Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Age Of Conan Griefing Frivolity

By John Walker on June 6th, 2008 at 10:50 pm.

For people keeping score. Griefing: very funny. Benny Hill theme: makes me want to die.


Thanks attack: Martin.

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62 Comments »

  1. 06/06/2008 at 22:51 Meat Circus says:

    Yakety sax, should you care.

    Creative griefing lols make it all better.

  2. 06/06/2008 at 22:54 Chris Evans says:

    Griefing – only fun when you are watching or doing it.

  3. 06/06/2008 at 22:59 Flint says:

    Griefing? Fun? What is this bizarroworld?

  5. 06/06/2008 at 23:06 Meat Circus says:

    Griefing is funny when happening to other people.

    Because frankly, other people deserve everything they get.

    HTH.

  6. 06/06/2008 at 23:19 CrashT says:

    Schadenfreude baby…

  7. 06/06/2008 at 23:19 Nuyan says:

    It’s awesome. Would have a smile on my face if someone pulled off something like that to me.

    This stuff makes me laugh out loud as well. I think that’s a pretty awful way of Funcom to deal with these things.

  8. 06/06/2008 at 23:20 John Walker says:

    As Mel Brooks said,

    “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die.”

  9. 06/06/2008 at 23:21 Acosta says:

    Oh, come on, it’s really funny. I still remember when people used Mind Control in WoW to drop players into the lava. It’s one of that things that makes MMO so unpredictable.

    And Benny Hill tune is great! (I must mention that I have a severe case of Anglophilia).

  10. 06/06/2008 at 23:22 John Walker says:

    My favourite griefing measure is in the forthcoming Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. High level players who try to go into low level PvP areas will automatically be turned into level 1 chickens.

  11. 06/06/2008 at 23:29 Chris Evans says:

    ….John you have made my day with that :D

  12. 06/06/2008 at 23:44 K says:

    I’d like to think it’s the same person trying to pass every time.

  13. 07/06/2008 at 00:12 Frymaster says:

    I don’t see how griefing – intentionally ruining other people’s experience – could ever be considered funny. It’s morally equivalent to cheating – “I can circumvent the rules and behaviours expected because I want to; No number of people’s frustration is as important as my enjoyment” and frankly it’s just juvenile

  14. 07/06/2008 at 00:21 John Walker says:

    I agree it’s juvenile, but that certainly doesn’t preclude it from being funny. I don’t agree that it’s cheating.

    Here’s a thing I wrote for Gamer a year or so ago about griefing in games. There are some absolutely wonderful examples where it’s the most creative and hilarious thing. And clearly many when it’s cruel and spoils it for everyone.

    To quote from the intro,

    “These are the anarchists of gaming, taking the ingredients they’re given and making a cake no one was expecting.”

  15. 07/06/2008 at 00:26 Muzman says:

    Kids these days. What is the world coming to?
    What sort of person can do that kind of thing without asking them the mean flight speed of an unladen swallow first?

  16. 07/06/2008 at 00:40 Frymaster says:

    It’s not technically equivalent to cheating but it’s the same sort of mindset – “I deserve different treatment to all of you”

    I’m in favour of interesting cakes. I’m not in favour of having them shoved down my mouth whether I want it or not

  17. 07/06/2008 at 00:45 CrashT says:

    I’d have thought that by this point newbies would have learned that it’s in their best interests to band together to deal with griefers.

    I mean on the one hand it’s creative experimentation with the boundaries of the game, on the other it’s juvnile behaviour at the expense of others. But if there’s a lesson it it surely it’s that if you’re on the recieving end you maybe try and be more creative yourself, because getting your own back is a whole other world of fun.

  18. 07/06/2008 at 00:51 Verdugo says:

    Griefing: only funny when you are watching it.

  19. 07/06/2008 at 00:58 cannon fodder says:

    Griefing is the reason why I only play FPS deathmatch (CoD4 currently). There is not griefer that can’t be put in his place by splattering the contents of his head hitbox across the scenery with an automatic weapon – works well in game too.

  20. 07/06/2008 at 01:24 po says:

    Griefing is like You’ve Been Framed. It’s funniest when recorded so as many can laugh at it as possible. Doing it without recording it is just selfish, as it’s only entertaining one person.

  21. 07/06/2008 at 01:32 caesarbear says:

    Griefing: only funny when you are a juvenile, or think like one.

    It’s done by those too disinterested in the actual game and with little care for real gamesmanship. You never see griefing in any kind of dedicated activity only when the participants are trying to waste their otherwise useless time. It’s not creative, it’s asinine copycat antagonism.

  22. 07/06/2008 at 01:39 Martin says:

    If the griefers weren’t such wimps, they’d do the same thing in real life and start griefing during Super Bowl games.

  23. 07/06/2008 at 01:53 Jonathan says:

    Wasn’t one mmorpg going to literally crucify player killers? As in nail their player character to a cross on the street. Whatever happened to that?

  24. 07/06/2008 at 02:02 Lucky says:

    Griefing is about as fun as Republican National Convention.

  25. 07/06/2008 at 02:13 BETTY says:

    Come on guys, this video is hilarious! Isn’t that part of the fun of playing in a free (and dangerous) world? I suppose people play games for different reasons. Some seek achievement and some just want to escape the daily grind and use this platform to creatively interact.

  26. 07/06/2008 at 03:11 Feral Fish says:

    They ALMOST have me sold on this game (and the video card upgrade I’ve been putting off). This video is another check in the plus column but I’m waiting for camel and horse face punching to be implemented before I commit.

  27. 07/06/2008 at 03:44 TychoCelchuuu says:

    I think it’s funny. So there.

  28. 07/06/2008 at 04:49 Saflo says:

    OT, but there’s an update on Steam about the further ruining of TF2. One of the Pyro’s weapons is the “Axtinguisher”; also there will be “significant changes” to the class. I know it’s 5(?) in the morning over there, but you guys have gotta hop on this.

  29. 07/06/2008 at 04:52 sherwinpg says:

    i think i might buy AOC now

  30. 07/06/2008 at 04:53 Andrew Farrell says:

    No, the two elements are equally funny.

  31. 07/06/2008 at 05:03 Andrew Farrell says:

    I’d have thought that by this point newbies would have learned

    Yeah, but by definition the newbies are the ones that haven’t learned. That’s what the griefers are counting on, is a steady supply of newbies who haven’t learned to avoid the asshole on the donkey.

    (Also a crucial question about the video is: is that the only way to get from one landmass to another?)

  32. 07/06/2008 at 05:25 I fell like a prick doing this says:

    http://fidgit.com/archives/2008/06/age-of-conan-the-physics-of-ho.php

    Ahem!
    And I thought you guys read his blog?

  33. 07/06/2008 at 05:27 Nate says:

    The grief police are looking through my folders!

    These anti-griefers all sound like they never drank two bottles of Nyquil on a bored teenage Saturday night. How can you trust a person like that? It’s debatable about exactly how much fun griefing is (lots), and for who (me), but its clear that anti-grief drivel is no fun for anyone.

  34. 07/06/2008 at 07:08 Razor says:

    I guess this is why WoW doesn’t have collision detection for players =P

  35. 07/06/2008 at 08:27 Swyyw says:

    You see griefing I see emergent gameplay :p

  36. 07/06/2008 at 08:34 Kadayi says:

    I’m pretty sure no ones forcing you to play them, so perhaps save the hate for something more worthwhile.

    As for the Video, pretty funny. With any MMO the initial launch period is a heavy one for people to get creative with ways of exploiting the games mechanics to dramatic effect. That people make videos of their exploits now, should make it a lot easier for the programmers to figure out the problems and rectify them shortly.

    Also having read the links it’s clear the GM was speaking for himself, not for the company. He/she probably received a tonne of complaint tickets about players being ganked wack-a-mole style every time they spawned by a large high level horde and thought enough is enough. It was a dumb mistake to try and engage with these guys directly in the first place, better to record the events and file a report with the programmers as to the nature of the problem.

  37. 07/06/2008 at 08:37 James T says:

    I… see…

  38. 07/06/2008 at 10:26 KindredPhantom says:

    Horsing around. :D

    Griefers can be beneficial in finding and exploit bugs or gameplay elements that people haven’t thought possible or missed.

  39. 07/06/2008 at 10:50 Kadayi says:

    Griefers can be beneficial in finding and exploit bugs or gameplay elements that people haven’t thought possible or missed.

    Agreed. I’m all for the ones that establish where problems lie, even if being malicious, but the vast majority tend to coattail on the back of the few innovators.

  40. 07/06/2008 at 12:55 Frans Coehoorn says:

    Now try this with a rhino or a mammoth!

  41. 07/06/2008 at 16:06 Saflo says:

    Pirates are the real victims. Anti-griefers are the real griefers. Space marines do not need to wear pants.

    Up is down. Black is white.

  42. 07/06/2008 at 16:23 jennyy says:

    Griefing is funny, which is weird, because it’s mainly just a virtual ripoff of Just For Laughs Gags, which is not funny at all.

  43. 07/06/2008 at 16:53 Down Rodeo says:

    That video’s brilliant. Griefing-wise, they’re not losing that much from it. All they need to do is avoid the horse-on-bridge at later times. Or have a poor enough connection that they teleport right by him :)

    All in all there are worse ways of behaving in MMOs than this.

  44. 07/06/2008 at 18:47 Ergates says:

    Griefing is the online equivalent of going up to a group of people playing football in a park and deliberately kicking their ball into the pond.

    Childish wankers the lot of them.

  45. 07/06/2008 at 18:50 sherwinpg says:

    lol thats hilarious, i’d like to see videos of that to

  46. 07/06/2008 at 20:42 terry says:

    Entertaining viewing although I do feel sorry for the victims. However griefing does occasionally makes for some memorable events – Ultima online’s rainz killing garriott, Belan and Galad gloating over their lootees, Team Roomba’s impromptu quiz show in TF2, the plague in Second Life and WoW, the genos in Habbo Hotel, etc etc. Hell even lucasarts’ habitat way back in 1986 had a similar problem (with a magic stick, if i recall correctly). I haven’t yet seen a game that encompasses these sorts of things into the game world yet, but the first one that does will be … interesting.

  47. 08/06/2008 at 01:14 Jahkaivah says:

    It depends heavily on what kind of greifing, there are some kind which can seriously screw someone over.

    Alot of the time (like this instance) though its really just harmless fun, if its stopping you from playing you could just leave the server or area, whining about it is just being a party pooper, grow a sense of humour please.

    Also, im no Age of Conan expert, but surely you could stand next the to horseman at the side and kill him? Logic would dictate that being mounted is a disadvantage unless you have kick back or momentum.

    Have to say its definatly an interesting game, sadly it appears taking the MMO trend of actually expecting you to play full price for a game to find out whether you like it or not.

  48. 08/06/2008 at 08:35 Rob says:

    @Jahkaivah

    At one point people do try to attack him in the video, and evidently the level differential is sufficient that he doesn’t have to worry about it. I can only assume he’d make way for 2 level 80s, say.

  49. 08/06/2008 at 22:59 cyrenic says:

    To all those saying griefing is only funny when happening to other people, I would have been laughing my ass off had that been the way I found out horses in AoC can kick people (and it sure looked like that’s what was happening). Maybe I’m just weird like that :P.

  50. 09/06/2008 at 04:42 luckystriker says:

    Awesome and funny. Makes me want to buy AoC. It’s worth noting that the guy on the horse is obviously at a so much higher level than the people running by, he could just as easily 1-shot them instead of kicking them off the path with his horse.

  51. 09/06/2008 at 09:45 Lu-Tze says:

    One person does start attacking him, and then makes the woeful mistake of running around behind the horse anyway. Likewise later on you can see arrows thunking into his head as he kicks people.

    It seems in general though that Funcom are using the CCP philosophy of “sort it out yourself” particularly for things like this where they aren’t actually doing anything WRONG in the game. You don’t like it? Group up and kill the smeg.

    Blocking up doorways in non PvP areas though? THAT’S Griefing.

  52. 09/06/2008 at 12:05 Ginger Yellow says:

    Given that this “griefing”, and I’m not even sure it really qualifies as such, can easily be circumvented by a) not being an idiot and following everyone else behind the horse, or b) killing him, the haters on here seem to be suffering a serious sense of humour malfunction. From comments on other forums, there are multiple ways to avoid even encountering the guy, and besides, if you did fall victim to him, you’ve made thousands of people around the world laugh. That’s pretty cool.

  53. 10/06/2008 at 13:16 Crispy says:

    @caesarbear
    Griefing: only funny when you are a juvenile, or think like one. It’s done by those too disinterested in the actual game and with little care for real gamesmanship. You never see griefing in any kind of dedicated activity only when the participants are trying to waste their otherwise useless time. It’s not creative, it’s asinine copycat antagonism.

    Contrary to what you believe, it takes a lot of imagination to come up with an exploit like that – arguably more imagination than the people who are paid to come up with exploits like that (i.e. the testers). You also say it’s a lack of interest in the game, griefers are typically the people who play the game the most and discover where the weakpoints in the rules of the game are. They are perhaps the most interested in the game.

    Please read Raph Koster’s “A Theory of Fun (In Games)” and you’ll get part of why people grief in games. It’s basically because humans are predilected towards taking the shortest route to victory. He talks about how people derive enjoyment from games, and a lot of the forms of enjoyment involve one-upmanship of some sort. Victory doesn’t only exist in the designer’s goals, but players can make their own goals as well. This person is still playing the game, it’s simply a failure of the game to protect against this sort of behaviour.

    Yes it’s immoral, but, as Koster points out, so is throwing sand in an opponant’s face or forcing their army to walk through mud so you can cut them down easily with your archers.

  54. 12/06/2008 at 13:45 Pinky says:

    It’s interesting to see comments talking about the morality and the childishness of playing a game. It’s a game. Simple as that. The world isn’t going to end if the grouping of pixels you control on your screen can’t make it across a bridge because of a grouping of pixels controlled by someone else prevents you from it. There’s a simple solution to the problem: find a way around it or pack it up, at the end of the day, it’s just a game, just like solitaire is a game.
    Too many people want the easy way out when they’re playing through games. Game producers are creating cheats and hacks purposely because “it’s too hard” or “I just wanna win”. It’s a game with a challenge. It’s your goal as a player to overcome that challenge. So someone is making it harder for you…they’ve just created a new challenge to overcome.
    Just because someone makes the game harder for you doesn’t mean that person is “griefing”. It just means that they are enjoying the game in their own particular way. If you can’t find a way to have fun around and/or apart from that…then put it away, find something else to do, and get a life. There are a lot more worthwhile things to do than dump money to play puppetmaster with a cartoon character on a screen.

  55. 12/06/2008 at 14:24 kapowaz says:

    Way to go with the pop psychology, Pinky! You’re talking utter garbage though. Take that crap to livejournal where it belongs, please.

  56. 13/06/2008 at 00:36 zmortis says:

    Griefing on a computer is by default deriving entertainment at the expense of someone else’s aggravation. What’s funny is that most “physics griefers” are in return extremely thin skinned when someone griefs them by making accurate observations of their lack of social skills and hatefull nature. When someone verbally griefs them in return, they find being griefed isn’t so funny any more.

    What many people fail to understand is that griefing takes many forms. It’s either ok for you to grief me, and me to grief you back, or it isn’t ok for anyone to grief. It just happens that I prefer to grief in forums where I exercise a verbal advantage over the typical video game griefing troglodyte. I also take advantage of the “game system” and grief to spoil your fun by complaining to the Game Administrators when it happens. I personally find it very funny to cause another griefer to have their account banned for asinine behavior.

    The problem with all of this bickering grief – counter grief behavior is that eventually everyone goes away unhappy. Many people quit playing the games altogether, because they just are not fun to play anymore. With less people to grief, even the griefer eventually leaves. The game then dies. The next game doesn’t get made, because it’s presumed by the publishers that all of the griefers are driving away their other paying customers.

    The answer is to not grief in games where the majority of players expect a cooperative attitude from the players. This doesn’t have to be enforced through draconian rules, or unrealistic game mechanisms. It’s as simple as having a majority of people playing a game agree that griefers will be dealt with immediately on a social level. They get banned from guilds, they get put on everyone’s ignore list, they get left out of groups, etc.. This happens until they leave. If they don’t like it, they can modify their behavior. Otherwise they should understand they are just being beat at their own game, everyone is just greifing them back.

    This doesn’t mean the griefer can’t have a game to enjoy, or can’t play anything. There are plenty of games like Halo, WoW, or Age of Conan where players called 5W33ta55 can let their inner jackass free to have fun. I steer clear of these griefer heavy titles because being continually griefed isn’t fun for me. Just steer clear of where I want to play, or expect a severe verbal beatdown.
    I hope this helps.

  57. 13/06/2008 at 01:01 Khann says:

    dont stand behind a horse, it kicks you!

  58. 13/06/2008 at 14:49 Bunyip says:

    Yet another reason to avoid this MMO.

    Griefers deserve every ounce of pain that can possibly be inflicted upon them. Which is very little, which is also why this statement is true.

  59. 13/06/2008 at 15:11 Ian says:

    “If the griefers weren’t such wimps, they’d do the same thing in real life and start griefing during Super Bowl games.”

    I want to see somebody try to “grief” the Jaguars defensive line. :D

  60. 13/06/2008 at 19:51 Alien8 says:

    I quit MMOs years ago because I didn’t like the company. They grief for the same reason they use public toilets and don’t flush.

  61. 13/06/2008 at 23:39 Bearfoot says:

    And this is why I do PVE only guys.

    Come on, you expect this junk from PVP servers.. don’t ya?

  62. 15/06/2008 at 09:48 Mighty Pea says:

    Jesus Zmortis. In love with your self, much? A verbal advantage?
    Don’t mistake griefing with personal attacks. And certainly not this type, which has the distinct advantage of making people laugh. Likely a few of the kicked players were grinning on their way down, if they weren’t too devoid of humour.
    “expect a severe verbal beatdown.”
    So you’re the juvenile type who gets all shouty and personal when someone does something you don’t like. That’s nice.
    “I hope this helps”. How would it? Your opinion isn’t suddenly going to ‘make things better’, although you seem to believe it.

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