Ever notice how gaming did more than fine during the "toxic" era?

[Kul Tiras]

A little context: I grew up in a gaming "era" where everyone on the internet had allegedly fucked my mom, where headshotting someone multiple times in a game made you a faggot, whether in the sexual slang version of the word or just in the "INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE" sense of the word, where no one committed suicide but everyone was told to kill themselves for winning a round, in short, a world where many of you today would probably have a fucking heart attack and die if you had to play through it.

Nevertheless, this age of internet freedom which has sadly passed birthed what you call e-"sports", with legendary personalities such as Fatal1ty and games such as AOE, birthed some of the greatest games which even Blizzard is struggling to live up to with their sequels, and failing, birthed internet rivalries in MMOs and clans which are still remembered and fostered today across games such as WoW, EVE and many others...an age which laid down the foundation of everything you play today, all of which, done in a "toxic" and "muh feelings are hurts" environment.

Notice how this age didn't have a conveyor belt of shitty yearly sequels, loot boxes, physical game boxes with no more than a CD-Key inside, forced social justice warrior writing/writers, apologies for making a character too sexy, developers trying to make everything """"EPIC""""", fake civility, an overload of report and moderation in games and forums, and yet is still regarded as the foundation of everything good you get to play today?

In short, fuck the studio in charge of league of legends who wrote that first open and pretentious letter against internet "toxicity" at the start of the 2010s, fuck mike morhaime and his pretentious announcement about how we're all a family at the crapdaria/shitwatch Blizzcon opening announcement and fuck the people who waste developer's time with non-issues which have NEVER hindered online or single player development up until the late 2000s.

[derpkitteh]

the family friendly stuff is a ploy by the execs to get a wider audience and therefore potentially make more money.

nobody in this cares about anyone else's feelings. nobody care about any of that shit. anyone supporting stricter actions against people for being dickheads is a paid shill promoting this stuff for game devs.

[Celista]

I resubbed to WoW briefly and it was nice not having trade chat + random bgs be a toxic cesspool for once.

[Travis B]

For anyone who doesn't want to waste time reading the OP's rant (like I did), here's the TLDR version: Games suck nowadays because it's not cool to call random strangers in games faggots anymore.

[Kul Tiras]

For anyone who doesn't want to waste time reading the OP's rant (like I did), here's the TLDR version: Games suck nowadays because it's not cool to call random strangers in games faggots anymore.

And this is why reading comprehension is important children, because if you don't read, you'll see the word "nigger" in a post and imply that the person writing it hates black people.

+1 Like will help a reading disabled child learn how to read a few sentences in less than 10 minutes, and not pollute threads with his bullshit.

Tell me, if you didn't "waste" time reading my post, how can you make a TLDR?

[Video Games]

Yes, yes. Normies made games kind of suck. But oh well.

[Mystrome]

The more anonymous a place gets, the worse people tend to behave.

The examples you give were also during a frame of time where communities where just that: communities. People saw the same nicknames or aliases come by on a regular basis. So acting like a complete tool and, for example, wishing rape, aids & cancer on people (and/or their families) actually could have negative consequences for someone to some extend, depending on the game.

The real issue here is not that developers are going to war on so-called toxic behavior, but the mindless mob-mentality running ramparts on the internet.

You could, you know, just act like a half-decent human being once in a while.

[Travis B]

And this is why reading comprehension is important children

Oh the irony...

because if you don't read, you'll see the word "nigger" in a post and imply that the person writing it hates black people.

I never implied you hated anything.

+1 Like will help a reading disabled child learn how to read a few sentences in less than 10 minutes, and not pollute threads with his bullshit

Your thread was an ocean of bullshit to begin with.

Tell me, if you didn't "waste" time reading my post, how can you make a TLDR?

Again, learn to read. I said that I did waste time reading your post, and I posted a TLDR version to hopefully prevent others from suffering the same fate.

[Veyne]

And this is why reading comprehension is important children, because if you don't read, you'll see the word "nigger" in a post and imply that the person writing it hates black people.

+1 Like will help a reading disabled child learn how to read a few sentences in less than 10 minutes, and not pollute threads with his bullshit.

Tell me, if you didn't "waste" time reading my post, how can you make a TLDR?

Your reading comprehension is pretty poor, actually. He made the TLDR for people who didn't want to waste their time reading your pointless bullshit because he read it for them.

[Antiganon]

I like playing video games.

I want to teach my children about playing video games.

When I teach my children about playing games with other children IRL, a big part of that is following the rules, playing nice, and being a good sport. I will teach them to follow those same guidelines online as well. If they don't follow those guidelines, they will not play online games.

In my mind, conduct that in unacceptable offline should not be acceptable online just because you are known as HeadShot42069 instead of Bob Jones.

[Tech614]

Toxic era? Since people like to throw around that shit buzzword that typically means trash talk, disrespect, memes and attitude I want to know when gaming was ever NOT toxic.

Don't tell me before online gaming either, if that's the case you never played in arcades or had your friends over. MVC2 in arcade and MK64/MP1/2 are some of the most "toxic" games ever.

The reality is games make people salty, and push buttons. You can't avoid it.

[Phookah]

"Wahhh not being able to be a shitbag constantly online makes me madddd"

Stick to solitaire then champ

[Queen of Hamsters]

A) And this is why reading comprehension is important children



2) Tell me, if you didn't "waste" time reading my post, how can you make a TLDR?

Oh the irony.

- - - Updated - - -

For anyone who doesn't want to waste time reading the OP's rant (like I did), here's the TLDR version: Games suck nowadays because it's not cool to call random strangers in games faggots anymore.

Yeah pretty much.
The only ones whining about such things, are the people wanting to act like retarded asshats with no fear of ramifications.

[Hey There Guys its Metro]

This seems really silly to me. People who try to label eras and movements usually can't think critically on the topic if you ask me. None of this registers to me and I've been playing games for decades. People have always been sniveling shits and always will be. There is no such thing as a "toxic" era. It's called the internet.

[rogueMatthias]

...and fuck the people who waste developer's time with non-issues ...

Yeah I'm tired of them asking about High Elves too.

- - - Updated - - -

It's called the internet.

Exactly. The internet is just full of assholes and morons and bullshit.

[chrisnumbers]

I don't what what you mean by "the" toxic era.
When did that start and end lol?

[Mirishka]

"Wahhh not being able to be a shitbag constantly online makes me madddd"

Stick to solitaire then champ

Well said. Because that's exactly what his whiny little rant boils down to.

[Jastall]

In real life, I like to be civil with strangers and appreciate when strangers and recent acquaintances are civil with me. I'm not afraid of being a lot less politically correct when around my friends where I know it's all in good fun and nobody means anything they say but I have low tolerance for people being mean-spirited and spewing bullshit just to grab attention or get a rise out of others.

On the Internet, I like to be civil with strangers and appreciate when strangers and recent acquaintances are civil with me. I'm not afraid of being a lot less politically correct when around my guildies where I know it's all in good fun and nobody means anything they say but I have low tolerance for people being mean-spirited and spewing bullshit just to grab attention or get a rise out of others.

Basically I'm totally OK with the concept that just because it's the Internet doesn't mean you're entitled to be a total asshat and there can be no consequences for it. Sorry mate. Go back to Twitch chat if you want a safe space where you're free to spam emotes and racist memes all day long.

[Denpepe]

I don't what what you mean by "the" toxic era.
When did that start and end lol?

Started when the internet was invented, stops when humans go extinct, internet get's more toxic every day.

[Shanden]

The more anonymous a place gets, the worse people tend to behave.

The examples you give were also during a frame of time where communities where just that: communities. People saw the same nicknames or aliases come by on a regular basis. So acting like a complete tool and, for example, wishing rape, aids & cancer on people (and/or their families) actually could have negative consequences for someone to some extend, depending on the game.

This is the truth. Gaming always had toxic people but the era of matchmaking games without dedicated servers has aggravated the problem. You rarely meet the same player twice and being a complete asshole has no lasting negative impact. Back in the days when you had found a cool server with decently skilled players you had to behave or get banned within hours. This does not happen anymore. Toxicity just spreads without any boundaries within the matchmaking system of any game.

Anonymous players will always be assholes but matchmaking makes everything worse. That is at least my conclusion.