Turns out Blizzard is doing things in the background to improve the random group experience:
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/2...-to-be-a-jerk/
I was pretty sure some things had changed about the group timers and debuffs and whatnot.So what we've done is developed a hidden system that tracks player behavior in matchmade groups on a number of different levels. We don't go into a lot of details about the system for a few reasons: A) we've been constantly evolving how intelligent the system is, B) the system is dynamic so that it can apply penalties based on varying factors -- it's analyzing trends as they change over time and accounting for them in some fashion -- and C) we don't want players to know exactly how the system starts penalizing people for less-than-average behavior and then try to game it.
Suffice it to say, the things you do in a matchmade group matter. If you're above the average in kicking players out of groups, being kicked from groups, or ducking out early (as described in the OP), deserter debuffs, kicking thresholds, and the like become increasingly less forgiving.
As for handing out suspensions or blocking people from matchmaking content for any lengths of time, that's a very different discussion. But the policies and procedures we have in place are considered with extreme care. We want to create the best and most fair environment possible in World of Warcraft, so friends and strangers alike can have a good time. And, as mentioned above, we try to put checks and balances into our game systems to ensure bad behavior isn't rewarded, and becomes very inconvenient for the instigator.
I think that for this to be really effective, though, there needs to be some occasional direct feedback.
"You are kicked more frequently than average from groups."
"You very rarely initiate kick votes! Good!"
Last edited by Normie; 2013-06-18 at 04:46 AM.
Send all the 'toxic' players to EVE, dump 'em in one big corp, take away the ability to dock and war dec Goonswarm and TEST. See how long they last before breaking and come snivelling back to WoW muttering *queue XT voice* 'I promise I'll be good! Just don't send me back!'.
Problem solved.
Though, they may need trauma therapy afterwards...
I've had this idea for a while that players who are repeatedly reported for abuse/disruption/trolling/etc in instances should be put in a special queue, for a while, where they are matched with other players who have the same characteristic.
So, that does two things. 1) Gives them an idea of what it's like to, um, play with themselves. 2) Gives the rest of the world a break from them.
Seriously, can you imagine, someone who has been that guy who ninja pulls and posts recount and yells "KICK HIM!!" zones into LFR, and instead of there being one of him and 24 other patient victims, there are 25 people just like him.
3 strikes and your out. SHould get rid of most of the problems. Only thing is, when is it a strike?
If only. I wonder who would complain about that, aside from themselves.instead of there being one of him and 24 other patient victims, there are 25 people just like him.
My solution would be:
250 Valor points for every 12 raid bosses you did without getting kicked.
A "helpfull player" button to give people who really helped in LFR (explained stuff, was a very good tank or dps or heal). If you get 25 "helpful players" votes during a week you get 500 valor points extra/over the cap.
Yes, people would try to push each other for points. But on the other hand, it would enforce good behaviour to get the helpfull points faster.
Atoms are liars, they make up everything!
Your point of contention doesn't have any ground to stand on. It isn't "power given to one player" at all. One players vote, in the grand scheme of things, would mean nothing.
If someone is afraid that their conduct, as a whole, might be "misinterpreted" as asshole-ish by the majority of players, then maybe that person needs to take a long hard look at themselves and realize they are, in reality, an asshole.
If you want a way to solve toxic player behavior, the method I stated is the best, most direct system I can think of. It even goes the extra mile and awards helpful and positive players, in a way that can't be brute forced or numbered. You're not just using honey to attract flies, you're using vinegar as the alternative to drive them to the honey.
Just make it so people you manually join the group with can't upvote you.
And I'd be more inclined to downvote a person that begs for upvotes...
Last edited by Kaleredar; 2013-06-18 at 08:31 AM.
“Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
Words to live by.
haha LoL is cleaned up.. yea when you can clean up the internet.
They will tell people to stop using the word "toxic" to describe mean players. Just because Riot really enjoys using it, doesn't mean you should, too. I see it everywhere and it just looks so stupid to see people spouting off about "I will not tolerate your toxic behavior, you are just a troll!" when they disagree with something you've said and you haven't been inflammatory at all.
I'm getting really sick of seeing the word "toxic" everywhere.
---------- Post added 2013-06-18 at 03:06 AM ----------
If anyone seriously has a problem with "assholes" in this game, then they have a problem with like, the majority of the internet. Seriously.
It is all explained in this informative video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOZuxwVk7TU
It would be great if Blizzard enabled an in-game ranking feature for LfD/LfR
- defaults to average (so don't have to rank all the time and a toxic player who reforms would eventually redeem themselves)
- enables upranking for good behaviour (perhaps with a reward such as highest rank on server title, extra gold or chance at a pet)
- has more than one facet (so performance is rated separately from social - newly levelled players are going to do 20K dps, valor geared 40K, ToT heroic 100+K)
- people who are downranked get put to the bottom of dungeon queues; more than n downranks in separate dungeons/raids and banned from dungeons for 1/2/3 days (separate dungeons, so it's not just other jerks in one guild being toxic to a non-guild player)
- allows entry of text so people know WHY they are being downranked (this feature also needs feedback so the downranked can say whether the advice was useful or not - someone who always downranks with semi-insulting comments like "LtP n00b" from enough separate downrankings would then have feature withdrawn, helpful comments like "please learn not to stand in purple stuff on the ground" likewise could be uprated and valued more, increasing a player's social standing)
The experiments they did on LoL (link posted elsewhere) show that the feedback element was one of the best ways of reducing toxic behaviour.
---------- Post added 2013-06-18 at 12:13 PM ----------
No, it is not the "majority" of the internet. Like it or not, this is a game played by all age ranges. Just because the areas of the internet that you frequent encourages such behaviour, does not mean that the rest of the internet is like it, or tolerate such behaviour.
We're not living in the Middle Ages. Calling someone a whore, n00b, n****r, f*g, etc or rolling Need on loot, when you already have a higher item equipped is behaviour that can upset people. Like it or not, there are real live human beings, (some your parents age) behind the screens, and yes, they do get angry/annoyed/frustrated. You and I both know its just pixels and "sticks and stones" etc, and I know that teenagers (and some adults who think they still are) think "fun" is something different to others. So yep, older people, and younger ones, do take it seriously. Verbal bullying is almost as bad as physical bullying, so why should it be tolerated?
I think the bigger question is WHY are players so "toxic" and rude? Just the old Internet Fuckwad Theory, or something more?
Being shit on game has a negative impact on multiple players' desire to remain in game. Does that make a player toxic?
Players were not ehm..."toxic" back in tbc or early wrath(not sure about vanilla). If someone is being jerk, community called out his/her name and he/she was discriminated because of his/her bad behaviour. Now game lets you to be jerk and doesn't punish you. I am not saying remove LFR bla bla, I am just stating a simple fact. If blizz took away community's self control mechanism, then they should implement their own mechanism to control community and make it work. This is their obligation.
Last edited by Kuntantee; 2013-06-18 at 11:50 AM.
Probably nothing, unless they put "no being an asshole" in their ToS somewhere and figure out a way to enforce it, which I imagine would be difficult. There's a big difference between just plain being a dick (not against the rules) and stuff like harassment/exploiting and so on (against the rules).
MoP has taken a few steps to fix some of it (basically made ninja looting impossible, etc). Beyond that, it just gets to stuff like heavily moderating in-game chat and infracting/banning anyone who gets out of line.
There are a couple of games out there that publicly shame, which I thought was kinda cool (http://www.unholybanhammer.com/BH/ for example)
Last edited by Ciddy; 2013-06-19 at 06:55 PM.
People can be and will be assholes on the internet because there are no consequences. If a stranger pisses you off in real life, 95% of the time you're not going to be verbally or physically abusive because there could be dire consequences. Sure, if you're cut off by a stranger/bad driver, you might curse them out or wave your fist or give them the finger, But once again, like the internet, you're in your car which is kind of like a protective shell. The internet is the same and I seriously doubt anything meaningful can be done mainly because it is next to impossible to govern fairly.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I saw someone post a novel method of griefing where the griefer would queue for LFR, zone out to Stormwind when it popped, enter the stockades, pull a low level mob, and just AFK. You can't kick them because they're constantly in combat. Was that ever fixed? The fact is that they can't remove all possible methods of griefing without making the game unplayable for everyone else. What they need to do is to stringently penalize griefing, but this post suggests to me that this won't happen either: Blizzard says it's ok to be a jerk
I don't think WoW has as big of a problem with toxic players as other MMOs and MOBAs. If you think WoW has a lot of toxic players you should check out SWTOR it is by far the WORST community I have ever seen in an MMO. You can't ask a question or make a post on the forums without somebody making a backhanded comment or being condescending to you.