Dealing with Griefers

Griefers are a major pain in the ass. They TP into sims and rez annoying objects or orbit anyone not seated. They are really good at turning people away from popular sims..... and that's what they want.

Griefers are mostly only interested in hurting a sim they were ejected from. They are angry little children most of the time (not necessarily in age) who decide to cause trouble when they don't get their way. They are usually good at griefing using alternate avatars known as ALTS and banning them is nearly impossible if they really want to keep annoying you.

So how do you handle a griefer who has targeted your favorite sim? read on.....

Usually a sim/land owner has security officers that can eject or ban unwanted griefers. But when a griefer constantly changes to a new ALT the security team basically is rendered useless.... but only if they rely soley on ejects and bans.

One way to stop griefers before they can grief is to turn off objects on your land. If a griefer can't rez then they can't lay down their annoying objects or shoot orbit cages. This is a great way of dealing with what I call "Rez Griefers". Turning off scripts is also a way to stop them. Griefer weapons are scripted and scripts need to be allowed to work, so shutting off scripts works..... most of the time.

Some times however a griefer doesn't rez anything. They TP in to harass people verbally (using chat) or visually wearing outrageous outfits. To stop them you can place them in MUTE by clicking their profile and selecting the mute button. You'll no longer see what they type nor will you see what they are wearing as they turn gray. But in typical griefer fashion they will leave and come back with another ALT.

So what do you do when you have a griefer in your midst and there is no security around or if the griefer keeps coming back with ALTS? Please read this carefully..... this works much better then bitching which many would rather do. FILE ABUSE REPORTS WITH LINDEN LABS!!!!!!!!!!! The trick to this however is in numbers. A single AR sent to the Lindens wont get a lot of attention right away. But a bunch of AR's filed by multiple people will. Please note: make sure YOU only send one.

If you are in a group of people getting griefed then ask all of them to send an AR at the same time. If you are alone then start IM'ing people to come assist you in filing AR's. Five or more AR's from the same place at the same time has a much higher chance of being seen by the Lindens and acted upon. As my good friend Jeadeen Niles of The Green Lantern Core and a Justice League Unlimited recruit told me "If there is anyone around when he griefs, everyone there should file an AR. Only one per person present though." On the subject of ALT's Jeadeen had this to say: "If you can make a connection between the alts, then you can put it into the AR sent to the Lindens. Gives LL a reason to investigate how he logs in. If they find common indications between the Alts and his transgression are severe enough, then it could end up in the griefer being permabanned."

Before closing I'd like to add that dealing with griefers should be done the "Legal" way according to Linden Labs Terms of Service (ToS). If you attack a griefer there is a chance they will report you instead. Now don't get me wrong, I have personally obliterated griefers in the past who have tried griefing me on my own land...... but always followed up with an AR to LL for record purposes.

So to all of you in SecondLife I wish you the very best and stay safe out there!

After writing this blog I had a long conversation with Jeadeen and what he had to say was so important I asked permission to include the conversation here. Enjoy...

[13:38] Jeadeen Niles: Griefers are normally just people that want to mess with others. Most do not have a specific motive.

[13:38] Shayna Korobase: ok... tell me what you think the motives of griefers are so I can add it to the blog :)

[13:38] Shayna Korobase: some times I over simplify

[13:38] Jeadeen Niles: Most just find it fun to gross out and annoy others.

[13:38] Jeadeen Niles: Sometimes they are lashing back out for a perceived wrong.

[13:39] Jeadeen Niles: It also depends on where the griefing occurs.

[13:39] Jeadeen Niles: In sandboxes it is almost always just people who take some sort of perverse enjoyment out of annoying others.

[13:40] Shayna Korobase: can I quote you on that?

[13:40] Jeadeen Niles: Sure.

[13:40] Shayna Korobase: awesome :)

[13:41] Jeadeen Niles: But I would also state that griefing comes in many forms and anyone could be a griefer.

[13:42] Jeadeen Niles: Although, one has to be careful with labeling a griefer. Some griefers are getting smart enough to give other noobie residents "presents" which are really griefing tools disguised.

[13:42] Jeadeen Niles: Once this "present" starts replicating across a SIM, it is the noobie that looks like the griefer but the real griefer is standing around laughing.

[13:43] Jeadeen Niles: Now the noobie gets the AR bombardment and potential for action from LL.

[13:43] Jeadeen Niles: That is why I always offer to the owner of a griefing object to let them clean it up in case they didn't know what it was.

[13:43] Jeadeen Niles: I judge my need to AR on their response to my question.

[13:46] Shayna Korobase: WOW that is great stuff as always .... Thank you very much!

[13:46] Jeadeen Niles: You are welcome.