(09-28-2013, 12:42 AM)Val Wrote:(09-25-2013, 04:23 AM)X Wrote: I can't say if that's any worse than 'Crane Trolling' which became really popular on my WoW server. People would get the crane mounts which just make the most awful noise you ever hear, and honk at RPers relentlessly. For hours.
You have to wonder, how devoid their lives are of any humor if they can afford hours to simply spoiling another person's enjoyment of a game we all pay money to play. I would say simply don't let it get to you. They're having fun they only way they know how, because their minds are small.
Very recently, I was standing in the Ul'dah Adventure's Guild and watching a guy stand on the table and cast spells in everyone's face.
I had a very in-depth conversation with him, asking him if he had anything better to do with his day than to try and kill someone else's enjoyment of the game. The response I got? "I'm bored and I don't get RP or people that pretend. Why pay for this game if you aren't going to play it?"
I informed him that being bored isn't necessarily a good reason to bother other people that aren't, and that you don't necessarily have to get something in order to have respect for it. I also told him that it was horrid to assume someone is playing a game wrong. I used the recent GTA V as an analogy, stating that some choose to play the missions while some never do one and just run around--and challenged him to tell me who was playing the game wrong.
He said, "I guess you're right" and left the people alone. Either because he was tired of me harassing them or because he really got an answer.
TL;DR Talking to people helps, sometimes.
I've spoke with a few 'trolls' back in WoW and ended up getting similar results, one conversation even resulted in a friendship and acting as a mentor for the guy in question.
Interestingly enough, the guy did something similar to me. He was jumping around on his mage and tossing down spells with AoE visual effects. I asked him politely to leave and...he seemed surprised I'd even acknowledged him. As it turned out, he'd been very eager to indulge in role-play and had transferred to my realm specifically for that purpose. Yet whenever he'd asked people for help getting started he'd been ignored. Not just once, mind you - but repeatedly and by many of the sickly sweet 'welcoming' players that were quick to put on a friendly face in public but weren't actually all that bothered about helping out players in the game itself.
So I had a pretty in-depth chat with him and helped him out. I even came to understand why he had decided to act that way. Over the years I encountered a pretty decent chunk of players who were in a similar position. It's surprising how many 'trolls' behave the way they do simply because the RP community has failed to reach out to them. Some people are just wankers for the sake of being wankers, though others have somewhat legitimate reasoning for their behaviour. I feel sorry for anyone who ends up slipping through the net as it's pretty easy for that to happen, especially when the majority of role-players end up sticking with their little groups and refuse to branch out or teach fresh blood the ropes.