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Online Game Trolls -- what's the psychology?
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<blockquote data-quote="Bullgrit" data-source="post: 6651890" data-attributes="member: 31216"><p>Last night I was playing some Team Fortress 2. One server I got on had a guy spamming the chat with inane stuff. Nothing vulgar, nothing mean, or anything like that. Just constant stream of useless spam in all caps. I mentally tuned it out, but it was persistent. </p><p></p><p>Then someone initiated a vote to kick the player. Everyone voted yes, but before the vote took effect, the player changed his name to my name. (Apparently that prevented him from getting kicked by the vote program.) He then started spamming the chat as me, acting as though I was upset that he had taken my name. Again, nothing rude, just persistent.</p><p></p><p>I said in chat, "After this, the real Bullgrit will not post anything in chat." Then he goes on with surprise that someone is able to chat with his name. Blah, blah, blah. "He's not Bullgrit! I"m the real Bullgrit!"</p><p></p><p>The only other thing going on in chat was people calmly trying to figure out how to kick him and not me (an innocent bystander). So I said, "The real Bullgrit is leaving." And I disconnected from the server.</p><p></p><p>Now, for the record, I was not personally upset by this. It was stupid, and me leaving the [completely random] server only cost me one button click and maybe 20 seconds to connect to another random server. I've seen far worse trolls in online games. Far, far worse. I'm only mentioning this instance because it just happened, so it's the most recent example.</p><p></p><p>I often wonder what is the psychological issue that causes someone to troll like that? Someone whose only purpose for the evening, apparently, is to annoy other people -- people who are just looking to have some light fun on a Saturday night. And then, of course, there are those who go further than just annoying someone -- those who get vulgar and mean. I often wonder, are these people truly pathetic in real life, or are they just normal people in real life and turn terrible with the anonymity and audience of an online game. Do trolls get actual satisfaction or enjoyment out of trolling? How does their brain light up?</p><p></p><p>Have there been any scientific/medical/psychological studies into this? Is there any hard information on what makes an online troll do his thing?</p><p></p><p>Bullgrit.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bullgrit, post: 6651890, member: 31216"] Last night I was playing some Team Fortress 2. One server I got on had a guy spamming the chat with inane stuff. Nothing vulgar, nothing mean, or anything like that. Just constant stream of useless spam in all caps. I mentally tuned it out, but it was persistent. Then someone initiated a vote to kick the player. Everyone voted yes, but before the vote took effect, the player changed his name to my name. (Apparently that prevented him from getting kicked by the vote program.) He then started spamming the chat as me, acting as though I was upset that he had taken my name. Again, nothing rude, just persistent. I said in chat, "After this, the real Bullgrit will not post anything in chat." Then he goes on with surprise that someone is able to chat with his name. Blah, blah, blah. "He's not Bullgrit! I"m the real Bullgrit!" The only other thing going on in chat was people calmly trying to figure out how to kick him and not me (an innocent bystander). So I said, "The real Bullgrit is leaving." And I disconnected from the server. Now, for the record, I was not personally upset by this. It was stupid, and me leaving the [completely random] server only cost me one button click and maybe 20 seconds to connect to another random server. I've seen far worse trolls in online games. Far, far worse. I'm only mentioning this instance because it just happened, so it's the most recent example. I often wonder what is the psychological issue that causes someone to troll like that? Someone whose only purpose for the evening, apparently, is to annoy other people -- people who are just looking to have some light fun on a Saturday night. And then, of course, there are those who go further than just annoying someone -- those who get vulgar and mean. I often wonder, are these people truly pathetic in real life, or are they just normal people in real life and turn terrible with the anonymity and audience of an online game. Do trolls get actual satisfaction or enjoyment out of trolling? How does their brain light up? Have there been any scientific/medical/psychological studies into this? Is there any hard information on what makes an online troll do his thing? Bullgrit. [/QUOTE]
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