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Trash talking is ruining this community and slowly making it a toxic wreck

WrÆth·2/6/2018, 3:12:03 AM·2 votes·384 views

[This is a repost of one of my replies, but I thought I needed to get it out to the wider community. Trash talking is not ok, and this idea that it's harmless fun needs to stop.]

I'm not exactly a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure encouraging someone to commit suicide, or carry out a crime is a crime in itself.

By the same rite, trying to test the mental limits of the players you are against is more than just a dick move. It's indirectly ruining the games of thousands of more players, including the one you are playing against, and is part of the reason this community is so toxic.

By intentionally tilting a player, you put them in a bad mood for that game, and every single one they play after it that day and maybe even the next. Now that they are in a bad mood, they are more likely to tilt the next game if they already haven't, putting other players they are playing with on tilt. On top of this, putting a player on tilt causes them to play worse for all of these games, making them much harder to win for the players who aren't. This even further contributes to their tilt.

Now these 4, or even 9 other players will go into their next games on tilt, with the same attitude. And the cycle continues.

People blame toxicity on game length, or autofill, or the report system, but if we want to fix toxicity we have to start with one of the fundamental problems in this game.

Creating a community that is ok with, or even encourages trash talk that is "harmless" ruins the games of millions of players every year, and is one of the reasons this game has such a bad reputation.

Now here's my story:

I'm considered a toxic player by the system. I've had a chat restriction, but I'm looking to reform. I've noticed that leading up to my chat restriction, I had progressively grown more and more toxic without even realizing it. It isn't until now that I realize all the trash talk over the years eventually built up and I couldn't take it anymore. I am living proof that this is a problem. While I'm not going to blame some of the things I've said on the playerbase, I hope for change in the near future, or we will be all worse for it as a community. Thanks.

12 Comments

PrismalDawn2/6/2018, 3:29:29 AM2 votes

Trash talking is not ok, and this idea that it's harmless fun needs to stop.

Wow, who would have thought that playing a competitive game would result in the winner boasting. By this logic, every game should end in a tie so no one gets their feelings hurt.

YerroFever2/6/2018, 3:37:09 AM2 votes

I don't think trash talking is making the game awful, i think it's the people who harass others and then call it trash talk are making the game awful. I trash talk in games every now and then but it's always done playfully, like if I steal a baron, I say "ty for baron"

ModPeriscope2/6/2018, 4:31:05 AM1 votes

I think you're lumping all types of bad and harassing chat into trash talk. "GG EZ" "LOL YOU DIED" aren't exactly trash talk.

It's a good conversation we should be having over what is and isn't trash talk, but previous threads have been derailed with 1-sided views that really hadn't defined what's acceptable trash talk and what crosses that line.

So let's start from a very basic level: have you ever had a positive interaction with an enemy, and if so, what'd ya'll talk about?