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Rookje · Sep 11, 2017

I mostly play online, multiplayer, competitive games. Its my favorite type of game. Starcraft, Warcraft , DOTA, Heroes of the Storm, Chivalry, Overwatch, Splatoon, Counterstrike, PUBG, World of Warcraft, Rocket League etc.

I don't mind the toxicity too much in these games, but I know a lot of other people do. And it does get to me sometimes, where after a few hours of playing Overwatch I'll come out of it having a negative experience. I don't leave the game happy. And its not just losing, its when your team is bickering at each other. "Our healer sucked," "Nobody swapped to Solider" etc.

One interesting thing I noticed is that role/class based mixed with team-based objectives are the worst. Mostly because everyone wants to play the game how they want to play, and in a role/class based game with team based objectives -- everyone needs to be in sync. And in random groups, its less likely that's going to happen.

In arena shooters or PUBG I don't get that feeling as much. I don't need to worry too much about what other people are doing. I'm not telling some guy what gun he should be using. In PUBG, there's so many players that you're kind of a "winner" if you didn't die within the first minute. Rarely are you the first person in the game to die. Rarely do I come out of a PUBG game raging.

Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch are some of the worst I've seen. in HOTS, the objectives are so important. It's not like in DOTA where a carry can win the game if he jungles enough, everyone must work together in the objectives. If one guy just wants to do his own thing, there's a high chance you're going to lose.

TL;DR - After playing a lot of multiplayer/competitive games I've noticed the toxicity is most prevalent in role/class based games with team based objectives.

Creepy · Sep 11, 2017

I block about 10 people per hour in Overwatch.

Neff · Sep 11, 2017

I'm glad Splatoon is still a great game even without chat.

Betty · Sep 11, 2017

What annoys me most in Overwatch is other players telling me what to play, especially when they are less experienced.

Honestly you just have to step back, realise you're not trying to become an e-sport pro and play for fun.

Also, if you're forced to play Mercy, it's not totally wrong to mysteriously avoid healing that one guy who raged at you to play healer.

luulubuu · Sep 11, 2017

You mean games where your general level doesnt really need to match your role with certain character and people will grief, throw and destroy matches just for fun? Yeah, I saw those, in fact I complained about it in GAF and GAF told me I was playing the game wrong.

Nice

Gravy Boat · Sep 11, 2017

I love it in Rocket League. Missing a save/goal then getting called all the names under the sun by my team mate, then carrying them to the win gives me life.

Stygr · Sep 11, 2017

Mute and i play, honestly i don't even bother about cancerous people screaming and shouting at me when i play.

Kane1345 · Sep 11, 2017

Creepy said:
I block about 10 people per hour in Overwatch.

Yup

Podge293 · Sep 11, 2017

Never quite understood the utter rage people shout to others during non competitive online games especially demanding someone change to suit your own benefits.

Like I've been pissed at myself if I've played poorly or missed an obvious trap or opportunity.

Don't think I ever have or ever will verbally rage at someone playing a class that isn't particularly suited at that point in time.

If you were in a competition yeah maybe request it, general online play I'll do me and you do you.

hotcyder · Sep 11, 2017

Too many people with too much anger that use multiplayer as a platform to vent their frustrations. And any hyper competitive game pushes people over the edge.

Class based I suppose exasperates it - because you can't know every weapon or every perk but you know what roles Mercy, Roadhog or Zenyatta are meant to do. When you only see performance and not the person, it just exaggerates the worst qualities - absolute vitriol when people do wrong, and cynical nonchalantly when other people do well.

Despite being a game about people from different cultures, colours, ages, identity and body types, Overwatch sure has a pretty unwelcoming community.

Unit 33 · Sep 11, 2017

I only solo queue in Overwatch's comp, and about 40% of the time a few folks have a mic.

Most of the time this means thst they scream at everyone, and shift blame away from themselves.

It's pretty crap, and possibly worse than frequent losing streaks.

I feel like the current season has been worse somehow.

Sn4ke_911 · Sep 11, 2017

I posted this a few hours ago in the Overwatch OT.

Sn4ke_911 said:
just got one of those e-mails from blizzard where they thanked me for making overwatch a better place and previously reported people got punished.

feelsgoodman.jpg

So yeah it's good to see that the report system isn't as useless as people think it is, so keep reporting bad behavior, throwers etc. guys, it works!

Mephala · Sep 11, 2017

I dislike it. It is why I stick to party chat or no chat at all

Giga Man · Sep 11, 2017

Maybe this is just me being anti-social, but I genuinely do not want to listen to strangers while I'm playing if we're not in the same physical location, so the only toxicity I have to deal with is angry/spammy chat messages, which I either ignore or laugh at. Voice chat is always muted. I like that Rocket League for example lets you post pre-made chat messages because some of them are funny in certain situations.

HonMirin · Sep 11, 2017

Mephala said:
I dislike it. It is why I stick to party chat or no chat at all

This is exactly how I play. Can't be dealing with the toxicity and nastiness of it all. I don't play money to be abused.

Danjin44 · Sep 11, 2017

Unfortunately that's the nature of Internet. The toxicity is not only on multiplayer games but also in social media.

I'm very social both at work and outside of work but when it comes to gaming I'm very anti-social. I don't like to play with anybody and I don't like the idea of my enjoyment in games depend on other people.

weekev · Sep 11, 2017

Gravy Boat said:
I love it in Rocket League. Missing a save/goal then getting called all the names under the sun by my team mate, then carrying them to the win gives me life.

Yep especially when you get an apology at the full time whistle after you have basically won the game for them.

Pila · Sep 11, 2017

I wanna know what they write in the Rocket League chat (so I won't turn it off) but I don't want the chat to be shitty.

Sometimes I wish only pre-made shouts were available, I could live a life with "Nice Shot!" and without "Youre mum bicch die n00b".

Drain You · Sep 11, 2017

I played Destiny 1 VERY seriously for basically the entire time it was out. I was infamous for jumping off the edge. Most fun I've ever had playing online, I could solo the first part of Crotas End being a hunter with don't touch me's.

I was basically forbidden because I kept jumping off the edge at crucial parts during the seige engine and the sisters.

Napalm_Frank · Sep 11, 2017

I've played DotA for like 10 years now, I'm immune to that shit.

Earthpainting · Sep 11, 2017

I don't play online a lot, but this is one of the reasons. The first time I played an online game with voice chat was Uncharted 2, and the only people with a mic seemed to be the ones with an affinity for homophobia and sexual assault of mothers. It turned me off the whole concept for years. I would regularly hear similar stories from friends in all sorts other of online games though, so it wasn't shooty games that drove people to act this way.

These days I play Overwatch from time to time after some peer pressure, and it's generally a nice and chill place, but I exclusively stick to Quick Play and Arcade. Between competitive seasons though, the game becomes insufferable with all the toxicity. All sorts of bad manners and saltiness starts bubbling up, and disappears again when the next competitive season starts. I can only imagine that Competitive Overwatch is like that all the time, so I don't want any part of it.

Splatoon 2's thus far my cleanest experience with public multiplayer, and that's no doubt because of how bad the public communication options are.

Shaanyboi · Sep 11, 2017

I have voice chat permanently set to 'off' on PS4 save for the 2-3 times I've actually played games with friends.

danmaku · Sep 11, 2017

Betty said:
What annoys me most in Overwatch is other players telling me what to play, especially when they are less experienced.

Honestly you just have to step back, realise you're not trying to become an e-sport pro and play for fun.

Also, if you're forced to play Mercy, it's not totally wrong to mysteriously avoid healing that one guy who raged at you to play healer.

Problem is, everyone has their own definition of "playing for fun".

Fbh · Sep 11, 2017

Its One of the main reasons I ignore most big team based competitive games.
I'm not going near stuff like Overwatch or DotA. Only reason I play a lot of Rocket League is because you can play alone or in teams of 2-3 with people you know

I mostly stick to games like Battlefield 1 or Titanfall 2 where almost no one uses voice chat and everyone is talking in their own private parties. I haven't even had bad experiences with COD in recent years since most people also seem to stick to party chat.

Cow Mengde · Sep 11, 2017

luulubuu said:
You mean games where your general level doesnt really need to match your role with certain character and people will grief, throw and destroy matches just for fun? Yeah, I saw those, in fact I complained about it in GAF and GAF told me I was playing the game wrong.

Nice

GAF doesn't actually play games.

Atom Heart Mother · Sep 11, 2017

I make annoying noises in the microphone in PUBG a lot. If I'm about to kill someone I'll yell something stupid

I just shrug off shit talking. Why let it affect you?? Who cares if someone called you a fucker?

TheRedSnifit · Sep 11, 2017

Overwatch and HotS are bad specifically because they're designed to downplay individual skill as much as possible, making it almost impossible for one player to carry a team to a win but very easy for one player to sink a team by himself. So just one sub-par player is enough to tilt his entire team.

LoL, DotA, TF2, CSGO, etc. aren't nearly as bad (not that LoL and CSGO have good communities, mind) because players don't feel like they're constantly getting thrown into hopeless situations.

Atom Heart Mother · Sep 11, 2017

TheRedSnifit said:
Overwatch and HotS are bad specifically because they're designed to downplay individual skill as much as possible, making it almost impossible for one player to carry a team to a win but very easy for one player to sink a team by himself. So just one sub-par player is enough make an entire team tilt.

LoL, DotA, TF2, CSGO, etc. aren't nearly as bad (not that LoL and CSGO have good communities, mind) because players don't feel nearly as helpless.

Yeah, usually in those games it's obvious who sucks at the game. In HotS and Overwatch one thing can ruin it. It's why I dislike this idea of downplaying individual skill. You can have dead weight and not notice it.

Brat-Sampson · Sep 11, 2017

Voice chat was a mistake. Raiding or other party-based content is the only exception.

Pila · Sep 11, 2017

Atom Heart Mother said:
Who cares if someone called you a fucker?

Some annoying kid making dumb noise is annoying. Why shouldn't I care? I don't get a lot of spare time to play games and the dumb kiddo is ruining it.

rochellepaws · Sep 11, 2017

In Overwatch I feel like some people are compelled to criticise others character selections in the same way I feel compelled to say "Hello" upon entering a new game. As if it's something they feel they're supposed to, as if they view it as their responsibility or some part of the games culture.
I say that because I've noticed in solo queue and being matched with the same players for a couple of games in a row and it's usually the same person making different criticism each time but always finding something to complain about.

Phatosaurus · Sep 11, 2017

I enjoy the absurdity of people attempting to trash talk and getting salty over MP games.

Bluehound · Sep 11, 2017

Many of them has to be trolling as well, since their K/D-ratio or points are often lowest on team or usually don't use any sort of radio/any other similar mechanic to inform teammates about where enemies are. Just ignore them or mute them.

Ganado · Sep 11, 2017

Phatosaurus said:
I enjoy the absurdity of people attempting to trash talk and getting salty over MP games.

Same here, I usually get a good laugh off it.

chugen · Sep 11, 2017

i dont really think about it. after 16 years of online games it's just background noise now

SomTervo · Sep 11, 2017

luulubuu said:
You mean games where your general level doesnt really need to match your role with certain character and people will grief, throw and destroy matches just for fun? Yeah, I saw those, in fact I complained about it in GAF and GAF told me I was playing the game wrong.

Nice

Maybe it was how you said it. Rookje put together some solid rhetoric here

Zafir · Sep 11, 2017

Mostly play DotA 2 and it gets pretty silly. Just yesterday one guy randomed Io, and then after a certain point just decided to arbitrarily give up despite it still being close. That'd be fine, if he just, you know, abandoned/sat in base. Instead he decided to keep relocating people across the map into treelines and stuff, one of them didn't have a TP and actually got an abandon due to inactivity since they couldn't get out(they kept controlling the courier/killing it too). Class act. For those kind of people, a report button just isn't enough.

Fortunately most heroes you can't do that kind of shit, so the worst they can do is just feed and trashtalk. I mute pretty quickly.

In terms of other games, my friend pushed me into trying LoL with him recently, and I found that to be somewhat worse for text talk toxicity. I swear the lower levels of it must be full of smurfs or something. Majority of games you'd have people bitching about lane assignments and shit. "Wah, why are you playing x in lane y", maybe because it's the person 6th or so game and they wouldn't know unless they went out of their way to read a readers digest on the LoL meta? The silly part is, I don't even think it matters at that level.

old manatee · Sep 11, 2017

I tried to get back into Rainbow Six Siege this week because a new patch dropped. I've been on a bizarre winning streak where 4 out of 5 games are wins, but I'm only getting like 0-1 kills per game. So every team I play on rages at me over the mics and private messages literally non-stop for 30 minutes, and then we win. It's actually really depressing and even though I just spent money on the new operators I'm back playing Dark Souls by myself.

Piers · Sep 11, 2017

That's why I prefer multiplayer games with a high player count because I can more easily be anonymous if I'm underperforming and still feel like I'm responsible for a victory.

Stead Fast · Sep 11, 2017

Danjin44 said:
Unfortunately that's the nature of Internet. The toxicity is not only on multiplayer games but also in social media.

I'm very social both at work and outside of work but when it comes to gaming I'm very anti-social. I don't like to play with anybody and I don't like the idea of my enjoyment in games depend on other people.

Kinda feel the same, on both points, however I do enjoy playing with people on the couch, at which point I don't see it as an online multiplayer, but more a shared game. I've also had plenty of fun with single player games where me or a cousin or friend alternated on the controls.

Overwatch was the latest I did try and get into, but the grief you hear in chat is just too much at times for me to say "I'm having fun."

I Wanna Be The Guy · Sep 11, 2017

Gravy Boat said:
I love it in Rocket League. Missing a save/goal then getting called all the names under the sun by my team mate, then carrying them to the win gives me life.

Nah. Rocket League became a much better game when they added the update that let you disable all chat except quick chat.

Chaos2Frozen · Sep 11, 2017

That's why I prefer co-op games than competitive games.

I guess I can count myself super fortunate that I what little competitive PvP games I had played, I never ran into any assholes online.

Gravy Boat · Sep 11, 2017

I Wanna Be The Guy said:
Nah. Rocket League became a much better game when they added the update that let you disable all chat except quick chat.

For you, I love the angry people in RL.

SpiceMelange · Sep 11, 2017

It's competitive *team* games mostly. Try some competitive 1v1 games where no one can scapegoat failure into his own team to vent, way less toxicity.

shaneo632 · Sep 11, 2017

I just mute most players so it's never really an issue for me.

uceenk · Sep 11, 2017

i hate using mic in overwatch (PS4), it's difficult for me to concentrate

communicate using voice lines is enough for me

also that's ok if most of my team want to play DPS, it's not ideal configuration, but usually the opponent do the same thing, so that's ok i guess

btw i rarely play in comp, not because it isn't fun but search for the game takes forever

Atomski · Sep 11, 2017

It sucks if you actually want to have real human conversations while playing compeative gaming.

Something I gave up on long ago.

Snoopycat · Sep 11, 2017

I play Overwatch on PS4 almost every day since launch and I've never heard any toxic people. I've seen the toxic videos on YouTube but the only thing I've ever heard was someone playing music. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but seems to me most people in the UK sit in party chat.

michaelius · Sep 11, 2017

Rookje said:
TL;DR - After playing a lot of multiplayer/competitive games I've noticed the toxicity is most prevalent in role/class based games with team based objectives.

Of course - when victory depends on work of x random people and you can see you did your part it's easy to blame others.
And sometimes it is justified blame.

I see this especially in WoT/WoWS/WoWp games where matchmaker only takes class and vechicle used without matching skills.

Mechazawa · Sep 11, 2017

Can't say I agree at all. The worst community I deal with is easily CS:GO, which breeds waves of Mutant Super Dipshits and 9 year olds with a low barrier to entry(the price), that have no issue talking into the mic and that I often have to interact with to do well. Like, I can't think of any other game that I regularly play that hinges on voice communication for map awareness as much as CS:GO does.

At least with Overwatch I could never hear anyone speak and still do relatively well. But with CS:GO, you have to regularly submit yourself to torture if you're solo queueing.

It's why Shadowrun is a better game. Robot lady map callouts baybee.

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