Virtual bullying for dummies.
The Escapist #19 focuses on griefing.
" It was not a good day for the virtual world. It was the next-to-last Sunday in October, a day before a major new patch for Second Life, a 3-D online environment that boasts 70,000 residents in the same, non-sharded world. It might have been a day like any other – except for the small spherical object one resident added to the stock of user-created content that makes Second Life almost unique among virtual worlds. "
" My attacker shapeshifted into a huge Tauren, whose name was emblazoned in red above his head. It read, "Hellacow" (name changed to protect the asshole). He was way above my level, the skull in my target frame told me he was at least 39, but probably much higher. "
" The griefer is a player of malign intentions. They will hurt, humiliate and dishevel the average gamer through bending and breaking the rules of online games. But their activities are hardly extraordinary. Indeed, they only exist at all because of normal, human urges, albeit the ugly and reprehensible ones. They want glory, gain or just to partake in a malignant joy at the misfortune of others. But does griefing always mean overcoming the rules of a game? Can the intentions of the griefer be satisfied by something totally within the bounds of a game? "
" After some consideration, Knightmare and two other players banded together and created the character Mafia. "[Khepry] wouldn't share, we knew that sharing would help all of Egypt; I took it upon myself to make him share using any means necessary." "
NewsThu, Nov 17, 2005Boomjack
