How should MMOs and/or gaming in general deal with toxicity?

Discussion in 'General MMORPG Discussion' started by ISKMogul, Sep 9, 2015.

  1. ISKMogul

    ISKMogul Well-Known Member

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    Anyone who has spent time online while gaming knows just how bad some people can be. Some games are worse than others for the amount of bigotry, combativeness, and general unpleasantness they create. Removing these elements is something that gamers should be doing. We already have enough of a bad reputation from these idiots.What do you as players think should be done about this?

    I don't agree with the idea of just allowing it to happen. Anyone can be made to change their behavior, either through conditioning and discourse, or corrective punishment. So the apathetic approach some have towards removing these toxic elements just doesn't make sense.

    I think that the most balanced approach that remains effective is one that focuses on the community of a game policing itself while also having the developer step in in the most extreme circumstances; As well as having policies that disallow certain activity like harassment outright built into the game.
     
  2. Zimbitt

    Zimbitt Well-Known Member
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    More mute functions and allow people to mute themselves, also curse filters if people want, also just suck it up and deal with it the internet is for shit like this.
     
  3. grinder

    grinder Well-Known Member

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    Ignore and indifference is the key here for me. I'll just ignore toxic players and stuff becaus they don't even deserve the effort I do typing my words honestly. Just act like they don't even exist.
     
  4. thecorinthian

    thecorinthian Well-Known Member
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    There's always been a merit system or reporting system for online and RPG games. If the company cares about the welfare of the gamers then they always add a reporting system for toxic gamers. It helps because there's always a fear of suspension and banning so toxic gamers don't usually last.
     
  5. Fozz

    Fozz Well-Known Member
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    Ignore lists. I don't believe games should regulate speech. It's important to have completely free discussion in game. If you dont like what someone is saying, mute/ignore them.
     
  6. Cereus

    Cereus Well-Known Member
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    Ignore, curse filters, and report functions are you friends. Free speech is free speech. MMOs based in the US generally follow that as far as the community goes because people have the right to say stuff but people also have the right to not listen- hence said three functions above. Moderators will ban and permaban if they get enough reports on a disruptive person and they deem the person a cancer in game. I've seen it happen tons of times because companies won't tolerate it if things are taken too far.
     
  7. Azrile

    Azrile Well-Known Member
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    It depends on the game, one of the problem with a lot of games is they use cross-server type stuff where you have a huge number of players who can randomly be added to your group... and you will never see them again.

    Back when servers were servers and communities were smaller, your reputation mattered more. Ignore lists and being blocked no longer matter at all to the offending players, because there are millions of other players they will be grouped with.
     
  8. Chris_A

    Chris_A Well-Known Member
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    I think games should implement a ban on sight feature for people that fail to behave civilized in an online environment. If someone comes up with proof, they could send it to a GM and the offender gets banned. That would teach a ton of people to think before they start acting all aggressive online.
     
  9. FuZyOn

    FuZyOn Well-Known Member
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    I think MMMORPGs are more susceptible to a lot more toxicity than other games, especially when they get popular and more people start playing. Don't feed the trolls and ragers kids, they'll probably just stop after a while.
     
  10. d'arakh

    d'arakh Well-Known Member
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    I don't think a lot more outside of muting or reporting someone can be done. There definitely needs to be moderation though as report functions can get abused. I remember a friend raging because he slayed some level 1 kid on WoW (could be some other game, it was a long time ago) and the kid reported him and his account was suspended for a week. Maybe having some sort of auto-ban if a player gets muted a lot?
     
  11. lateflip

    lateflip Member
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    I feel this is a serious problem, how I personally deal with it is simply by ignoring it, but this is a much bigger problem. People attacking others over video games is preposterous, cyber-bullying is causing many kids and teenagers to resort to drastic methods, such as suicide and self harm. A solution I feel would help correct this problem is implementation of longer bans, education on the effects of bullying, a "jail" system in the game, chat filters, and a stronger mute system.
     
  12. Christian46

    Christian46 Well-Known Member
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    I think muting and reporting are pretty good things for chat toxicity. Actual gameplay toxicity is harder to deal with and should be controlled by player moderation.
     
  13. shadejb

    shadejb Well-Known Member
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    Would a solution similar to how some games deal with cheaters be a good choice? If you start swearing, you will get a warning, and if you continue to swear then you will be moved to a separate chat channel with all the other swearers. The only way to get out of it will be to behave for a certain amount of time (maybe 7 days).
     
  14. Jboh

    Jboh Active Member
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    I'm not sure why you think a bad community can somehow police itself, but I've heard worse ideas. The best you'll get is players spewing torrents of abuse at other players because they're spewing torrents of abuse at them. It's an endless cycle. :p

    I like how Valve handles DotA 2 and I presume their other multiplayer games. If someone is reported enough for bad behavior or abandons enough games, they get put in a low priority queue. This makes it so they can only be matched up with other people in a low priority queue. If they don't want to get put in and matched up with those kind of players, then they have to straighten out their act.

    I'm also not a big advocate of calling people toxic. It seems pretty toxic if you catch my drift. ;)
     
  15. Chris_A

    Chris_A Well-Known Member
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    You have to call them as they are. I had pretty bad experiences with gaming online, over the years, and I know that some people are just like that: Toxic. They won`t learn and they will keep doing what they are doing in other games as well. Bad community turned me off more then one game so far. It is a real problem.
     
  16. Cereus

    Cereus Well-Known Member
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    The problem is you can't control people. There will always be perpetual arsehats no matter where you go. Online or in real life. It's just the way it is unfortunately. Best thing to do is mitigate some of it but there's no honest way of permanently eliminating it.

    There is a rather big difference between your local chat troll who spams stupid stuff and constant harassment. Most companies operate on the premise that you as a player have taken measures to make the experience as nontoxic for you since there are built in features. However if another player is deemed disruptive by the community through a collective number of reports, then trust me they are removed from the game. No ands ifs or buts. Majority totally wins here.

    Most companies are good about this in various ways and some not so much hence why I will never participate in said games of companies that fail at this. 1 on 1 is different, generally if you're just bothered by their crass language and nothing more, then the company won't intervene because it's an instance where you just move on and use built in features to help you move on. Report, ignore, block. Now if that other player were harassing you nonstop then the company intervenes because the situation's escalated. It's now very personal. I know this well from personal experiences in the far past when women were a little more rare in the gaming community.

    MMOs are actually quite decent about moderating disruptive members. XBOX Live's reputation and LoL's reputation has made me forever not interested in participating because of the lack of fair moderation.
     
  17. evelination

    evelination Well-Known Member
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    Harsher punishments for those who don't abide by the common sense rules. It's that simple. But companies don't really care that much about the overall flow of the game rather than their incessant preoccupation of developing new ways of leeching money off of their petty customers.
     
  18. ACSAPA

    ACSAPA Well-Known Member
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    I don't agree with a curse filter because some perfectly nice people curse in conversation. But I definitely think there should be a report function for hate speech or harassment as well as an ignore function.
     
    Kitty Reeves and Cyborg Superman like this.
  19. Cyborg Superman

    Cyborg Superman Well-Known Member
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    When you get a bunch of people from different walks of life, different ages, different maturity levels and beliefs, you're going to get some conflicts. I can't speak for every game, but I can tell you that for DC Universe Online, this is how it works:

    The game has queues that you can access that will put you in a random group with other players who queue the same instance. If you put a player on ignore, you won't be matched up with them. I think that pretty much alleviates 99% of the issues. There's also a profanity filter if you don't like swearing (which can be enabled or disabled).

    Honestly, bullying and griefing in game should be handled in the same way as you would in real life: ignore them. You'll never win an argument with a troll or someone who's trying to grief you, so just walk away. It doesn't mean that you condone their actions if you're the better person. So far ignoring has been the very best way to handle idiots online.
     
  20. Funky Fingers

    Funky Fingers Active Member
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    I think the only way to deal with toxicity is to ignore.... If there's a block communication or mute button in the game, definitely mute the person/people who are being toxic and getting on your nerves. One of the biggest problems within the gaming community is the toxicity that is performed among people in the community.