Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Next Red Dead Redemption title update hunts down cheaters]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/21/next-red-dead-redemption-title-update-hunts-down-cheaters/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/21/next-red-dead-redemption-title-update-hunts-down-cheaters/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/21/next-red-dead-redemption-title-update-hunts-down-cheaters/#commentsFiled under: , ,

And not just any cheaters, but no good, dirty cheaters. According to a post over on Rockstar Games' site, the next title update to Red Dead Redemption will bring with it "measures to counter hacking and cheating" on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Furthermore, a handful of "anti-grief" features will be added to the game's Free Roam online mode. Apparently, cowpokes enduring repeated harassment from other online players will be given the choice to jump to another point (of their choosing) on the map. The culprits doing all the griefing will get branded as such after six consecutive kills, earning them a Most Wanted status and wrangling the game's NPCs against the offender.

Rockstar also promises to continue monitoring online play for those doing bad deeds after said title update goes live "within the next month," but then, isn't the existence of outlaws an inescapable reality of the Old West?

JoystiqNext Red Dead Redemption title update hunts down cheaters originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cheatinggriefingmicrosoftplaystationps3Red-Dead-Redemptionrockstarrockstar-gamesrockstar-san-diegotitle-updatexboxWed, 21 Jul 2010 15:20:00 EST<![CDATA[Professor griefs City of Heroes, writes report on response]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/08/professor-griefs-city-of-heroes-writes-report-on-response/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/08/professor-griefs-city-of-heroes-writes-report-on-response/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/08/professor-griefs-city-of-heroes-writes-report-on-response/#comments
When you try to imagine the real-life personas behind online gaming scoundrels, you probably wouldn't picture the wizened face of a collegiate scholar as the responsible party. However, griefing seems to be the cup of tea of Loyola University media professor David Myers -- he's been bothering folks for a while now with his mauve-tinted crimefighter in City of Heroes as part of a behavioral study on the people controlling the game's power-endowed inhabitants.

The study's findings are predictably grim: players' reactions to Myers' (or rather, his character Twixt's) dirty fighting styles have been pretty volatile, ranging from character defamation, cursing, rumor-mongering and even death threats. That seems a little overboard -- if only four kids from a small-town in Colorado could have teamed up to teach him a lesson the old fashioned way.

JoystiqProfessor griefs City of Heroes, writes report on response originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>city-of-heroesgriefingloyola-universitymmommorpgpcprofessorWed, 08 Jul 2009 03:00:00 EST<![CDATA[AGDC08: The Psychology of the MMO Gamer]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/16/agdc-the-psychology-of-the-mmo-gamer/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/16/agdc-the-psychology-of-the-mmo-gamer/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/16/agdc-the-psychology-of-the-mmo-gamer/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The first panel we attended at Austin GDC was entitled "The Psychology of the MMO Gamer," which seemed to hold a mythical amount of promise. Sure enough, once the panel began it was clear that these people had gathered a couple of days before and said, "So hey... what can we talk about?" It was a bit disorganized, but some good stuff came out of it, particularly finding out how a six-year old can grief you with pudding. Read on to find out how you too can learn this devious and delicious skill.

Continue reading AGDC08: The Psychology of the MMO Gamer

JoystiqAGDC08: The Psychology of the MMO Gamer originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>AGDCAGDC-08Austin-GDCGriefingMMOWoWTue, 16 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Diablo 3 to emphasize cooperation, PvP to be included]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/04/diablo-3-to-emphasize-cooperation-pvp-to-be-included/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/04/diablo-3-to-emphasize-cooperation-pvp-to-be-included/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/04/diablo-3-to-emphasize-cooperation-pvp-to-be-included/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Whether calling it out for being too colorful or even too conservative, Diablo 3 naysayers have certainly not lacked for ammunition to sling at the action RPG since it was made all official like late last month. Now pessimists can add another rock to the pile, with Blizzard poster Bashiok writing on the official World of Warcraft forums that the Diablo 3 devs are working to discourage online skullduggery, and that multiplayer will focus primarily on cooperative play.

Explained Bashiok, "We have a large focus on cooperative play for Diablo III, and the mechanics and design decisions related to multiplayer are likely going to be based on supporting and encouraging it as much as possible, and not breaking it down." However, PvP will apparently have its place in the game, as Bashiok baited forumers by adding, "That doesn't mean that PvP won't have its own focus, but those are details and features we aren't yet discussing." So for now it looks like PKers will need to find another outlet for their griefing ways, perhaps by venturing outside into the sunlight for a rousing game of Freeze Tag.

JoystiqDiablo 3 to emphasize cooperation, PvP to be included originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blizzardco-opcooperativediablo-3griefersgriefingPCFri, 04 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Team Roomba perfects the art of Team Fortress 2 griefing]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/22/team-roomba-perfects-the-art-of-team-fortress-2-griefing/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/22/team-roomba-perfects-the-art-of-team-fortress-2-griefing/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/22/team-roomba-perfects-the-art-of-team-fortress-2-griefing/#commentsFiled under:


As much as it pains us to be on the receiving end of online gaming skullduggery, we can't help but admire Team Roomba for elevating the practice to an art form. This ain't your Pap Pap's griefing; team-killing and name calling are far below the maleficent minds of Team Roomba. In their latest highlight reel from Team Fortress 2, they transform the doldrum process of respawning into a quiz show, where right answers put you back on the battlefield -- accidentally creating the most amazing supergenre we've ever witnessed: the Online Multiplayer First Person Shooter and Trivia Game (OMFPSaTG, for short).

The video is safely contained after the jump, and is extremely NSFW due to foul language, blurry gay porn, and a number of Legends of the Hidden Temple references.

(Thanks, Perko.)

Continue reading Team Roomba perfects the art of Team Fortress 2 griefing

JoystiqTeam Roomba perfects the art of Team Fortress 2 griefing originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>GriefingOrangeBoxTeam-RoombaTeamFortress2TeamRoombaTheOrangeBoxValveSat, 22 Dec 2007 17:30:00 EST<![CDATA[SXSW: Virtual Worlds and Virtual Humans: NPCs and Avatars]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/20/sxsw-virtual-worlds-and-virtual-humans-npcs-and-avatars/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/20/sxsw-virtual-worlds-and-virtual-humans-npcs-and-avatars/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/20/sxsw-virtual-worlds-and-virtual-humans-npcs-and-avatars/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Funky Street - a virtual world
This panel discussed the rise of virtual worlds, the NPCs that frequently populate them and how games like World of Warcraft are much more populated with human players and their avatars. Although it devolved into a sort of "he said/she said" argument over user-created content and in-game behaviors, it did introduce us to a particular nasty bout of griefing in a WoW realm.

Apparently a player who died in real life had a funeral procession on the server she played on, and tons of her guild members and other players turned out to honor her. Of course, it wasn't long until some funeral crashers showed up and pretty much slaughtered the entire funeral party. In a way, it's sort of fitting, don't you think? Check out the video after the jump. Yes, it's been around for eons, but it sort of brilliantly explains, in a visual sense, what this panel devolved into.

After this, things sort of went awry and off-course. There was a lot of verbal jabbing, both good-natured and not, throughout the rest of the panel without it really going in a particular direction. We were too busy trying to find a good spot to grief from.

Continue reading SXSW: Virtual Worlds and Virtual Humans: NPCs and Avatars

JoystiqSXSW: Virtual Worlds and Virtual Humans: NPCs and Avatars originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Guardian has produced an excellent column that addresses the problem of "griefers", people that abuse, team-kill and cheat other players of online games, particularly MMOs. Griefing has always been a problem where real players compete against their peers, although with massively multiplayer online games the problem has become much more serious. Earning a battleship in Eve Online or crafting a special item in World of Warcraft can take weeks if not months of game time. On top of that, the recent trend for people to sell items on auction sites like eBay has meant that rare online items have a monetary value.

The article cites several high profile situations where griefers have bent moral codes with the Guiding Hand Social Club's ruination of Ubiqua Seraph in Eve Online and the funeral crash in WoW being the two main examples. Solutions that companies have come up with to limit these types of situations from happening are also looked at with the Xbox Live points system and strong community measures (like guilds and friend lists) being top on the list of letting players self-govern the problem. Effective community governance is essential if companies want to keep players inside the game and so that the owners don't have to resort to more drastic measures, like Blizzard does with its periodic account banning binges.

Update: fixed a couple of minor grammatical errors.

JoystiqGriefing and self-governance in online games originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 Jun 2006 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>AbuseAuctionsCheatingCheatseBayEve OnlineEveOnlineGriefingGuardianGuardian UnlimitedGuardianUnlimitedGuild WarsGuildWarsHackingLawsMMOMMORPGSOnline lawOnlineLawPunkbusterRulesteam killersteam killingTeamKillersTeamKillingtkWorld of WarcraftWorldOfWarcraftWoWThu, 15 Jun 2006 06:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Funeral crashing in WoW]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/17/funeral-crashing-in-wow/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/17/funeral-crashing-in-wow/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/17/funeral-crashing-in-wow/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

This seven-minute video by WoW alliance guild "Serenity Now" documents an act of extreme griefing. In the video, members of the guild crash a solemn funeral event in which members of a rival guild were paying respects to the avatar of a guild member that had recently died of a stroke.

Result: many hurt feelings, best summarized in the quote that leads this article.

World of Warcraft, Shadowbane, Everquest, The Sims Online, Ultima Online, Anarchy Online, you name it, there's one word that unites all players of massively multiplayer games: drama.

No matter what the game, players will find a way to create conflicts that transcend the usual (and trite) Orc vs. Human or Mage vs. Warrior conflict that's been baked into the games by designers.

[Via awesomely cool blog Videogamey]

Continue reading Funeral crashing in WoW

JoystiqFuneral crashing in WoW originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 17 Apr 2006 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>griefingMacPCworld of warcraftWorldOfWarcraftwowMon, 17 Apr 2006 09:03:00 EST