Guild Wars 2

I feel so trolled right now. Like really? People think their characters represent themselves and that their space in a virtual game is just like their space in REAL life. People there is no personal space in a game. I am understanding why stacking is so looked down upon by certain groups of people lol. Oh my gosh!!! That slyvari is breathing on me!! And what is that asura doing down there!!!

Really people. If you are this enmeshed with your characte that just isn’t healthy.

Regardless of your feelings towards it, trust me you aren’t alone but there are people, a lot of people that feel that way towards their character.

Another thing you could do along with ‘ignore, block and report’ is party with a friend who’s online, and simply join on their instance(s). If whomever is trying to grief you, persists to stalk you, they’d only be able to see you online and nothing more.

I’m not sure who’s worse – the oversensitive types who used “triggered” as another word for upset or offended and minimize real PTSD sufferers or the edgy in your face types who make fun of the oversensitive types by using “triggered” and minimize real PTSD sufferers.

Either way, tired of both :p

Aerlen.5326:

I’m not sure who’s worse – the oversensitive types who used “triggered” as another word for upset or offended and minimize real PTSD sufferers or the edgy in your face types who make fun of the oversensitive types by using “triggered” and minimize real PTSD sufferers.

Either way, tired of both :p

Yes this is what is making me rather irritated. There are REAL victims of abuse or trauma. What the OP and several other people are chiming in on makes it sound like they are victims of real abuse. This virtual trolling is nothing like real abuse except in perhaps extreme cases where someone is buying extra accounts to continually harass you to get around the block feature. In that case Anet isn’t going to be able to help you much anyway but I doubt anyone has a problem like that here on this thread. In real life you can’t block you’re abuser. In real life the abuser is manipulative and controlling. He/she abuses the victim and apologizes; explains how they will change and to stay with them for the children. They will attempt to control every aspect of their lives so the victim feels there really is no way out of the abuse. Emotionally the abuser keeps the victim in check so that the victim believes no one can love them except for the abuser.

So block and move on you really aren’t a victim of “personal ABUSE”

Pengy.9580:

Sorin.4310:

Belenus.9132:

I find your comment highly amusing, Groonz.7825 — Exactly ‘where’ did I say that I felt that somebody was really trying to kill me? Really, you must go back and actually read my comment rather than speculating on my observations with silly replies. I’m not going to waste my time defending my comment and ultimately it was aimed at the community for how the community reacts to it is a true indicator of how such actions are perceived.

For some (the minority I’m happy to report) such instances are not considered griefing (and I’m discussing the deliberately TARGETED intimidation, not the incidental or accidental kind) and wherein the majority of the community who have some degree of self-respect and who do not find it amusing to deliberately abuse others to get their kicks, find such actions abusive and have in the past commented to me that something has to be done about the abusers.

But then of course I’m sure the abusers would howl the loudest about it because this proposal if implemented would effectively act to take away their “fun” now would it not?

Is this actually serious? Someone actually considers lying a ground target or standing next a character harassment? Arenanet cannot actually believe this is legitimate. You claim this is the majority of the playerbase’s sentiment, and yet I’ve never heard of this of opinion ingame or on the forums prior to this. Your anecdotal points don’t help. It’s just as easy to claim that a majority of the community disagrees with you.

People think their character is them, when someone stands close to your character they are in turn standing on you. I have encountered this before.

The best way to avoid griefers or “trolls” is not to fight back, block or anything. if someone stands on your character, STAY THERE, go afk, do whatever. Ignore them by not acknowledging their existence! They only troll because they want a reaction from you. Don’t give it to them!

There are people who think the Earth is only a few millenia old. Holding an opinion does not mean the opinion is worth merit. To me, that seems to be the case here. You are not your character. You are not being stood on. You are not being harmed.

I’m quite baffled by this thread, I have to agree with a previous poster, you seem paranoid.

• another player thinks it’s amusing to use harsh, abusive or other commentary on me or which is directed at me; *

This I get, its not unreasonable, there is no excuse to verbally harass anyone.

• Another player chooses to implement character-driven visual effects either at my avatar or in the immediate, targeted area of my avatar for the purposes of intimidation and/or too cause deliberate work-load on my graphics card thus interfering with my game play enjoyment*

Here’s part of the Paranoia, why would you assume they are out to do you wrong ? Maybe their just having fun, some of the spells and effects are quite nice, I really don’t see how anyone should be able to tell anyone not to use their effects. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean you get to make the rules. I like people using their spells and effects around me, I think it looks great, why are you right and I am wrong ?

• when another player chooses, deliberately to act to intimidate by occupying an area in my immediate vicinity or within the same space that my avatar is occupying and who may or may not move when I move to continue that intimidation.*

As long as it not an area that require exploits to get to, they have as much right to occupy that area as you do. Maybe you should lighten up, it really does sound like you’re under the impression that the world is out to get you. Sometimes people are just having fun, enjoying the product they purchased, you, by reporting them for doing so makes you just as guilty. They aren’t doing anything wrong or against the rules, reporting players for no real reason however, well ya, that actually is against the rules.

I’m lost for words why you felt this thread needed to be started, it’s nit picking at it’s finest over the most menial actions (with the exception of #1).

Yes can we please just close this thread.

Belenus.9132:

(a) That the offender’s avatar is silenced from the POV of the person activating the block.

(b) That the offenders avatar, items attached to that avatar, their name, titles and any sound and particle effects that they may be employing are also nullified (vanish).

© That the person who blocked them is made similarly invisible (as described above) as well so that they cannot be the focus of continued abuse by the offender.

These solutions would not work in PvP modes. How would one handle it if two people who blocked each other are sitting in a capture point if they are on opposing teams? If I’ve blocked multiple people, which person is it?

Report, block, ignore. That’s the solution. If they continuously harass you, collect evidence and submit a ticket to ANet. You won’t be able to attach the evidence in the initial report, but when you get the automated reply back, you’ll be able to attach the evidence in a reply.

Sorin.4310:

Pengy.9580:

Sorin.4310:

Belenus.9132:

I find your comment highly amusing, Groonz.7825 — Exactly ‘where’ did I say that I felt that somebody was really trying to kill me? Really, you must go back and actually read my comment rather than speculating on my observations with silly replies. I’m not going to waste my time defending my comment and ultimately it was aimed at the community for how the community reacts to it is a true indicator of how such actions are perceived.

For some (the minority I’m happy to report) such instances are not considered griefing (and I’m discussing the deliberately TARGETED intimidation, not the incidental or accidental kind) and wherein the majority of the community who have some degree of self-respect and who do not find it amusing to deliberately abuse others to get their kicks, find such actions abusive and have in the past commented to me that something has to be done about the abusers.

But then of course I’m sure the abusers would howl the loudest about it because this proposal if implemented would effectively act to take away their “fun” now would it not?

Is this actually serious? Someone actually considers lying a ground target or standing next a character harassment? Arenanet cannot actually believe this is legitimate. You claim this is the majority of the playerbase’s sentiment, and yet I’ve never heard of this of opinion ingame or on the forums prior to this. Your anecdotal points don’t help. It’s just as easy to claim that a majority of the community disagrees with you.

People think their character is them, when someone stands close to your character they are in turn standing on you. I have encountered this before.

The best way to avoid griefers or “trolls” is not to fight back, block or anything. if someone stands on your character, STAY THERE, go afk, do whatever. Ignore them by not acknowledging their existence! They only troll because they want a reaction from you. Don’t give it to them!

There are people who think the Earth is only a few millenia old. Holding an opinion does not mean the opinion is worth merit. To me, that seems to be the case here. You are not your character. You are not being stood on. You are not being harmed.

I’m not a person who feels that way, there are people who do. I didn’t rationalize their reasoning, I just stated there are people like that. I’ve encountered many.

Interestingly, I’ve played MMO’s where reporting such behaviour would result in the person reporting it getting a ban for wasting the mods/GM’s time. It makes sense because if someone is so intolerant that the VISUAL aspect of some repeated effect is bothering them, they have options they aren’t exercising except the most extreme one.

Andraus.3874:

I feel so trolled right now. Like really? People think their characters represent themselves and that their space in a virtual game is just like their space in REAL life. People there is no personal space in a game. I am understanding why stacking is so looked down upon by certain groups of people lol. Oh my gosh!!! That slyvari is breathing on me!! And what is that asura doing down there!!!

Really people. If you are this enmeshed with your characte that just isn’t healthy.

Really, they aren’t. Some people take things more to heart than others.

I completely agree that the OP can take steps to mitigate the severity of the issue and I also agree that ANet already has sufficient tools in place to protect people from harassment.

Still, let’s not pretend that there aren’t people out there going out of their way to troll others by doing everything they can to annoy other players. The specific tactics aren’t that important.

tl;dr I agree that the OP has options already and should make use of them. However, I don’t think they are just making up something to be bothered about.

I’ve been reading the replies and the results have been interesting. First of all, much like the act of “Chinese Whispers” the meaning of “somebody DELIBERATELY moving to stand in the same spot as another person, and to move as another person does, and worse still to DELIBERATELY act to shadow another avatar” (general meaning of my original comment amended so there are no ‘misunderstandings’ or ‘clever’ re-interpretations) has been altered in the course of discussion to mean “if somebody is standing in the same place as me or near me it’s griefing, right?”

No, it’s not the same.
One is accidental or coincidental; the other is an act of INTENDED harassment and it is this issue of INTENT which is at the core of the whole situation being discussed here.

First of all, its gratifying to see that I’m not alone in feeling that this is a major problem, but the way I read a percentage of the replies so far, the ones who think my post is a joke or cannot believe I’m serious seem to be completely without any empathy or compassion whatsoever for other people’s concerns or for the issues mentioned; or perhaps, and let’s just throw this into the mix for a moment. Unable for whatever reason to appreciate that actions that they may deliberately partake of on a whim for their own amusement are irritating, annoying and even offensive to other people; the griefer continues in this manner because they are without empathy for others and in many instances, when challenged voice the opinion that they just don’t care.

If this is the case, what am I and others to make of the comments like “you have just painted a target” on whatever part of my anatomy they wish to choose? If I honestly felt for a moment that you would because of my posting deliberately seek me out and grief me I would be quite worried for it would prove without a doubt that there is a percentage of the ‘community’ who has some unsettling tendencies which allowed them to contemplate such things and consider them acceptable.

This suggestion (the reactions to the original posting) has been very revealing, especially in regards to the negative commentary. The ones who have left commentary to the effect that the griefers are the loudest when such things are mentioned are here also, but their number is far outweighed by the negative replies – and in many of those replies original sources are liberally re-quoted with speculative observation (incorporating fictional races at one point!) employed or more often than not, open disbelief, ridicule or worse.

What exactly SCARES the negative commentators so much that they feel the need to act as they do? WHAT could possibly cause such strong emotional reactions? Such passionate responses over something, which if people behaved themselves would never ever, affect them or their ‘enjoyment’ of Guild Wars 2. Maybe it’s just me, but they do seem threatened by such ideas.

One quick appendum (Seera.5916 and at least one other poster) you’re absolutely right, it would not be workable in PvP or WvW so elements of it simply are not implemented. A little common sense should always be considered when dealing with the environment. In this case, I should have added this appendum when I posted my original commentary – I suspect the best you could expect in there would be to silence them, but obviously not make them vanish.

vexit.4695:

Not trying to be mean, but if people laying ground targets near you or standing really close to you in a game leaves you intimidated/emotionally damaged, you probably shouldn’t be playing games.

I don’t think you guys really get the problem the OP is referring to.

Or perhaps you do, but you just don’t want to admit that you do, for some reason…?

It’s not just the occasional ground target, or random char standing on top of another character, we’re talking about here.

It’s the same person, or more likely the same people, constantly, using their own chars to stand on top of (or, probably, immediately in front of and/or behind) another character and following the targeted player around the game, endlessly.

That is probably accompanied by written harassment (maybe derogatory and/or threatening and/or sexual) and/or following some initial incident(s) where written (or maybe verbal, on ts) harassment has occurred.

Of course, ongoing harassment, to that extent, is probably fairly uncommon (I haven’t personally experienced anything like that, in this game, for example), but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t occur, or shouldn’t be taken seriously when it does.

On the other hand, I will also say that I have run into a few players, in this game, who constantly heavily criticise other players, or types of players (without provocation), in chat and then, when someone inevitably responds, they say they have added that person to their blocklist.

As though the responder is the attacker; not them…

It’s hard to tell whether these people are just trolls looking for trouble, or whether they (also) have some kind of issue which means they don’t really understand the rules of normal, human social interaction.

So, you know, it can cut both ways – some people seem to be looking for trouble and then cry foul when they get it.

But, just because a few people ask for trouble and then cry wolf, that obviously doesn’t mean there aren’t, also, innocent people being harassed, or that these people just need to “grow thicker skin”.

No.1 Yes, ANET needs to do something about it. Chat channels sometimes are filled with nasty chats.

But 2 and 3? Really?

You said negative commentators are SCARES? Scared of ANET implementing your suggestion of stopping griefing/trolling/harassment? ANET should do something about the chatting channels from these people. But 2 and 3 are so ridiculous, I really don’t know what to say. Yes, they are people dropping skills here there and everywhere. But it’s hardly doing any work to your graphic card or lack of one. I played with a lousy notebook during work, and the only time I am lagging it at TEQ during the burn phases. Even Claw of Jormag did not lag as much when so many people are dropping skills at the feet of the dragons. So, unless there is 100+ people dropping skills on your char, your computer is not going to implode on you. As for the visual interference due to the skills being dropped around you, just do like I do, set your graphics settings to low.

Third is why are you so SCARES of people standing beside your character? Are you expecting them to reach out from your monitor and grab you by the *******? If that is the case, I would have blocked, reported everyone who stood near me this 3 long years playing the game. Serious, you have some issues if you think some players standing near you is out of get you.

I enjoyed GW2 because it’s not real life. I have many issues in real life that I run away from when playing this game. So, I am assuming you are bringing your real life situation in the virtual world and making as if both worlds are connected to each other. Dude, understand that GW2 world is NOT REAL. No matter how many people tell you that the Matrix has proven that the real world is a lie. There is nothing in Tyria and can jump out of your monitor nor can you, your real body can jump into Tyria.
If I think like you, I would have not enjoy GW2 this 3 long years. In fact, I would have quit after 1 hour or less.

My advice is this, if you got people harassing you in chat/whispers/whatever channel, block and report and move on.
If you got people following you around Tyria and trying to sabotage events that you are doing, make a screenshot or several screenshot or better, use Raptr and make a video of them being jerks and sent them to ANET support.

but don’t go about reporting people just STANDING beside you. What did they do to you just by standing beside you? This is not real life. They are not going to grab your ******* or whatever. Neither they are going to jump out from your monitor and do nasty things to you.

About people dropping skills on your char, again, if they brought their gang and keep on dropping their skills on your, then make a video and sent to ANET. Block and report.
but don’t go about report every single people that just drop a skill nearby and bam, to you it’s a CONSPIRACY to get you.

Seriously. This behaviour of yours I have seen before in real life. My father suffers from the same behaviour. He thinks that many people are out to get him. He never wants people to stand near him unless it’s people whom he knows or friend of his, he is always paranoid about every single sound during the night or when he is alone. In fact, any news about major events or situation, he will call me or my mother telling us to quickly come home before hell breaks loose. And he won’t allow me to travel with him for the fear of something bad happening to the whole family.

So, to the OP. I agree with you that chat channels need to be clean up or something. But 2 and 3………

Tigaseye.2047:

~snipped~

Then the OP needs to block them, report them for the chat component, and then submit a ticket to support for the remainder. It’s the same options they’ve had this entire time. It’s what anet’s going to tell them to do, it’s what Gaile Gray is going to tell them to do. They dont want to do that? Then anet isnt going to do anything about it. You dont ask for help? You arent going to get help.

nosleepdemon.1368:

Khristophoros.7194:

Oh I also want to comment on this.

Belenus.9132:

What sort of slime wrapped in human skin does that to another human being? Let alone a child; not that they seemed to know or care.

Almost certainly 14-16 year old boys.

You meant to say children, right? Mx sexist.

Mx. Cause Mr and Ms are offensive.

Whooaa… I found this really amusing.
Are we considering this thing an abuse. In a game. Fantasy world? Now to explain some things from different points of view, to keep it constructive.

1. Roleplaying view – This is action- combat fantasy game. You play all mighty hero who will save Tyria from fierce dragon, honorable commander who is offended by players standing next to him? It seems like a plot of a low budget commedy. Have some courage or play with barbies
2. Real life view – This is a game. I presume you have at least decent RL, with people you care about. You come here to relax, and enjoy. If you care about the oppinion of the anonimous people in THE GAME and make you nervous and affect your real life, you need to reconsider your own behaviour. Its a matter of self worth and self respect that you lack then, which you need to work on and build up. Confident man dont fall so easily on the tales of people around him.
3. Harrassment view – IMO what you described is not a harassment. And honestly, if you consider that to be a harassment…i can say you are a lucky man. Then you did not meet the real life yet, and the real meaning of abuse and harassment that it has to offer daily on different basis, from work to sports, to university. It is just the way the life is. You either adapt and evolve, either cry or get stronger and overcome problem… Whole life is a fight, so either just surrender and cry in corner for your hurt little feeling because someone stood on you in THE GAME, or be the kitten MAN and fight for ones you love, things you care, and dont let anyone ruin that for you. It is your choise – be a wolf or be a sheep
Welcome to the Internet. RL is also coming soon..

There are already options to report this if you feel so inclined. Disabling people’s effects and full character visuals seems too broken. It affects the game way too much as these effects do more than look pretty and it’s like giving super perma-stealth to select individuals. Such an option can only be abused.

Lol what do you expect from a game. It’s mainly played by male teens and young twens. It’s a rather harsh environment :-) If you get mad on ‘visual abuse’ (lol absolutely hilarious!) or harsh words, just don’t play games, go home, stay home, close reality and/or go to a doctor and ask him how to get a thicker skin.

When I log into GW2 they must put me on a special server. In comparison to other games the player base on GW2 are an absolute pleasure to play with. Never have to worry about being over powered by a mob because some kind soul running by will stop and help. On the rare occassion I die there is nearly always someone around to res me. Any time I ask a question it is always answered politely.

Logging in to GW2 is just a really nice feeling because you know up front the player base is so friendly and helpful.

I have only an advice for OP. Stop playing. Stop playing online games. The online world is where one person “masks” himself behind a monitor. And thus every consequence of that person’s actions, are spoiled of their weight. And that is so that the real nature of humans emerge. Sure there is nice people and there is bad people like the normal world. Both aspects are different sides of the same coin. And so IF you can’t accept the human nature, you can’t relax in an online world where that nature is left wild and unchecked. This is a psychological advice. Stop playing the game because you will never ever stop that. Stop entering the online world where there is a “competitive” component.

It’s like a friend of mine complaining because forums are full of kittens (forums like tech ones etc..). The answer is simple: they are full of kittens because they are full of persons. Persons who hide themselves behind a screen and won’t take full responsability of what they say.

This is from the psycological point of view.

From a LAW point of view the only thing you are right is the VERBAL abuse. Tho im not free to swear to you, menace you, or intimidate you, I am free to stand wherever i want and unleash my skills however i want.

TL:DR Get over it or stop playing because nothing will change.

Tigaseye.2047:

I don’t think you guys really get the problem the OP is referring to.

No, I understand completely. If, in a video game, this (especially the last two):

Belenus.9132:

(1) another player thinks it’s amusing to use harsh, abusive or other commentary on me or which is directed at me; (2) Another player chooses to implement character-driven visual effects either at my avatar or in the immediate, targeted area of my avatar for the purposes of intimidation and/or too cause deliberate work-load on my graphics card thus interfering with my game play enjoyment, or (3) when another player chooses, deliberately to act to intimidate by occupying an area in my immediate vicinity or within the same space that my avatar is occupying and who may or may not move when I move to continue that intimidation.

Makes you feel this:

Belenus.9132:

Make no mistake, intimidation is a serious issue and can cause emotional damage

Then you really shouldn’t be playing online games at all. If someone’s actions in a video game affect you emotionally, then you simply shouldn’t be playing them for the sake of your own health if not for anything else.

GiftUngiven.7854:

I have only an advice for OP. Stop playing. Stop playing online games.

This guy gets it.

Ok so I took some time to think about this. OP you should look up complex and compounding trauma. If this is seriously and issue for you in game, you really should seek some mental health help. I’m not saying this to be rude or condenseding. It’s just the only thing that makes sense. And as others have stated you may want to just take a break if this is seriously causing you some psychological distress.

There have been other threads and conversations about people following others to harass them by jumping up and down beside them while the other person is playing, throwing down skills, following them around to jump/throw down skills even if they waypoint, tracking them down to resume jumping/throwing down skills.

Imo, what the people being harassed need to do is turn it around. Instead of them following you, you are leading them. You are now their boss.

Who decides where to go? You do. Who leads them into a group of mobs so they can be killed? You do. Who decides to go afk for a while, “forcing” them to stand beside you until you are good and ready to come back? You do. Who is making them pay attention to wherever you want to go, stand beside you while you harvest, do jumping puzzles they don’t want to do? You are.

It’s all in who is making the other person do what they want. If you are running from them, trying to get away, then they are the boss. If you are leading them around by the nose, then you’re the boss.

OP seems like a giant troll, but I’ll just pretend for a minute this is completely serious…

You don’t have the same personal space “rights” in a virtual environment as you do in real life. No one can physically harm your virtual avatar without your consent (pvp). Virtual avatars have unique properties that are physically impossible in reality, such as being able to walk directly through someone. You can’t be body-blocked, otherwise accessing the bank would be a nightmare. Did you ever consider that maybe the person who stood close to you was trying to talk to the merchant, or simply had no interest in you and just happened to stop pressing W when next to you?

On the other hand, maybe they were spamming Lava Font on you on purpose. So what? Walk away? There’s nothing an individual could possibly do with particle effects that would harm you or your computer. Have you ever been to a world boss fight? Should we ban everyone for using particles there as well?

The biggest problem with OP’s suggestion however is the idea of turning other players completely invisible. What if you did this to someone in pvp, and then got matched against them later? That person would have an unprecedented advantage over you. They would be able to attack you with any skill, any AoE in the game and kill you without you ever seeing it. You would simply take damage from nowhere.

It honestly sounds like you just don’t like being around people. I mean, this is how people are in video games. They run around and cast spells for fun. Sometimes people say mean things, and you can just block them and report them. If that’s not enough then why are you forcing yourself to play a multiplayer game with other human beings when you can’t tolerate it? Play a single player game maybe?

Belenus.9132:

….

I’m starting to think the problem isn’t the people you are describing here. Don’t be offended but being so affected by having an unwanted mime as you seem to be is not normal and I think it’s hardly a concern for the overall general population in the game. It’s simply a case of stars aligning; mime finds that ONE guy who happens to be the most negatively affected by their gameplay.

This is akin to people with extreme chemical sensitivities. So what do we do in that case? We can do little; it’s such an extreme exception that it is you that needs to make the effort to avoid the situation, even if it means you don’t play the game.

are you serious on point 2 and 3??? one I can understand but 2 and 3 seriously get a life….

Just a flesh wound.3589:

There have been other threads and conversations about people following others to harass them by jumping up and down beside them while the other person is playing, throwing down skills, following them around to jump/throw down skills even if they waypoint, tracking them down to resume jumping/throwing down skills.

I’m genuinely curious about this because I’ve never experienced it or seen it happen to anyone. The only place I hear about this is on the GW2 forums. How and why would someone track you down and follow you and spend all day jumping next to you? Even if they did, why would it bother you? How could they possibly find that entertaining for longer than 30 seconds?

The only way this makes sense to me is if the “victim” kept responding to the “harassment” in a way that provoked further engagement. If you keep whispering and arguing with a troll, they will keep annoying you. If you try to fight back at them or get your friends to help you whisper the troll, you are only adding more fuel to the fire. If you post on the forums about trolls and abuse, you paint a giant target on your back for further abuse. OP is basically advertising to everyone “Here I am, I get upset easily and make a big deal out of it.” This is just the way human beings are wired. The most effective way to deal with these situations is to block communication and ignore them. They will get bored and leave soon enough.

Think about this: You go through life and you run into problems. Your car breaks down. You date a person who ends up being terrible. You forget your keys. You spill coffee in your lap. You overcook dinner. You forget to buy enough paper plates for the party. What is the constant in this equation? YOU. The solution is not to change the entire world. You can’t fix these various problems by blaming others. The answer is internalization. You make yourself responsible for your own problems, and look for a way to fix your life from within.

Apply the concept of internalization to this thread. It’s not your fault that you get trolled. But make it your responsibility to ignore them instead of feeding them.

Xenon.4537:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

There have been other threads and conversations about people following others to harass them by jumping up and down beside them while the other person is playing, throwing down skills, following them around to jump/throw down skills even if they waypoint, tracking them down to resume jumping/throwing down skills.

I’m genuinely curious about this because I’ve never experienced it or seen it happen to anyone. The only place I hear about this is on the GW2 forums. How and why would someone track you down and follow you and spend all day jumping next to you? Even if they did, why would it bother you? How could they possibly find that entertaining for longer than 30 seconds?

The only way this makes sense to me is if the “victim” kept responding to the “harassment” in a way that provoked further engagement. If you keep whispering and arguing with a troll, they will keep annoying you. If you try to fight back at them or get your friends to help you whisper the troll, you are only adding more fuel to the fire. If you post on the forums about trolls and abuse, you paint a giant target on your back for further abuse. OP is basically advertising to everyone “Here I am, I get upset easily and make a big deal out of it.” This is just the way human beings are wired. The most effective way to deal with these situations is to block communication and ignore them. They will get bored and leave soon enough.

Think about this: You go through life and you run into problems. Your car breaks down. You date a person who ends up being terrible. You forget your keys. You spill coffee in your lap. You overcook dinner. You forget to buy enough paper plates for the party. What is the constant in this equation? YOU. The solution is not to change the entire world. You can’t fix these various problems by blaming others. The answer is internalization. You make yourself responsible for your own problems, and look for a way to fix your life from within.

Apply the concept of internalization to this thread. It’s not your fault that you get trolled. But make it your responsibility to ignore them instead of feeding them.

It was a reference to short conversation that I had by PM where someone said another person followed them around the map to jump repeatedly on top of them, even tracking them down after waypointing and hanging around when they went afk. The harrasement allegedly came out out of the blue and my response at that time was to acknowledge that that would be annoying.

It was after thinking it over for a while that I realized that the guy who messaged me had run from the other person. Even his going afk had been a type of running. What I should have recommended, if I had thought of it, was becoming the boss of the harasser. Block him so you can’t hear him then ping a waypoint in local chat where you are going and order him to follow. Tell him you are going afk and order him to stay there till you get back. Tell him you plan to harvest every node on the map and tell him not to leave you. He can say what he wants, but you’ll have him blocked. If he does what you tell him to do, you won. If he leaves, you won. Either way is better than running from him and hoping he’ll leave you alone.

Belenus.9132:

Shortly after the new Lion’s Arch was put in place I was abused by three or four griefers who decided to abuse me with dialogue which was frankly the sort of thing which in real life I would consider grounds for the cops, and what options did I have to deal with it? Well, blocking them made little difference as they simply chased me around the city, hounding me which I felt was very intimidating and teleporting (which seemed like a good idea at the time) made little difference for this mob was doing that too. I was forced eventually to leave, so they ‘won’ and that really irritated me. I knew there was nothing that could be done about it, until today when one of the same abusers who was involved in the above instance abused me again, personally today in Divinity’s Reach and this time when I was in company who found their actions both childish and unnecessary.

Because I had already blocked them I could not ’’hear’’ what they were saying but I certainly noticed their charging back and forth, attempting to cut me up. How can you not call that targeted intimidation? So, with that in mind I decided it was time to say something and with any luck be heard because I log into Guild Wars 2 to relax, to unwind and most of all to meet friends and adventure and certainly do not want to have to worry about being abused like this.

This is ridiculous. WP to somewhere else.. end of problem.

I dont know how you managed to get three people chasing you, but it would have to have been quite egregious.

1/2 a story is a bunch of rubbish imo.

Harden up, princess. Learn normal infant level survival skills.

Belenus.9132:

I’ve been reading the replies and the results have been interesting. First of all, much like the act of “Chinese Whispers” the meaning of “somebody DELIBERATELY moving to stand in the same spot as another person, and to move as another person does, and worse still to DELIBERATELY act to shadow another avatar” (general meaning of my original comment amended so there are no ‘misunderstandings’ or ‘clever’ re-interpretations) has been altered in the course of discussion to mean “if somebody is standing in the same place as me or near me it’s griefing, right?”

No, it’s not the same.
One is accidental or coincidental; the other is an act of INTENDED harassment and it is this issue of INTENT which is at the core of the whole situation being discussed here.

How could this actually negatively affect you? I mean do you just hate when having to do world bosses or go to the trading post in fear you will virtually bump elbows?

If people are doing this a lot to you, it clearly means you have to be doing something to provoke it. If you’re only complaining about one instance then I could understand it more but you are referring to this happening to you all the time. And i know you will say you’ve done nothing . . .but no one gets greifed multiple times by different people for doing “nothing”

Just a flesh wound.3589:

It was a reference to short conversation that I had by PM where someone said another person followed them around the map to jump repeatedly on top of them, even tracking them down after waypointing and hanging around when they went afk. The harrasement allegedly came out out of the blue and my response at that time was to acknowledge that that would be annoying.

It was after thinking it over for a while that I realized that the guy who messaged me had run from the other person. Even his going afk had been a type of running. What I should have recommended, if I had thought of it, was becoming the boss of the harasser. Block him so you can’t hear him then ping a waypoint in local chat where you are going and order him to follow. Tell him you are going afk and order him to stay there till you get back. Tell him you plan to harvest every node on the map and tell him not to leave you. He can say what he wants, but you’ll have him blocked. If he does what you tell him to do, you won. If he leaves, you won. Either way is better than running from him and hoping he’ll leave you alone.

Lol, that is a very amusing way to turn the situation around. I will definitely do that if it ever happens to me. I just get the sense from your story that your friend must have been talking to that person for a while in order to provoke that kind of harassment. Maybe they had an argument in map chat? I don’t mean to insult your friend, but maybe he said something foolish or expressed an unpopular opinion and further inflamed the situation by interacting with trolls before trying to “run away” as you put it. I mean realistically, trolls target people kittenpond to provocation. They feed on interaction. If you cut off the interaction, they get bored and look for a new target. The earlier you cut them off, the better. Hence the phrase “don’t feed the troll”.

Xenon.4537:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

It was a reference to short conversation that I had by PM where someone said another person followed them around the map to jump repeatedly on top of them, even tracking them down after waypointing and hanging around when they went afk. The harrasement allegedly came out out of the blue and my response at that time was to acknowledge that that would be annoying.

It was after thinking it over for a while that I realized that the guy who messaged me had run from the other person. Even his going afk had been a type of running. What I should have recommended, if I had thought of it, was becoming the boss of the harasser. Block him so you can’t hear him then ping a waypoint in local chat where you are going and order him to follow. Tell him you are going afk and order him to stay there till you get back. Tell him you plan to harvest every node on the map and tell him not to leave you. He can say what he wants, but you’ll have him blocked. If he does what you tell him to do, you won. If he leaves, you won. Either way is better than running from him and hoping he’ll leave you alone.

Lol, that is a very amusing way to turn the situation around. I will definitely do that if it ever happens to me. I just get the sense from your story that your friend must have been talking to that person for a while in order to provoke that kind of harassment. Maybe they had an argument in map chat? I don’t mean to insult your friend, but maybe he said something foolish or expressed an unpopular opinion and further inflamed the situation by interacting with trolls before trying to “run away” as you put it. I mean realistically, trolls target people kittenpond to provocation. They feed on interaction. If you cut off the interaction, they get bored and look for a new target. The earlier you cut them off, the better. Hence the phrase “don’t feed the troll”.

I have no idea if there was any previous interaction. The guy said it was unprovoked and out of the blue. /shrug. However his reactions after were obviously what the other guy wanted. I’m guessing he did speak to the guy initially to make him go away, to stop. Then he ran away, he afk’d. He “fed” the troll.

Imo, there is only 2 things you can do in game in this situation. Either play as if the guy isn’t there or take charge and lead him from spot to spot. My preference would be to lead him a merry chase and tell him what to do. The wrong thing to do is let them be the boss of what you do.

Zev.3407:

If people are doing this a lot to you, it clearly means you have to be doing something to provoke it.

No, that’s not in the least true. If you have never been the victim of harassment (or known someone who has been), you won’t realize that there are people who need no provocation to engage in harassing or stalking behavior. It’s scary to be the target, because you think there was something you could have done differently, even though there isn’t.

Again, I’m not defending the OP’s choice to demand new tools in game before first trying to use the ones already available. I do think the first step is to document the behavior and report it via channels and wait for ANet to act; this doesn’t seem to have happened yet.

However, at the same time I fully believe it’s possible that someone is harassing the OP and/or stalking them and doing as much as they can to interfere with the OP’s ability to enjoy the game.

In the end, of course, it doesn’t matter what any of us think — it only matters what ANet thinks after evaluating any evidence that the OP can provide.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Zev.3407:

If people are doing this a lot to you, it clearly means you have to be doing something to provoke it.

No, that’s not in the least true. If you have never been the victim of harassment (or known someone who has been), you won’t realize that there are people who need no provocation to engage in harassing or stalking behavior. It’s scary to be the target, because you think there was something you could have done differently, even though there isn’t.

Again, I’m not defending the OP’s choice to demand new tools in game before first trying to use the ones already available. I do think the first step is to document the behavior and report it via channels and wait for ANet to act; this doesn’t seem to have happened yet.

However, at the same time I fully believe it’s possible that someone is harassing the OP and/or stalking them and doing as much as they can to interfere with the OP’s ability to enjoy the game.

In the end, of course, it doesn’t matter what any of us think — it only matters what ANet thinks after evaluating any evidence that the OP can provide.

I was referring to the fact the OP makes it seem like this happens to him everywhere he goes from multiple people at multiple times . . . not a singular person/group.

i know theres people whos only goal is to annoy/make people suffer. but the Op is talking about multiple people, which makes is seems like the OP must be provoking this behavior. ( or this is a giant troll post)

OP, if you can’t fight back properly; by not noticing them (or at least not letting them know that), then stay at least afk until they leave. Never let them know that you are bothered. They can’t “win” if they can’t see that you are bothered. Just play normally like they are not there at all. Mute sounds if needed. Collect evidence, screenshots, maybe video, if you want to fight them that way (depends on what happened/was written) and send to Anet. But these actions won’t turn bullies into better people. They will always exist, and if you can’t deal with them, find someone who can. “Ignoring them” it’s already fighting back.

Regardless of details, of what whas described & proposed, we should never side with harassers and trolls, no matter what. Some can’t fight back. If anything more can be done to help those in need, we should support that. One day we may need it too.

While I agree that points 2 and 3 are too far, saying “boys will be boys” and “deal with it” are condoning a toxic environment are are just as bad so knock it off :p

As to how to deal, pretty much what others have said – if it’s extreme, document and submit to Anet. If it’s not, block, report, move on. Learning to ignore helps, becoming a little tougher helps, but it’s not a black or white issue.

This is the internet… it’s an MMO not real life. Sure you’re gonna get trolls in game that’s part and parcel to anything online, not that I condone it that is. No one should be subjected to any form of trolling. But if it happens to you the worst thing you could possibly do is reply back. That just adds fuel to the fire and the troll is just gonna keep going and going and going. Ignore them if possible. If that doesn’t work then the next best thing is what others have mentioned… take screenshots or record it. Get as much information on the troller, then send a report to Anet support.

But in the end it’s only a game. Don’t take it to heart. It’s not real life.

Went back and had a look at the OP’s posting history, and he comes across as a nice guy who is obviously intelligent to put together an argument, with the first part of this post having merit, whilst the rest, well enough about that, others have already commented eloquently enough.

However four months ago he posted this- https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Blocked-but-Still-Causing-Offence
I am afraid that post didnt have any legs then, and he felt he needed to re-post an enhanced version.

Now the OP in previous posts says he is a long term player, and mature in years (like myself), so presumably knows, the complaints procedure inside out, cover to cover. If the devs havnt seen it appropriate to action the so called perpetrators, then something is going amiss, either A:- with the the devs response/complaints procedure, or B:- with the claims made by the OP!

Shadey Dancer.2907:

Went back and had a look at the OP’s posting history, and he comes across as a nice guy who is obviously intelligent to put together an argument, with the first part of this post having merit, whilst the rest, well enough about that, others have already commented eloquently enough.

However four months ago he posted this- https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Blocked-but-Still-Causing-Offence
I am afraid that post didnt have any legs then, and he felt he needed to re-post an enhanced version.

Now the OP in previous posts says he is a long term player, and mature in years (like myself), so presumably knows, the complaints procedure inside out, cover to cover. If the devs havnt seen it appropriate to action the so called perpetrators, then something is going amiss, either A:- with the the devs response/complaints procedure, or B:- with the claims made by the OP!

I have full faith in Anet. This company is the best in the world and I think they took his case seriously and they found no evidence of harassment. They are trustworthy people and they never make mistakes.

krzygum.4028:

Shadey Dancer.2907:

Went back and had a look at the OP’s posting history, and he comes across as a nice guy who is obviously intelligent to put together an argument, with the first part of this post having merit, whilst the rest, well enough about that, others have already commented eloquently enough.

However four months ago he posted this- https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Blocked-but-Still-Causing-Offence
I am afraid that post didnt have any legs then, and he felt he needed to re-post an enhanced version.

Now the OP in previous posts says he is a long term player, and mature in years (like myself), so presumably knows, the complaints procedure inside out, cover to cover. If the devs havnt seen it appropriate to action the so called perpetrators, then something is going amiss, either A:- with the the devs response/complaints procedure, or B:- with the claims made by the OP!

I have full faith in Anet. This company is the best in the world and I think they took his case seriously and they found no evidence of harassment. They are trustworthy people and they never make mistakes.

lol what

krzygum.4028:

Shadey Dancer.2907:

Went back and had a look at the OP’s posting history, and he comes across as a nice guy who is obviously intelligent to put together an argument, with the first part of this post having merit, whilst the rest, well enough about that, others have already commented eloquently enough.

However four months ago he posted this- https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Blocked-but-Still-Causing-Offence
I am afraid that post didnt have any legs then, and he felt he needed to re-post an enhanced version.

Now the OP in previous posts says he is a long term player, and mature in years (like myself), so presumably knows, the complaints procedure inside out, cover to cover. If the devs havnt seen it appropriate to action the so called perpetrators, then something is going amiss, either A:- with the the devs response/complaints procedure, or B:- with the claims made by the OP!

I have full faith in Anet. This company is the best in the world and I think they took his case seriously and they found no evidence of harassment. They are trustworthy people and they never make mistakes.

O.o

Lol. That better be sarcasm. I’m fond of ANet myself but when they terminated my account for gold selling shortly after launch, that was a mistake (and a very careless one at that) that took them the only few seconds needed to actually check once I pointed out, to realize they were wrong.

Exxcalibur.6203:

I dont know how you managed to get three people chasing you, but it would have to have been quite egregious.

Probably not by being a perfect little angel.

If this kind of nonsense spouted here is an indication of character, i can foresee this being a bit of a self-fullfilling prophecy. If you’re going to moan at people for standing their virtual character to close to your virtual character then sooner or later you’ll get some people who think “let’s rile this guy up somewhat”. Because apparently it’s really easy.

I’ve personally never “suffered” this kind of “abuse”. I can only imagine what kind of person you have to be to provoke this kind of behavior on such a regular basis that you feel the need to make a post like this.

Defiling Treekiller.1632:

it must be tough to go through life acting as if words ,and I stress typed words at that, can hurt you. if you choose to be intimidated by a pixelated image slicing the air in front of your pixelated image then congratulations on being what is actually wrong with the world. #firstworldgentileproblemsarenotproblems #suckitupbuttercup

well, typed words can hurt if you are of the insecure type. To make it clear, I find the other points OP made rather strange (harassment by standing next to you character, skill use etc.), but real written attacks are another thing. Which can be reported/blocked – there is your solution.

As for first world problems: a very silly concept. When someone lives in the first world, these are the problems that concern him. And rightly so.

I don’t think this thread can even achieve anything to be honest. This problem exists in every decently large game. Either the person is too sensitive, or the moderators just don’t care too much about the abundance of small tiny problems we have. However, I guess there should be something done about someone who is reported quite frequently, and I’m sure there is something that they do to said people.
This thread is quite unlikely to change much, because these are just one of the inevitable and inevitable problems of the internet in general.

Grow a thicker skin.

My 2c

If they continue to do it just to be annoying after you block them then scrn cap and report. You really can’t stop other players from standing close to you though, it’s just pixels, even claustrophobic ppl IRL can stack in a game, they are not in your actual personal space, get over it. You are not your character.

It’s interesting how abusers always find the same people to abuse. It’s almost like the victims have a sign over their head saying “Victim, please abuse me”

You know what’s fun? Teasing someone who gives you a response. You know what’s not fun? Teasing someone who ignores you.

Some random thief I killed last night in WVW did the whole typical “Had to 2v1 me huh?” “You’re a noob” “You suck” type stuff.

You know what I did? I blocked him without responding a single word. Sat in the the same area and waited for him to come back to kill again. I don’t need to participate in his petty dialogue about who sucks or doesn’t suck.

It’s my decision to participate with a troll. I can just walk away. My ego isn’t so large I have to think of every interaction in life as a contest.

Yes there are idiots but getting abused and intimidated all the time? It has never happened to me. Exactly why are people gravitating to you? Do you say a bunch of stupid stuff in chat or something? I’m puzzled.