So how many of you see a psychiatrist because of online "toxicity"?

[Lady Dragonheart]

I take the view that if you act like a dick on the internet, you are really a dick. No matter how you act when you have to be around real people.

Who we really are is how we act when not constrained by social pressure.

And by your post....well, lets just say, I'm pretty glad I don't know you in real life.

Pretty much this. If someone wants to allow griefing and toxic behavior, then it's because they obviously do it themselves. There is no logic reasoning to wanting to allow players to harass and grief others without any sort of monitoring or chance of consequence due to anonymity. It's flat out scummy.

[kyoloco]

i dont because i am an adult

[Ossandran]

I think you're blowing it completely out of proportion

[Halicia]

He's right to be honest. If being insulted online or even IRL makes you suffer from depression and other mental / emotional problems you really need to see a psychiatrist .

You can't just walk away from the screen anymore. They're everywhere and online becomes offline with one click of the 'share' button from your would-be bullyer.

We've had several incidents where online trolls called realworld SWAT teams on streamers, and its only a matter of time before someone gets shot from 'staying on the computer and crying all night'. This is the reality of cyberbullying, not the misconception that its random strangers on some website you never run into again using a word you don't like.

[jbombard]

I have a hard time understanding why someone would need to see a psychiatrist because of toxicity. That said, I don't see any good reason why we should have to put up with it either.

I have friends who like to bust each other's balls, and it's no holds barred, but we don't do it around everyone else because people aren't in on it and misinterpret it and get offended. If you want to bullshit around with some friends make your own channel for it.

The problem is Blizzard doesn't deal with it very effectively. They need feature bans instead of login bans. Login bans don't let players do anything, but because of this they tend to be short. Let players play, but if they are being offensive in trade chat, ban them from public chat channels outside of guild for 2 weeks for the first offense. Next time a month, next time 6 months... etc... etc... they can still play the game but they will be locked out from the offensive behavior.

[Talby]

Having difficulty putting this down in words but I'll try. I hate how whenever someone talks about toxicity the points always made are "you suck noob" "kill yourself" "get cancer" etc. We get it that shit happens, if anyone has been around on the internet long enough they should expect that kind of language and know how it's only meant to get someone angry, to "troll" if you will.

Do I condone it? Hell no. But there are far better (and far worse/meaner) examples that can be drawn on when talking about toxic behaviour. Following someone around making their gaming life miserable, taking a small thing about their personality and using it as a chisel to wear someone down to nothing, etc. People don't kill themselves when told to "kill yourself" or "get cancer". They kill themselves over repeated abuse that can last anywhere from weeks to years. That is the shit that needs to be discussed, not shitty cod insults.

edit: I don't know how to add quotes when editing but Halicia wrote it better than I ever could. There has to be a point where a line is drawn, because this affects everyone, not just those who "don't have a thick skin"

[May90]

Speaking of "thick skin", think of this analogy. Let's compare a human to an elephant. Suppose someone throws a large rock at them. A human might be in horrible pain and scream. An elephant has a much thicker skin and probably will just feel an annoyance. But it still will feel being attacked and probably will relent and defend itself. It is not as much that rock has hurt the elephant, but rather the very fact of being attacked.

Same here. I have a thick skin. When someone calls me a fag, I do not start crying and calling my friends asking if I really was a fag. But the fact that this person is strongly negative towards me is unpleasant. I've had my share of jerks in my life, but it doesn't mean that I don't feel bad when I encounter jerks. Being in love for a long time doesn't mean you don't feel love when you meet a new person, and handling bullies for a long time doesn't mean new bullies you meet cannot worsen your emotional state. They might not affect it as much as the first bully in your life did, but you are not completely immune to them still.

[Arewn]

Let's cut the crap, put on our big boy pants a

I feel very triggered by this. It's a very toxic attitude to have. Women put on pants too, and there are "big girl pants".

[Thelxi]

It's impossible to stop people being toxic on the internet. It's in our nature. It's like trying to stop stupid people from existing. As long as games are competitive anonymous environments toxicity will always be there. It's always been there.

[breadisfunny]

I take the view that if you act like a dick on the internet, you are really a dick. No matter how you act when you have to be around real people.

Who we really are is how we act when not constrained by social pressure.

And by your post....well, lets just say, I'm pretty glad I don't know you in real life.

multiple personality disorder.

[Airwaves]

I see one because I suffer from a metal illness. Someone saying they fucked my mum over Xbox live is the least of my worries.

[CellarDoor]

I don't get emotionally injured by someone calling me a faggot online, my skin is tougher than that. Doesn't mean my mood isn't affected by it. I don't like playing with disgusting people, and when someone is trying desperately to show everyone how much of a jerk he is, I don't have any desire to play with or against that person any more. It has nothing to do with me not being able to handle the insults, but it has everything with me not being interested in interacting with assholes. Just like in real life I tend to lean towards pleasant people, while avoiding jerks - same in video games.

Nah you're definitely affected by it, sounds like if the troll is on your team he is getting what he wants, and the douche on the other team is as well. Sure about your skin thickness there buddy?

[Jakexe]

It doesn't bother me anymore, I've been called everything and while it use to anger me now I just don't care. The sheer weight of abuse eventually forced me to stop caring. Being told to kill myself eventually lost the impact. Unfortunately everyone is not exactly like me and some handle difficulties differently which is why telling people to just get over it, or walk away isn't going to help. Do you think telling someone who is already in a bad place to harden the fuck up is going to do anything?

Just because you have the mental fortitude and ability to withstand abuse doesn't mean everyone does and trying to write them off as weak or stupid doesn't solve anything.

[pateuvasiliu]

If you use ''toxic'' non ironically I automatically assume you're special.


Riot surrendered to the SJWs and instead of dealing with trolls and griefers they rather started a crusade against insults which can be muted with the press of a button or by being over 16.

Meanwhile, muting the troll won't make him stop feeding.

[Flaks]

Gamers are pretty much scum of the Earth when it comes to online interactions. There's no excuse for it. "Get a thicker skin", yea sure I agree people should; but why the hell should this even be considered a NECESSITY. Every one of the people that flip out online over losing or even winning deserved any of the bullying they got in real life.

[Banzhe]

Gamers are pretty much scum of the Earth when it comes to online interactions. There's no excuse for it. "Get a thicker skin", yea sure I agree people should; but why the hell should this even be considered a NECESSITY. Every one of the people that flip out online over losing or even winning deserved any of the bullying they got in real life.

Err no, it might be true for the current generation who sit with their faces glued to a screen 24/7, whether that be a computer screen or their little phones, what little interaction with other people they get, there's little to no consequences to their MEME actions.., something they learn when, or if they ever go out in the real world and behave the same way they do online.

[pateuvasiliu]

Gamers are pretty much scum of the Earth when it comes to online interactions. There's no excuse for it. "Get a thicker skin", yea sure I agree people should; but why the hell should this even be considered a NECESSITY. Every one of the people that flip out online over losing or even winning deserved any of the bullying they got in real life.

Because 10 years ago gaming was a place where you could shit on someone verbally and laugh it off. Nowadays the special kids that are lied to by their parents that they're unique and smart throw a tantrum when you give them a piece of their mind.

The plague that is social justice has taught people to go cry when someone confronts them instead of sucking it up.

[Powerogue]

I just take to heart that no matter what I think, no matter what I do, no matter what I say, someone out there on the internet will hate my guts for it. Some people just haven't figured that out yet.

The best I can do is not be one of the jerks. Usually. I can actually kill two birds with one stone by re-reading what I'm posting before I finalize it. Less spelling errors, and I tend to notice if I said something stupid or obnoxious.

[May90]

Nah you're definitely affected by it, sounds like if the troll is on your team he is getting what he wants, and the douche on the other team is as well. Sure about your skin thickness there buddy?

That I am affected by it is precisely what I am saying. But it is not their words themselves that make me feel bad - I learned long ago to ignore all the trash talk from people since it doesn't have any meaning behind it, it is just an expression of anger, nothing more. However, I am playing a game with this person. I don't enjoy playing with him if he isn't socializing properly; if I didn't care about social interactions, I wouldn't play online, I would play single player games.

Imagine meeting a new person, going to a restaurant together. There he will start endlessly insulting you and asking you to kill yourself. Regardless of your thick skin, will you enjoy the evening?

[Nysty]

He's right to a degree but it's rarely as simple as that. In much the same way that someone can have a shitty day and someone saying something dumb to them can cause them to punch that person in the face when they'd usually just walk away, comments online can affect people not necessarily because of what was said but because it's the 5th/10th/50th annoying/negative thing that's happened to them in a period of time. Depending upon the person it only takes a single comment at the wrong time for them to feel like they're being bullied, cyber or not.

Whilst I am sure it happens, I'd be amazingly shocked if a lot of people see a psychiatrist over cyberbullying without there being another problem attached somewhere down the line. Also cyberbullying victims get mocked because it often IS at least partially their fault. At the school I work at you see a lot of it and the victims always refuse to block/unfriend/unfollow the people doing it they don't want to miss out on things that are happening because you know, those 15 year olds are out there changing the world in vital, unreported ways each and every day!