Greaver [greev-er]
Noun, plural greavers (collective).
A combination of "Reavers"; animalistic, rage-fuelled savages from Joss Whedon's Firefly/Serenity fiction, and "griefers"; modern online gamers who deliberately spoil the gaming experience of others.
The term greaver seeks to reframe in-game "player" aggression, neutering any actual attempt to spoil other player experiences. Instead, the greaver is simply another layer of depth and complexity in the virtual galaxy... an irrational, destructive in-game character that serves as a generic background threat, and a collective nemesis, for players of a reasoned disposition.
The concept of the aggressive, murderous attacker was the primary threat in early versions of "Elite". While modern game design has drawn the pirate character more finely, the greaver is little more than a throwback to the base behaviour exhibited by AI ships from 1984.
It should be noted that any display of rational behaviour from an attacker automatically excludes them from the group title of greaver. This includes standard piracy (ie. "Your money or your life"), attempts to claim a bounty outstanding on the victim, or apparent vigilante action (pilots intervening after observing an act of unprovoked aggression on a third party).
Players should be mindful of attacks from greavers at any time. Should such an attack occur, the victim would do well to reframe the attack as being from an in-game character based on wild-eyed, spittle-covered, deranged nutcases with poor personal hygiene and extremely limited conversational ability.
Noun, plural greavers (collective).
A combination of "Reavers"; animalistic, rage-fuelled savages from Joss Whedon's Firefly/Serenity fiction, and "griefers"; modern online gamers who deliberately spoil the gaming experience of others.
The term greaver seeks to reframe in-game "player" aggression, neutering any actual attempt to spoil other player experiences. Instead, the greaver is simply another layer of depth and complexity in the virtual galaxy... an irrational, destructive in-game character that serves as a generic background threat, and a collective nemesis, for players of a reasoned disposition.
The concept of the aggressive, murderous attacker was the primary threat in early versions of "Elite". While modern game design has drawn the pirate character more finely, the greaver is little more than a throwback to the base behaviour exhibited by AI ships from 1984.
It should be noted that any display of rational behaviour from an attacker automatically excludes them from the group title of greaver. This includes standard piracy (ie. "Your money or your life"), attempts to claim a bounty outstanding on the victim, or apparent vigilante action (pilots intervening after observing an act of unprovoked aggression on a third party).
Players should be mindful of attacks from greavers at any time. Should such an attack occur, the victim would do well to reframe the attack as being from an in-game character based on wild-eyed, spittle-covered, deranged nutcases with poor personal hygiene and extremely limited conversational ability.
