First the story.
Brit bank on Europa used to be a hive of activity with nearly all players using it for various reasons. Then came the invasion, the bank became a dangerous place to visit especially for crafters so reasonably enough it fell into disuse. Luna became the new focus. However there has always been a certain nostalgia for the old days amongst some vets and around the 17th March 2013 certain players started a drive to restore it to something like its old glory.
The following link is to a post made at the time which names some of the players involved together with a screenie of the beginning -
http://community.stratics.com/threads/free-repairs-at-brit-bank-and-dupre-visited-us.296418/
Since that time, that small beginning has evolved into a daily meeting between 6 and 7pm UK time for the repair of goods, general discussion, advice and helping new players. These are well attended and might be termed a great success in the re-emergance of Brit bank to its former prominence. The EMs have provided useful items nearby like a forge etc to enable repair work to be carried out immediately. Although I have seen a screenshot of a meeting unfortunately I do not have one I can post to illustrate how well it has worked. A LOT of players get enjoyment from these meetings and hopefully they encourage new players to continue with UO.
At Chrismastime this year one player laid out a long table to make a party type atmosphere instead of rows of chairs as is usual. This I do have a shot of -
picture taken of todays meeting. 6th Jan
The following day he once again did the same, this time however there was a difference, in common with most shards we have our share of those who get their kicks from ruining the enjoyment of others. Yes, thats right, griefers!. We have one particularly offensive specimen ( who must of course remain nameless) who thought it would be fun to remove all the players efforts into the rubbish bin. Despite being asked to stop by some of those present everything went 'poof'. Yes I know that loose articles are designed and allowed to be discarded but it was quite obvious what was intended with these items and as I see it must constitute harassment in that the actions were designed to interfere with the playing enjoyment of others, the playguide contains the following criteria --
'We'd rather not go into the specifics of all the actions we consider physical
harassment, but we do want to make it clear that it is not okay to ruin the fun
of UO for other players, specifically when that is the intent behind your
actions. It is important to realize and accept that everyone plays this game
differently, and everyone has different expectations from the game and from the
other players. Ultima Online is a social setting, and as such, we expect our
players to treat one another with the same respect and dignity they would use in
any other social situation.
If your sole purpose and intent in any action is to continually upset,
aggravate, or otherwise annoy another player, you may be a "grief player." Using
game mechanics to cause grief to others can also be seen as exploitation, and
will be treated accordingly by game staff.
I can come to no other conclusion than that the actions by the griefer fall fully within this description, they WERE designed to ruin the fun of other players and they WERE annoying the other players present.
So the player was reported and at least one player e-mailed Messana.
To demonstrate how effective these actions were YESTERDAY the same idiot did the same with the chairs that were laid out for the usual evening meeting, once again upsetting all those present and giving a great illustration to those new players there, of the dark side of UO.
Now, finally I come to the question. Given that reporting doesn't work, e-mailing Messana doesn't work. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?.
Brit bank on Europa used to be a hive of activity with nearly all players using it for various reasons. Then came the invasion, the bank became a dangerous place to visit especially for crafters so reasonably enough it fell into disuse. Luna became the new focus. However there has always been a certain nostalgia for the old days amongst some vets and around the 17th March 2013 certain players started a drive to restore it to something like its old glory.
The following link is to a post made at the time which names some of the players involved together with a screenie of the beginning -
http://community.stratics.com/threads/free-repairs-at-brit-bank-and-dupre-visited-us.296418/
Since that time, that small beginning has evolved into a daily meeting between 6 and 7pm UK time for the repair of goods, general discussion, advice and helping new players. These are well attended and might be termed a great success in the re-emergance of Brit bank to its former prominence. The EMs have provided useful items nearby like a forge etc to enable repair work to be carried out immediately. Although I have seen a screenshot of a meeting unfortunately I do not have one I can post to illustrate how well it has worked. A LOT of players get enjoyment from these meetings and hopefully they encourage new players to continue with UO.
At Chrismastime this year one player laid out a long table to make a party type atmosphere instead of rows of chairs as is usual. This I do have a shot of -
picture taken of todays meeting. 6th JanThe following day he once again did the same, this time however there was a difference, in common with most shards we have our share of those who get their kicks from ruining the enjoyment of others. Yes, thats right, griefers!. We have one particularly offensive specimen ( who must of course remain nameless) who thought it would be fun to remove all the players efforts into the rubbish bin. Despite being asked to stop by some of those present everything went 'poof'. Yes I know that loose articles are designed and allowed to be discarded but it was quite obvious what was intended with these items and as I see it must constitute harassment in that the actions were designed to interfere with the playing enjoyment of others, the playguide contains the following criteria --
'We'd rather not go into the specifics of all the actions we consider physical
harassment, but we do want to make it clear that it is not okay to ruin the fun
of UO for other players, specifically when that is the intent behind your
actions. It is important to realize and accept that everyone plays this game
differently, and everyone has different expectations from the game and from the
other players. Ultima Online is a social setting, and as such, we expect our
players to treat one another with the same respect and dignity they would use in
any other social situation.
If your sole purpose and intent in any action is to continually upset,
aggravate, or otherwise annoy another player, you may be a "grief player." Using
game mechanics to cause grief to others can also be seen as exploitation, and
will be treated accordingly by game staff.
I can come to no other conclusion than that the actions by the griefer fall fully within this description, they WERE designed to ruin the fun of other players and they WERE annoying the other players present.
So the player was reported and at least one player e-mailed Messana.
To demonstrate how effective these actions were YESTERDAY the same idiot did the same with the chairs that were laid out for the usual evening meeting, once again upsetting all those present and giving a great illustration to those new players there, of the dark side of UO.
Now, finally I come to the question. Given that reporting doesn't work, e-mailing Messana doesn't work. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?.
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Friends are what have kept me in UO, I worry what I will do when they all finally do leave.
