Lol never would of thought something like this would be so controversial, i just nodded my head and thought there was a precedented definition for every gaming term
The term gank started floating around original TFT Dota just after Eul passed the torch to Icefrog, maybe 2003 or 2004.
It means to kill other players exclusive to all other activities.
It doesn't necessarily have to mean 2 or more players vs an individual although it more often is than not.
Commonly the target of the gank is in a disadvantageous position: low hp or impeded movement.
Almost always the target of the gank is unaware that they are about to be hit.
In moba games, specifically Dota, there are heroes that are designed to kill other players such as "Pudge". These characters spend the majority of their time ambushing enemy players or "ganking".
I like to imagine that a player from a non-english speaking background typed "guys, gang top lane", but misspelled it.
I have a weird imagination.
Honestly who knows how these synonyms evolve and spread.
As the title says. What qualifies being a ganker in your eyes?
Just to make it more clear. This question has nothing to do with real life personalities but ingame actions that earns you the title.
We can all pretty much agree on a level 100 killing a level 1 as ganking, but is that it? What about a zerk, is that a gank?
Is ganking as bad as griefing or do you see it as one and the same?
I would put ganker in the area of psychology as something like Scoiopathy/Antisocial Personality Disorder or Psychopathy. I would suggest looking into both of those areas further then look how it might apply to a ganker in mmorpg terms.
I don't really care what kind of weird parelells you want to draw to the real world personalities as, this is not what this post is about. Which you would know if you actually read the post to begin with
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
Ganking has always meant EITHER a group of people continually killing a smaller group or one person AND a higher level person killing a lower level one.
This goes all the way back to Ultima Online...and the reason why my guild LoD created a brigade called the GankSquad for our hardcore PKers.
Engaging someone while they're farming isn't ganking.
A ganker is basically a person or persons who go after players that are at a disadvantage in order to avoid a fair fight.
i.e. 5 on 1, Attacking someone at low health, attacking someone low level.
If they're taking the pvp out of pvp so they can claim a kill, they're a ganker. I know I know, that's pvp, deal with it carebear!
But what's the point in defeating an opponent who had no chance to fight back? It takes no skill and isn't interesting gameplay, it's just being a douche.
It depends on the game and the situation. Sometimes what you say is true. Maybe most of the time.
However, using surprise can also be tactical. It can be a pvp skill. It just depends. If the player in the area who is attacked, and taken unaware, knows (or should know by virtue of the game design -- since ignorance is not an excuse) the risks then it's "fair" in my opinion. For example, in Darkfall, if you are out mining and you get jumped, you have to know that is part of the game. There is a reason for that. However, if someone just camps where you spawn to kill you over and over without any reason, just out of malice, just because he can, that is clearly a case of being a douche.*
There are lots of shades in between those two extremes.
*Someone with bigger problems beyond the game world.
Ganking is the process in which a group of charecters gang up on one or more players that do not have a chance to defend themselves, Or when one high level player does the same action to a player way below his or her own level
to me a gank would be a fast unsuspecting kill. if it turns into a 1 min fight it is no longer a gank. in and out before they know what hit them.
I agree with this. I've always said that open world PvP barely exists in games. It's only attempted open-world ganking. The only time it turns into some semblance of PvP is when the attacker picks on a player who is actually skilled at PvP.
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
Hardly, killing players in the same leveling areas as yourself is always fair game. Waiting around in questing areas far below your level and waiting for players is something a ganker would do. Alternatively, waiting around in a big group to ambush solo players in solo areas.
I don't really care what kind of weird parelells you want to draw to the real world personalities as, this is not what this post is about. Which you would know if you actually read the post to begin with
It's the reason behind it all.
Remember we are talking about video games here. Sometimes people play in a manner that represents their true nature, but often times, people take on a different persona when they play a video game. That's fun for some, and one of the reasons they game in the first place. Trying to decipher another player's RL nature based on how they game is beyond a waste of time.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
I don't really care what kind of weird parelells you want to draw to the real world personalities as, this is not what this post is about. Which you would know if you actually read the post to begin with
It's the reason behind it all.
Trying to decipher another player's RL nature based on how they game is beyond a waste of time.
Somone who kills another person while they are questing or harvesting. PvP should only occur when both sides know its iminent such as in a zone specifically set up for PvP'ing.
Playing: GW2 Waiting on: TESO Next Flop: Planetside 2 Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Somone who kills another person while they are questing or harvesting. PvP should only occur when both sides know its iminent such as in a zone specifically set up for PvP'ing.
Why not do away with all that and only have consentual duels. That's real pvp right?
To me, ganker just means someone who kills another player when they weren't prepared for PvP combat. Such as being ganked by another player when fighting a mob.
Another player going to a lowbie zone just to kill low level players is a griefer. There are guilds made up of griefers who's entire point of playing is to just mess with other players and make their game time unenjoyable.
I don't really care what kind of weird parelells you want to draw to the real world personalities as, this is not what this post is about. Which you would know if you actually read the post to begin with
It's the reason behind it all.
Trying to decipher another player's RL nature based on how they game is beyond a waste of time.
[mod edit]
[mod edit]
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
A ganker is an pvper that will take any opertunity to kill other players in the game, weither it is seen as honorable or not does not matter to the player/character. Examples of gankers in history would be assassins, ninjas, spys, even mobs attacks could be seen as gankers, since they do what ever is needed to finish their objective regardless of how they do it. There is trully nothing wrong with ganking as it is a form of pvp/attack yet it is almost always seen as a negative as well as unhonorable tactic to use, and so garners less respect from people that hear about it. Also most gankers use the fact of that if you are fighting fair you are doing something wrong, where to a true fighter the knowledge of both fight/beating someone equal or better than you in a fair fight is an equal thrill to just the fight itself. I would liken it to coming out of a unfair fight against several people as the winner, or beating someone that used unfair or cheap tatics in a fight while you fought fairly.
Honestly I always though they you should have two forms of points for pvp that you can use to buy or aquire things thru, such as honorable kills as well as dishonorable kills. Then you convert the points into pvp points or currency at a certain rate, with honorable kills actually giving much higher conversions, compared to dishonorable kills, this would actually penalize the players that seek to take the easy road, while allowing those that seek honorable kills an incentive to feel theey are being rewarded for it. You could also further penlize increasingly dishonorable acts like killing targets that have little or no ability to fight back, being severly outnumbered, and such by giving them less points for each dishonorable kill they do in such situations.
I'm gonna put up a list of things I did do, and people can classify what each thing I did counts as:
killing low level who is PVP flagged once just because.
killing low level who is PVP flagged because they attacked me while I was PVP flagged.
Hiding in a tree and sniping any PVP flagged person with low HP.
Divebombing. I'm flying and I see a person who is PVP flagged and at low health after a duel. I fly in quickly and shoot him, then trigger my parachute to prevent fall damage. Once I hit the ground after inertia pushes me away, I trigger my nitro boost and flee.
Doing any of the above while in enemy territory/near their capital city.
Luring PVP flagged characters to a cliff/high point, then knocking them off said cliff with knockback AOE.
Attacking town in a raid group to get the attention of higher level PVP people.
Somone who kills another person while they are questing or harvesting. PvP should only occur when both sides know its iminent such as in a zone specifically set up for PvP'ing.
Why not do away with all that and only have consentual duels. That's real pvp right?
To many styles of fighters ranging from samurai, knights, and many martial artists that is true pvp, as it is a effort to determine who is more skilled (both thru training, and innate talent.). though it is not to say universal even among those kinds of people or fighters as some think that winning regardless of the method is the entire pursuit of fighting/pvping. Really it is two different mindsets one is that of those that seek to improve or prove their ability against people that are equal to them much like tournament fightrers, while others it is more like a job or entertainment such as muggers that use fighting/weapons/surprise to gain money at the expense of their victims.
I'm gonna put up a list of things I did do, and people can classify what each thing I did counts as:
killing low level who is PVP flagged once just because.
killing low level who is PVP flagged because they attacked me while I was PVP flagged.
Hiding in a tree and sniping any PVP flagged person with low HP.
Divebombing. I'm flying and I see a person who is PVP flagged and at low health after a duel. I fly in quickly and shoot him, then trigger my parachute to prevent fall damage. Once I hit the ground after inertia pushes me away, I trigger my nitro boost and flee.
Doing any of the above while in enemy territory/near their capital city.
Luring PVP flagged characters to a cliff/high point, then knocking them off said cliff with knockback AOE.
Attacking town in a raid group to get the attention of higher level PVP people.
Comments
Lol never would of thought something like this would be so controversial, i just nodded my head and thought there was a precedented definition for every gaming term
Does playing while eating a pizza with the other hand count as being preoccupied?. Or typing to a friend
This is all so confusing
Only if you are balancing the pizza on your nose, while doing a backflip in game.
No. It is in-game. Example: Some one is currently fighting a mob or talking to a quest NPC.
Also if you get PKed because you were standing in an unsafe place while you were eatting pizza you were not ganked you are just a noob. =P
My theme song.
The term gank started floating around original TFT Dota just after Eul passed the torch to Icefrog, maybe 2003 or 2004.
It means to kill other players exclusive to all other activities.
It doesn't necessarily have to mean 2 or more players vs an individual although it more often is than not.
Commonly the target of the gank is in a disadvantageous position: low hp or impeded movement.
Almost always the target of the gank is unaware that they are about to be hit.
In moba games, specifically Dota, there are heroes that are designed to kill other players such as "Pudge". These characters spend the majority of their time ambushing enemy players or "ganking".
I like to imagine that a player from a non-english speaking background typed "guys, gang top lane", but misspelled it.
I have a weird imagination.
Honestly who knows how these synonyms evolve and spread.
It's the reason behind it all.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
To me, a gank is simply when multiple players kill another single player in an MMO.
People use it differently now, but that's how the term came up back in the Ultima Online days. That's where most of these terms came from.
Ganking has always meant EITHER a group of people continually killing a smaller group or one person AND a higher level person killing a lower level one.
This goes all the way back to Ultima Online...and the reason why my guild LoD created a brigade called the GankSquad for our hardcore PKers.
It depends on the game and the situation. Sometimes what you say is true. Maybe most of the time.
However, using surprise can also be tactical. It can be a pvp skill. It just depends. If the player in the area who is attacked, and taken unaware, knows (or should know by virtue of the game design -- since ignorance is not an excuse) the risks then it's "fair" in my opinion. For example, in Darkfall, if you are out mining and you get jumped, you have to know that is part of the game. There is a reason for that. However, if someone just camps where you spawn to kill you over and over without any reason, just out of malice, just because he can, that is clearly a case of being a douche.*
There are lots of shades in between those two extremes.
*Someone with bigger problems beyond the game world.
A gank is an ambush. A ganker is an ambusher. A griefer is a bored ganker that has nothing better to do.
So sayeth me.
You know what's fun about chaos? I do, but I won't tell.
Ganking is the process in which a group of charecters gang up on one or more players that do not have a chance to defend themselves, Or when one high level player does the same action to a player way below his or her own level
I agree with this. I've always said that open world PvP barely exists in games. It's only attempted open-world ganking. The only time it turns into some semblance of PvP is when the attacker picks on a player who is actually skilled at PvP.
Hardly, killing players in the same leveling areas as yourself is always fair game. Waiting around in questing areas far below your level and waiting for players is something a ganker would do. Alternatively, waiting around in a big group to ambush solo players in solo areas.
I know what a ganker is but what is a zerker?
Proud MMORPG.com member since March 2004! Make PvE GREAT Again!
Remember we are talking about video games here. Sometimes people play in a manner that represents their true nature, but often times, people take on a different persona when they play a video game. That's fun for some, and one of the reasons they game in the first place. Trying to decipher another player's RL nature based on how they game is beyond a waste of time.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
[mod edit]
Somone who kills another person while they are questing or harvesting. PvP should only occur when both sides know its iminent such as in a zone specifically set up for PvP'ing.
Everything you need to know about Elder Scrolls Online
Playing: GW2
Waiting on: TESO
Next Flop: Planetside 2
Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Why not do away with all that and only have consentual duels. That's real pvp right?
To me, ganker just means someone who kills another player when they weren't prepared for PvP combat. Such as being ganked by another player when fighting a mob.
Another player going to a lowbie zone just to kill low level players is a griefer. There are guilds made up of griefers who's entire point of playing is to just mess with other players and make their game time unenjoyable.
[mod edit]
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
A ganker is an pvper that will take any opertunity to kill other players in the game, weither it is seen as honorable or not does not matter to the player/character. Examples of gankers in history would be assassins, ninjas, spys, even mobs attacks could be seen as gankers, since they do what ever is needed to finish their objective regardless of how they do it. There is trully nothing wrong with ganking as it is a form of pvp/attack yet it is almost always seen as a negative as well as unhonorable tactic to use, and so garners less respect from people that hear about it. Also most gankers use the fact of that if you are fighting fair you are doing something wrong, where to a true fighter the knowledge of both fight/beating someone equal or better than you in a fair fight is an equal thrill to just the fight itself. I would liken it to coming out of a unfair fight against several people as the winner, or beating someone that used unfair or cheap tatics in a fight while you fought fairly.
Honestly I always though they you should have two forms of points for pvp that you can use to buy or aquire things thru, such as honorable kills as well as dishonorable kills. Then you convert the points into pvp points or currency at a certain rate, with honorable kills actually giving much higher conversions, compared to dishonorable kills, this would actually penalize the players that seek to take the easy road, while allowing those that seek honorable kills an incentive to feel theey are being rewarded for it. You could also further penlize increasingly dishonorable acts like killing targets that have little or no ability to fight back, being severly outnumbered, and such by giving them less points for each dishonorable kill they do in such situations.
I'm gonna put up a list of things I did do, and people can classify what each thing I did counts as:
To many styles of fighters ranging from samurai, knights, and many martial artists that is true pvp, as it is a effort to determine who is more skilled (both thru training, and innate talent.). though it is not to say universal even among those kinds of people or fighters as some think that winning regardless of the method is the entire pursuit of fighting/pvping. Really it is two different mindsets one is that of those that seek to improve or prove their ability against people that are equal to them much like tournament fightrers, while others it is more like a job or entertainment such as muggers that use fighting/weapons/surprise to gain money at the expense of their victims.
1. Griefer
2. Normal
3. Opportunist
4. Ganker
5. Thrill-seeker
6. Youtube sensation
7. Normal
According to the TITLE of the thread, to me, a ganker is a POS.
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!