Extreme Rudeness in Video Games
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Aug. 20, 2015, 9:30 p.m. by -Logician
So I'm playing some Rocket League today. I was playing with this other guy a few days ago. We seemed to be a pretty good team, so we added each other on Steam. Well today, I saw he was online, so obviously I ask him if he wants to team up again and do some 2's. He agreed, and this time, we used steam voice chat because we were doing ranked and we wanted to be slightly more competitive. I guess it was at that time that I got to see his true colors, with such trash talk as (you can speak to your opponents through your mic in-game):
- "I hope you grandmother gets cancer and dies."
- "How much does your mother pay for your internet, fucking kid?"
Yeah, needless to say I stopped playing with him pretty quick, and blocked him on steam. It's truly ridiculous. I don't know whether or not to feel bad for people like that. Is it their childhood that causes such a skewed moral compass, or is it a result of their lack of self-acceptance? Either way, it's pathetic. He sounded like he was about 20~ years old. To be that immature at that age is eye-opening to say the least. Saying such things dismisses all traces of social understandings, proves how blind they are to both the reality of the situation and the gravity of their words, and completely throws aside all respect they may have had as they inch closer and closer to a world of pessimism and depression that will ultimately sculpt their character in a nearly irreversible manner.
I would hope that the fine users of tappedout are certainly better than that. How do you guys feel about it?
Unforgivn_II says... #3
When you get angry, you vent. To think this guy legitimately means it is laughable. But that's the internet for you. The yelling is directed at a persona, not a person.
August 20, 2015 9:52 p.m.
I was that way with COD:Black Ops only cause my friend's Internet connection sucked. I couldn't get a positive K:D ratio to save my life and it pissed me off. Then i would head home and have the best games ever and all would be well. Think my best game was 114-0 in nuke town.
Td;lr - dont play on your friend's shitty internet people.
August 20, 2015 10:18 p.m.
I quit playing comp CS:GO because the higher ranks are so toxic. Everyone takes it way too seriously, and they get so salty when they lose. Like seriously, we arent playing on lan or anything and some people just want to have a good time in a reasonably organized setting, not bitch about the other team's "hackers," make racist comments, and just being an all around dick. TF2 player 4lyfe
August 20, 2015 10:31 p.m.
JANKYARD_DOG says... #6
Think of it this way... Online you are 'masked' by a username. You can build fame or infamy to any point before deciding to simply change your mask and become a new person. Even with microphones, because of the anonymity the average users courage is bolstered because of this. In real life they could be the most polite person you could ever meet, but behind that mask... They can be the bad ass they always dreamed of being. I have experienced my fair share of online gaming and met with some of the people you end up playing with and it is astounding the difference in personality between online and RL in all cases personally.
August 20, 2015 10:57 p.m.
ducttapedeckbox says... #7
I play League of Legends rather frequently, so I get a decent amount of exposure to a notoriously toxic community. Just an hour ago, I was in a game where a teammate criticized me for being 0-5 (kills - deaths),when I was in fact 5-2. There's a big difference there, so I corrected him. He responds by telling the whole team that I'm "protecting my KDA like a Jew." Now, I am in fact Jewish and can appreciate a joke here and there, so I reply with that. He proceeds to tell me that I should therefore go kill myself and some other ridiculous comments.
I learned a long time ago that you cannot get riled up by these people, it's really not worth the time. I realize that I set myself up in the above example for a toxic player to say something like that, but I didn't expect it to be as disturbing. All you can do is turn chat off, play the game the best you can (if you feel like it, doing stupid things is acceptable too- just did Morde + Garen bot lane for the League players out there), and not feed into a toxic player's trap. Playing as a party helps too, I enjoy League much more when I'm playing with friends.
August 20, 2015 11 p.m.
Triforce-Finder says... #8
You did the right thing, just block and forget. Well, you blocked him, anyway.
I guess I might have been at least unintentionally rude on voice chat. I definitely wouldn't exclude that possibility. But stupid trash talk or "IMMA KILL YO FAMILY" Nonsense is below me. I think that applies to most of the regular users here on tappedout. Call me optimistic.
I usually don't grieve about trash talk, as it signals a lack of skill or self-control. They only insult themselves. Sometimes you can even use it to your advantage. I remember a particular case I encountered while playing Soul Calibur 4 (why can't 2 be online) over XBox Live. That guy was making weird annoying noises in his mic to distract me. Worked for about three seconds. Three seconds. That's how long it took me to I realize that making the noises costs him way more concentration than it costs me to ignore them. So I focused only on the game, and ended up kicking his ass so hard that I'd love to have a replay video. As soon as he realized it's not working (somewhere in round 2 just before he lost), the noises stopped too. Too late for him to recover and avoid the 2-0, though. Not that he was able to in the first place. -.o
August 20, 2015 11:36 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #9
I play minecraft with close friends on a realm. I don't get that anymore.
August 20, 2015 11:50 p.m.
I've always been fascinated by the psychological effects of the Internet... Here's a decent outline of some potential causes of online douchebaggery: Disinhibition Through Anonymity
August 21, 2015 2:51 a.m.
Triforce-Finder says... #11
August 21, 2015 5:49 a.m.
I don't really get it... The main thrust of the article is cited as being from a piece written by a psychologist in 2004. Doesn't seem like a user coming up with facts at random to me. /shrug
August 22, 2015 11:51 a.m.
Triforce-Finder says... #13
To be honest, I like this digital jungle.
It's great that it's so easy for every jerk to show his true face. That makes it so much easier to sort them out.
The ones that act decently despite being protected by anonymity are probably not putting up an act due to social pressure. They usually really are kind people.
The anonymity of the internet brought us a whole new level of honesty, and I just love that.
"Give a man a mask, and he will show you his true face." Me (Oscar Wilde too, But I say it a lot more often these days.)
That is kind of the point. Most of the citations stem from a single source, which is even named several times in the article. Your link leads to the mobile version, which doesn't display header warnings. The desktop version of the page has both the "more citations" and the "possible original research" tags, for a good reason. It's not that I am saying the article is false, but it should be read critically.
EmblemMan says... #2
The users of tappedout are not above that lol the only reason you dont see it on the site is because its in text and referenceable. I am like that sometimes but never when people can hear me i say it just to be silly if im with my friends but yeah thats pretty dumb.
August 20, 2015 9:36 p.m.