For people keeping score. Griefing: very funny. Benny Hill theme: makes me want to die.
Thanks attack: Martin.
Age Of Conan Griefing Frivolity
Thanks attack: Martin.
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06/06/2008 at 22:51 Meat Circus says:
Yakety sax, should you care.
Creative griefing lols make it all better.
06/06/2008 at 22:54 Chris Evans says:
Griefing – only fun when you are watching or doing it.
06/06/2008 at 22:59 Flint says:
Griefing? Fun? What is this bizarroworld?
06/06/2008 at 23:04 John Walker says:
No no, funny.
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.
06/06/2008 at 23:19 CrashT says:
Schadenfreude baby…
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.
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.”
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).
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.
06/06/2008 at 23:29 Chris Evans says:
….John you have made my day with that :D
06/06/2008 at 23:44 K says:
I’d like to think it’s the same person trying to pass every time.
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
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.”
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?
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
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.
07/06/2008 at 00:51 Verdugo says:
Griefing: only funny when you are watching it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
07/06/2008 at 02:02 Lucky says:
Griefing is about as fun as Republican National Convention.
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.
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.
07/06/2008 at 03:44 TychoCelchuuu says:
I think it’s funny. So there.
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.
07/06/2008 at 04:52 sherwinpg says:
i think i might buy AOC now
07/06/2008 at 04:53 Andrew Farrell says:
No, the two elements are equally funny.
07/06/2008 at 05:03 Andrew Farrell says:
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?)
07/06/2008 at 05:25 I fell like a prick doing this says:
link to fidgit.com
Ahem!
And I thought you guys read his blog?
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.
07/06/2008 at 07:08 Razor says:
I guess this is why WoW doesn’t have collision detection for players =P
07/06/2008 at 08:27 Swyyw says:
You see griefing I see emergent gameplay :p
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.
07/06/2008 at 08:37 James T says:
I… see…
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.
07/06/2008 at 10:50 Kadayi says:
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.
07/06/2008 at 12:55 Frans Coehoorn says:
Now try this with a rhino or a mammoth!
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.
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.
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.
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.
07/06/2008 at 18:50 sherwinpg says:
lol thats hilarious, i’d like to see videos of that to
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.