Griefing

“

It's lads like you that give war a bad name! Click to listen — The Demoman on griefers

”

Griefing is the act of using or abusing a game mechanic in ways originally unintended by the game's developers for the specific purpose of angering or otherwise negatively impacting the game experience of another player. Griefing can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint because its defining characteristic is intent and not action.

Griefing is distinctly different than "being an idiot." Bug abuse and hacking can be griefing, but only when done specifically to disrupt another player's gameplay, and not when done simply to gain an unfair advantage.

List of acts that are never griefing

• Camping
• Turtling

• Ambushing

• Rooting out Spies, Engineers, or other classes hiding behind the team

• Killing the same player repeatedly in order to remove a tactical advantage gained by their presence from a defensive or exposed location

List of acts that may be griefing

The following are griefing when they are done to disrupt someone's enjoyment of the game:

• Mic spam

• Text/call spam

• Bug abuse

• Hacking

• Offensive speech, text or sprays

• Repeatedly stealing Teleports from slower or more vital classes

• Faking a trade deal that would be considered good, e.g. offering Earbuds for 2 hats

List of acts that are almost always griefing

The following items are almost always griefing, because it is generally the only reason to do them:

• Medic
  • Übering teammates for no reason, such as Übering a Sniper that is in no danger, Übering teammates in the spawn, etc

• • Refusing to heal certain or all teammates as a Medic

• • Intentionally healing enemy Spies so that they are able to kill your teammates

• • Intentionally ÜberCharging enemy Spies to protect them from damage

• • Intentionally and repeatedly healing disguised friendly Spies in order to disrupt their cover

• Engineer
  • Using Teleporters to trap your team-mates in inescapable locations

• • Building Teleporters in between another Engineer's Sentry Gun and Dispenser, so that they cannot stand in the ideal spot without being teleported away (usually backwards)

• • Deliberately placing Teleporters across vital exits and entryways so it is impossible to pass them without being teleported

• • Placing Teleporters that lead to useless areas, or are just a few feet away from the entrance

• • Putting Teleporter exits in inescapable or immediately hostile areas

• • Building Teleporter exits in your own base and placing the entrance in the enemies', allowing for Spy infiltration

• • Building a Teleporter entrance/exit in the direct path of a Sniper's strafing route (such as the battlements in 2Fort) that go backwards and/or are counter-productive

• • Setting up Sentry Guns and Dispensers in areas that the enemy cannot reach in order to irritate your teammates; for example, at the BLU team's setup/respawn area in Gravel Pit

• Other/Generic
  • Intentionally pushing team-mates off ledges in order to kill them or force them to waste time getting back up

• • Continuously obstructing a Sniper's view by standing in front of them or using special effects (e.g. Flamethrower/smoke from disguising) to obscure their vision.

• • Repeatedly killing the same player, and only the same player, in order to annoy them with no tactical reason for doing so

• • Exploits, such as Skywalking in Dustbowl (Stage 3, Control Point 2) with the express idea to annoy/anger the enemy team

• • Intentionally being worthless to your team. For example, standing in the same place, only using melee weapons, and running straight into enemy fire

• • Attacking your own teammates for long stretches of time for no reason besides to annoy them.

• • Following the same teammate around for no reason.

• • Having a Friend on the enemy Team and sending them details on your Team's defences/weaknesses via Private Chat so they can tell their team

Examples

There are some examples of griefing, made by EDBOTNIK and the Cow-orkers (Interactive Video Menu)

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These are some examples of griefing, made by TEAM ROOMBA.