Semc should join in and work together too.
6 Likes
Problem is the most toxic game behavior in vainglory is deep ingrained in most players head. Number 1 cause of toxicity is META. If you are wondering why it is:
- Creates a bunch of players who don’t think for themselves
- Causes anyone to think for themselves and go outside of the META to be labled as toxic
- Forces SEMC to do needless balance changes for things that can be countered if people would use their brains
- The balance changes to perserve the META mindset that SEMC makes incourages players to fall in line with the META as it breaks any diverse outside META builds
1 Like
I like that they’re teaming up to do this, and I’m optimistic it’ll turn into something cool. I think the key idea is Voll’s comment that in-game behavior and IRL behavior aren’t really as separate as we’ve thought of them in the past.
Most important is that each of these companies have their own anti-trolling approaches and research, based on their particular games/outlets. Pooling their research will help everyone get a better picture of what trolling actually is, in a larger context, and how to address it in a productive way.
That is, a troll on twitch and a troll in league both look different when you look at them in those individual contexts, but maybe they share something fundamental that can be addressed in a much better way than we do now.
Riot did an interesting thing with correlating in-game toxicity with workplace toxicity:
3 Likes
If you define meta as refusing to roam, double laning in draft etc then yes I agree… if you mean meta as in hero builds and selection then no I can’t agre this ain’t toxicity.
Pretty easy to link toxicity with maturity IMO. You’ll tend to find adults are more inclined to work together, whilst kids are for more self orientated. It’s an evolutionary thing, kids are selfish for a reason.
It is though and breads toxicity. The biggest toxic behavior is “this is the way to do it because someone told me it is how” without thinking for yourself it creates games that are the same and anyone who disagrees is labled full toxic until a “pro” picks up what they did. The biggest gaming toxicity is lack of diversity.
Yeah, their worst offenders were junior employees (although, while that likely means young, it didn’t say for sure if that was junior in age or just time with the company), but I think it’s interesting that in-game toxicity correlates with real-life behavior at all, despite the age of the offender. That says to me there’s something foundational that we can address in our anti-trolling systems. It’s not just the game, it’s the culture around the game.
2 Likes
I’m speaking ancedotally, I don’t mind people picking non meta hero’s etc, what drives em to despair is a refusal to think about team compositions. For me anyone drafted third should roam (I’ll always lock in captain in this situation) that’s how it is, but they don’t, they’ll lock in a second laner. How selfish is that? It’s the height of a toxicity and ruins the game before it’s begun and has nothing to do with off meta play.
It’s evolutionary, kids are selfish by thier very nature, if you think about it from an evolutionary perspective it makes sense as they need to ensure thier survival.
Adults tend to be more willing to sacrifice themselves to benefit the common goal, that comes with having kids / maturing etc. They’ll also take less enjoyment from deliberately upsetting someone else (another childish behaviour), just friend a troll after a match and talk with them, it’s easy to determine their age given there language and attitudes to other people.
To abolish toxicity you need 2 things. 1) Harsh punishments 2) Toxicity detecting mechanisms. While the first is a piece of cake to implement, the second is a real nutcracker. How do you find the offender ( without mistakingly punishing a non-offender ) in a huge, world wide game, with seperate matches. It’s a real challenge and i could write a whole essay offering different solutions. An excellent detecting mechanism will need a lot of programming magic.
2 Likes
You are a rare breed of meta players than.
So no matter what to you last draft= captain. I can tell you this usually if you rely on the last person as a captain the game is not going to be a fun time.
1 Like
Not surprised here. People kept using the virtual environment as a convenient excuse, pretending that actions causing distress for other human beings were somehow a non-issue there.
That just comes back to responsibility, though. They know they can’t be held accountable online (in the vast majority of cases), which facilitates anti-social behaviour in the first place; but of course someone caught in the act of being a major douchebag will try to justify his behaviour.
To me, this has always been analogous to the way people act when drunk: Yes, they consumed a substance that lowers their inhibition threshold. That doesn’t magically turn them into assholes - it simply reduces their ability to gauge the consequences of acting like an asshole.
So, as far as I am concerned, virtual spaces and alcohol have always offered a less obstructed view on a person’s character.
If anything, it surprises me that people who spread toxicity online seem to be afforded similar leeway in a professional environment. You would think that, if this type of behaviour can be observed to such an extent that it can be used in case studies, someone would get fed up and step in.
4 Likes
I auto lock in captain, my stats suggest I’m better in lane or jungle than most of my peers in tier 9 but it’s an accepted given that third in draft roams and the vast majority of people will do it.