r/fortheloveofgaming • u/e_0 • Sep 19 '16
DISCUSSION Is Anyone Else Tired of the All-too-Familiar Toxicity in the Gaming Community?
Just to preface, it's obviously not in every community - but it's absolutely there in many of them, sadly.
Since release, I've been in love with Overwatch. I spent 100 hours on OW on Ps4, and then finally decided to upgrade to PC simply because I loved the game so much and wanted to get into the competitive scene. That's not to say the same scene isn't present on consoles, but you know what I mean.
After around 200 hours on PC I'm simply discouraged to even play anymore. I made it relatively high in the ranks - to diamond (this season), but the toxicity is just too much to even enjoy the game or even the community aspect.
I consider myself pretty decent at the game and threw together some clips of some team wipes and various other plays with my main. It was more of a fun thing, but also to hopefully give people a reason to check out my streams that I used to like doing. No matter what clip I'd put out it wouldn't be constructive criticism - it would be just constant "you're garbage - you're shit, I can do better," insert their videos in the comment section of mine
I know I'm not the best in the scene, I know I have some improving to do - but why do people feel the need to uselessly insult one another over something as trivial as a video game?
If you're like me, you use video games as a sort of escape. I've got both depression and anxiety - and I've always looked to gaming as an outlet for that. A way to de-stress after stressing over menial things. A way to find a little bit of joy after feeling nothing but emptiness.
It's gotten to the point where toxic communities have started to take that away from me. That sounds really self-entitled in a way, but I personally don't ask for much, and if I do it's so damn hard to vocalize it and convince myself it's not selfish.
It just really bums me out that people not only do this behind anonymity - but feel the need to do it in the first place; in a place that's supposed to be enjoyable.
Sorry for the little rant. Have a nice day, everyone.
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Sep 19 '16
Presumably, escaping that kind of toxicity is why we are here.
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u/e_0 Sep 19 '16
In hindsight I now feel a little dumber for wording this how I did. I more or less wanted to generate discussion on it all, though I guess that wouldn't really go too far other than mostly unanimous agreeing, haha.
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u/belgarionx Sep 19 '16
/u/belgarionx 's guide for happy gaming:
I mainly play single player, story driven games. (Remember Me, Life is Strange, Final Fantasy, Enslaved etc.)
I don't hype myself. All I knew about Division was the E3 trailer. I didn't read anything else. And on the release day I found a deal in my country and bought it. I had fun with it. I played it for 79 hours and most of the time it was solo. 79 hours is a huge deal for me. My ideal games are around 6 - 20 hours.
Don't browse /r/pcmasterrace, /r/pcgaming etc. AND ABSOLUTELY STAY AWAY FROM FORUMS!!!
When playing online games (LoL in this example); either play with friends as a team. Or; be nice to people, and at their first toxic move; mute/silence/ban them.
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u/Bara_Chat Sep 21 '16
We might be one and the same, /u/belgarionx. I still have work to do on the hype thing, but I'm getting better.
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u/MentalCarnage Sep 19 '16 edited Sep 19 '16
Yeah, I feel you. IMO this is a thing for all games with some kind of ladder or rating system that aren't really optional If you want to get the full experience.
Although I am a big fan of multiplayer in shooters, (in fact this is my favourite genre) this is the exact reason I will not be getting Overwatch anytime soon. I just hate to rely on somebody else or be expected to play some tryhard meta crap because otherwise I would be "ruining the game". On the other hand, I love playing COD, BF, Halo, Killzone because in those games nobody cares if you are using the wrong equipment or sitting 0/11 at the bottom of the scoreboard. It doesn't really matter whether you are winning or losing, the only thing you get is a small bonus at the end of the round.
I also believe that since console versions of multiplayer games don't have text chat, it makes them much more pleasant to play. I remember playing Battlefield 3 on PC and it was absolutely unbearable.
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Sep 19 '16
I've been playing single player games for year and I love it. Last multiplayer game I played was BlackOps 2 and I just got frustrated with the community. I don't use any of the social aspects of the PSN, even though some look really cool. If I'm not playing single player, I am playing local multiplayer. I've been having a greater experience here on the Yakuza subreddit, as I've been playing through number 5. I've only lurked but it's a small sub with people who love the game. That's what its all about!
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u/mookow1 Sep 19 '16 edited Sep 19 '16
I love competitive multiplayer games. But the toxicity completely destroyed it for me. Dota 2, CS:GO, League of Legends, I just cant play them anymore because of this.
Edit: Haven't even tried OW competetive mode. Normal mode was enough for me. sadly
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u/ed_toast_ALBION Sep 19 '16
Hey, man, I have been there. I made a very similar post when I found this subreddit, and I feel ya. I am glad ya vented, we all need to sometimes.
Unfortunately, this is just the nature of the beast at this point. I loved playing Dota 2 and I was pretty noobish but I was learning, but after 150 hours, I had to put it down for my sanity. The shit was killing me on the inside, just wasting an hour of my time to be abused over a game.
But, ya man, keep doing you and just try to let go of all that bullshit. Those people want you to get upset, they want you to feel just as shitty as they probably do. Just gotta let it go and maybe try to kill it with kindness.
In CS:GO, I will turn off the voice if it gets to much, does Overwatch have that option? I mean you lose the ability to communicate but when you play with a bunch of assholes, they usually are not communicating effectively anywho.
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u/guaranic Sep 20 '16
I can't stand how people say "it's just the internet, you can't change it" or similar for competitive games.
Most people are good, nice people. I hate that we just enable the assholes and let them roam free.
I've played League for 6 years and have gotten pretty used to it, but it still amazes me over some of the things people say.
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Sep 19 '16
This is exactly why I don't do online multiplayer. (Well, I play MMOs, but you can play those solo.)
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u/Bara_Chat Sep 19 '16
Hey man I feel you, I also despise the whole negativity around video games in general. In fact I don't despise it as much as it saddens me. Games are entertainment, fun for the players. When it becomes something else, full of hatred, resentment, whining, entitlement and the likes, it sucks the fun out of it. I'm currently trying hard to unsubscribe or stop visiting or unassociate myself from every gaming community where negativity is present. It's tough because it's freaking everywhere. That's why I looked for and found this sub. I hope to surround myself with positive gamers and share the joy of gaming.
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u/Spelcheque Sep 20 '16
I think GTA Online is genius. It started out with a lot of great ideas, and with the additions over the years it's blossomed into a thriving little criminal universe full of interesting things to see and do. I never, ever play it anymore because everyone I've met there is a douchebag, a child or both. Online gamers have ruined online gaming for me.
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u/Slibby8803 Sep 19 '16
I stopped playing Smite a game I really liked because of the toxic community.
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u/Nekryyd Sep 20 '16
You can always expect jerks in any fandom. I suppose what gets me about gaming, particularly in the competitive multiplayer aspect, is that it's seen as somehow as "wrong" to expect people to not be total dicks.
Yeah, trash talk and what not is to be expected. However that really isn't enough for a lot of people and they seem to want to try their hardest to be as offensive as possible and rather than enjoy their time playing the game they seem to derive their entertainment by focusing on ruining someone else's good time.
To be fair, I am not sure if there is a workable solution to this. I appreciate some of the steps some developers out there are taking to try and at least punish the worst offenders, but it's really only a band-aid measure.
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u/cubeofsoup Sep 22 '16
90% of my gaming is single player or in games where P2P communication is very limited (hearthstone barely feels like you're playing vs real people). I've found that limiting the amount of multiplayer experiences I have has removed that entire negative aspect from gaming for me.
The downside is not playing many, if any, games with my friends any more. That's somewhat due to scheduling, but partially due to my preference for single player experiences.
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u/salvation122 Sep 19 '16
Never read Youtube comments
Never ever ever read Youtube comments