Griefers - Gamers Acting Like Dicks When Playing Online. Why?

It's all about courage. Sometimes when you play online (doesn't matter what game 'cause it happens everywhere, everyhow), your opponents may act like real punks, jerks, dicks if you will. Why is that? Why do some feel this compulsory need to annoy others, or to stand out by doing something very unorthodox? It's because in real life they are nothing but big fat losers that are afraid of their own shadows. They know they can't be touched, so they go ahead and sabotage their teammates or even run your game.

GamePro's Vicious Sid talked to a psychiatrist from the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center called Yulan Liao (M.D) on the matter. The shrink suggested that such anti-social behavior is driven by need of attention. There are two types of so called leader wannabes: "defiant leader," (they don't exactly know where to strike, but they do so anyway) and "scapegoat leader" (also known as black sheep, seeking to annoy others or disrupt any kind of activity whatsoever, for no particular reason).

"The defiant leader is sometimes with the group, but sometimes has one foot out. He's not sure if his objective should align with the group's objective," Liao stated. "Generally, whenever we form a group, there's a lot of reluctance within us to stay committed to the group. The defiant leader carries that ambivalence for us. [...] There is also always a scapegoat leader. This is generally a person everyone dislikes. These people are marginalized and ostracized. Not only does the group choose the scapegoat, but the scapegoat often unconsciously chooses to take on the role. Once you are labeled the scapegoat, it is very hard to escape that role." As the gaming site says, the psychiatrist also commented on the fact that failure to conform with the group often leads to the scapegoat status.

Pathetic or not, it's just the way things are. Most of you out there who have to deal with these griefers (as they are normally referred to) should just ignore them. As the shrink also said, ignoring such behavior will result in lack of interest for the griefers to continue such behavior. Yet, there's nothing much to be done when they attack peaceful gatherings in World of Warcraft, now is there? And if ignoring them doesn't work, just find out where they live and kick their asses. They're geeks anyway so there's nothing to be afraid of.