Science Discovers That MMOG Players Are Jerks

[The Random One]

Something Awful has been doing that for much longer, and I think they're way more scientific.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Seems more like a City of Anti-heroes to me!

That's exactly how I play City of Villains, oddly enough.

 

[Mozared]

And this proves that "MMOG Players Are Jerks" how?

On another note, I don't need science to proof that point.

 

[Ephemeriis]

So... This professor joins a well-established MMOG community, ignores the desires and customs of the existing playerbase, drags people into PvP situations against their will... And comes to the conclusion that the existing playerbase is a bunch of jerks because they retaliate in the only way they can?

 

[ldwater]

Thats just seems like bad game design of CoH to me.

If an ability is OP so much that its been 'unofficially' banned, or a particular tactic is OP / explotiative then it should be down to the dev team to find the problems and fix them.

I don't think this is a fair representation of all MMOs - just an example of how serious and important games are to people. Serious enough to fustrate people into threats and abuse; but at the end of the day if the game doesn't activily stop that sort of behaviour, then its the fault more of the game than the players.

 

[NeutralDrow]

So... This professor joins a well-established MMOG community, ignores the desires and customs of the existing playerbase, drags people into PvP situations against their will... And comes to the conclusion that the existing playerbase is a bunch of jerks because they retaliate in the only way they can?

That was more or less the conclusion...except I think the "bunch of jerks" sentiment wasn't in it. The conclusion was more or less "going against the social rules of a game, even when those social rules aren't explicitly backed by game mechanics, will make people react badly." I'm kind of ashamed it took me seven pages to get that...

Thats just seems like bad game design of CoH to me.

Not arguing with this. CoH wasn't originally designed with PvP in mind, so it's been something of a nightmare to fix for quite a while. It's getting better, from what I understand, but the bulk of the game is still outside those zones.

If an ability is OP so much that its been 'unofficially' banned, or a particular tactic is OP / explotiative then it should be down to the dev team to find the problems and fix them.

It is their job, and they did fix it as best they could.

 

[bigorexia]

I saw this posted awhile ago on GameFAQs, his research struck me as suspect so I did a bit of searching and found a few big threads on the CoH forums.

I'm not on my home PC so I don't have the links but from what I gathered this story has another side, like most. It was more then just ganking, he went on to post screen shots on the official forums about how amazing he was. He would spout racist things to get a rise out of people. I'm not trying to say people weren't overreacting with death threats (lolreally?) but, honestly his research was a sham and might even be considered unethical considering he never got consent from his participants.

I imagine what actually happened was that his wife got onto him about all his online playing and he came up with the brilliant idea to publish a paper and get her off his back in one bad essay.

 

[Byers]

A lot of people here post about how he was a troll and ruining the game. I offer solutions.

1. Go to another pvp server, there's more than one.
2. Go to a pve server, grind, then try again to kill him. He died in-game, so he's not invincible.
3. Play another game. The obvious choice.

...he was playing City of Heroes, not World of Warcraft.

And you're completely missing the point. We're not complaining because he was ruining our playing experience. We're complaining because he's the MMO equivalent of a guy who crashes a party, drinks all the beer, sings too loudly, tries to feel up every woman he sees...and then complains when everyone calls him out for being a douchebag.

In other words, he tried to fit in.

Are you trying to be funny, or are you really that ignorant? I honestly can't tell.

Because he didn't try to fit in. He very deliberately did everything possible not to fit in.

Kudos to him then. Anyone having the balls to stand by their convictions and play in a way that's enjoyable to them rather than doing exactly what that throng of angry nerds who are the hardcore MMO player base say they should be doing, is nothing short of a hero.

If CoH are remotely like any other MMO, as I'm sure it is, it's filled with people who can't wait to find someone who does things in any way differently than the majority, so they can take a giant digital dump on said player.

It's not. I'm fairly certain it has a greater proportion of casual players than WoW, since the game is designed for pickup-and-play teaming to be startlingly easy, my own experiences with the game are overwhelmingly positive, and even the game forums have a smaller percentage of assholes than I've seen in other MMOs.

I say, as if you actually cared. Anyone who can defend a troll for "having balls" is a lost cause.

If you're a representative of the CoH player base, I already feel more certain in my assumptions.

My, someone is being passive-aggressive, aren't they? That's a pretty inept attempt at trolling.

Your opinion differs from mine, hence you must be trolling.

 

[NeutralDrow]

A lot of people here post about how he was a troll and ruining the game. I offer solutions.

1. Go to another pvp server, there's more than one.
2. Go to a pve server, grind, then try again to kill him. He died in-game, so he's not invincible.
3. Play another game. The obvious choice.

...he was playing City of Heroes, not World of Warcraft.

And you're completely missing the point. We're not complaining because he was ruining our playing experience. We're complaining because he's the MMO equivalent of a guy who crashes a party, drinks all the beer, sings too loudly, tries to feel up every woman he sees...and then complains when everyone calls him out for being a douchebag.

In other words, he tried to fit in.

Are you trying to be funny, or are you really that ignorant? I honestly can't tell.

Because he didn't try to fit in. He very deliberately did everything possible not to fit in.

Kudos to him then. Anyone having the balls to stand by their convictions and play in a way that's enjoyable to them rather than doing exactly what that throng of angry nerds who are the hardcore MMO player base say they should be doing, is nothing short of a hero.

If CoH are remotely like any other MMO, as I'm sure it is, it's filled with people who can't wait to find someone who does things in any way differently than the majority, so they can take a giant digital dump on said player.

It's not. I'm fairly certain it has a greater proportion of casual players than WoW, since the game is designed for pickup-and-play teaming to be startlingly easy, my own experiences with the game are overwhelmingly positive, and even the game forums have a smaller percentage of assholes than I've seen in other MMOs.

I say, as if you actually cared. Anyone who can defend a troll for "having balls" is a lost cause.

If you're a representative of the CoH player base, I already feel more certain in my assumptions.

My, someone is being passive-aggressive, aren't they? That's a pretty inept attempt at trolling.

Your opinion differs from mine, hence you must be trolling.

Well, for the record, I don't think you're trolling; you seem to honestly believe what you're saying. It's just that your opinion is wrong.

 

[Byers]

A lot of people here post about how he was a troll and ruining the game. I offer solutions.

1. Go to another pvp server, there's more than one.
2. Go to a pve server, grind, then try again to kill him. He died in-game, so he's not invincible.
3. Play another game. The obvious choice.

...he was playing City of Heroes, not World of Warcraft.

And you're completely missing the point. We're not complaining because he was ruining our playing experience. We're complaining because he's the MMO equivalent of a guy who crashes a party, drinks all the beer, sings too loudly, tries to feel up every woman he sees...and then complains when everyone calls him out for being a douchebag.

In other words, he tried to fit in.

Are you trying to be funny, or are you really that ignorant? I honestly can't tell.

Because he didn't try to fit in. He very deliberately did everything possible not to fit in.

Kudos to him then. Anyone having the balls to stand by their convictions and play in a way that's enjoyable to them rather than doing exactly what that throng of angry nerds who are the hardcore MMO player base say they should be doing, is nothing short of a hero.

If CoH are remotely like any other MMO, as I'm sure it is, it's filled with people who can't wait to find someone who does things in any way differently than the majority, so they can take a giant digital dump on said player.

It's not. I'm fairly certain it has a greater proportion of casual players than WoW, since the game is designed for pickup-and-play teaming to be startlingly easy, my own experiences with the game are overwhelmingly positive, and even the game forums have a smaller percentage of assholes than I've seen in other MMOs.

I say, as if you actually cared. Anyone who can defend a troll for "having balls" is a lost cause.

If you're a representative of the CoH player base, I already feel more certain in my assumptions.

My, someone is being passive-aggressive, aren't they? That's a pretty inept attempt at trolling.

Your opinion differs from mine, hence you must be trolling.

Well, for the record, I don't think you're trolling; you seem to honestly believe what you're saying. It's just that your opinion is wrong.

Fascinating opinion, but scientifically improbable.

 

[NeutralDrow]

A lot of people here post about how he was a troll and ruining the game. I offer solutions.

1. Go to another pvp server, there's more than one.
2. Go to a pve server, grind, then try again to kill him. He died in-game, so he's not invincible.
3. Play another game. The obvious choice.

...he was playing City of Heroes, not World of Warcraft.

And you're completely missing the point. We're not complaining because he was ruining our playing experience. We're complaining because he's the MMO equivalent of a guy who crashes a party, drinks all the beer, sings too loudly, tries to feel up every woman he sees...and then complains when everyone calls him out for being a douchebag.

In other words, he tried to fit in.

Are you trying to be funny, or are you really that ignorant? I honestly can't tell.

Because he didn't try to fit in. He very deliberately did everything possible not to fit in.

Kudos to him then. Anyone having the balls to stand by their convictions and play in a way that's enjoyable to them rather than doing exactly what that throng of angry nerds who are the hardcore MMO player base say they should be doing, is nothing short of a hero.

If CoH are remotely like any other MMO, as I'm sure it is, it's filled with people who can't wait to find someone who does things in any way differently than the majority, so they can take a giant digital dump on said player.

It's not. I'm fairly certain it has a greater proportion of casual players than WoW, since the game is designed for pickup-and-play teaming to be startlingly easy, my own experiences with the game are overwhelmingly positive, and even the game forums have a smaller percentage of assholes than I've seen in other MMOs.

I say, as if you actually cared. Anyone who can defend a troll for "having balls" is a lost cause.

If you're a representative of the CoH player base, I already feel more certain in my assumptions.

My, someone is being passive-aggressive, aren't they? That's a pretty inept attempt at trolling.

Your opinion differs from mine, hence you must be trolling.

Well, for the record, I don't think you're trolling; you seem to honestly believe what you're saying. It's just that your opinion is wrong.

Fascinating opinion, but scientifically improbable.

That is a more polite wording, I suppose.

 

[Yokai]

God forbid anyone should play an MMO and have fun while doing it. Cripes. They needed a study to show that these people are dicks? Anyone who's played CoH or WoW or Warhammer Online knows this.

 

[YuheJi]

Hmm... I felt bad for him at first, but then I found a thread in the CoH forums about it. Apparently, he was teleporting people over and over in front of guardbots where they would get killed. So yes, he was griefing, and being a bit of a dick.
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=140660&highlight=twixt
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/loyola_university_professor_be.html
Apparently, if he ever got in trouble (as in, about to get killed) he would run out of the zone. And then he would jump in, teleport people away that were already engaged against other players, and stuff like that.
I dunno, as I've never played CoH, but I guess a good comparison would be in Everquest, where you could get monsters to chase you, attract a whole bunch, run to some other players, and feign death so that the monsters would kill those players. It's within the boundaries of the game, but it is annoying to the players killed, and would probably be considered griefing.