Just need some examples. Cuz I'm afraid some people might think I was being toxic when it was the opposite and I would like to avoid that. Like, is "ggez" "free" toxic? I should note, these are poor examples I've chose but it best fits for this topic. I want to know if making some lighthearted jokes around misplays would be considered toxic, because something may be funny to me or other people may not be funny towards others.
The difference is the "friendly" part. If you are not talking to your actual friend, then think of this, would you look at a complete stranger in the eyes and say what you are about to say in real life? If not, then don't say it. It is true this is just a video game. But it is also true that it is a very real human being you are typing to.
One of the synonyms of banter is flirting.
So, would you say it to someone you just met whom you found attractive as part of an effort to get them to view you positively?
Some light joking, even mildly pointed can work well to break the ice, but insults or harping on a mistake repeatedly would be a turn-off.
I would say that those two examples generally toe the line of toxicity, albeit they're not particularly toxic in and of themselves. They're insulting to a modest degree (claiming the enemy team as being easily beaten), but I don't think they'd qualify as banter.
The best way to think about banter is to make light of something, without being insulting. My best example would be saying "Man, I sure got popular fast" when a large amount of the enemy team moves to gank you or expends a lot of their longer cooldowns to take you out.
But, that's just one example. There's a lot of ways to engage in banter, and even more ways for it to go over the line and become toxicity, but for lack of any better explanation, it's definitely best to refer to the definition of banter.
Banter noun
- the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks
verb
- talk or exchange remarks in a good-humored teasing way.
Always check to see if your jokes and jibes fit those four keywords; playful, friendly, good-humored, & teasing. Doesn't have to fit all of them, but obviously the more the better.
the difference is how much effort you put into the insult. example. enemy (or ally) dives a champion under a turret. if you say: "you suck" "noob" etc. that is toxic because it is not funny. but if you say "next time don't dive in the shallow end" that is banter because that is funny.
I would say to the enemy that they are 100 years too early to try and kill my bot laner partner, but I won't say that they suck. Even though they kind of mean the same thing.
Friendly banter - "You can't milk those!"
Toxic - "Why the fuck did you do that, you braindead monkey."
"ggez" is, or at least was for over five years a ban-able offense, so was saying "free." Also don't go around insulting people, calling them "trash" or "bronze/iron," telling people to uninstall, kill themselves, go play x game instead, etc These things are 100% toxic and not at all friendly in any way. The less people that say dumbass shit like that the better. Full stop.
You can joke about things, you can say things like "nearly got me," or "close one" if a skillshot that would kill you misses, or you dash/flash/blink out of the way. Or say things after a failed enemy gank, or a close duel.
I like to write to my enemy fairly often (for either my good or their good play). Mostly it is BM, but if enemy tell me to not do it I stop.
I really enjoy BMing in real life so I BM in games too. but I also have respect for all players so if I see that enemy isnt glad I stop typing to them.
I never been punshed yet, so if you are just friendly guy who likes to provoke a bit you have no worries, but don’t get carried away too much.
The difference is almost always contextual.
