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[benicillin]

This is the reason me and my friends greatly prefer Overwatch on PS4 over PC - the lack of text chat and the fact that most people don't use public voice chat means they are way less likely to deal with any sexual or racial harassment.

 

[DirgeExtinction]

Seriously, this is fucked up. Why do stupid little man-children have to ruin it for the community?

 

[DR2K]

On PS4 there's barely any voice chat. That's a huge plus

 

[Fantasy Final]

I disabled Voice Chat a long time ago on PC. I only see people typing now, which is not often. Game is much better like that.

tbh the In-game character voice lines like I need Healing - My Ultimate is ready or Group up with me is all you need and easy to do on PC. But I bet it's hard on console.

 

[Vinnk]

And People complained about Splatoon not having voice chat.

Seems like a wise decision not to stop this and force players to adapt

My daughter loves playing Splatoon. If it had voice chat I would make her turn it off. Right now she loves games and thinks gamers are cool people. She'll learn the truth someday but for now I enjoy that she can have fun with her favorite game and not have to have "Thick skin".

 

[PunjabiPlaya]

I honestly feel pity for the people who have to resort to name calling and sending hate messages to people in a video game. What's so wrong in their lives that they think being hateful to random innocent people is acceptable. I can't stand a lot of streamers as well these days who just spew bullshit and just cuss unnecessarily and think its comedy. I know that a lot of these people are either kids or maladjusted adults, but it's sad to see this thing still being a problem these days. But as many have said, as long as there's anonymity, people will say the most terrible things and feel no remourse. South Park definitely had a good take on this their past season.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Can't you switch off public text/chat in Overwatch?

Seems weird to complain about trolls when you can easily nullify them. It's the online equivalent of having a hearing aid turned down.

 

[DarkKyo]

Can't you switch off public text/chat in Overwatch?

Seems weird to complain about trolls when you can easily nullify them. It's the online equivalent of having a hearing aid turned down.

Don't they win then, if you can't even use a much-needed feature of the game(voice communication) because of a bunch of abhorrent children?

 

[FadedRevolution]

Don't they win then, if you can't even use a much-needed feature of the game(voice communication) because of a bunch of abhorrent children?

Who gives a shit I don't care if some dumbass people who can't act right feel satisfaction because I don't want to talk to them fuck them.

 

[Mr.Fox]

I'm a guy and I already hate the abusive players enough to never use voice chat in any multiplayer game, my headsets break and are replaced with intact microphones, I never use them. I'm not a native English speaker and I know that the slightest clue of accent is enough for harassment. Even text chat I use to a minimum actually, I developed an ease to communicate through pings and signs and it's enough for me. I do much prefer playing with mute people than with communicative assholes, even on highly competitive games that benefit a lot from team communication like Overwatch.

Because I simply don't leave myself open to be engaged socially, It's actually been long since I last suffered any kind of harassment, but It still infuriates me when I occasionally have to witness someone being harassed for whatever reason.

I wish there was an universal karma system, someway to keep trashtalking people only between themselves and away from everyone else. There was one design decision in the latest Smash Bros game that I think was ingenious, there was two queues options worded as "For fun" and "For glory", it's very suggestive of the mindset that should be applied on those matches and it serves to filter the players this way, it's much more direct than "ranked" and "unranked", or "quickplay" and "league". I wish more games would use approaches like that to give players a way to filter with what kind of people they are going to play, to have better chance of accurately choosing what kind of experiences they are going to have.

 

[DarkKyo]

Who gives a shit I don't care if some dumbass people who can't act right feel satisfaction because I don't want to talk to them fuck them.

Uhh, what? I don't understand what you're trying to say.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Don't they win then, if you can't even use a much-needed feature of the game(voice communication) because of a bunch of abhorrent children?

Can't you still use this chat/text functionailty in groups though? I'm pretty sure the game lets you censor randoms while still allowing you to communicate with friends.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Imagine being so triggered by race that you can't even play as a black character in a game.

My personal stories are of people asking if I was autistic. I'd say yes, and then the fun would begin.
"So that's why you play crappy."
"That explains why you're so sensitive." (um.... no shit?)
"What are you doing playing a video game?"

 

[DarkKyo]

Can't you still use this chat/text functionailty in groups though? I'm pretty sure the game lets you censor randoms while still allowing you to communicate with friends.

Ahh that's what you meant. I thought you meant turning off all public communication rather than just one or two rude people.

 

[Brannon]

Then you get threads like "I miss the golden years of online chat". Yeah, no it was never like that for women. How many times I've seen people get found out as women in Quake and get summarily harrassed and corner-humped like clockwork...

 

[Rozart]

Reasons why I hardly ever talk online. And I'm glad that there's no text chat on consoles because my PSN username is so cutesy and I'd rather not deal with all that.

I really want to change my PSN user id tho. Sigh.

 

[Strakt]

More online games need to be like Destiny
All PvP matches start with everyone outside of the party, a simple press of the d pad will opt you in
You're not forced to listen to squeakers, harassers, music that sounds like shit through the speakers etc etc.

Amazingly due to this feature, you hardly ever see anyone enter the voice chat, they are too lazy to even do that.

Was there a downside to this for Bungie? Sure, people were mad they couldn't shit talk other players, I mean "communicate with team mates"

I played Halo enough back in the day, I've been called every ethnic slur and my mother apparently had relations with half the Xbox community during Halo 2's run.

Voice chat is horrendous, it really does make you wonder
Where are there parents? Where are their girlfriends and where are their wives when they speak like this to people?

Solo party/instant mute is the best solution imo.

Not really. Overwatch is miles ahead of destiny in terms of being remotely competetive. Voice chat is needed 100% to win most ranked games. You cant control morons who have never been in the outside world. If someone is toxic, mute and move on.. its really not a big deal as people make it out to be. the

 

[Crono27]

That's so lame imagine being afraid to even speak like wtf

Wouldn't say she's afraid. More like she just doesn't want to deal.with someone being annoying.

 

[BLCKATK]

Yeah this stuff is bullshit. I don't know how anyone can excuse it. And the problem is it's not just a few people, some nights it can be every damn game you play.

Definitely ruined Overwatch for me. Great game, but if the community is going to act like that, I'll go somewhere else, thanks.

 

[terrible]

The only thing that surprises me about the 25% number is how low it is. Overwatch is especially toxic, it'd be impossible to keep track of all the racist, homophobic, and sexist comments I heard or saw when I still played that game. I already didn't really enjoy the game much but that garbage just sealed the deal for me. It wasn't fun.

 

[Syntax]

Can't you switch off public text/chat in Overwatch?

Seems weird to complain about trolls when you can easily nullify them. It's the online equivalent of having a hearing aid turned down.

Who gives a shit I don't care if some dumbass people who can't act right feel satisfaction because I don't want to talk to them fuck them.

These are poor attitudes to the problem of people being excluded or pushed out of communities or otherwise having to put up with abusive and harassing behavior.

It is not okay for others to use sexist, homophobic, or racial slurs in game chat. It's what we expect but it shouldn't be something that's tolerated to the detriment of actual decent human beings.

It's always baffling the lengths some will go to in their persecution of others. I've seen and heard women be hounded - it's the most apt term describing the behavior - online once their gender is suspected let alone known. Some guys will not let up the entire time they're in proximity to these women and it's not a woman's fault other gamers treat them like shit, nor are they responsible for the actions of others. The same happens with minority or lgbt players I've encountered though I've seen this less as it's generally harder to cue into those aspects of identity.

There need to be better systems in place for Overwatch as the current reporting system feels immaterial. I report people when their actions warrant it, have no idea of the follow through.

 

[Blizzard]

I think I've literally never heard this happen on the few occasions when a woman talks on mic in Overwatch, but I'm pretty sure I'm just lucky from the accounts I've read. I've definitely heard it in TF2. Just the other night we had a few GAF people playing Overwatch, there was a good random player who sounded like a lady on the mic, and we added her and played more games with an even larger group. It was fun times for all, and no one made vulgar comments. Granted, the age range of our group was probably pretty high compared to average.

I do think the communities of other games (TF2, CSGO, LoL) are much more toxic than Overwatch though. Maybe the higher price tag has some slight filtering effect.

 

[Jeiiya]

Most of the ladies I game with are uncomfortable talking in team chat because of shit like this. It's horrible and I wish that the communities weren't so hostile. One of the prime reasons a lot of my friends left Team Fortress 2 when it went free-to-play was this type of harassment. It's disgusting and I wish we didn't have to deal with it.

 

[Brannon]

That's so lame imagine being afraid to even speak like wtf

More like just being sick of the same shit.

*ey ey baybee be my healslut*

*gonna rape you bitch*

*make me a sammich lololol*

*whore cunt you suck*

*can I get in ur pussy well fuck you too bitch you ain't that pretty*

*i'll kill you like a dog*

*why you playing games I bet you're a dyke*

*sex noise #43*

All day, every day the moment they find out you're female. Who the hell WANTS to endure that?

 

[RandomExpletive]

It'd be cool to see harassment reports land people like this in a separate queue with other racist/sexist/assholes.


Its a bummer you need to approach the higher levels of MM to even get people on mic to coordinate, and of course you're still going to get these idiots every so often.

 

[Niks]

Well it's blizzards fasting selling game and has a giant player base.

Dunno what the "drama" is. People on the internet continue to act like assholes because they have anonymity, this is a known in literally everything not just overwatch.

Unless you are talking about the salt mines of people complaining about the game have diversity and a gay character then yeah, that can also be attributed to the large player base having people with those views.

It's really not that big a deal. Mute and move on, enjoy the game.

If you're stopping playing the game because of this you let them win. "I'm muting you" and click is all you need to say.

These trolls want attention..That's all.

 

[FadedRevolution]

These are poor attitudes to the problem of people being excluded or pushed out of communities or otherwise having to put up with abusive and harassing behavior.

It is not okay for others to use sexist, homophobic, or racial slurs in game chat. It's what we expect but it shouldn't be something that's tolerated to the detriment of actual decent human beings.

It's always baffling the lengths some will go to in their persecution of others. I've seen and heard women be hounded - it's the most apt term describing the behavior - online once their gender is suspected let alone known. Some guys will not let up the entire time they're in proximity to these women and it's not a woman's fault other gamers treat them like shit, nor are they responsible for the actions of others. The same happens with minority or lgbt players I've encountered though I've seen this less as it's generally harder to cue into those aspects of identity.

There need to be better systems in place for Overwatch as the current reporting system feels immaterial. I report people when their actions warrant it, have no idea of the follow through.

Where am I defending those that are abusing others online? I was saying fuck those people and I don't want to talk to them. If they get satisfaction since there is one less person who doesn't want to deal with that then fuck them.

 

[Nozomi]

Do not doubt a WORD of this. The ladies in my MMO guilds usually were really recalcitrant to speak on TS/Ventrillo/Mumble (even an officer!). Too many attacks, or even just lame come-ons. One termed it as "I don't always wanna be ready to get into 'Queen Bitch' mode all the time".

Hm the ladies in my MMO Guild's never had such problems (as far as i know) asides from sometimes ppl being dicks outside of our guild but that happend to everyone from time to time. We only played on german server though so not sure if its a bigger issue on international server.

 

[Mysterious Stranger]

Whenever I play online no one talks. I must be not playing enough.

 

[finalflame]

Hm, I have over 300 hours in comp (PC) over S1-3, probably encounter a woman on mic every 5-10 games or so. Never heard anyone be sexist. I have heard occasional racism though (people who think throwing the N word around gratuitously is funny), but even that was rare, probably 2-3 times ever.

It's been far more common, in my experience, for someone to call the entire team retarded/brain dead/bad/etc when the team is getting rolled. I think I've been called a "cuck" on a handful of occasions too.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Hm the ladies in my MMO Guild's had never such problems (as far as i know) asides from sometimes ppl being dicks outside of our guild but that happend to everyone from time to time. We only played on german server though so not sure if its a bigger issue on international server.

Its outside the guild that was the potential problem (I shoulda elaborated on that). Our application process made sure of this.

 

[OdysseusVA]

You'll find this in any online game but the Overwatch community is one, if not the most, toxic I've ever come across. Absolutely terrible.

 

[Muzicfreq]

I've never heard anything like this playing Overwatch on PS4 TBH.

I do believe it happens, don't get me wrong.

it does but mostly by children.

Normally people are actually silent. If they talk they usually got a brain in their noggin.

I'm not saying all PC gamers are bad, but there's a ton of toxic little shits on multiplayer on PC.

It is one of the biggest reasons why I dont play on PC anymore. Too many people ready to stab you in the back or just too toxic to talk to.

 

[Syntax]

Where am I defending those that are abusing others online? I was saying fuck those people and I don't want to talk to them. If they get satisfaction since there is one less person who doesn't want to deal with that then fuck them.

Your previous post basically suggests covering your ears as an appropriate response to verbal/written harassment online. That should go without saying. Of course a person shouldn't have to listen to assholes berate them for no reason.

I apologize if I implied you were on the side of the assholes. I just don't think the only solution to the problem should be for a person to leave chat or otherwise stop playing.

 

[Plywood]

I have an alt account that's lately been getting harassed because of its spanish name.

Then of course when you challenge them on it they cry about snowflakes.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

I don't play Overwatch myself but I've heard from friends that do regularly on PC that the community is extremely toxic there. I played it for a short while on PS4, and I only play MP games with Party Chat on with my friends so I don't hear other people. Blizzard needs to do something about this if it's this bad.

 

[Yeul]

Yeah this sucks. It's like, I want to be social and talk about the game with people, but I run the risk of getting harassed. No thanks, I'm tired. Now I only play in a party of people I actually want to play with. I haven't actually ever used the voice chat on Overwatch, but if I did it'd be (like I said) in a team of people who I knew wouldn't be lame instead of completely random match-ups. If some of the text-based encounters that I've seen in Overwatch are anything to go by, I'm making the right decision.

 

[Nozomi]

You'll find this in any online game but the Overwatch community is one, if not the most, toxic I've ever come across. Absolutely terrible.

You obviously have never played league of legends on EUW. I could fill books with rude stuff, wishing cancer and way worse stuff.

That being said i went from arguing with retard's (i know bad idea) to insta mute/report anyone who is even slightly toxic or abusive.

 

[dehydratedbabies]

I usually roll my eyes at "toxic" this or that, but holy shit do I encounter a lot of mic'd up angry assholes in Overwatch's competitive mode. I generally don't use my mic because I'd get banned for responding to these people appropriately.

Also, people love to tell you to switch from Junkrat. Fuck you, I'm a great Junkrat.

Your mic doesn't make you quarterback.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

So actually I have a story to share

well stories, but I'm sharing one. Basically me and my friend play competitive but don't go into voice chat. Because well, we don't really care for it. And when people ask you to go into voice chat and you say no, they start harassing the fuck out of you. In the worst way possible. It has happened multiple times. At that point, it's like..."what makes you think I'm going into voice chat after you acted like a dick?"

Y'know, I've only discovered this kind of abuse within overwatch. People get so damn INSANE over people not wanting to communicate with them. And then they just justify not joining voice chat when they hurl abuse.

 

[Messofanego]

I usually roll my eyes at "toxic" this or that, but holy shit do I encounter a lot of mic'd up angry assholes in Overwatch's competitive mode. I generally don't use my mic because I'd get banned for responding to these people appropriately.

Also, people love to tell you to switch from Junkrat. Fuck you, I'm a great Junkrat.

Your mic doesn't make you quarterback.

You roll your eyes at toxic masculinity?

 

[joecanada]

More like just being sick of the same shit.

*ey ey baybee be my healslut*

*gonna rape you bitch*

*make me a sammich lololol*

*whore cunt you suck*

*can I get in ur pussy well fuck you too bitch you ain't that pretty*

*i'll kill you like a dog*

*why you playing games I bet you're a dyke*

*sex noise #43*

All day, every day the moment they find out you're female. Who the hell WANTS to endure that?

Well yeah I don't mean like afraid as though they can't stand for themselves but more like it's not worth it to speak so you avoid it altogether.... Still sucks

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Your previous post basically suggests covering your ears as an appropriate response to verbal/written harassment online. That should go without saying. Of course a person shouldn't have to listen to assholes berate them for no reason.

I apologize if I implied you were on the side of the assholes. I just don't think the only solution to the problem should be for a person to leave chat or otherwise stop playing.

You don't even need to leave chat though. If the community is as toxic as you seem to think it is, all you need to do is just stick to your own group of friends and not even bother communicating with randoms. It's no different to any other time in life you meet some douchebag you want to avoid.

 

[dehydratedbabies]

You roll your eyes at toxic masculinity?

What do you mean?

 

[TheSaddestSort]

Horrible. I think that one of worst things about all of this is that it just it get hand waved away as, "Well that's the culture, what are you going to do?"

 

[Nudull]

I've gotten plenty of racial and sexual crap from playing online. It's why I usually keep the chat off or limited to friends.

 

[Angry Fork]

This is called the internet. Before games became more mainstream all people did in counter strike or Socom 2 or other early online games was talk shit to people, it's not a new phenomenon. There are plenty of mute/block functionalities now if you don't want to hear it. Either that or talk shit back.

 

[SephLuis]

I wonder how much of the overall populace of OW is responsible for that toxicity.

I usually play fighting games online and the most toxic comments were from SF IV era when, for a period, there were much more players. Now with either SF V or GG Xrd, I don't see or hear much more of these issues.

OW is certainly one of the most popular online games so it's not unthinkable that it would attract some toxic crowd. The question is how big they are and how much they are responsible for that toxic image that the game community has.

 

[RedAssedApe]

not surprised. as much progress as has been made since games started going online (yes this was my norm as well during the wild west of Xbox Live and pre-party chat)...society's taken a couple of steps back in recent years.

and they all hide behind "freedom of speech"

 

[daffy]

This is called the internet. Before games became more mainstream all people did in counter strike or Socom 2 or other early online games was talk shit to people, it's not a new phenomenon. There are plenty of mute/block functionalities now if you don't want to hear it. Either that or talk shit back.

Yeah. We've been hearing about this for decades now and nothing has changed. I just glow up and start slinging back at this point. It usually shuts them up as opposed to not using voice chat altogether.