Coordination is the only way I get to play with my buddies, usually involving a series of texts.
“You going to be online tonight?”
“No man, in Milwaukee”
“Oh, when you getting back?”
“Probably Saturday”
“Play some Gears then?”
“Sure, if I can stay awake”
Note; actual conversation between me and a friend
But if my choice is between paying the better part of $100 to have slurs yelled at me by strangers or enjoying one of my many other entertainment options, I’ll choose the latter.
I just don’t plug a headset in and play anyway. Kids are annoying even when they aren’t cursing or displaying maladaptive behaviors. Who knew I was doing it wrong?
That’s exactly my experience. Also, this idiotic culture that this loser (I don’t care how many views you get or money you make, you can still be a loser) exemplifies exposes a dark underbelly of online gaming culture. Almost none of my oldest, dearest friends are big gamers, or at the very least do other things (mostly family things outside of the house) with their precious free time. Game nights online are an opportunity cost for things like going out for a beer or reading or racing cars on a track or any other activities one does outside the routine.
The moment they hear the kind of talk this loser spouts (this includes plenty of homophobic slurs too by the way) they are immediately validated in any negative stereotypes they may have walking in about gaming culture online. It makes it incredibly hard to engage anyone who isn’t already a gamer.
It also makes it really hard to get new friends into our group. The game itself appeals its just the casual hatred is off putting.
A lot of multiplayer games (most that I can think of) broadcast other players’ voices whether or not you plug a headset in.
It’s really disheartening. To me ‘gamer culture,’ insofar as such a thing can or even should be defined, still means crowded arcades in the '80s, lines to play Ms. Pac-Man or Street Fighter II, geeky D&D types rolling dice, weird British C64 games, and at worst the ‘extreme’ culture that accompanied '90s shooters and the like. Romero’s “suck it down” ad was about as bad as it got and that still felt pretty harmless.
Since Gamergate, it’s just been so fucking yucky and depressing.
#learn2mute : P
Pssh, we’re all married dudes here, just tune out the kiddies like you do your wife.
Don’t tell my wife I said that.
I get what you’re saying, but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to communicate and coordinate with random players without getting an n-bomb or a gay slur thrown your way? I’m a pretty thick-skinned guy, but even I have my limits. Usually, I just roll my eyes and play on, but man it would be nice to not be embarrassed by online behavior in gaming.
And it’s not always kids.
On consoles part of the problem is that banning toxic players denies Sony/Microsoft their monthly fee, so they’re not interested in any kind of policing that would result in large scale suspensions or bans.
I don’t think you understand just how anti-social my gaming is. : )
The only significant multiplayer I have done on-console in the last 4 years has been PvZGW and Titanfall, neither of which would be enhanced with verbal communication. They are there to either get shot or distract the enemy. I don’t mind trade chat in WoW, or text chat in TF2 but for twitch games on a console, I’ll take a 100% pass.
A couple months back I joined a group of people in MFPallytime’s chat on Heroes of the Storm to do one of Blizzard’s stupid party quests.
About a week later I was doing quests and one of them invited me to do Team League. Team League means all quests get done regardless, and I didn’t really care so I said sure. Jumped on the guy’s Discord for coordination/comms. Within the first match an n-bomb was dropped.
If the community members of one of the nicest people in existence are like that, casually, with a complete stranger (I knew one dude there and I’d only played like a few games with him previously), there isn’t much hope.
After a couple matches I logged off and then purged everyone I didn’t know personally from my friend’s list.
This is my life like weekly. Except I’m not in Milwaukee. No offense to anyone who lives in Milwaukee. And I don’t play Gears. Feel free to take offense a that. And say hi to Cliffy.
I play a fair bit of online multiplayer and I kind of dread this happening when I join someone else’s Discord/voice chat. It hasn’t happened yet thankfully, I suspect because my online friends are from places like this and games like Chaos Reborn and Guns of Icarus Online.
I’m always a little uneasy inviting people to mine and my friends’ voice chat, not because we’re slinging racial slurs around or anything like that, but because I know some people just aren’t comfortable with swearing. In fact, I remember mentioning to @Mysterio that there would probably be swearing when we were planning some 4-player Helldivers together. It felt kind of dumb but I just don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable while they’re trying to have fun. Multiplayer is one the best things about gaming to me, but it can also be the ugliest if you’re playing with the wrong people.
Ugh, that’s so disheartening. Did you say anything? Would it have even been worthwhile? I get not wanting to bother with it, but I wonder if the guy should be told that’s not an acceptable way to talk. I presume there’s at least some mechanism to report the guy for offensive language?
Now you’ve put an image in my head of all the people doing a group event in Guild Wars with me and wondering how many of them who I’m helping and playing alongside are offensively racist dipshits. Probably better to not even think about it…
-Tom
Honestly, I was so stunned I didn’t really do anything. I hadn’t said much up until then as it was. Saying anything wouldn’t have made a dent, they all seemed to be pretty cool with it when it got dropped.
Probably a bad on me on reflection. The just move would’ve been to call them out and then quit, assuring they lost the match. It’s not like I haven’t been around people who’ve used it or anything, I’ve known quite a few in my days. Hell, I still know older people who do. They know my stance on it, though and tend to avoid it.
Turns out they got a stern warning in the end. No fine!
Aww, I was hoping PewDiePie had blurted the ‘N’ word again.
The guy should troll some pharmaceutical patents.
Forbes writes that PewDiePie earned $15.5 million last year, a time when he had 72.5 million subscribers.
Burn it all to the ground. Humanity had a good run, time to give the cockroaches their turn.