By TPTB I mean "the powers that be" aka the Devs, EA, Mythic, Bioware or whom ever has the power to deal with it. This just didn't start today or yesterday. It didn't start last week, last month or last year. It has been around as long as UO has been around. I opened my main account June of 2002 within my first month of playing UO I had a taste of greifers. Then as now TPTB did ABSOLUTLY nothing about them.
As far as I'm concerned these "greifers" are nothing but bullies, period. They should be handled as bullies. However EA neither has GMs enough nor the inclination to deal with them. I have been reading and apparently many states have passed "Cyber-Bully" laws. So far the cases I have read about didn't involve an MMO. They involved chat rooms, MySpace, Face book, Twitter and social networking types stuff. Eventually we'll see a case involving a MMO, its only a matter of time. I can't help but wonder what will be the catalyst; another suicide of a teenage? Perhaps an incident like the one in South Korea where one player of a MMO hunted down another and killed him over a in game item.
I think it is time we in the gaming community should step up and be proactive before something tragic does occur. Its time we all say a unified ENOUGH! Let's start by cleaning our own house (UO). I really do not know how to go about convincing EA to step up and do the right thing.
Yes, we could try the legal route, but there are allot of difficulties in this course of action. The first and most obvious problem is that we are spread all over the U.S. and the World. I would guess that since EA is headquartered out of the U.S. it would most likely be tried here in a Federal Court setting. Then next obstacle is that we would be setting a new legal precedent. That is we would be the first case of its kind. That alone will make it long, tedious, and expensive. I do NOT think the legal system is neither a wise or good choice for our problem. I see it as the most drastic of last resorts, and not an idea we should be entertaining at this juncture.
I think perhaps having a chosen group of players meet with the Development Team, the Customer Support, and whom ever else EA deemed was necessary for such a meeting to take place would be a excellent course of action. How we would choose such a group I do not know. I really believe this can be achieved if we all try to work together.
The one thing I am certain of is that the griefing needs to end.
Many of you will ask the same question you always ask: "Are you going to quite?" My answer is a firm NO. I will give NO ONE the satisfaction of me quitting! If I NEVER log into Ultima Online again I will continue to pay for my accounts until Ultima Online is no more. As long as my castle, keep and 4 houses stand I am give everyone who would like to see me quit the virtual equivalent of the "middle finger"! I stand firm. I am going no where so get used to it I am here until they close the door.
As far as I'm concerned these "greifers" are nothing but bullies, period. They should be handled as bullies. However EA neither has GMs enough nor the inclination to deal with them. I have been reading and apparently many states have passed "Cyber-Bully" laws. So far the cases I have read about didn't involve an MMO. They involved chat rooms, MySpace, Face book, Twitter and social networking types stuff. Eventually we'll see a case involving a MMO, its only a matter of time. I can't help but wonder what will be the catalyst; another suicide of a teenage? Perhaps an incident like the one in South Korea where one player of a MMO hunted down another and killed him over a in game item.
I think it is time we in the gaming community should step up and be proactive before something tragic does occur. Its time we all say a unified ENOUGH! Let's start by cleaning our own house (UO). I really do not know how to go about convincing EA to step up and do the right thing.
Yes, we could try the legal route, but there are allot of difficulties in this course of action. The first and most obvious problem is that we are spread all over the U.S. and the World. I would guess that since EA is headquartered out of the U.S. it would most likely be tried here in a Federal Court setting. Then next obstacle is that we would be setting a new legal precedent. That is we would be the first case of its kind. That alone will make it long, tedious, and expensive. I do NOT think the legal system is neither a wise or good choice for our problem. I see it as the most drastic of last resorts, and not an idea we should be entertaining at this juncture.
I think perhaps having a chosen group of players meet with the Development Team, the Customer Support, and whom ever else EA deemed was necessary for such a meeting to take place would be a excellent course of action. How we would choose such a group I do not know. I really believe this can be achieved if we all try to work together.
The one thing I am certain of is that the griefing needs to end.
Many of you will ask the same question you always ask: "Are you going to quite?" My answer is a firm NO. I will give NO ONE the satisfaction of me quitting! If I NEVER log into Ultima Online again I will continue to pay for my accounts until Ultima Online is no more. As long as my castle, keep and 4 houses stand I am give everyone who would like to see me quit the virtual equivalent of the "middle finger"! I stand firm. I am going no where so get used to it I am here until they close the door.
