Ganker (computer game)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ganken [ ˈgɛŋkɘn ] or ganking is a collective term for various player-versus-player combat tactics in online role-playing games in which the victim has little realistic chance of winning the fight because he or she is inferior or at a disadvantage from the start. Ganken is therefore mostly seen as underhanded or cowardly. A player who uses such tactics is called a ganker , the practice of ganking .

Examples

Some typical examples of ganking are:

  • One player attacks another who has a significantly lower level or is obviously inferior for other mechanical reasons.
  • A player is already involved in a fight against one or more non-player characters and is suddenly attacked by another player.
  • Multiple players attack a single player and almost overrun him.
  • A player has just survived a fight, but has little health or mana left , so he is weakened and wants to regenerate (depending on the game, for example to eat something or be healed), but is attacked surprisingly beforehand.
  • A player is not currently sitting at the computer and is defeated without resistance. This is also known as afk (away from keyboard) -kill .
  • A player has just been revived (which has different disadvantages depending on the game) and is being attacked ( spawnkill ).

Corpse Camping

A special type of combat that is often combined with ganking is “corpse camping”, roughly “guarding the corpse”. In some role-playing games, e.g. B. World of Warcraft , the virtual death of the avatar is punished, among other things, by having to run back as a ghost to his corpse ( corpse ) to be able to revive and continue playing ( corpse run ). Immediately after resuscitation you are weakened, for example you have only a few life points . The Corpse camper exploits this : He hides near the corpse of his defeated opponent, lies in wait and waits for his opponent to be resuscitated, in order to then defeat him again.

analysis

Depending on how severely the virtual death is punished in a game, ganking can be very frustrating for the victim, especially when it is combined with corpse camping ( see above ) or the like. It is often viewed as dishonorable, and players who gain excessive ganking can easily gain a bad name. It is always a topic in the community and can trigger flamewars . The boundary to griefing cannot be clearly drawn in individual cases.

On the other hand, ganking is an integral part of online role-playing games and many gamers use it at least occasionally. It doesn't violate the rules of the game and in many games there are even classes whose strength lies precisely in being able to sneak up unnoticed and attack surprisingly, which are particularly suitable for ganking. As a result, most gamers may view ganking as an unfair, but legitimate, practice.

Alternative meaning in MOBAs

The word ganking has a similar, but not the same meaning in games such as DotA , League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth . There, the term is used to describe the short-term creation of an outnumbered situation in order to specifically eliminate one or more opponents. This way of playing is not seen as unfair, but is a great advantage and therefore necessary for successful team play.

etymology

The linguistic origin of the German word can be traced back to the English player jargon, but details cannot be clearly clarified. In the online role-playing game Ultima Online , the term "Gangbang Kill" was later abbreviated to "Gank". Another common hypothesis is that the word “gank” was an abbreviation from “gang kill” ( gang “gang”; kill “killing”). It is possible that this is just a backronym (see also folk etymology ). According to another hypothesis, it comes from American slang, from the verb "to gank", which means steal or also cheat .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See e.g. B. the PvP rules of World of Warcraft , which explicitly allow "dishonorable" behavior.
  2. ↑ DotA: The tactical background ( German ) Archived from the original on March 26, 2010. Retrieved on May 21, 2010.

swell