I'll play in Player vs. Player Battlegrounds in World of Warcraft every once in awhile and I never cease to be amazed at the behavior of some people. People fight in Battlegrounds to earn Honor which is used as currency to purchase magic items. The honor is earned in 3 ways: a) simply spending time in the battleground, b) killing other players, c) performing certain actions which are different to each Battleground (controlling territory, capturing flags, etc).

(a) leads to people who will use robots to join battlegrounds for them while they are away from the keyboard (or afk). This allows them to accumulate Honor without any effort on their part due to the awarding of honor based merely on time spent in the battleground. This is not only lame, but it causes problems for the other members of your team because they are now fighting at a disadvantage. I disagree with this behavior and it annoys the crap outta me. However, I understand it. It makes sense to me in a logical fashion.

In an effort to combat this problem, Blizzard instituted a system were players can report their teammates as AFK. If enough people report them, they are given a warning and have 60 seconds to engage in some sort of PvP combat. If they don't, they are marked inactive and cease gaining honor.

The thing I don't get is this... Tonight I once again encountered a player in a Battleground who refused to fight, but was actually at the keyboard the whole time. Whenever they were reported afk, they would run out and get into PvP combat for a split second, then turn around and resume sitting around doing nothing. So, they were actively working to be inactive. It confuses me that they would put in such effort.... to avoid putting in effort.

I don't get it. You could put in half the effort above and play the game, be legitimately involved (albeit half-assed), and possibly give your teammates some help which could lead to higher honor gains. So... I don't get it. Why work at not working?