I hope the developers are proactive about dealing with toxicity

Noaani

Craiken wrote: »

My point was that there absolutely are limits on how mean and nasty people are allowed to be. No one expects players to be perfect angels all the time, but I don't think the OP needs to be worried about getting bombarded by homophobia/racism while playing AoC (as that's clearly against the terms of service).

If it is directed at the OP, then I agree.

However, even if it is bad taste (which it is), words that many people would consider slurs are literally expressions of affection in other communities. You name a single word or term that some people find offensive, and there will be a group of people somewhere that use that as a positive thing.

The way the OP's post read to me is that other people in open chat channels were using words that the OP doesn't like. The OP has literally no grounds at all for being offended by that, and is simply making the choice to be (or pretend to be) offended by it.

To me, being offended by something that isn't even directed at you is literally the worst thing a person can do in relation to offensiveness. Being offended by something aimed at someone else, and then making that an issue, is tantamount to saying that the person that was the target of said abusive language can't stand up for them self.

If I was the target of that abusive language, and then the OP decided that they would take a stand against it, I would be more offended at the OP's assumption that I can't deal with it myself than I would be able the actual abusive language.

Hence my initial statement in reply to you that I agree that words should have consequences, including those of the OP.

Since the way the OP spoke in this thread made it seem like it was the simply presence of specific words that they found offensive, I agree with the people that say that if this is the case, the OP is better off not playing this game. Not because abuse and toxicity is ok, but because the OP seems to not understand context.

Sylvanar

Noaani wrote: »

To me, being offended by something that isn't even directed at you is literally the worst thing a person can do in relation to offensiveness. Being offended by something aimed at someone else, and then making that an issue, is tantamount to saying that the person that was the target of said abusive language can't stand up for them self.

This reminds me of the "Protect the casual: Gear" post.

HexologyNate

I think we need to abandon the word 'toxicity' as it seems to be used far to often to all-encompass human behavior that's not necessarily 'toxic'. I agree that things such as homophobic/racist/sexist slurs should definitely result in some form of punishment whether it be a ban/mute ETC, but general competitiveness and the resulting factors such as gloating/brooding is just part of the gaming experience, and in my mind it's part of the fun!

Noaani

Otr wrote: »

Noaani wrote: »

Craiken wrote: »

My point was that there absolutely are limits on how mean and nasty people are allowed to be. No one expects players to be perfect angels all the time, but I don't think the OP needs to be worried about getting bombarded by homophobia/racism while playing AoC (as that's clearly against the terms of service).

...
To me, being offended by something that isn't even directed at you is literally the worst thing a person can do in relation to offensiveness. Being offended by something aimed at someone else, and then making that an issue, is tantamount to saying that the person that was the target of said abusive language can't stand up for them self.

They are like those Bounty Hunters who should mind their bussiness too and let greens stand up for themselves

Not really.

That green has already shown their unwillingness to take up the fight. They wouldn't still be a green otherwise.

Additionally, the artificial systems that the game has specifically create a system where that bounty hunter has personal gain to be made by going after that corrupt player.

The only thing an outraged person like the OP has to gain from being offended at the contents of a conversation between two other people is a false sense of moral superiority - which is what this all boils down to.

NishUK

HexologyNate wrote: »

I think we need to abandon the word 'toxicity'

Now just hold on!....

How else are people going to look smart without it?

Sweatycup

There are always annoyances (Certain peoples) in online games. Especially in MMO's. I do think that directed racial slurs and true bullying behavior should be punished. Last thing we need is a news op about how little jimmy killed himself from being bullied. And it does happen online. Lets not forget stalkers online that can turn into fatal or life threatening events. These are absolutely real concerns. However beyond this the use of exploiting if you can even say that, game mechanics to make others life miserable i think it'd be better if people were given a in-game choice to punish the player. Like a court in a city. Archeage did this and i like the idea. We already know the corrupt/law system a tad and this should help prevent most cases of toxic players. You know, the guy top level trolling a new player zone, if repeated like a mentally unstable person should probably be punished beyond corruption, one way or another. They typically already have in most MMO's a way to filter bad language. Hopefully we will get ways to mute people in-game that spam nazi propaganda for example. It's only a serious issue in a pure pvp game when one player crosses a certain reasonable line. However whats reasonable to one is totally despotic to another. But i think a even balance could be achieved in such a pvp focused game by also using the player base of each territory to make choices about certain players to put them on trial or to have them always red in the territory or some sort of exiling or hanging(If not seen as too inappropriate) Whatever the case the procedure should be relatively quick because on both sides no gamer wants to sit around forever because they chose to grief a whole start zone. Star Citizen is kinda like that, go to prison, wait on timer or work it off mining to reduce prison time, only problem is alot of people stay away because these people don't like being punished/timed-out for what they see as "Essential Gameplay." I don't think of AoC as black or white but should be somewhere in the grey as a pvx mmo with high ordinance on pvp gameplay. There will be guilds, groups, players who choose to white knight but i honestly don't expect alot of people who own territory to do normal rounds around to make sure their kingdom is clean of chaotic people. This is a game after-all supposedly billed for its "Player Experience" but we will have to see what "Players" we get in-game.