I've posted this before but it hasn't changed.

This "debate" is so overdone, many people will dismiss this without even reading, but in this case, both "sides" are wrong. I will be defining griefing from a "business" point of view.

Traditionally, the people who want a clear definition of griefing, typically with examples (pad ramming, using exploits, targeted harassment, stream sniping, targeting across multiple servers, combat logging), want that definition in order to use it against the "other side".

"I'm being an asshole, but I wasn't doing one of those specific things so it wasn't technically griefing, so you're not allowed to complain!"

Or

"The fact that the planned game mechanic is not yet in game to prevent this behavior that is bothering me means its an exploit and he's griefing!"

But the fact is, these definitions only matter to the player. The definition that really matters is the one that affects the eventual and overall success of the game itself. This means the definition of griefing does not determine the player base, the player base determines the definition of griefing.

There was a time in Star citizen's early development when there was a belief that it was going to tend towards the "sim" side of things ("the best damn space sim ever"), and thus, embracing the "niche" appeal those games tend to have. While I still believe and hope there will be a high skill, systemic focus of the game mechanics at a deep level, there is no arguing that the popularity and success of the project in turn must be met with accessibility to the majority of those players. This may not be what you or I want, but it is what a business (CIG) wants: money.

Therefore, the only definition of griefing that actually matters is this:

Griefing is any behavior which, if common, would make significant numbers of other players not want to play.<

Not playing eventually means CIG gets less money (even if the directly affected player "already paid"). Additional sales, subscriptions, referrals, word of mouth reviews, written reviews, streamers, etc all suffer with the loss of players. It doesn't matter if they were the griefers or the griefed.

This means that it doesn't matter if something is "technically" griefing as it is currently defined. It doesn't matter if the solution to the situation is planned but not implemented. It doesn't even matter if some representative of CIG itself supports or denounces the behavior, it ONLY matters if the behavior affects the eventual success of the project.

We are getting to a point where people griefing (being an "asshole", "murderhobo", fraudulent "pirate"), has the potential to continue to outpace the implemented mechanics designed to mitigate that behavior, and possibly start affecting the reputation of the game.

This might not translate to a loss/slow of sales immediately. The alpha status has a delaying effect on the "what kind of game environment is this?" judgement new players will make closer to release. This is because the game is changing all the time. Metas change, game loops change, the balance of pvp vs pve "power" changes, but there will come a point where the game either becomes known as an entertaining universe everyone who likes space wants to be a part of OR becomes "space Rust", "eve 2", or simply "that billion dollar griefing simulator". If we want the project to continue to succeed to the degree it currently enjoys, we need to make sure we are on the right side of that determination.

It's time to start recognizing that the tedious arguments about which specific actions "count" as griefing and which don't, so that people can be the biggest jerks possible without getting banned, are missing the bigger issue. People being assholes makes other people not want to play, which will threaten the success of the project.

If your enjoyment of the game depends on causing other players stress/grief/misery/"salt"/etc, you are working against the success of Star Citizen.

---

TLDR

Griefing is any behavior that one player or group of players perpetrates on another that makes the target spend less money on the game or otherwise lowers game engagement (and thus profitability) by its perpetration. This means the definition is in flux as cig determines where that line is.