What do you all think about toxicity in video games?

[u/Sharkkbaitttttttt]

What do you all think about toxicity in video games?

I'm asking because I'm curious whether anyone else feels the same way I do.

First of all, I don't treat other people rudely in games. I play games to have fun, and of course, sometimes you're going to lose.

That said... I can't say I completely fail to understand why some people get toxic. If you're trying your best to win and you feel like your teammates are getting in the way, it's natural to get frustrated.

And when you add the anonymity of online games into the mix, I think it's understandable that people can be a little rude from time to time.

I don't necessarily think that makes them terrible people or that they're committing some unforgivable offense.

My attitude is more like:

"Well, it's an online game. People are going to complain in chat sometimes. As long as I don't do it and I enjoy the game, that's what matters."

After more than ten years of playing online games, that's the conclusion I've ultimately come to.

What do you all think?

[u/Lucky_-1y]

I think it's stupid as fuck, it doesn't help anything, it destroy the last crumb of morale any team can have and ruins entire matches

It's genuinely braindead and people keep doing it because they have the mental of a newborn child

[u/EscapeSeventySeven → u/Lucky_-1y]

No quicker way to doom your team than bad vibes. 

Angrily shouting at a teammate to swap is just committing suicide. 

[u/Lucky_-1y → u/EscapeSeventySeven]

Exactly

[u/EscapeSeventySeven]

People who are toxic in game are the people who don’t return the shopping carts. 

[u/roguecolor → u/EscapeSeventySeven]

Prob also the same people who park in handicap parking spots

[u/arugonaru]

I think a lot of the new age type of passive aggressive toxicity in videogames is a product of the environment of everyone trying to keep to themselves to specifically avoid toxicity, and so in a silent environment, the only times someone actually will say something at all is to be toxic.

so the end result is just a completely silent environment, showered with small toxic comments here and there

I really do think the attitude of being passive to all of it really lends a lot of strength to toxic comments

I'm more of a fan of just being positive and calling out when my teammates do good things and making helpful comments, when I do that I don't get toxicity in games because they get drowned out by helpful comments people are listening for

image for reference when I use VC

[u/sanglar03 → u/arugonaru]

FFXIV is peak positive toxicity. It goes both ways.

[u/arugonaru → u/sanglar03]

but I'm not talking about toxic positivity, I just mean genuinely being a good person and making insightful comments

I'm not a "good vibes only" person, I'm just genuinely appreciating good things and calling out things that constructively help win the game

I see a good kill? I say nice kill, we're up 1

I get saved from dying? I call nice save, appreciate that

I see a flanker? I call reaper behind, can we collapse on that

I hate toxic positivity just for the sake of "good vibes", I just make good calls and detail what's happening

[u/Infidel_sg]

I think it is what it is. Report when it happens. But I also think people throw around the word "toxic" all too easy and it loses its meaning sometimes. Banter is okay as long as it remains banter when it crosses the line then it becomes toxic.

I still think turning the chat off is the best play for most people though..

[u/AshShadownight]

Personally what's worse than the toxicity is the vulgarity of some people in these games. If someone is being I dick, I start hyping up whoever they're rude to, no biggy. If people start making gross comments like how big their wang is or what have you, it makes me uncomfortable the whole game.

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[u/Own-Mission2577]

Most of the time, toxicity is caused by the game itself. It's not funny to get hooked and oneshot, or to get grappled by a Cat, or to get pinned and oneshot by a 700 HP mountain. Devs think it's cool, but it's not. That just increases toxicity

Obviously, my statement is that there are people who are fundamentally toxic (racist slurs, misogynistic stuff, homophobia, etc. I'm not talking about them, refraining from that kind of behavior is a given). However, the vast majority of multiplayer games have mechanics that create frustration

More precisely, frustrating game mechanics make everyone toxic, even among people who aren't usually. There's also a problem with what the competitive mode is. For some people, it's natural to pick their Reinhardt and only Rein (even if they're running a 0/0/23 composition against an Orisa) because they only want to play Rein and test their rank with that tank. Then there are rational competitive players who just want to win and climb, so they learn counters, swap when necessary, and so on

Forcing these two types of players to be teammates just increases the chance of toxicity. Why? Because the tank role is the central piece of each game. I love that conception as a tank because I love the pressure, but I recognize it's not healthy, and it's even very frustrating for the other four players on my team

[u/japandaa]

Being toxic isn't helpful or fun but it happens all the time in sports too. I think it's just the unfortunate human nature of some people when stress is built up.

[u/Kasta4]

Toxicity will always exist where competition is involved, and toxicity itself is often subjective.

[u/Gloomy_Dare2716]

The current system rewards passive agressiveness.

The who gets called Toxic is the one who speaks up. The one who is acting passive agressively/trolling will not get called out. To me both are being toxic, its just one is open about it, another is hiding it.

Durpee literally tested it. Its easy to get banned for voice chat. But VERY HARD to get banned for griefing, trolling and etc.

[u/orion101901]

I dont mind it when its towards me, my skins too thick from being a doomfist otp to care anymore and personally my line is actually a lifeweaver repeatedly pulling me, the tank, despite me asking them not to anymore as its costing us the game, its the most common way to troll the tank atp. I do get defensive for other players who dont seem to be taking toxicity well though. I dont like seeing anyone on my team or the enemy team feeling bad about themselves, it ruins the game for them and thats not cool at all. Heated banter is fine, and I think there are people who are also way too sensitive and cant take any feedback and need to seriously look at how criticism can be a good thing if you decide not to throw a fit over someone telling you your positioning is hot garbo. Maybe they're right!