I mention above the major complaint / victim changing over time. What was the old complaint and victim and the new complaint and victim?
Old complaint: Sniper swoops in on a GB and takes 1st spot after it has been "primed" through a swap thread.
Victim: Players (usually guild mates) who have contributed to that GB in a swap thread.
New complaint 1: Sniper locks a reward spot on a GB at less than 1.9.
Victim 1: The GB owner, who may have to pony up a few more FP of his own to get the other spots filled.
New complaint 2: Sniper locks a reward spot (regardless of whether it's at or below 1.9) before the GB owner's guild mates can.
Victim 2: Guild mates looking for BPs for that particular GB. Also, the GB owner if the sniper locks in at below 1.9, for the same reason as on complaint 1.
Actually, New Complaint 2 showed up before New Complaint 1. New Complaint 1 didn't really show up until players started expecting 1.9 donations to their GBs as a right. New Complaint 2 showed up pretty much as soon as Arc 80 started showing up. Old Complaint has been around for the entire 6 years I've been playing, and still plagues developing guilds who don't have Arcs and are trying to build up their other GBs. They are still victimized (my bias is showing) by Arc owners looking for sniping opportunities.
What are the moral implications of sniping a self leveler in the Hood? On your Friend's list? In your Guild?
In a non-sweet spot GB what are the morale implications
There are no moral implications on sniping in the hood. There is no relationship there, so no expectation of mutually beneficial behavior. Players in a guild together or who are Friends (in the game sense), however, have tacitly agreed to be in a mutually beneficial relationship. So even though this is just a game, there are still moral implications if you snipe a Friend or guild mate.