a game: Starfleet Dental, or its detractors? We'll present the evidence in Loading... Good Grief, and let you be the judge.

The Pulse

You vote with what you
view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse ( href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).

Here
are today's top 5 Pulse results over the last week:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow">World
   of Warcraft
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2">EverQuest
   II
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro">Lord of the
   Rings Online
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ddo">Dungeons and
   Dragons Online (UP 1)
5. Warhammer Online (UP 3)

Biggest
movers today:

1. Global Agenda (UP 7 to #16)
2. EVE Online (down 3 to #7)
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/287">Free Realms (UP 3 to #17)

• size="-1">12/1 - href="http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/464-answer-the-call-of-war">LotRO:
  Siege of Mirkwood (expansion)
• size="-1">12/1 - href="http://www.eveonline.com/Dominion/">EVE
  Online: Dominion (expansion)
• size="-1">12/15 - href="http://everquest.station.sony.com/everquest.vm">EverQuest:
  Underfoot (expansion) 
• size="-1">2/1 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/926">Global
  Agenda (release date)
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">2/1 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1004">Mortal
  Online (release date)
• size="-1">2/2 size="-1"> - Star
  Trek Online (release date)
• size="-1">2/16 - href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
  2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
• size="-1">2/16 - LotRO: Oath of the Rangers (content update)

• size="-1">March
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/998">APB
• size="-1">April
  2010 - City of Heroes: Issue 17
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1801">Mytheon
• size="-1">TBA
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2079">Final
  Fantasy XIV
  
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2011 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/swtor">Star Wars:
  The Old
  Republic size="-1">

size="-1">Upcoming
Events

• size="-1">3/9 - 3/13 - Game Developers Conference 2010
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">3/26 - 3/28 - PAX East 2010

Loading... Daily

First, some Final Fantasy news from VanaFest in Tokyo over the weekend. As reported by ffxivcore.com, the Final Fantasy XIV alpha will begin on March 11th for special invitees. Beyond that, the rest is really non-news. VanaFest attendees got to see footage of the game and learn about a number of changes coming to the game, including a level cap raise and three $9.99 DLCs, dubiously dubbed "battle area add-on scenarios", coming to Final Fantasy XI later this year. More as we know more.

I hesitate to say that the discontent is ratcheting up in Star Trek Online; complaints are always louder from without than from within. But, as the latest state of the game and our STO review will show, Cryptic is aware of some problems. One nexus of said problems revolves around Starfleet Dental (said to be the STO arm of the SomethingAwful Goons, we cannot confirm nor deny) continuously self-destructing their ships at Earth spacedock. In STO, ships caught within a certain radius of exploding warp cores, be they hostile or friendly, are dealt significant damage.

From our last interview with Cryptic, we know that self-destruct was never meant to be in the live game. Ramming is possible with a certain set of abilities, and I imagine that two ships ramming each other would be enough to trigger a nasty chain reaction on a spawn-in location. I don't know about the mechanics of how they pulled this off, but posts in this thread (thanks to viewer Buddah Braddah for sending these links to me) seemed to indicate that you could full impulse through the blast zone if you were on your toes.

In the SFD video, you'll also find another instance of what STO posted identify as griefing, with Klingon captains being lured aboard Federation vessels by the promise of items and credits, then killed over and over again before they could reach the turbolift to escape. In my book, it's a sorry Klingon that beams aboard a Feddie ship expecting anything less than pitched combat. Chalk this one up to cupidity and stupidity on the part of the aggrieved, and I'll confess that the video had me laughing halfway in.

Before I go further, I should note that there is no lasting death or durability penalty in Star Trek Online at the moment, and from what I can tell, at the very worst, players affected need only log out and log in again to get a new earth spacedock instance or return to their bridge. Is it an inconvenience? No doubt. Is it griefing? I'm not so sure. Griefing connotes absolute helplessness on the part of the victim, and that's a rare thing in today's games, especially with the advent of the /ignore command and Cryptic's use of instancing. What folks seem to be upset about is the fact that they can't play the game the way they want to play it, and in a social game, that's just as childish as anything SFD attempted.

Given EVE Goon leader Darius Johnson's epic quote on the matter ("we don't want to break the game, we want to break your game"), it's the same old question: how much of the blame for "griefing" falls on the developers, naievete and lack of creativity / problem-solving on the part of the victims, and how much on the griefers? In these cases, I think there's enough blame to go around, and I also think that Star Trek Online could be a better game for having a group of players so ready to identify the game's weaknesses.

What's your definition of griefing? Is SFD guilty as charged, and should they be banned? Or should players understand that they play a game as-is, without a structure of etiquette superimposed by other players? Let's discuss in the Loading... forum!

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day

From our Members Only: Ten Ton Topics


Ask a Dev (ANY Dev!)

You'll have to be a Ten Ton Hammer premium member
to view this thread (yes, I'm a tease.) It would be well worth the
price of admission, though. Not only would you become one of the elite
(and first to receive any special bonuses we get such as prizes, event
swag, and, of course, beta keys), but you'd be able to ask MMOG
developers your questions about the gaming industry. If you're already
a premium member, ask away right here.

==============================

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread


Shhh! These top secret quotes are in our Members Only forum.

==============================



Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell
us!

New and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

8 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 8 in March! 238
in 2010!

REVIEWS

Star Trek Online Review
http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/reviews/fullreview

The
time has come--Star Trek Online will have been officially live for one
month come tomorrow. In celebration of this historic event, we've
posted our official review of the game. Get your shields up and your
phasers set to stun, because although it has been enjoyable to play,
there are more things than just NPCs that need killing.

INTERVIEWS

Champions Online: An Exclusive Revelation Q&A with Bill Roper
http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/features/interviews/revelation

Champions
Online subscribers will soon be getting another massive zone to explore
with the Revelation digital expansion, due out later this month.
Centered around the half human, half angel Therakiel’s attempts to
bring the apocalypse to the mystic city of Vibora Bay, players will be
gaining new powers, new costumes and an all new repeatable lair to get
their capes dirty in.

Myst Online: Uru Live Again – Q&A with Rand Miller
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81562

With
the recent resurrection of Myst Online: Uru Live Again, Ten Ton Hammer
puzzled out the tough quests to get to the bottom of the story. To that
end, we tracked down Rand Miller, co-founder and CEO of Cyan Worlds,
and the man responsible for millions of gamers’ heads exploding from
trying to figure out puzzles over the years.

FEATURES & GUIDES

Small Scale Imports For New Players In EVE Online
http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/business/small_imports

Importing
goods from one location to another may seem like something only
advanced players with big, expensive ships can do. Nothing could be
farther than the truth. Space Junkie tells us how new players can
get a piece of the action.

Global Agenda Editorial - Where are the Recons?
http://www.tentonhammer.com/globalagenda/recon_ava

There's
usually no shame in stabbing your opponent in the back or shooting them
from afar (in a MMOG, at least.) Unfortunately for the Recon in Global
Agenda, it can be highly ineffective as healing overpowers melee damage
in short order and sniping proves difficult on moving targets. So what
roles does the Recon actually fill? Not a whole lot, sadly. We break
down the problems and reasoning behind the great deficiency of the
class in Agency vs. Agency warfare!

Star Trek Online: State of the Game 2/25/2010
http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/state_of_the_game_02-2010

Cryptic
has heard the wailing and gnashing of teeth. They are not blind to your
protest signs. If you've been thinking about quitting Star Trek Online
because of (insert issue X, Y or Z here) then make sure to peruse this
week's State of the Game before you hit that "cancel subscription"
button. Medeor takes out his red pen and adds his own commentary to
Cryptic's notes, so feel free to agree or stay quiet.

WoW PTR Patch 3.3.3 - General Overview
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81514

The
winds of change are once again blowing across Azeroth, and they are
bringing Patch 3.3.3 ever closer. Will these changes appease the
masses, or cause turmoil in the World of Warcraft community? With the
release of the patch notes earlier this week we finally have the
answers to these questions

WoW - Hunting the Elusive Rare Spawn
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81534

For
those achievement seekers in  World of Warcraft hunting out rare
spawns is a necessity. However the task can be daunting, tedious, and
sometimes near impossible. This week Mem tackles these achievements and
gives some helpful hints and tips to aid you on your journey to finding
rare spawns.


Today's
Hottest Articles and Guides

1. A Sneak Peek at LotRO Volume 3 Book 1
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81345">A
   New Dawn with
   Gods
   & Heroes - Q&A
   with
   Tim Schubert style="font-weight: bold;">
   
   
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81234">Going
   Rogue with City of Heroes
   - A Q&A with Melissa
   Bianco
4. Star Trek Online: Putting the ‘Fleet' Back In Fleet Action
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81387">Aika
   Class Interview Series Part
   1 - The Paladin href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81387">
   
   
6. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/mytheon/video/introQA_pt2">Mytheon href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/mytheon/video/introQA_pt2">
   Video
   Q&A Part 2: Sound, Loot, Launch Plans, and Microtransactions
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81282">EVE
   Online href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81282"> - Sins
   of a
   Solar
   Spymaster #39 - The Twilight of the Great Powers
8. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81285">Allods
   Online href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81285">Archetype
   Interview Series Part 3 - The Mage
9. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81438">Can BioWare
   Put the RPG Back in MMORPG?
10. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/the_traveler_episode3">Star
    Trek Online href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/the_traveler_episode3">:
    The Traveler's Guide - Episode 3

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network

- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle
and the
Ten Ton Hammer team