Griefer
A griefer or bad faith player is a player in a multiplayer video game who deliberately irritates and harasses other players within the game (trolling), by using aspects of the game in unintended ways, such as destroying something another player made or built. A griefer derives pleasure primarily, or exclusively, from the act of annoying other users, and as such, is a particular nuisance in online gaming communities. To qualify as griefing, a player must be using aspects of the game in unintended ways to annoy other players—if they are trying to gain a strategic advantage, it is  instead called "cheating". History. The term "griefing" was applied to online multiplayer video games by the year 2000 or earlier, as illustrated by postings to the rec.games.computer.ultima.online USENET group. The player is said to cause "grief" in the sense of "giving someone grief". The term "griefing" dates to the late 1990s, when it was used to describe the willfully antisocial behaviors seen in early massively multiplayer online games like "Ultima Online," and first-person shooters such as "Counter-Strike". Even before it had a name, griefer-like behavior was familiar in the virtual worlds of text-based Multi-User Domains  (MUDs), where joyriding invaders inflicted "virtual rape" and similar offenses on the local populace. Julian Dibbell's 1993 article "A Rape in Cyberspace" analyzed the griefing events in a particular MUD, LambdaMOO, and the staff's response. In the culture of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) in Taiwan, such as "Lineage", griefers are known as "white-eyed"—a metaphor meaning that their eyes have no pupils and so they look without seeing. Behaviors other than griefing that can cause players to be stigmatized as "white-eyed" include cursing, cheating, stealing, or unreasonable killing. Methods. Methods of griefing differ from  game to game. What might be considered griefing in one area of a game, may even be an intended function or mechanic in another area. Common methods may include but are not limited to: The term is sometimes applied more generally to refer to a person who uses the internet to cause distress to others as a prank, or to intentionally inflict harm, as when it was used to describe an incident in March 2008, when malicious users posted seizure-inducing animations on epilepsy forums. Industry response. Many subscription-based games actively oppose griefers, since their behavior can drive away  business. It is common for developers to release server-side upgrades and patches to annul griefing methods. Many online games employ gamemasters that reprimand offenders. Some use a crowdsourcing approach, where players can report griefing. Malicious players are then red-flagged, and are then dealt with at a gamemaster's discretion. As many as 25% of customer support calls to companies operating online games deal specifically with griefing. Blizzard Entertainment has enacted software components to combat griefing. To prevent non-consensual attacks between players, some games such as "Ultima Online" have created separate realms for those who wish to be  able to attack anyone at any time, and for those who do not. Others implemented separate servers. When "EverQuest" was released, Sony included a PvP switch where people could fight each other only if they had enabled that option. This was done in order to prevent the player-killing that was driving people away from "Ultima Online", which at that time had no protection on any of its servers. "Second Life" bans players for harassment (defined as being rude or threatening, making unwelcome sexual advances, or performing activities likely to annoy or alarm somebody) and assault (shooting, pushing, or shoving  in a safe area, or creating scripted objects that target another user and hinder their enjoyment of the game) in its community standards. Sanctions include warnings, suspension from "Second Life", or being banned altogether. Some space simulators, like "Eve Online," have incorporated activities typically considered griefing as part of the gameplay mechanism. Corporate spying, theft, scams, gate-camping, and PvP on non-PvP players are all part of their gaming experience. Shooters such as "" have implemented peer review systems, where if a player is reported too many times, multiple higher ranked players are allowed to review the player and determine  if the reports are valid, and apply a temporary ban to the player's account if necessary. The player's name is omitted during the replay, as well as those of the other 9 players in the game. In October 2016, Valve implemented a change that will permanently ban a player if he/she receives two penalties for griefing. Many "Minecraft" servers have rules against griefing. In "Minecraft" freebuild servers, griefing is often the destruction of another player's build, and in other servers the definition ranges, but almost all servers recognize harassment as griefing. Most servers use temporary bans  for minor and/or first-time incidents, and indefinite bans from the server for more serious and/or repeat offences. While many servers try to fight this, some allow griefing as part of the gameplay. In recent years, "Grand Theft Auto Online" has experienced a drastic increase in griefing, due in part to the emergence of bugs and better money-making opportunities. Common griefing techniques within the game abuse passive mode and trivially accessible weaponized vehicles. Developer Rockstar has implemented measures such as a longer cool-down on passive mode, patching invincibility glitches, and removing passive mode from weaponized vehicles in recent  updates. In addition, the game also features a reputation system that, in effect, after excessive "bad sport point" accumulation, will mark players as "bad sports", allowing them to only play in lobbies with other "bad sports". Such points are either accumulated over time or gained within a certain time frame and are acquired by actions such as destroying another player's personal vehicle, or quitting jobs early. This is one of the more controversial features of the game, as some point out flaws such as the game not considering if destruction of a vehicle was self-defense. "Fallout 76" discourages  players from griefing by marking them as wanted criminals, which one can get a reward for killing. Wanted players cannot see any other players on the world map, and must rely on their normal player view. Popular culture. In the "South Park" episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft", the children attempt to vanquish a griefer in "World of Warcraft".