For a PvP encounter not to be a gank. One has to announce his/her arrival. Give the opponant ample time to either retreat or buff up and prepare ...make sure you are the exact same level, then make sure you are both alone so the fight doesn't turn into a 2 vs 1 or more
Interesting.. That leaves only duels and arenas with controlled levels by the developers for it to be true PvP and not ganking
Interesting...
I understand ganking as when one player attacks another player when the player being attacked did not want to engage in pvp and/or did not expect to be attacked; both in open/closed world pvp.
Example of not ganking: In GW2's WVW, as I'm running around with my teammates and we get attacked by a larger group, or when I'm by myself scouting and get attacked by others, I do not see it as ganking because in a way, I'm looking to engage in pvp combat (same in WOW's world pvp)
Example of ganking: In GW2's WVW when a player is gathering resources or doing some of the pve DE's and is attacked (interrupted) by enemy player(s). In this example the player understands the risk of where he/she is playing but does not want to enter into pvp combat (or is hoping not to get caught/found out by enemy players).
Example of ganking: When a player who is looking to engage in open/closed world pvp decides to take a break and do some pve, gather resources, etc and is attacked/surprised (interrupted) by enemy players.
In order to get "ganked", a player must be in a "gankable" location, and unless a player is somewhat ignorant of the gameplay mechanics of the game being played, I cannot condemn ganking for it is allowed; in an inderect way, the player being ganked, by being in said "gankable" location, is thus accepting the possibility of being ganked. In which case I would say all is fair in love and war.
In conclusion, if you do not like getting ganked, don't play games, or areas in a game, which allow you to be ganked. If i'ts something which you're willing to tolerate for the joy/fun of the game, no complaints. If you're a ganker, then by all means enjoy the gameplay mechanics given to you by the games that allow ganking. I don't see how this is even an issue; do people not know the games they are purchasing and playing??
Personally I use "ganker" as a derogatory term reserved for people who kill other players purely to detract from their game experience rather than for rewards or an interesting combat experience.
Eg. a level 10 attacking a level 8 fighting a mob might not be a gank. But a level 100 attacking a level 1 probably would be. The level 8 should have been more careful watching his surroundings before attacking a mob in a PvP area, and would still have a shot at defending himself due to the small level difference.
Abilities like stealth can throw a wrench in this machinery, which is one reason I abhor stealth mechanics.
Originally posted by Axxar Personally I use "ganker" as a derogatory term reserved for people who kill other players purely to detract from their game experience rather than for rewards or an interesting combat experience.
That, to me, is more along the line of "griefing." Griefers, to me, are out to ruin the gameplay of others in the game.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Originally posted by Axxar Personally I use "ganker" as a derogatory term reserved for people who kill other players purely to detract from their game experience rather than for rewards or an interesting combat experience.
That, to me, is more along the line of "griefing." Griefers, to me, are out to ruin the gameplay of others in the game.
And that makes sense. I suppose the way I see it, a "ganker" is simply a specific type of griefer. Not saying this is the "correct" way to see things. Simply how I've used it.
One minute Sandbox means a game where players create the content and the next minute sandbox just means freedom of exploration and non linear questing. go figure.
Just a common peril of using undefined expressions and assuming every one else defines the word the same way you do.
Happens a lot with gamerslang, for sure. Try out "casual" some time.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
A ganker is someone who participates in "gang kills" is the literal translation but I tend to group all people that practice killing only when your opponent is disadvantaged as gankers.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
The term originated from oldschool games like Ultima Online that allowed you to steal items from a defeated player. Gank is a slang word that means to steal or take something that doesn't belong to you. You would kill an unsuspecting player and loot their bodies, also known as ganking. It got lost in translation somewhere along the way though and people started using it incorrectly. I suppose it must've evolved due to player looting being removed and people still using it out of habit.
Before this themepark wave, there was only the word PVP, after themepark plague arrived, making people to lose their guts to do actual PVP, they started calling a non-consensual pvp as "GANKING". Unfortunatelly, red-team vs blue-team in these faction games where there is no consequences for pking, made people to be affaid of a true pvp, most of them never played a true owpvp MMO, where there is a meaningful and solid pvp system that punishes pks but allows people to make their own alliances and enemies, I miss the times when people made groups to hunt pk players in order to loot some items from pkers.
To me, "getting ganked" is when an individual is killed with no expectation of being able to defend themselves. The individual being killed does not instigate the confrontation and is likely unaware that the confrontation is getting ready to happen. The individual will usually be engaging in some form of PvE activity such as mining in WoW or killing a mob in just about any MMORPG.
The person or group of people "ganking" the individual are "gankers".
I'm sure this is not how the phrase started out, but that's what it seems to mean now.
I don't think ganking is good or bad. It depends on the game it happens in and a lot of it really depends on the players themselves. In some games getting ganked is just part of the game and something the players need to learn to deal with if they want to play the game. In other games, it's a griefing mechanic, though when ganking is griefing is harder to define. On WoW PvP servers for instance, killing other players is the whole point of having PvP...so if a level 80 player kills a level 15 player they're just playing the game by the rules of the game itself. On WoW PvE servers the game plays out a little different. Running around in low level zones isn't seen as griefing by the moderators of the game, but the players themselves tend to operate with a set of rules where the voluntarily don't repeatedly kill low level players or their quest givers. It all depends on the players and how they want to play it.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Is ganking as bad as griefing or do you see it as one and the same?
Not the same really...
It's all about bad game design, you see, as exemplified by what passes for "open PvP" in trash games like WoW.
A long time ago all ganking wasn't griefing. Griefing is defined as "going out of your way to make some other player's life miserable without any justification in the game rules."
For example, in WoW you do not get anything if you stomp a newbie. Nothing. Nothing except the "satisfaction" that you ruined someone's day. On the other hand, in a game that is built around PvP, where old monsters do get benefits for stomping newbies and it's all factored in the corpus of the game, it wouldn't be considered griefing.
So, all PvP is not griefing, as the common wisdom held for a long time. There are, thankfully, many mmos out now that actually take "ganking" (basically ambushing a player) into account in their design. When someone jumps you in EvE, it is not considered "griefing" but you did get "ganked" nevertheless.
Sadly, so many games that try to be open PvP do not take this into account and get f***ed by horrible design where steep character power curves turn almost all PvP, including "ganking" into "griefing". Darkfall, I'm looking at you.
Originally posted by Axxar Originally posted by AlBQuirkyOriginally posted by AxxarPersonally I use "ganker" as a derogatory term reserved for people who kill other players purely to detract from their game experience rather than for rewards or an interesting combat experience.
That, to me, is more along the line of "griefing." Griefers, to me, are out to ruin the gameplay of others in the game.And that makes sense. I suppose the way I see it, a "ganker" is simply a specific type of griefer. Not saying this is the "correct" way to see things. Simply how I've used it. I totally understand I don't know if there is a right/wrong answer, but it is interesting to see how people view the terms.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Comments
Interesting...
I understand ganking as when one player attacks another player when the player being attacked did not want to engage in pvp and/or did not expect to be attacked; both in open/closed world pvp.
Example of not ganking: In GW2's WVW, as I'm running around with my teammates and we get attacked by a larger group, or when I'm by myself scouting and get attacked by others, I do not see it as ganking because in a way, I'm looking to engage in pvp combat (same in WOW's world pvp)
Example of ganking: In GW2's WVW when a player is gathering resources or doing some of the pve DE's and is attacked (interrupted) by enemy player(s). In this example the player understands the risk of where he/she is playing but does not want to enter into pvp combat (or is hoping not to get caught/found out by enemy players).
Example of ganking: When a player who is looking to engage in open/closed world pvp decides to take a break and do some pve, gather resources, etc and is attacked/surprised (interrupted) by enemy players.
In order to get "ganked", a player must be in a "gankable" location, and unless a player is somewhat ignorant of the gameplay mechanics of the game being played, I cannot condemn ganking for it is allowed; in an inderect way, the player being ganked, by being in said "gankable" location, is thus accepting the possibility of being ganked. In which case I would say all is fair in love and war.
In conclusion, if you do not like getting ganked, don't play games, or areas in a game, which allow you to be ganked. If i'ts something which you're willing to tolerate for the joy/fun of the game, no complaints. If you're a ganker, then by all means enjoy the gameplay mechanics given to you by the games that allow ganking. I don't see how this is even an issue; do people not know the games they are purchasing and playing??
P.S. Just for the record, I'm not a ganker.
Personally I use "ganker" as a derogatory term reserved for people who kill other players purely to detract from their game experience rather than for rewards or an interesting combat experience.
Eg. a level 10 attacking a level 8 fighting a mob might not be a gank. But a level 100 attacking a level 1 probably would be. The level 8 should have been more careful watching his surroundings before attacking a mob in a PvP area, and would still have a shot at defending himself due to the small level difference.
Abilities like stealth can throw a wrench in this machinery, which is one reason I abhor stealth mechanics.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
And that makes sense. I suppose the way I see it, a "ganker" is simply a specific type of griefer. Not saying this is the "correct" way to see things. Simply how I've used it.
Just a common peril of using undefined expressions and assuming every one else defines the word the same way you do.
Happens a lot with gamerslang, for sure. Try out "casual" some time.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
A ganker is someone who participates in "gang kills" is the literal translation but I tend to group all people that practice killing only when your opponent is disadvantaged as gankers.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
A ganker is someone who didn't receive enough love as a child and who spends his time sadistically killing weaker foes.
Just someone that uses a clear advantage (like 90% chance or more) to kill someone, and if they don't have that advantage they won't even try.
A ganker is very different from a griefer, but not mutually exclusive.
The term originated from oldschool games like Ultima Online that allowed you to steal items from a defeated player. Gank is a slang word that means to steal or take something that doesn't belong to you. You would kill an unsuspecting player and loot their bodies, also known as ganking. It got lost in translation somewhere along the way though and people started using it incorrectly. I suppose it must've evolved due to player looting being removed and people still using it out of habit.
Before this themepark wave, there was only the word PVP, after themepark plague arrived, making people to lose their guts to do actual PVP, they started calling a non-consensual pvp as "GANKING". Unfortunatelly, red-team vs blue-team in these faction games where there is no consequences for pking, made people to be affaid of a true pvp, most of them never played a true owpvp MMO, where there is a meaningful and solid pvp system that punishes pks but allows people to make their own alliances and enemies, I miss the times when people made groups to hunt pk players in order to loot some items from pkers.
To me, "getting ganked" is when an individual is killed with no expectation of being able to defend themselves. The individual being killed does not instigate the confrontation and is likely unaware that the confrontation is getting ready to happen. The individual will usually be engaging in some form of PvE activity such as mining in WoW or killing a mob in just about any MMORPG.
The person or group of people "ganking" the individual are "gankers".
I'm sure this is not how the phrase started out, but that's what it seems to mean now.
I don't think ganking is good or bad. It depends on the game it happens in and a lot of it really depends on the players themselves. In some games getting ganked is just part of the game and something the players need to learn to deal with if they want to play the game. In other games, it's a griefing mechanic, though when ganking is griefing is harder to define. On WoW PvP servers for instance, killing other players is the whole point of having PvP...so if a level 80 player kills a level 15 player they're just playing the game by the rules of the game itself. On WoW PvE servers the game plays out a little different. Running around in low level zones isn't seen as griefing by the moderators of the game, but the players themselves tend to operate with a set of rules where the voluntarily don't repeatedly kill low level players or their quest givers. It all depends on the players and how they want to play it.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Not the same really...
It's all about bad game design, you see, as exemplified by what passes for "open PvP" in trash games like WoW.
A long time ago all ganking wasn't griefing. Griefing is defined as "going out of your way to make some other player's life miserable without any justification in the game rules."
For example, in WoW you do not get anything if you stomp a newbie. Nothing. Nothing except the "satisfaction" that you ruined someone's day. On the other hand, in a game that is built around PvP, where old monsters do get benefits for stomping newbies and it's all factored in the corpus of the game, it wouldn't be considered griefing.
So, all PvP is not griefing, as the common wisdom held for a long time. There are, thankfully, many mmos out now that actually take "ganking" (basically ambushing a player) into account in their design. When someone jumps you in EvE, it is not considered "griefing" but you did get "ganked" nevertheless.
Sadly, so many games that try to be open PvP do not take this into account and get f***ed by horrible design where steep character power curves turn almost all PvP, including "ganking" into "griefing". Darkfall, I'm looking at you.
There is no such thing as a ganker.
Every PvP fight in existence has been and forever will be unfair. Calling someone a ganker is just a way to let your frustration out.
---
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
And that makes sense. I suppose the way I see it, a "ganker" is simply a specific type of griefer. Not saying this is the "correct" way to see things. Simply how I've used it.
I totally understand
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR