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The University of Nottingham has put out a study on the effects and causes of griefing in Second Life.

Wired's Game|Life blog reported that the study's purpose "was to determine the how and why griefing occurs, and what carryover it can have on the victims' real lives." I have my own griefer theories, but the phenomenon is far from having been fully explored and I find any new research fascinating.

You can check out the study here. I found this particular part intriguing:

This research could also give the real world a unique opportunity to view bullying from the prospective of the perpetrator. Researchers hope that by giving avatars the protection of in-world anonymity those reported as perpetrators may be more willing to come forward.
We're not quite sure what's happening, but it's probably griefing.

We're not quite sure what's happening, but it's probably griefing.

There haven't been a whole lot of studies that speak directly with admitted griefers. It's a bit difficult to delve into the real motivations based on first hand accounts because the usual stuff you get from griefers are "It's just a game," and "I'm just blowing off some steamit's harmless."

It's going to be interesting as virtual worlds develop and what happens with laws. Harassment is a real crime, so why couldn't cyber harassment become punishable by real laws? It's going to be extremely difficult to police virtual worlds. Although, I guess there's a ton of gamers out there that wouldn't mind taking on the job...

Hey, thanks: Game|Life


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Blackbolt Blackbolt

Posted at: 06/04/07 at 7:40 PM PST

I always usually run into these types of players. It's rather sad when it happens. I always noticed in these type of situations that the gamers who want to enjoy a fair game without the insults and harassments that usually everyone who wants an enjoyable atmosphere, will ban to together and help anyone who is being insulted and take that the griefer out. Then it leads to a funny confrontation with the the "griefer" insulting everyone else and everybody else insulting that person back. It's like virtual karma. I personally think they are insecure and has issues with themselves to they take it online against others. There are greater number of gamers who just want to enjoy a fair gaming experience. Kudos to those gamers!

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