Up For Discussion: The Plink

plink \plink\ vb : plinked ; plinking : to taunt a trivia player who is playing well and standing out in a game

plinker \`plink-ər\ n : one who plinks

This is a word that a friend and I made up because we wanted an easy way to describe this phenomenon, to be able to say, "Hey, I just got plinked." The taunting involved in plinking can take many forms, but here are some examples from one time that I was plinked:

[2009/02/24 18:52] Plinky Plinklesworth: damn .. someone pls break Lette's keyboard

[2009/02/24 18:56] Plinky Plinklesworth: ok, time to slip Lette a computer virus

[2009/02/24 18:59] Plinky Plinklesworth: wow ... did Lette get that? there's a surprise

This person is a serial plinker. Two days later, he'd moved on from plinking me and was hitting that night's standout:

[2009/02/26 18:15] Plinky Plinklesworth: someone break Olm's keyboard

When I was brand new to SL trivia, I actually saw it as a compliment to get this sort of attention. Over time, though, it became more and more trite. There aren't too many people for whom every single game is a stunner, which means that for most of us, when we do have a good one, it can be an exciting moment. There's a minor high involved. And for someone to call attention to your performance in such a way that isn't about "Hey, great job tonight," but rather implies something less supportive, it can be a let-down at best and seriously aggravating at worst.

Sure, it's just teasing and is therefore theoretically harmless, but this is one of those instances where it's important to remember there are people with feelings behind the avs, and although many people are able to brush off the plink, I also know others who get so self-conscious that they essentially stop playing for the remainder of the game. In that first example, the plinker in question was pretty benign. I responded to him with friendly banter, and eventually we became friends. Others, however, don't really know when to stop:

[2009/01/08 19:54] Plinkelle Plinklewood: lette needs to share their lindens...hmm

[2009/01/08 19:54] Plinkelle Plinklewood: ahh we can just put a hit on ya

[2009/01/12 18:12] Plinkelle Plinklewood: someone put handcuffs on her so she cant type

[2009/01/29 18:22] Plinkelle Plinklewood: someone blow her off the sim pls

Over time, this person got more and more aggressive with the plinking. The night of that last comment, she and I had a falling out about where the line is between tolerable and intolerable plinking. For me, when it veered toward threats to bodily harm, that's when it stopped being ordinary teasing and became misplaced aggression.

Mythology night at Blaizing Inferno

Plinkers are often, but not always, people new to the game or people who aren't very strong players and would be plinking anyone at all who stood out. When I get teased by someone who consistently answers in second place to me, it has an entirely different feel. The vibe to that tends to be more of competition mixed with mutual admiration. However, this type of teasing might constitute plinking to someone else. There is no black-or-white when it comes to what is plinking and what is not, because different people may interpret different scenarios differently. But there do tend to be some things that get me more than others.

Plinking becomes irritating when the people who do it seem to think that their comments are somehow funny or original, not realizing that the veterans among us have been hearing the same lines ad nauseum since we started playing. When it happens to me, I usually respond by saying, "If _____ were here, I probably wouldn't be your target." And it's true. Although I seldom fail miserably in a game, I'm also not usually the standout player, so when I am, I don't generally appreciate a response that implies that I shouldn't be, even if it's delivered in fun. When I give the "If _____ were here" response, I'm trying to point out to the plinker that I'm not that amazing, I'm just convenient. That strategy hasn't been effective yet, though, so I'm looking for other ways to respond that don't sound like an over-reaction.

It's annoying also because when new people do it, they're missing the broader context that these games take place in, and when more regular people do it, it just gets old. For instance, in the last Plinkelle example, I had only answered two questions correctly that night before she asked for someone to blow me out of the sim. Who wants to play under those conditions? Do they think it's still funny the eleventh time they say it? Apparently at least some do. I asked Pinkelle to cool it once her comments headed into violent territory, and she thought that was a joke, too. She seemed to have no perception that even the mild comments could be annoying. In my guide to people new to SL trivia, I suggested that if you plink (though I didn't use the word in that post), be cognizant of how your target responds, and if they don't seem to be playing along, then don't push.

I have my own theories about where the tendency to plink comes from, but I'll stop here and let others comment. Why do people plink? How do you feel when they plink? Do you respond when they do it to you? when you see them do it to others? Are there some types that are annoying to you and others that aren't? Or do you even find it complimentary, like I did when I was new? If you've ever been a plinker, why have you done it? What are some good strategies to responding to plinking that don't make you look like you have no sense of humor?

Fairy tale night at Blaizing Inferno, with some people arriving from Shiraz's sports night

Credit goes to Lou Netizen for coining the term "plink."
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