Dealing with Griefers

100 Blood Elf Priest
10890
First let me start off with the definition.

Per wikipedia: "A griefer is a player who does things in a game to deliberately cause annoyance ("grief" in the sense of "giving someone grief") for the griefer's own enjoyment. Such a player is a particular nuisance in online gaming communities."

In my experience as an RPer, these nuisances do occur. here are some tips for dealing with one.

-If you are on the same faction, you can whisper them and politely ask them to stop.
-If you are on a different faction and know someone on that faction you can ask them to tell the person politely to stop.
-If the person does not not stop, report them.
-If needed move to a different location, in some cases they may follow, definately file a ticket.

Per Blizzard's harrsasment policy (http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/harassment-policy):

Zone/Area Disruption

This category includes language and/or actions intended to disturb groups of players or areas of the world, such as:

-Disruption of player sponsored events or gatherings.
-Excessive use of in-game sounds or visuals. Excessively casting spells with noticeable effects in crowded areas.
-Impeding or blocking access to an NPC, doodad, doorway, or any other area of the world that a player would normally be able to access.

With all that in mind SoE is an RP realm, if you do not RP, please try and be respectful to those that do. For those in non RP guilds and see a member doing something that could be considered griefing, please ask them to stop.

If anyone else has any other tips to add please do. And happy RPing to those that do.
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90 Blood Elf Rogue
11370
The only thing I can think to add is, take screen shots. I've found that griefers looove to pretend they did nothing wrong and were falsely accused, and it's difficult for them to get away with doing so if you have hard proof.
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100 Blood Elf Priest
10890
Screenshots aare probably the best way to go than, on battle net they can be uploaded when you file a complaint.
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MVP
90 Blood Elf Paladin
16070
A game master won't accept screenshots as evidence, the reason being that they can be easily manipulated.

The best course of action is to take note of the server time and include it on the ticket. A game master will have access to all the logs, so simply provide the approximate time as well as the channel in which the infraction occurred (Trade, General, Say) to make it easier for them to find the incident.

Here's the official steps on dealing with harassment: http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/reporting-inappropriate-language
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90 Blood Elf Rogue
11370
Mostly what I meant by screen shots is when dealing with people's guild leaders. I find that often times I'll go to a players leader to let them know there was a problem so perhaps they might be able to deal with it, and often times it's usually asked for proof to be provided. I know that if one of my ranks were causing issue with other players I'd want to take the appropriate action but only with all the evidence I can possibly gather, just to clear up my meaning.
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100 Blood Elf Priest
10890
It depends on the GM. Some don't care, others do. All we can do is do the best we can.
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MVP
90 Blood Elf Paladin
16070
I do recommend treading carefully when it comes to approaching another person to help intervene in situations like these. It is terribly easy to slip from being harassed to harassing.

You seem to be confusing my words Talibah. For the sake of clarity let’s define some terms. When I speak of a GM, I mean game master. In this, I’m referring to the paid Blizzard employee that works on-site, whether its Irvine or Texas, and is monitored by a department that ensures there’s no abuse in the system. I’m not talking about players in a guild leadership position whose actions can be swayed by their loyalty to guildmates or roleplaying partners.

The same support article you linked has the following section:
Harassing or Defamatory
This category includes both clear and masked language which:
  • Insultingly refers to other characters, players, Blizzard employees, or groups of people, be they in-game or external.


  • If the intent is simply to attempt to mend fences with the other party, contacting a guild leader is perfectly fine. As long as one remembers to speak in a respectful manner, regardless of the individual’s actions one is dealing with another human being and they deserve as much.

    Experience in the CSF has shown me that the intent of this type of ‘evidence’ is usually to obtain some sort of vengeance on the player. Perhaps it’s getting them reprimanded, kicked out of the guild or simply isolated from the community.

    In the end, no one should assume a vigilante attitude in regards of this behavior. Simply report the incident to Blizzard and let them handle the rest. Unlike players, Blizzard is impartial has nothing to gain or lose from ruling one way or another. They’re also far more forgiving than players and allow individuals to learn from their mistakes. A courtesy they extend to everyone and after having invested so much to this game I would appreciate they extended to me as well, should I ever land on the other end of the Justice Hammer. Wouldn’t you like the same? Surely you can agree that teaching is far more beneficial for the community as a whole.

    Let’s not forget that it’s also their sandbox… their rules.

    Blizzard has access to something players lack. Access to logs. This allows them to take a glimpse at the entire picture rather than different views of it. Views that I may add can be skewed depending on the circumstances. As Bells puts it:

    "There's three sides to everything. Their side, your side, and the truth."

    Logs allow Blizzard to see the truth.

    Now, you forgot a step on your guide that I’ve explained multiple times when you’ve asked in these boards before. Using the in-game feature Blizzard has implemented to protect players from this: /ignore.

    While this feature won’t make the player’s toon disappear it shows the game master you have taken the steps necessary on your end to avoid this contact.

    I do applaud you for your efforts, as this is a far more positive way of educating the community.
    Edited by Kalico on 4/23/2012 12:40 AM PDT
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    100 Blood Elf Priest
    10890
    As a GM not the game master kind I would hate ro reprimand a member of my guild without a screenie etc if I was approached. I know the harassment policy rather well ad even wrote an article ages ago about harassment in game that was posted on the Main Blizz page a few years back, I may still have it, it was a few pc's back ago and not all my documents saved to disk.

    As far as game masters they can't watch everything, we have to kinda police our own community. Keep in mind no matter what there will always be some players that just like to irritate people when they RP it is their sole purpose. Just smile nod, and act like they aren't there. Eventually they will go away. If they know it bugs you they will do it more.
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    MVP
    90 Blood Elf Paladin
    16070
    04/23/2012 08:04 AMPosted by Talibah
    I know the harassment policy rather well ad even wrote an article ages ago about harassment in game that was posted on the Main Blizz page a few years back


    Policies do change with time.

    Case in point the recent changes to the guild leader inactivity policy.

    While I do agree we have to police our own community, all we can do is bring Blizzard's attention to what we believe is wrong.
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    100 Blood Elf Priest
    10890
    The Guild Master thing was long overdue. The biggest problem I feel we face are the folks that create level ones to circumvent ignore and whisper you about things when you have the main on ignore. By the time you realize who it is because you responded and not auto ignore them it becomes counter prooductive, the IG GM's will not do anything. And I would hate to accidentally put a person on ignore due to the actions of another individual.

    The Level ones sending IG mails and then deleting the chracter is also an issue. Because it comes from "unkown". While you can file a ticket and the logs can be viewed. These ways of "playing the system" to circumvent ignore etc. is very hard to stop. Though in the harassment policy it is addressed catching the folks is the hard part. Sometimes its best to just chuck it and move on.

    For those though I would love to hear better ideas to handle those people.
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    MVP
    90 Blood Elf Paladin
    16070
    04/23/2012 11:13 AMPosted by Talibah
    Though in the harassment policy it is addressed catching the folks is the hard part.


    Not really, simply report it.

    04/23/2012 11:13 AMPosted by Talibah
    For those though I would love to hear better ideas to handle those people.


    At the risk of sounding like a broken record...

  • Submit a ticket. Either in-game or through the Support site ( https://us.battle.net/support/en/ticket/submit )
  • Indicate the approximate time of the incident
  • If it was a whisper from a low level alt indicate you had placed the main on ignore and that they are bypassing the ignore feature
  • If it was harassment mail from a deleted character simply state so

  • The system works, the community simply has to use it.
    Edited by Kalico on 4/23/2012 11:22 AM PDT
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    100 Blood Elf Priest
    10890
    The prob is you can't always /who a person below level 10.
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    MVP
    90 Blood Elf Paladin
    16070
    04/23/2012 11:26 AMPosted by Talibah
    The prob is you can't always /who a person below level 10.


    You can.

    You can't look them up in armory.
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    90 Blood Elf Paladin
    16385
    04/23/2012 08:04 AMPosted by Talibah
    As far as game masters they can't watch everything, we have to kinda police our own community.


    Actually, yes, they can. That's part of their job and they have far superior tools for it.

    However, it is up to each and every player to use the tools Blizzard has given us for reporting and the like. That is when they will step in, and more than likely only then.

    Personally, I think if there is something that is big enough to where it does, indeed, violate the harassment policy, then it should immediately be taken to an official level.

    Blizzard will give folks a chance to change their ways unless the circumstance is rather high-end, so to speak. Egregious violations are dealt with more severely than something "lesser", but they are equally dealt with regardless of outcome.

    I would personally encourage using Blizzard reporting channels over just a "mob rules" or "quiet fix".

    Why?

    Because for those who are repeatedly violating policies (as was your illustration), to use the proper Blizzard channels to report things every time the individual does defame, harass, threaten, etc., builds a record with Blizz. If someone is a willful, repeat offender, Blizzard will take this into consideration if and when they do enact a disciplinary measure against that person. Enough flags on an account due to willful, repeated violations of a policy can and may end in a termination of services.

    In short, by advising people that they should keep things away from Blizzard and try and handle discipline on their own, you undermine the community's ability to actually have repeat offenders dealt with in an unbiased, tracked manner in which the justice meted is infinitely more powerful than /ignore or angry whispers to Guild Leaders.
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    100 Blood Elf Priest
    10890
    You can.You can't look them up in armory.


    If the character is deleted right after you cannot. I guess I didn't make my point clear. All you can do is report the name and hope things get dealt with.
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    100 Blood Elf Priest
    10890
    http://us.battle.net/support/en/blog/4684045/World_of_Warcraft_Patch_434_Customer_Support_Changes-4_16_2012

    These new changes actually things a tad easier.
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    85 Dwarf Hunter
    2605
    I usually just kill griefers..... IRL..... scary eh?
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