I’m posting here in competitive because this is where an event occurred yesterday that needs to be mentioned. My daughter, a kid of 12 has her own OW account, is a Mercy main, and has been playing for 4 months. She’s not great but she’s trying to get better, watching videos, OWL streams, and reading up on games. She’s excited about Overwatch and it’s a nice father daughter bonding experience. We were talking about playing competitive games, the positive experience during my 10 placement matches, and teamwork aspect that’s not in Quick Play.
Cut to yesterday afternoon, I walk by and watch my kid in a placement game, the only healer, and a few people on the team are railing on her. They were complaining that she kept getting killed but when the enemy is dive comp and your team has a single healer of course she’s going to get smoked. I showed her how to squelch chat and she finished the game doing an admirable job given the circumstances. She didn’t say a word in response.
After the match we sat down and talked about how people care a lot for the game, get frustrated, and want to blame someone else when things don’t work out. That the anonymity of the internet allows people to behave in a manner they wouldn’t / shouldn’t do otherwise. She understood what I was trying to say but decided she had enough Overwatch for the day.
So, all of you people out there having a bad round or a bad day. Before you tear into someone faceless person on the internet think about who you might be talking to and the effect you are having upon them. We have a girl that likes to play video games and is interested in a higher level of play. That’s unicorn level unique and you’re doing your best to kill it.
Should my kid have tried competitive? Probably not. Does she need to get thick skin to play in the big kid’s world? Probably. But damn, act like an adult or at least a well adjusted teenager. If all you can say is something mean then don’t say anything and better yet switch to support and maybe heal a healer.
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I find kids bully other kids who aren’t doing what they want. And some of those kids end up being the same kind of adult.
Me, I will not let my kid in chat. Sorry to those who want to mic up, but you should know better yourself and learn to deal with it.
When they’re older, sure, then they can take care of themselves. But Overwatch, like most games, comes with a T rating. Which for those who don’t understand, is guidance, not a rule (INB4 only teens should play…). But guidance includes muting online morons to me.
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No offense, but everyone gets insulted and judged in online games (especially games where your actions affect others) regardless of who you are. If you don’t want her to hear that then tell her to not join voice, but trying to appeal to the morality of a bunch of random internet people is 100% pointless.
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Honestly, the way blizzard has designed the game incites these levels of frustration and blame. The medal system exudes toxicity. No role queue or role lock encourages toxicity.
I could go on and on. Blizz needs to find a solution to their frustrating game. Your daughter will make a great comp healer some day. I hope this interaction hasn’t discouraged her from trying to improve her gameplay.
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very unfortunate but true. given most of the players consist of teenagers, who dont think of consequences even irl. would they even think of consequences when anonymity is involved? it can be a very important lesson to have a thick skin though. hopefully OP’s daughter can swallow the pain and learn to move on like a champ.
“When… When will you learn… That your actions have consequences!!!¡”
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but trying to appeal to the morality of a bunch of random internet people is 100% pointless.
So damn true.
Oddly enough I’ve had a pleasant time in OW. I usually play QP and maybe 1 in 50 games there’s someone toxic. All the other times is people minding their own business or generally helpful… I guess in competitive SR has worth to some people. To me SR is like Reddit Upvotes it’s unusable internet space money.
I’ll have to work with the kid on how to squelch chat and text without burning too much game time.
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You can turn, atleast voice chat, completely off in the “Sound” settings (if that’s what you’re looking for), not sure if you can mute text team/match chat pre-game though
I hope this interaction hasn’t discouraged her from trying to improve her gameplay.
I hope so too. Her eyes light up when she tells me about some sweet play she pulled off or swooped in to safe the life of some over extended tank. It’s cute.
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People forget that this is what the game is for. To have fun.
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To me (and I assume a lot of other people) SR is just a personal goal to achieve, kind of a way to judge if you improvement was worth it. But then again everyone sees it differently.
That being said as much as it is a hard truth about the world of competitive gaming, “thick skin” is a guaranteed requirement to achieve “high level play”. If you are playing a competitive game mode, the general assumption is that you are doing so to at least compete, and hopefully to improve as well. Both of these things (at high levels) require a sort of “thick skin” in the sense that if you can’t take criticism/blame from others in game, you will never be able to truly compete with them; and if you can’t take criticism of your play outside of the game, then you will never truly improve.
Basically to play any game in a competitive atmosphere, the “thick skin” to listen to all the insults and criticisms and sort out what is useful information on what to improve, is 100% required.
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Maybe 12 years is a bit too early for the competitive mode with random people?
You know that there are many things in the world that can hurt your kid, and it is YOUR responsibility, as a parent, to create a pleasant and safe environment for her.
Forum Moderator Note: Inappropriate analogy removed.
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flashbacks to the sonic kid
I read the title and expected a Stalker reference from Warframe
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True, but then again he is at least trying to make better gaming community for everyone, even if it is impossible.
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And it is a great cause, but i assume his daughters sanity is very important and expecting the online gaming community to start “behaving” in less time than it will take her to finish college is a not realistic.
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Or maybe people over the age of 12 shouldn’t act like spoiled 6 year olds… Age doesn’t mean anything when it comes to being toxic, good for the kid to challenge themselves. Maybe they will learn from this experience as they grow older, get better, and crush people with their new skills - they in turn wont be as toxic as the ‘adults’ that play this game.
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People get mad when they see someone causing their loses. Not everyone puts on a fake smile and walks on eggshells to protect everyone’s feelings.
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I am in my 30’s. Most toxicity i get is from little kids tbh.
Regardless, i have couple >10 year old on my friendlist, they are cool.
Now comp. Look I dont know who is behind each ign. But if you go support and you keep dying, i will speak up. Yes its nice if your team peels but they dont always do. As a support you need to rely on yourself and make sure you stay alive by watching your position. Tanks and dps dont need protect you like you are some fragile butterfly. Everyone has abilities, use them.
They shouldn’t, we should call such behavior out, and I commend the OP for trying to do so.
That said, Kanki’s point wasn’t, I think, to say that behavior is okay, just that it’s not going to stop overnight and he may consider not having his kid exposed to an enviroment where we KNOW this will happen.
The two points aren’t mutually exclusive.
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