Threads
- Valorant addressed community toxicity in a video, raising concerns about automated bans.
- Toxic behaviors, from minor taunts to serious harassment, can drive players away and harm game communities.
- Developers and players must work together to reduce toxicity.
On May 30, 2024, the Valorant Facebook page posted a video of Anna Donlon addressing community toxicity. While the video covered many concerns, some players worry about automated banning systems for offensive behavior. Let’s examine gaming toxicity and whether these acts warrant punishment.
Toxicity And Video Games
It is no surprise to anyone that online multiplayer games are a cesspool of toxic players. A lot of people say unwarranted things on small issues like your team members messing up, losing, or just unprovoked.
Seriousness
Some of these “toxic” behaviors aren’t bad at all, like tea bagging or emoting, while some things can cause more serious problems, like hate speech and harassment.
The more serious of these problems can create major problems for the players, like a reluctance to play the game, whether they’re too good or too bad, possibly tainting the whole community that surrounds a game.
The Corporate Side
A toxic game community can be disastrous for developers, driving away new and existing players. This concentrates negativity, making the community even worse over time.
Developers must intervene to prevent this, but their efforts can sometimes make players wary of even harmless banter. This creates a stigma of developer intervention in gaming communities, even if all they want to do is help, either out of the kindness of their hearts or to retain as many players as possible.
Should Toxic Players Be Banned?
Given how vile people can be behind a screen, we think that some players should be banned from playing multiplayer video games. Of course, the methods for identifying these players aren’t easy to implement, which is what we’ll discuss further below.
What The Devs Can Do
As the people “handling” the games, developers have quite a bit of work to do to make sure that toxicity stays out of their games.
First and foremost, the games should make it abundantly clear that unruly behavior will not be tolerated. This doesn’t mean they should add a notification in the game chat saying you should be respectful, but instead, something more overt that every player will be sure to pay attention to.
Maybe flash it on the screen before every game or make it a permanent part of the loading screens. This will ensure that everyone is aware that they have to show good sportsmanship when playing their game.
Secondly, developers need to pump the bots. Though I think more serious bans should always be reviewed by a team or the community, automated systems must also be in place to make the removal of toxicity achievable.
Lastly, make it easy for players to report those who are being offensive. Use this in conjunction with the bots to make the systems accurate and to make fake reports less of an issue.
What Players Can Do
No matter how hard the devs push the players to be nice to each other, the solution is going to come from the players themselves. We have a few pieces of advice for players who might feel uneasy with banning being strict and the players who are suffering from toxic behaviors.
Firstly, know that game devs’ systems for detecting toxicity are reliable, so you won’t be “accidentally” banned for minor offenses. Devs understand banter is part of gaming and don’t want to remove it entirely.
But you need to keep it respectful. These problems don’t arise from friends telling each other they suck playfully; it happens because of hate, threats, and harassment.
Finally, you need to not feel guilty for reporting people for toxic behavior. Don’t brush it off; take the step to make the game you love to be a safer and more enjoyable environment.
Closing Thoughts
Being a nice person on the internet is not a monumental task. It takes less effort to be nice than to be hateful, so please start doing yourself and your communities a favor by being nicer when you play.
If we want to avoid bans, we need to be kinder while gaming. Change starts with each of us, and together, we can make our communities less toxic.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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