Inflicting pain on ‘griefers’ | CNET News.com

Those of us who’ve spent significant time in online RPGs know these people… griefers suck, and the industry knows it. Now, what can they do about them?

As online-game companies court new and wider audiences, many are running into an old problem: “griefers,” a small but seemingly irradicable set of players who want nothing more than to murder, loot and otherwise frustrate the heck out of everyone else.

Social miscreants can do more than ruin the game for better-behaved competitors. They can hurt game companies’ bottom line by driving away customers and burning up support lines. Problems related to grief players often account for 25 percent or more of customer service calls, according to game publishers.