Bullies Move Out of the Schooyard into MMO's
by Mike D'Anna 
Jun 12th 2006 at 12:00PM
As much as I spend most of my life trying to recapture my childhood, I always forget that there are some things about being a kid that really sucked. And now, it looks as if dealing with the local bully shaking you down for your milk money might not be the only thing kids have to worry about; according to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald, the bullies have now gotten computers & gotten wise, as kids are now apparently having to face harrassment from peers in virtual worlds such as WoW. So much for video games being a way to escape your problems...The article doesn't go into much depth, but it does bring up an interesting problem that game companies face nowadays; how to make their virtual communities 'safe' for kids to play in. WoW & other games, of course, carry a warning sticker for parents, but that wont' change the fact that as we speak, there is probably some poor 11-year-old, level 22 Rogue being shaken down right now for all his gold by a player named 'L33tballz1990'. I don't know how prevalent this problem really is, but I'm pretty sure that if it were around in my day, my parents would have made me pick up my sword & shield and go face down my bully...only back then I wouldn't have had the sword & shield, so maybe I shouldn't really be talking....
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Domenico Jun 12th 2006 12:42PM
The author of the linked article should have done her research. There is no way for anyone to steal "credits" (what is this, Buck Rogers?!) without the victim being complicit in the theft. You have to open a trade window, type in an amount of gold and hit trade complete. Most MMORPGs have an ignore function. The first time I get verbally harrassed by a player is the last time I hear from them. Also, in WoW you can play on a PvE server to avoid any virtual "physical" bullying. I don't know the particulars of all other MMORPGs, but WoW has done a good job of including measures that players can use to protect themselves from theft, bullying and harrassment.
More on "theft". If you don't know someone, don't trade with them. Especially if they're trying to get you to give them all of the gold up front for a bulk purchase since you can only put 6 items/stacks of items in the trade window at once. Break it down to a per/6 amount. If they balk, you know you've got a thief on your hands. Cancel the trade, laugh at them and /ignore.
On the subject of bullying, I'm on a PvE server so what I get are horde players going after my kills or trying to ruin a quest. My solution. Use my hearthstone, pick a different quest and go somewhere else. True, they are dictating my playing to a degree, but until there's a way to get players banned for this kind of behavior, I think this is the best approach.
Zigbee Jun 12th 2006 1:07PM
This is where guild membership is a nice treat. Someone harassing you as you go about quests in Duskwood...call up your LvL 60 guild mate, give him the location and name of the perpetrator, and you have near-instant vindication.
My guildies and I (levels 25-28) were doing some Barrens quests and got harassed by a Lvl 60 Nightelf...some of us had gotten pegged PvP by mistake, or from forays into nearby areas. We called in our LvL 60 rogue buddy, and he took care of the Nightelf repeatedly, until she gave up and left us alone.
Even if you're not in a guild, there always seem to be high-level PvP oriented players hanging out in LocalDefense waiting for tips on exactly this sort of thing. They'll be glad to take care of that bully for you.
Chubby Jun 12th 2006 1:47PM
It is possible to have your "Credit" or "Gold" stolen in WOW.
What happens is I go to seel "Uber Loot 1" to player A.
Player A Places the money in trade and hits the trade button what he does is time your response perfectly and when you place the item in the trade window he quickly removes the gold and hits trade.
It happens alot.
Chubbs
Therizo Jun 12th 2006 1:58PM
In Diablo II ver 1.01 yeah, that worked. But in any modern MMO, whenever the contents of the trade window change, both players trade acceptance is removed. test it out with a freind.
For the farther above, report anyone who is greifing you by stealing quest kills (unless they're on the quest themselves, in which healthy competition is the order of the day) and they may well get banned.
Domenico Jun 12th 2006 2:04PM
Can't happen. If anyone alters the trade either by moving/removing items or gold, it resets the confirmation status. My friends and I have tried it on each other multiple times to see if it was something we had to worry about.
joey Jun 12th 2006 2:28PM
I wish i had /ignore at my disposal when i was a kid in Jr. high school. Works wonders in WoW.
Chubby Jun 12th 2006 2:34PM
It can happen and has happened. Happend to me a couple of months ago on the Mal'Ganis server.
Essentially this is how it works
Player A opens trade with Player B.
Player A places 100gold and does not hit trade.
Right now there is an open trade window with 100gold but noone has submitted Trade.
Here is where the damage occurs.
Player B expects this to be a regular transaction between players and thinks nothing of it.
Player A is bacially anticipating when Player B is going to place the item.
Player A tries to time the trade and removes the 100gold and chages it to 1 gold the second before he thinks Player B will place the item and hit enter.
I rather as many people are aware of this so they can avoid this happenign to them.
I basically traded away a 800 item for nothing a few months ago and after submitting a ticket, GM's said there was nothign they could do.
Chubbs
Elüna Jun 13th 2006 5:06AM
Who cares about the 11-year-olds? The game is rated "T", so they aren't supposed to be playing it. If an 11-year-old is playing it right now, where are the parents?