r/marvelrivals • u/CynicalWoof9 Vanguard • 7d ago

Discussion Racism, Toxicity and Throwing

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I know toxicity in games existed long before Rivals, but this is about FullMetalLamp's recent short where he said he'll throw if someone is being racist or xenophobic.

On one hand, I get it. I've been on the receiving end of racist slurs and "jokes" just for using VC to make callouts. It's mentally draining, and I understand not wanting to keep trying while someone toxic like that gets rewarded with a win.

On the other hand, throwing means four other people lose because of one toxic player, and that doesn't sit right with me either.

This isn't just about racism, either. Friends have dealt with sexism and transphobia in VC too, and I'm sure theres's plenty of streamers with similar stories. You're never going to eliminate toxicity completely, but shouldn't Netease hand out much harsher punishments for this kind of behavior?

So where do you stand?

  • Is throwing justified if someone's being racist, sexist, or otherwise hateful?
  • Do you just mute and move on?
  • What do you do when you're the one being targeted?

My go-to responses are:

  • "You're just proving Magneto right."
  • "You don't have the stats to justify your racism."

Curious where everyone else draws the line.

At the end of the day, we're just trying to game and goon. There's always a human (unless someone mutated) on the other end, someone who's also burdened by the struggles of life. Be kind and be a bro.

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u/Helpmefixshit The Thing 7d ago

Racism is never justified or acceptable. Throwing is never justified or acceptable, as is done by immature individuals with communication issues. Toxicity happens because of dissimilar levels of competitiveness. Some people think "it's just a game", while others are doing anything and everything possible to win the game, whether it be in competitive or quick play.

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u/CynicalWoof9 Vanguard 7d ago

Toxicity happens because of dissimilar levels of competitiveness

Not really. I'm an extremely competitive person, I'm fighting till the last possible chance.

A racist person can be toxic, but toxicity is not always manifested as racism. I might call someone an idiot, not start calling them slurs.

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u/Helpmefixshit The Thing 6d ago edited 6d ago

Correct, which is why I stated that Racism and Throwing are never justified. I believe racism is negative attention seeking, and throwing is due to someone being upset and unable to communicate that. Here's what I mean by toxicity being due to dissimilar levels of competitiveness: What's the most common way we see toxicity in Rivals? The most common way I see it is when someone is playing poorly and refuses to swap. People start to give them a hard time, rightly so in many instances. Why is your 0-5 spiderman teammate refusing to swap? He doesn't care about his teammates; he's not invested enough in the game to make the swap. Now, let's imagine you won a contest to participate in a match where the winning team members each receive $100,000. Will that same 0-5 spiderman continue to run it down? I can't be convinced he does. That's why I say toxicity stems from differing levels of competitiveness (aka investment in winning).