12-05-2004, 11:06 PM
I'm a little disappointed, but you have to appreciate Blizzard's point of view on the issue. Blizzard's official positive-reinforcement-only policy makes it sound like they naively fail to understand the motivations of griefers, but Tyren's responses show that they understand more than they let on. They get that there's only one thing you can do against hardcore griefers, and they've already done it - PvE servers.
The solutions that are being suggested are either as full of loopholes as the original policy or are uselessly complicated. You can't make a policy that allows for nonconsensual PvP and which simultaneously locks out griefing behaviour. Serious griefers don't care whether they die, or how much time they spend, as long as they kill their target once and ruin their day. The problem isn't the system, it's the people, and Blizzard really can't do anything about the people.
The solutions that are being suggested are either as full of loopholes as the original policy or are uselessly complicated. You can't make a policy that allows for nonconsensual PvP and which simultaneously locks out griefing behaviour. Serious griefers don't care whether they die, or how much time they spend, as long as they kill their target once and ruin their day. The problem isn't the system, it's the people, and Blizzard really can't do anything about the people.