Abusive Chat is part of the Overwatch Experience

Something I noticed when reading at the rules and the emails about communication policies is that bit about being rude, harassing, etc. It says “this behaviour is not in line with how most Overwatch players communicate”

If youve played QP or Comp for more than 2 hours you’ll know thats a lie. People look to be rude either for their own enjoyment or to let out some steam and no matyer how many accounts Blizzard bans or how many measures they put to ensure people are pals this wont change, it will never change

I just find it curious that in a competitive game about killing other people where your identity remains anonimous they somehow didnt think people would want to hurt eachother emotionally speaking. I dont think the solution is just let toxic people be, but when they realistically encompass most of your player base there needs to be some change in methodology

Like today I was asking people why do they say “gg” after a match in several QP games. Common responses were “so I can say ez right after”, “it means git gud”, “i dont even mean it”, “passive agressive :)”, “ur mom”, “i need the endorsements”, etc
So I think its fair to say that if you are inna good mood and not trying to be hurtful at all you are either playing with friends or part of a huge minority (at least in the Americas region"

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Yeah, I always have a good time when I play now that I have all chat off. Very nice and peaceful, I remember how bad it was even in causal modes people are so mean to each other sometimes. It does suck that we all can’t just be nice to each other but unfortunately there are always going to be toxic people on the internet.

I can’t name an online game where players aren’t toxic.

There’s a fine line between harmless smack talk and abusive chat. Typing “ez” is not abusive chat. If someone typing “free sr” after they beat you elicits an emotional response from you then you need to stop taking a video game so seriously. Typing racial slurs would be abusive chat.

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I remember when the community was one of the best of gaming…

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It’s not. At least not in my experience.

Don’t get me wrong, toxicity is more common than it should be, but I have problems every 3-5 games at the worst of times.

That’s me having a problem with 1 or 2 out of 33 people at the absolute worst of times.

I have nights where I’ll play for 2-3 hours and have literally no problems. So that’s over 100 people without a problem.

Abusive chat sucks, and it’s more common than it needs to be, but I don’t think it’s emblematic of the average player.

Honestly the OW community is tame compared to some.

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None of what you said makes it OK to be abusive or means that people shouldn’t be punished for it.

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I never claimed it was ok, in fact I specifically said that toxic people shouldnt run around unpunished

I dont tell people to be toxic, thats their choice

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This is definitely not true. I think you’re confusing a vocal minority for a general consensus. One or two people per match flooding the chat with toxicity is not a representation of “how most players communicate.” It’s how a few players communicate and overwhelm the experience with garbage.

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Then it’s not “part” of the experience… or it’s an undesirable part.

It’s not like you think overwatch and you WANT to be abused or you even expect it to be there no matter what.

Acting like the non-abusive section of the player base is some teeny tiny minority sounds like you’re trying to normalize and/or excuse the behavior.

That’s what your post seems to be conveying.

A small percentage of society consists of antisocial people. Should we let them do whatever they want? I think we shouldn’t. It doesn’t matter if the context is a video game or another type of competitive game called “real life”.

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Final fantasy 14

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if it’s not toxic, it’s a cult. rule of thumb.

My ex was stalked and harassed by several men in that game. It’s DEFINITELY toxic lmao

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it doesnt really matter because blizzard thinks its OK to ban solely on the number of reports. you can literally get your account closed without ever having a chat log

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Coincidentally, several years ago, I actually quit that game because my guild mate who was a friend of mine (I’m still friends with their sibling) was [very hostile] to me, we had a personal argument and we disconnected contact with each other, and I lost my mood to play it since. Obviously, not entirely game related toxicity, although it began with something with us not playing together or something, but it was a heated moment made me quit and put a sour experience. Aside that, I never really had a bad experience with randoms there except annoyance with bots and impatient instance joiners.

I’ve considered to play it again since last year and since was a lot of new hype and revitalization in the game but accessibility in that game when it comes to purchasing and signing etc. is a pain in the butt that keeps me from bothering lol

It won best community for a reason. There’s no such thing as an online game with 0 toxicity, but FF14 is the best I’ve seen. I’ve ran into 1 toxic person in the year I’ve played.

Omg I know what you mean. Every time I come back to the game I forget my password and have to go through hell to reset it.

Sorry to hear about you and your friend though. Me and my friend got in a fight playing Apex not too long ago, didn’t talk to him for a week but life’s too short to hold grudges, sometimes you just gotta talk it out and put it behind you.

FF14 just had a really nice patch. Animal crossing mini game and the first “mythic” dungeon. Been playing this and wotlk classic, taking a break from shooters till OW2.

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It is normal, everyone uses chat to be a cretin. I dont like it, I dont want that to happen, I report those people, but thats what people choose to do

Saying Overwatch is a place to “make friends” or “meet nice people” is an absolute lie. THis isnt a vocal minority being toxic, there isnt one match I’ve been in where people dont trash talk or try to hurt eachother

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You should try a different game mode, then. I’ve been playing Vs AI exclusively and I can only remember one game in the past year where someone said a single toxic word.

99.99% of the games there are toxicity-free. Give it a try, you might be surprised!