Griefers targeting new players

For the better part of two weeks now I have been trying to convince a friend of mine to play this game, as currently there aren't many good co-op games out there for PS5 and because I have been having a great time.

This morning I learned he did in fact get it and tried it out last night, before promptly returning it this morning due to in his own words 'having no interest in an FPS version of EVE Online'. Confused I asked him what he meant by that, which led to him telling me about his first and only two attempts at playing.

First mission, Trivial difficulty, Raising the Flag mission (as I had told him they were the easiest) he joined a mission and was happy (at first) to see a lvl 27 player was the host, figuring they must be a higher rank player helping out newbies on account of the glowing praise I had showered the community with. Literally as soon as the mission started, said lvl 27 asshole proceeded to kill him and the other two Cadets who had joined with their flamethrower, multiple times.

After getting TKed a third time he abandoned the mission, realizing it was just a toxic griefer.

Then he tried again, another Trivial Raising the Flag mission. This time things seemed to be going okay. Host was lvl 25 and the others playing were lvls 9 and 14, everything was okay right up until they got to extraction, when the host asked them if they knew friendly fire was a thing in this game. At which point he chucked a grenade at the LZ, killing my friend and the other two players, then kicking them from the match literally as Pelican 1 was landing.

Total play time, less than 20 minutes, that was all it took to kill any interest they might have had in the game.

Now, I know griefers and assholes exist, as they do in any game, but picking on lvl 1 Cadet's, not only is it pathetic, it's going to kill the longevity of the game. Keep chasing away new players and the lobbies will eventually dry up, as has unfortunately happened in a number of other games.

To the community I have come to know and love, please keep an eye out for these shit stains, I KNOW you are good people and that these are a very small minority causing trouble. But given that they do seem to be specifically preying on Trivial Flag Raising missions, I would ask that if able, everyone just run one or two of these a day when you are able. They take virtually no time to complete, and it's a good way to engage with the newer players, be it to teach them or to look out for them.

To the assholes that ruined this game for my friend however, the PS5 has a very fun little feature that allows you to see the PSNID's of the people you most recently played with, and a very useful screenshot function. I know who you are, I know your PSNID's. If either of you join a game I am hosting, you will be kicked so fast that you'll think your system crashed. If I happen to join a match with either of you in it where I am not the host, I assure you, neither of you are going to make it to the extraction. I too am an asshole, only difference is I'm a vindictive asshole, not a griefing asshole.