Team killing
Encyclopedia
In video games, team killing or TKing refers to the act of purposely killing another player on the same team as their own. It happens mainly in First-person shooters (FPSs) and any game where players have the ability to kill either players on a different team, or Artificial intelligence
. Team-kill is often abbreviated as TK, the person being "TKer".
Team-killing may simply be an episode of friendly fire
, due to disorientation or being a new player. However, team-killing just as often employed by griefer
s (who are not actually playing the game
) or by disgruntled players, perhaps in retaliation for being a victim themselves. Team killing is also employed by gamers who have also became bored of the game. It is also used by gamers to force a reaction from their teammates.
Generally, if a player is found to be team-killing often, an administrator
may kick or ban the player. Also, the game in use may employ an automatic incentive not to team-kill, such as a longer respawn time, negative points, or auto-kicking a player who accumulates many teamkills.
, preventing most TKs from being possible. However this is not always a preferred option as the reduced realism can be undesirable. Other systems involve deducting points from players for TKs or forcibly logging them off of the server.
Removing team-killers from a game, whether accidental or otherwise, is desirable to keep all players focused on the game, and avoid having a match thrown because of undue retaliations or a mismatch in skill.
In the anti-TK system from PlanetSide
:
This type of system is intended to create a chilling effect on intentional or clumsy episodes of friendly fire damage without overly punishing the occasional accident.
In addition to this system, usually, the one who is found to be intentionally killing his teammates will usually be kicked or banned from the game. This is a common practice of FPS games.
A more straightforward method of handling team-killing can be found in the Halo
series. A player who kills a member of their own team has committed a 'Betrayal'. The player who was killed is then given the option of whether or not to immediately kick the traitor out of the game.
A solution from Counter-Strike
was killing TKers prior to the next round starting, however this option can be turned off.
The Battlefield series allows teamkill victims to forgive accidental occurrences and punish intentional acts with a stiffer penalty. A host can set different rules, such as automatically punishing all team-kill events, disabling team-kill penalties and/or friendly fire, and setting a threshold for teamkills.
In Call Of Duty: World At War and Black Ops, when a user teamkills the same person over 3 times on the same round, the team killer is automatically booted, however this is bypassed if the teamkiller is also the host of the game.
The Xbox Live
player review system also allows players to negatively review and submit complaints on the grounds of disruptive game behaviour. Players can also set specific players to be avoided when matchmaking in online games.
The "FTKer", though acting with malice, has technically been team-killed, and gains the ability to take action on the team-killer, who did not intend on harming the teammate. In the 'Halo' example, a griefer who forces team kill on another player can instantly kick the supposed "betrayer", while the griefer remains in the game to cause more trouble.
Should the game keep a running log of kills, a player suspected of FTK can be identified as being the "victim" of numerous teamkill incidents. Victims who haven't been kicked out of the game can also realize amongst themselves that the FTKer is not acting in the team's interest, and report that player to an admin or warn others of suspicious behavior.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
. Team-kill is often abbreviated as TK, the person being "TKer".
Team-killing may simply be an episode of friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
, due to disorientation or being a new player. However, team-killing just as often employed by griefer
Griefer
A griefer is a player in a multiplayer video game that deliberately irritates and harasses other players.-History:The term was applied to online, multiplayer computer games by the year 2000 or earlier, as illustrated by postings to the rec.games.computer.ultima.online USENET group.-Overview:A...
s (who are not actually playing the game
Metagaming
Metagaming is a broad term usually used to define any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game...
) or by disgruntled players, perhaps in retaliation for being a victim themselves. Team killing is also employed by gamers who have also became bored of the game. It is also used by gamers to force a reaction from their teammates.
Generally, if a player is found to be team-killing often, an administrator
Superuser
On many computer operating systems, the superuser is a special user account used for system administration. Depending on the operating system, the actual name of this account might be: root, administrator or supervisor....
may kick or ban the player. Also, the game in use may employ an automatic incentive not to team-kill, such as a longer respawn time, negative points, or auto-kicking a player who accumulates many teamkills.
Discouraging Team Killing
Most games that support friendly fire use some method to discourage intentional friendly fire, aka "team-killing". Simply, many games allow an option to disable friendly fireFriendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
, preventing most TKs from being possible. However this is not always a preferred option as the reduced realism can be undesirable. Other systems involve deducting points from players for TKs or forcibly logging them off of the server.
Removing team-killers from a game, whether accidental or otherwise, is desirable to keep all players focused on the game, and avoid having a match thrown because of undue retaliations or a mismatch in skill.
In the anti-TK system from PlanetSide
PlanetSide
PlanetSide is a massively-multiplayer online first-person-shooter computer game published by Sony Online Entertainment and released on May 20, 2003....
:
- Damaging friendly players results in the accumulation of "Grief Points".
- Grief points dissipate slowly over time, but accumulate faster if many separate instances of friendly fire occur back-to-back — someone who does 500 points of friendly fire damage in 1 minute suffers more than someone who does 500 points of friendly fire damage over 2 hours.
- Once grief points exceed a certain threshold, the player will no longer be able to shoot or drive lethal speeds in a vehicle.
This type of system is intended to create a chilling effect on intentional or clumsy episodes of friendly fire damage without overly punishing the occasional accident.
In addition to this system, usually, the one who is found to be intentionally killing his teammates will usually be kicked or banned from the game. This is a common practice of FPS games.
A more straightforward method of handling team-killing can be found in the Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
series. A player who kills a member of their own team has committed a 'Betrayal'. The player who was killed is then given the option of whether or not to immediately kick the traitor out of the game.
A solution from Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
was killing TKers prior to the next round starting, however this option can be turned off.
The Battlefield series allows teamkill victims to forgive accidental occurrences and punish intentional acts with a stiffer penalty. A host can set different rules, such as automatically punishing all team-kill events, disabling team-kill penalties and/or friendly fire, and setting a threshold for teamkills.
In Call Of Duty: World At War and Black Ops, when a user teamkills the same person over 3 times on the same round, the team killer is automatically booted, however this is bypassed if the teamkiller is also the host of the game.
The Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
player review system also allows players to negatively review and submit complaints on the grounds of disruptive game behaviour. Players can also set specific players to be avoided when matchmaking in online games.
Forced team kill
Systems that allow team killers to be removed can themselves be abused. A player can "force team kill" on another player either by goading the victim into poor conduct (hurting the player without killing, obstructing a narrow path), or maneuvering themselves into fatal situations (running in front of friendly vehicles, stepping into someone's line of fire, detonating explosives that do not distinguish between friend or foe).The "FTKer", though acting with malice, has technically been team-killed, and gains the ability to take action on the team-killer, who did not intend on harming the teammate. In the 'Halo' example, a griefer who forces team kill on another player can instantly kick the supposed "betrayer", while the griefer remains in the game to cause more trouble.
Should the game keep a running log of kills, a player suspected of FTK can be identified as being the "victim" of numerous teamkill incidents. Victims who haven't been kicked out of the game can also realize amongst themselves that the FTKer is not acting in the team's interest, and report that player to an admin or warn others of suspicious behavior.