Poll: Of griefing and quality

[sleepykid]

Were it not for the efforts of the class clowns of gaming, many games would never have blipped on my radar. Project Reality is a good example; an FPS with, you guessed it, a heavy emphasis on realism, all undone when a griefer takes full advantage of the many, many ways to inflict friendly fire.

Fairly amusing stuff, but I'm wondering if people thinks that says something about the game itself. On the one hand, some think antisocial acting out can't really be compared to the facets of a game, and no sensible relation can be established. On the other, some people think that if games were truly good/involving enough, the trolls would hardly wish to ruin such an experience, and would prefer to be part of such a good game rather than be a detractor.

What are your thoughts?

 

[tippy2k2]

No.

Assholes are going to be assholes no matter what. The best of games are going to have people who go in to fuck around, no matter the cost to the other players.

What makes a good game to you is different than what a good game to me is. You don't like the game? Leave and don't dump on the experience for people who do like the game.

 

[RJ 17]

While I agree with tippy that assholes will be assholes no matter the game, as far as the context of the question is concerned, specifically being "If a game is more fun to troll than to play..." I think you've answered your question right there. If you encounter a game that's more fun to grief the other players than it is to actually play, then that means you're making your own fun with the game, not having the fun the game intended...if that makes any sense at all.

That is, the game should be fun and entertaining without the need to fuck with other people in order to get your enjoyment from the game. The real problem with this question, though, is that it all boils down to personal taste and opinion. Some people find CoD games to be the very peak of FPS gaming...others think the CoD games are a bunch of crap. Suppose you're playing CoD multiplayer and aren't particullarly thrilled so you decided to go corner-trap someone just to hear them rage over the mic. At that point you're not even playing the game anymore (which means that, to you, the game itself sucks) and are instead getting your kicks by pissing off someone who is enjoying the game (which means that, to them, the game itself is fun).

 

[Kahunaburger]

Pure performance art, man.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Not at all. It's sort of like the saying about simple minds enjoying simple things. You can put an absolute masterpiece of a game in front of someone and if they're the kind of jerk that enjoys griefing and/or trolling, they're going to do it. The quality of a game and the maturity level of those playing it are not connected in any way. In fact, if there's any connection at all, I'd almost say that better games are more likely to attract trolls simply because they are commonly played by more people which just means more potential targets and attention.