Part 1of9: "Summary HUD" [Master Chief? Or Master Grief?] from ET+G's "HARLAN: Griefer of Regret"

If you can’t outsmart a boneheaded griefer, what does that say about you? Confrontational, immature, brash and a vitriolic opponent of humankind, Prophet of Regret inevitably met his end on the rebellious and foolhardy path he chose (ultimately being abandoned even by his own kind, since he had betrayed their trust and discipline on the so-called Great Journey). Apt. So it is with serial griefers. In this “tldr” series of posts, we outline how we think online games can be refitted to make matches more resistant to griefers and campers (who sour fair play and clog up the lively free-flow and versatility of innovative gamers). It's not just trolls that we’re redesigning maps against. Capture The Flag (CTF) attracts more campers than a World Scout Jamboree: base campers; spawn campers; teleport campers; vehicle/aircraft campers. So we’ve taken a cartographical rocket to all of those as well. In-game trolling affects all players, however this lengthy series is primarily made for fellow HALO map makers and hosts who initiate matches … and it might also be of interest to career griefers (in the rare instance that any of them are literate enough to read, let alone comprehend, this Forge-based pushback and call to arms). It’d be nice if griefers would just stop it. Lol. It’d be nice if all Hosts would do their job properly. Lol. We can keep whinging about griefer trolls … or rage quit … or be a troll back to them … or keep asking 343 to ban serial griefers, lol … or close our accounts and stop playing online altogether (ie punish ourselves) … or do something more constructive about it. We think the alternative is to design maps/modes against griefers and campers, to out-manoeuvre them at Forge level (before the match even begins). We (ET+G) have been observing and discussing why certain maps are riddled with griefers/campers; why others are less prone to such idiots. And we've been thinking about what containment protocols could be adopted to cleanse this parasitic Flood (as Guilty Spark would say). If you analyse how griefers operate, they almost never leave their homebase – because that’s where they’re safe from actual gamers on the other side. Unskilled cowards. So we have to move the main battleground elsewhere – to a central arena – where childish anti-gamers won’t survive long. This requires moving some of the vehicles, spawn points, weapons, armour abilities, teleports etc away from the homebase so that all players can quickly get out onto the main field where both sides can turn the tables and deal with griefers. And so they will, with gleeful retribution. We also have to allow safer respawning and alternative locations for collection of gear - which results in homebase griefers becoming inconsequential, so they can be ignored. Let them blow up base vehicles … plenty more on quick respawns out where the action is. They won’t get to waste your time anymore … they can only waste their own time. We have showcased these principles as “HARLAN: Griefer of Regret” – an ET+G recasting of our favourite map genre from HALO’s Master Chief Collection (MCC) Custom Games. We’ve similarly anti-griefed and de-camped another map we often host on MCC [which can be found on our "SuperBus Ungriefed" playlist]. We’re not claiming to have fired the final silver bullet against trolls; we’re just using IPM (Integrated Pest Management) strategies to dilute their toxic effects. The proof will not be whether there is any griefing in our matches (there will be). The verdict will tilt on whether or not those griefers have any significant impact, and whether other gamers can play on (and relish the frustration of attention-seekers being ignored). Here's what’s coming up in our “Master Chief? Or Master Grief?” series: Part 2: Modes: The Master Key. Part 3: Why HARLAN? Why Redesign It? Part 4: The Bear Pit: a new complex central battle arena built on a translucent plane to allow visibility down to lower cross-paths that interconnect four corner sniper nests (which are diagonally linked by two-way teleports for stealthy ambush attacks). We have a few PvPvE hazards (of course!) and it's all set downhill for hurtling Warthogs to burst onto the jumps and sail through the wrecking yard. Part 5: Teleports … Cull excess teleports; new multi-receiver nodes (both fixed and random); two-way teleports. Part 6: The Great Dispersal. Spawn points and/or vehicles, weaponry, armour abilities need to be: decentralised; multiplied; protected; respawn accelerated; elevated; and relocated to central battleground to propel players to the frontline. Part 7: OP: Let’s unpick “overpoweredness” (in terms of balanced scarcity/inaccessibility and counter-measures). Part 8: Hosting (& Six Short Lives of a Griefer) Part 9: Nerds & Turds: HALO In Decline. What Would Master Chief Do? / / / Music Credit: / / / "Don't Change" (by INXS) [Abridged by ET+G]