"Greetings! Welcome to another edition of Team Fortress 2 Trivia!"

December 22, 2007 8:16 PM

Team Fortress 2 Griefing and More Team Forturess 2 Griefing.
posted by empath (58 comments total)

doh, I fat-fingered the spelling on the second one.
posted by empath at 8:17 PM on December 22, 2007

The Stage 6 version lets you at least read the console.

The second half is pretty much pure gold.
posted by Remy at 8:24 PM on December 22, 2007

A friend showed me the second one today and I was frustrated just watching it, but the game show in the second half completely makes up for it.
posted by Mikey-San at 8:25 PM on December 22, 2007

Said friend just beat me to praising the second half, no less. Motherfucker.
posted by Mikey-San at 8:26 PM on December 22, 2007

I think they're both laugh-out-loud funny, and I've only played TF2 a couple of times at a friends house. The teleporter to meatspin is hilarious. The whole thing is a bit like Jackass.
posted by empath at 8:33 PM on December 22, 2007

I think what bothers me is that I really like playing as a team, and I've had enough people be assholes like this in games. I mean, I'm playing the game because I want to play the game. I paid for the game and/or service, and I want to have a competitive game that's fun for everyone, as opposed to get-your-rocks-off-by-fucking-with-people crap that hopeless virgins pull while cackling like asshats in their parents' basement.

Holy shit. I should invent a game where the point is to grief other players. HOLY FUCK. Who wants in? Fucking goldmine here people.
posted by Mikey-San at 8:42 PM on December 22, 2007 [2 favorites]

Is it because of stats reasons (ie., having a negative mark on your statistics as a player) the reason the other players don't tell the other team that there's a griefer who blocked the exit point of a spawn and just cancel the game and restart?

I wonder what the other team was thinking.

And what was up with the moderator (?) who was threatening to kick and ban the dude stuck in the door?

It was funny from a 3rd party perspective, but still...
posted by porpoise at 8:44 PM on December 22, 2007

empath, i like your neologism "forturess" as a synonym for "golddigger".
posted by bruce at 8:46 PM on December 22, 2007

I know they are being jerks, but it's hilarious anyways...

Thanks Empath!
posted by Argyle at 8:51 PM on December 22, 2007

This is why people should play on clan servers, where admins are actually present and can ban people.
posted by sonic meat machine at 9:06 PM on December 22, 2007

MetaFilter: It's Indian, Atlantic and Pacific you fucks! Now let me out!
posted by rokusan at 9:09 PM on December 22, 2007

I haven't played any online FPS games since Quake II. Do they all have talking now? Everyone has a headset? That would drive me nuts. It's probably for the better that my computer doesn't have a video card.
posted by stopgap at 9:20 PM on December 22, 2007

Potassium!

I now approve of griefing if a minigame is involved.
posted by cowbellemoo at 9:21 PM on December 22, 2007

Griefing, the artist formerly known as "prank." Like most pranks, these are pretty fuckin hilarious at first, but returns diminish quickly. (This is doubly true if you're the idiot teleporting in front of the sentry farm.)
posted by muckster at 9:25 PM on December 22, 2007

Fucking libertarians.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:30 PM on December 22, 2007 [9 favorites]

Mmph. On one hand, griefing is absolutely fricking evil if you're the target. On the other, it's really fricking hilarious if you're watching it happen. As I've never played Team Fortress, I say moar videos.
posted by flatluigi at 9:34 PM on December 22, 2007

I'm pretty sure they're not really Ron Paul supporters. But I don't know whether it's funnier if they are or if they aren't.
posted by empath at 9:39 PM on December 22, 2007

OK, that trivia was awesome.
posted by maxwelton at 9:46 PM on December 22, 2007

That was fucking retarded.
posted by loquacious at 9:56 PM on December 22, 2007

Granted, I watched both of them. I just feel like I soaked my head in cheese and spent a good hour thwacking it with a brick.
posted by loquacious at 9:57 PM on December 22, 2007

Bravo! As much as I hate it, I have a secret soft spot in my heart for exceptionally sly pranksters like this. It puts the concept of video game "achievements" in perspective. Totally hilarious, I want more.
posted by FuturisticDragon at 9:59 PM on December 22, 2007

A friend of mine is part of this group. In fact, he is the one running the gameshow. He is a funny, funny motherfucker.

Apparently the gall bladder is a popular choice for the organ which produces bile.

I didn't find the first part frustrating or interminable, but that's mostly because I spent it laughing so hard I couldn't breathe after the one soldier goes, "Well that teleporter goes to a bunch of sentry guns, so I'll take this one!" only to end up parked in front of the same ones.
posted by sparkletone at 10:25 PM on December 22, 2007

Wow, so MeFi is pro-cheating. I find that very Interesting.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
posted by First Post at 10:56 PM on December 22, 2007

Griefing is bullshit, but man are these videos just about the best end-product said bullshit could produce. I've been laughing for twenty minutes.

I paid for the game and/or service, and I want to have a competitive game that's fun for everyone, as opposed to get-your-rocks-off-by-fucking-with-people crap that hopeless virgins pull while cackling like asshats in their parents' basement.

The thing is, this is bullshit too. The sooner people stop either (a) believing that this shit is solely perpetrated by basement-dwelling virgins or that (b) saying as much in the belief that it is going to actually demoralize griefers regardless of their life situation, the sooner we'll get on our way to developing at least and understanding of the actual agents of and motivations for griefing.

People fucking with your game suck, but if you've really never met an asshole who, despite being an asshole, pretty much has their shit together, you've lead a charmed life on that particular front. Gleeful assholism is so frustrating because it's not explicable and dismissable as the natural product of some other shortcoming. Assholes come in all shapes and sizes.

And some of them have excellent comic timing and video editing instincts, as seen here. Just change servers if you run into 'em.
posted by cortex at 11:18 PM on December 22, 2007 [5 favorites]

These guys are jerks, but they're HILARIOUS jerks. It's not like it's hard to leave the server and find another one, and this is far, far more entertaining than "MAYBE YOU FRENCH FAGS SHOULD SPEAK AMURRICAN ON THIS SERVER." Especially the game show bit.
posted by chrominance at 11:20 PM on December 22, 2007

Q: What is the capital of Egypt?

(BONG HIT)

A: uhhhh ... Cairo?
posted by foot at 11:23 PM on December 22, 2007

Kind of dumb until the game show, at which point it is completely redeemed.
posted by danb at 11:32 PM on December 22, 2007

First of all, these guys are genuinely funny at many moments, and it's hard to fault funny.

That said, many of these issues (blocked entrances, clipping through floors, etc) boil down to one factor: shoddy map design. For example, the demoman's stickies at 1:05 in the first video is only a "problem" in the sense that the scripted, gimmicky play-by-rails nature of that particular CP map forces everyone on one team to exit out in that particular space to follow along a particular path, which shuts the map down when it's aggressively piped by a small group and there are no alternative routes. (I would even argue that it's not even an example of a game exploit, only very efficient play on a flawed map by a handful of players.) Likewise, the asymmetrical play of the map (endemic to many CP maps) also contributes to this problem. Map design is ever so critically important to CP maps.

Om the other side of the gameplay coin, the only official CTF map on TF2 right now is 2forts, which hasn't aged well since the days of QWTF. What Valve desperately needs for TF2 is more and better maps, especially in the CTF department.

This is why I almost exclusively play TF2 on third-party CTF maps right now, and only on pubs with vigilant admins. Don't like your TF2 experience? Change maps and change servers. I personally recommend the TF2 servers operated by The Teamwork Movement (TWM) for (almost) completely douchebag-free playing, with my favorite being the Mach2 server. Plus, they track stats to help you track your improvement against your peers over time, including specific player-versus-player matchup records to see who you're owning and who are the nemeses that you need to watch out for. For me, the fun of playing TF2 is all about who you play with -- and against.

Last but not least: the Metafilter Steam group for TF2 and the TF2 MeFight Club.
posted by DaShiv at 11:53 PM on December 22, 2007 [5 favorites]

Honestly, the thing about these guys is that they're finding lots of bugs in the game.

Sure, they're using it to be assholes, but you think the developers would want a small, managable population of assholes to help them find things like that one door that's set so it interacts with the physics model in the game (when it shouldn't be).

Luckily, this group of assholes is a funny group that makes videos. Otherwise, they'd be far less fun.
posted by sparkletone at 12:50 AM on December 23, 2007 [4 favorites]

Otherwise, they'd be far less fun.

"Acceptable," not fun. Annoying (if you're dealing with them), but worth it for the funny.
posted by sparkletone at 12:52 AM on December 23, 2007

Surely there is a German word for "really fucking funny as long as it's not happening to me".
posted by eurasian at 12:56 AM on December 23, 2007 [5 favorites]

Surely there is a German word for "really fucking funny as long as it's not happening to me".

I dunno. I'd be laughing my ass off at everything but the sprays.

Of course, I wouldn't be sticking around for more of it either, but...
posted by sparkletone at 1:06 AM on December 23, 2007

I'm laughing so hard that I'm crying. Thank you for this.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 1:10 AM on December 23, 2007

What a bunch of assholes. I fucking hate blue team.
posted by redteam at 1:59 AM on December 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

bah, it's an 'XXXX gamer' thing, we did the same shit back in Quake III days. It's only funny if you play the game, if not... it's stupid, and it's been done before. not the best of the web...
posted by zengargoyle at 3:13 AM on December 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

VOIP is killing videogames. Christ, this is like an ad to never ever buy this game.
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:42 AM on December 23, 2007

Holy shit. I should invent a game where the point is to grief other players. HOLY FUCK. Who wants in? Fucking goldmine here people.

Well I'd hate to disccourage you, but this has already been done with Eve-Online....and yes, quite successful.
posted by samsara at 7:03 AM on December 23, 2007

porpoise: And what was up with the moderator (?) who was threatening to kick and ban the dude stuck in the door?

Heh, yeah, why did the mod even bother to reason with the guy? He got stuck on purpose to block the doorway and trap his entire team inside the spawn area. The only time I saw someone doing this in-game, the guy's clan buddies were all on the opposing team. The moderator didn't even speak to him -- he banned the guy instantly.
posted by Western Infidels at 7:30 AM on December 23, 2007

Ah yes. Eve Online and Diablo. Where you literally could ruin a player's game by killing them. I'm not one of the videogame->causation->killing in RL folks, but darn if that sort of design wasn't a way to get there...

That trivia bit was hysterical. "You'll get out if you answer trivia!" "Uhh... ok!" "What's the last standing 7th wonder of hte world?" "Oh, damnit!............. Pyramids?" "You got it! *release*"
posted by cavalier at 7:34 AM on December 23, 2007

I don't get the point of griefing. The second it starts I just quit and go to another game or server. It's really easy to make all the effort that griefers expend mean nothing.
posted by aerotive at 8:10 AM on December 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

I love this game so much. Even more when I get a new machine next month. Voice chat actually works out OK... sure beats the awful text chat interfaces these types of games usually have.
posted by Lectrick at 8:43 AM on December 23, 2007

I don't get the point of griefing. The second it starts I just quit and go to another game or server. It's really easy to make all the effort that griefers expend mean nothing.

It's no different than any other sort of bullying -- it's largely preying on beginners who don't have a handle on what's going on. It's the same as picking on the short fat kid in class, it lasts until the short fat kid figures out a way to kick the bully in the 'nads a couple of times.
posted by clevershark at 8:56 AM on December 23, 2007

Surely there is a German word for "really fucking funny as long as it's not happening to me".

I think you're thinking of Schadenfreude... /german descent
posted by Lectrick at 9:03 AM on December 23, 2007

That trivia bit was hysterical. "You'll get out if you answer trivia!" "Uhh... ok!" "What's the last standing 7th wonder of hte world?" "Oh, damnit!............. Pyramids?" "You got it! *release*"

I lost my shit at the trivia part. Having them identify elements and famous people in their sprays.... pure genius.

The editing was great as well, and really added to it.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 9:24 AM on December 23, 2007

It's no different than any other sort of bullying

Perspective is needed here, surely?
posted by empath at 10:06 AM on December 23, 2007

It's only funny if you play the game, if not... it's stupid, and it's been done before. not the best of the web...

I wouldn't call it stupid. More like incomprehensible. I don't play this game, and I can barely tell the funny bits from the normal gameplay, and that's only because of the audio comments. It's like a standup comic in a language you don't understand.
posted by smackfu at 10:39 AM on December 23, 2007

Man, the best thing was the SSS video where Aphex was ruining the griefing. Very meta.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 2:42 PM on December 23, 2007

Oh man. I love TF2 and I loved this. I LOL'ed the whole way through.

Best dialogue:

"Hang on, I'm getting ahold of an admin now."
"... are you asking him what the capitol is?"
posted by lou at 2:46 PM on December 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

The sniper doing a doulbe-take at a spray right after coming out of a teleporter about 4-1/2 minutes into the first one is my favorite LOL bit.
posted by Cyrano at 4:36 PM on December 23, 2007

VOIP is killing videogames. Christ, this is like an ad to never ever buy this game.

That's a bit histrionic. In any game I've ever played, it's one click to turn it off. First thing I did with TF2 once I got online, nearly, although I turn it back on while on our MeFi server.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:24 PM on December 23, 2007

I don't play fps type games, but the trivia game show part of the footage was freaking hysterical!
posted by dejah420 at 7:48 PM on December 23, 2007

Heh, I love TF2, but EVE lasted for about two weeks on my machine. Playing in empire space was boring--no real threats at all, and a really dull grind--but I wasn't ruthless and dedicated enough to make it in the PvP world of 0.0. Some of you may think that you've "done PvP" on other MMOs, or that competing in a shooter or another type of game is similar to it.

It's not.

Unless you have played EVE, you do not understand how depraved, cruel, manipulative, megalomaniacal, and Machiavellan your fellow players are. (I say that as someone who was in a strong, successful corp and alliance. There may be perfectly nice people in weak, pathetic alliances.)
posted by sonic meat machine at 8:41 PM on December 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Another video from the same people.
posted by zippy at 10:35 PM on December 23, 2007

Mmph. On one hand, griefing is absolutely fricking evil if you're the target. On the other, it's really fricking hilarious if you're watching it happen. As I've never played Team Fortress, I say moar videos.
posted by flatluigi at 12:34 AM on December 23 [+] [!]

UPDATE: I just got The Orange Box for Christmas. I knew that statement would turn against me.
posted by flatluigi at 7:04 AM on December 25, 2007

That's a bit histrionic. In any game I've ever played, it's one click to turn it off.

No I'm completely serious. The culture of these games is trash talking and there's no need for that. There's absolutely no need for voip broadcast to all players on your team either. It should be purely opt-in. A much better implementation is in bf2 where your voip only broadcasts to squad members, not 63 other guys. The very idea of team broadcast is stupid gamer-boy trash-talking bullshit that valve encourages. In practice I hear all sorts of nasty things about black people, jews, and homosexuals. Its made counterstrike useless to me because I want to use the functionality to actually, you know, play the game.

At least in bf2 I can kick abusive players from my squad without being an admin. I just start my own squad. The technology for voip is here but the implementation is incredibly short-sighted and at this point is actually hurting the game industry as parents walk into their kids rooms only to hear the most vile and racist things imaginable coming from the tv or the computer. At this point the various gamemakers should be pushing smarter implementations like bf2 and shutting this shit off by default.
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:57 AM on December 25, 2007

Mikey-San: "I should invent a game where the point is to grief other players."

Non-griefers wouldn't play it cuz they don't like griefing; otherwise they'd be griefers.

Griefers wouldn't play it cuz what'd be the point?

Fuggin' Ron Paul supporters. Is this whole thing just a thinly veiled Ron Paul advertising campaign? I don't wanna click to "couponbug.com" on principle. I hated the 'song' at the end of these two videos that firmly branded that name on my inner ear for all time. Bastards.

I have to agree that the second half of part two is hilarious. I actually knew some of the answers to the trivia questions. Bile coming from the liver though. That one floored me. I coulda sworn it was the pancreas. Okay so actually I had no clue but I woulda said pancreas.

ZenGargoyle: "It's only funny if you play the game, if not... it's stupid"

I don't play Team Fortress. I agree it looks stupid, but it's also funny. I did used to play Quake 3 Arena. The griefing there for me consisted of my logging in, dying, wash rinse repeat until I turned off the game. I had no idea what was causing it. Whoever ganked that server wasn't sharing the punchline.

At least from this perspective, as an outsider, I can get the joke. Ron Paul is still an asswipe though.
posted by ZachsMind at 1:13 PM on December 25, 2007

Bile also comes out of the gall bladder.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:02 PM on December 27, 2007

So what comes out of the pancreas? Pancakes?
posted by ZachsMind at 7:07 AM on December 28, 2007