As more stories of harassment and toxicity in the gaming community come out, it’s time for us all to take a look at what we can do to help. Aside from obviously not being part of the problem by simply refraining from sending abusive, threatening, and hateful messages to people, there are other things we can do. One of these is reporting the toxicity of others, especially on voice comms.
The Perils Of Public Voice Comms
Public voice chat is a very scary place for many gamers. Toxicity and harassment are commonplace, especially towards those who are new to the game and those who have female sounding voices. However, reporting systems rely on the many, rather than the few, so we all need to play a part.
How often have you heard someone mouthing off on a public voice chat channel? Have you heard someone using homophobic, sexist, or racist slurs? Perhaps they are verbally abusing a new player who is unsure where to go or what to do? Or maybe they’re simply telling a woman that she can’t possibly know how to play the game?
These toxic players are ruining voice comms and your gaming experience, even if you aren’t directly targetted. They affect people’s perceptions of the game’s community and put good people off playing. Public voice comms can also be so intimidating for some that players will mute and silence them. This means that quick and easy verbal communication between your team is reduced, simply because of the toxicity of a minority.
Reporting For The Greater Good
Reporting systems work by collecting reports and investigating players subject to multiple flags. By reporting harassment, abuse, or unacceptable language whenever you see it you can help everyone to be free of its effects.
In this case, silence is complicity and allows these hateful attitudes to fester and spread. While not everyone feels comfortable calling out this behavior, reporting is an easy, silent, and private way to stop it in its tracks. There are no repercussions for you and the whole community benefits.
We can’t think of any reason at all why players shouldn’t simply hit a couple of buttons to help rid gaming communities of toxicity. If you don’t want to hear it either, you can also block toxic players, leaving them muttering nonsense into an echo chamber of one.
While often we think our voices don’t matter, in these cases they do. If you feel like you can call out the behavior then please do so, it is always appreciated. However, if you are fearful of being targetted, then a simple report can be just as helpful.
Reporting toxicity is never a waste of time. It’s something we should all make sure we know how to do, and no one should be afraid to use the system. Players won’t know who reported them but many reports lead to bans of persistent offenders, something that’s good for the whole community.
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