got what he deserved

[benngunn]

some guy in is sloop kept harassing me and a friend in our big frigate he kept followign us and shooting at us we asked him to stop (yes he heard us) but he refused, while he is firing on us he doesnt notice a storm reaper comming up on him, the storm reaper blows his sloop out of the water with one lightening barrage anad doesnt do any damage to us, it was hilarious

[Steely Jim]

To me, it sounds more like he got what he wanted...namely to become the focus of your attention (or rather any and every other player's attention). Now that person is off griefing someone else, and you're still dwelling on it.

[benngunn]

true truei guess ur right

[Steely Jim]

Those griefers sure are a pesky lot. For any normal player, it doesn't even seem like it could possibly be any fun, but turn over any virtual rock and there they are....

[Angel]

Im sorry, but do take plesure in him goin down....for the rest of us that werent that lucky. I think I may be geting my 54th suspension for "not being so nice" to someone who was urking the living u know what out of me.

[Steely Jim]

For an attention-seeking griefer, negative attention is far superior to positive attention because people will invest more time in sustaining their negative attentions due to the temporary visceral-emotional relief it provides.

Personally, I just can't justify bringing punishment upon myself in the process of giving the griefer exactly what they want. They'll happily accept, as their reward, any scorn, ridicule, or other abuse that you want to heap on them. It all just sounds like victory cheering to them.

[Bilgepump]

I just ignore them. There's nothing they can really do to affect you, other than annoy you, and that's in your power to control.

[Maximvs]

Originally Posted by Steely Jim

For an attention-seeking griefer, negative attention is far superior to positive attention because people will invest more time in sustaining their negative attentions due to the temporary visceral-emotional relief it provides.

Personally, I just can't justify bringing punishment upon myself in the process of giving the griefer exactly what they want. They'll happily accept, as their reward, any scorn, ridicule, or other abuse that you want to heap on them. It all just sounds like victory cheering to them.

Jim - we can always count on you for your 'indepth wisdom' and way of looking at things hehehe - I gotta admit the statement makes sense (no arguement from me thats for sure), but fun to sometimes just poke about it for a minute

[AdmiralSavvy]

Hahaha, I just LOVE it when people get what they deserve, especially when they do something bad.

[Steely Jim]

Originally Posted by Maxximvs

Jim - we can always count on you for your 'indepth wisdom' and way of looking at things hehehe - I gotta admit the statement makes sense (no arguement from me thats for sure), but fun to sometimes just poke about it for a minute

I wish I could claim it to be a wisdom drawn from observation; unfortunately, it is from long use of an old tool. I don't understand its use in a game, but I well understand its use as a method for removing unwanted co-workers.

For me it is simply a function of not being remotely interested in praise, or criticism. So, I've always found it a simple thing to manipulate people into flipping out. I don't mind being the focal point of any tirades (or physical responses); to me, whether it is positive or negative, other people's comments about me just sound like "blah blah woof woof" in my ears. It's pretty easy to create the perception of an inappropriately asymmetrical escalation of hostilities.

Essentially, they either break under the constant strain of having to expend so much psycho-emotional energy to maintain themselves in their work environment, or they end up snapping their twig and being removed involuntarily. In any case, since I've avoided any psycho-emotional entanglements during the process, I seldom appear to be involved as anything more than a bystander who inadvertently became the target of an attack from an unstable person. Most of the time my own responses are so subtle that they don't even register as retaliatory.

The moral of the story is this: people who allow themselves to be controlled by their emotions, and/or societal norms, seldom have enough self-awareness to prevent themselves from being controlled by their own predictable psycho-emotional responses.

So, when you're yelling at someone in the game, how can you tell if they're hurt, or cheering you on and laughing...especially when they see responses that will likely incur some sort of punishment. I hate to see someone waste their game credits when it is likely that the target of their wrath isn't even taking it the way they think they should.

[Twisted]

Jim, you sound like a bored psychologist looking for more subjects.

Kidding aside, the kid got what he deserved in game playing around and not watching his surroundings.

[Maximvs]

Jim - So, when you're yelling at someone in the game, how can you tell if they're hurt, or cheering you on and laughing...especially when they see responses that will likely incur some sort of punishment. I hate to see someone waste their game credits when it is likely that the target of their wrath isn't even taking it the way they think they should.

Very true - too hard to see a faceless expression, and if no words are exchanged how would you ever tell?

The moral of the story is this: people who allow themselves to be controlled by their emotions, and/or societal norms, seldom have enough self-awareness to prevent themselves from being controlled by their own predictable psycho-emotional responses.

This is so true, I'm always going around saying 'waste of emotion' - and I get that 'hunh? look LOL For example, if you worried, instead of worry - fix it, correct it , don't dwell on it - it solves nothing and the energy put into that worry could be put towards finding an answer.

===

Still - though I follow that advice for the most part - I'm still human.

Twice in this game I've been 'poked' too far and instead of wasted words - I've just taken action, Once upon a time...

Ok, this is pretty funny, I'm at PDS Beach working a few Gyps when a group show up - I'm all about the sharing so I'm still working my guy when one runs over and hacks him away. 'No prob' I think - standard noob type response and after a few more rounds and a few more takes I'm thinking 'I'm a bit annoyed, but time a new server anyway' when I get this... "Leave Now Or We'll Call In Our Hi Level Friends"... hmmm... I think 'Ok, I can't mouth compete with him - but now I'm taking this beach back' - I log and switch to the L40 Pirate, and in 3 minutes I arrive back at the beach where sure enough I find our merry band of doobs runing around having fun - so I walk in, pull out the staff... }*Zap* and Desolate Everything - nothing lives. Everyone stands still. They respawn and *BOOM* I desolate everything again - clean. I get 'WHO ARE YOU and why dont you leave!!!' - I say nothing... *BOOM* desolation again and wipe the floor... realising they were not getting any more dudes there, they began to TP away... I logged again, came back - and had the rest of the day to myself.

So, would I do it in any normal case? Na, I'd leave, find another lo-cal, then continue my day. Was it a waste of time, probably... but... In this rare case the 15 minutes it took me to do it was it worth it? Sure was

Getting swarmed is just a waste of my time and I'll move on - getting bullied, on the other hand - be ready for a fight... is it a waste, maybe, but even someone who is calm for the most part deserves a bit of redemption sometime

Ok, this is way too deep - bacl to our regularly schedule program thread!

[Steely Jim]

I definitely agree that it's easier to discuss here than than to always put into practice. You actually touched on one of the advantages I have in the game; I am very dependent on facial expressions, body language, kinesics, proxemics, and other extra-linguistic forms of communication. I don't like the phone, but it actually prevents me from being fully engaged with the virtual world.

In regards to your story, I don't think that was a problematic response really. You didn't seem to have made a big emotional investment yourself; you just illustrated a mechanical reality of the game, and then pretty much just let it go. I definitely don't dispute that it can feel quite cathartic to unleash on someone who is intentionally being a jerk; in this case, I'm really just trying to say that advantage is with the griefer because they're getting exactly what they want, whereas the legitimate player is more likely to end up frustrated because getting punished won't faze a committed griefer.

---

Finally, I've never had any capacity for being bored; I can always find ways to amuse myself.

[Maximvs]

I don't like the phone

LOL!!! I can't STAND phones!!! The misses all the time say 'why don't you just call them?' and I tell her 'because your faceless on the phone - I cant see what they really mean'...

Thats too funny...

[Steely Jim]

We'll have to hold out for the full-size, 5-senses "holo-phone" to be invented...