what is griefing?

[MayLynn Moonstone]

Would someone please define "griefing" in Second Life. I have heard the term many times, but have never seen an actual definition. Thank you.

[Madelaine McMasters]

Hi MayLynn,

Just so I won't be accused of griefing by making up my own definition of griefing, here's what Wikipedia has to say...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griefer

;-)

[Rolig Loon]

Here's another, lengthier description >>>> http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Fr43k_Paine/Dealing_With_Griefers

[Lindal Kidd]

Being braver, or dumber, than Rolig and Madelaine, here's my definition:

Griefing in Second Life is the disruption of normal resident activities by practical jokers.  Griefers can target individuals.  For example, someone might attack you with a weapon in a non-combat zone, or play tricks on you like giving you a deformer, or using a software exploit to take control of your avatar without your permission.  Griefers can target an area -- such as when someone disrupts a region by sowing objects that spew out ugly particles and/or emit noise.  Griefers have even been know to target Second Life as a whole, trying to crash the entire grid.  While some have managed to crash regions, no hacker has ever managed to bring down the grid, as far as I'm aware.

Griefers do what they do because they want attention.  They are saying "look at me!"  or "I'm smarter than you, see what I can do to you?"  Don't give it to them.  Teleport away, report the incident to Linden Lab with Help/Report Abuse, ignore them, mute them, or log off. 

[steph Arnott]

Some one who causes emotional distress on another.

ADDED: The word griefer is a slang word. Really should be griever.