I don’t even know where to begin.
I’ve been a long time player of WoW but have also experienced quite a bit in other games in regards to toxicity.
I think that before I delve into this I must state that this is just my opinion. I need to explain what I consider toxic and then use relevant examples from over the years.
- Insults of any nature
- Boosting. Whether it’s with in game gold or direct payment
- Some pug raiding
- A person who has bought a boost.
The list can actually go on for a while but after these four it will get a bit redundant.
The first one needs no further explanation but I definitely feel that two and four actually contribute to toxicity in various aspects of the game.
Mythic keystones for a first example.
Boosting is toxic to the players who work for the Io they earn, as well as the moment you find yourself trying to do a key and the person with 2500+ score has no idea what’s what. (Examples, interrupts, affixes, etc)
This creates some issues by people becoming what the community has defined as “Elite” It’s unavoidable though. I’m sure everyone is tired of finding themselves with those individuals. (Boosted)
The issue doesn’t stop there.
Raiding at any level, but mostly LFR. People complain about how long the wing has been open blah blah. I’m tired of that statement.
New players and learners join, come back, and/or seek knowledge via experience. Only queue that is offered is LFR.
The rest must open themselves up to scrutiny from someone they don’t even know.
Recently the raiding experience has been less than pleasing. Not for me personally but for a few I know. Not all of us can figure things out on the fly or are used to raiding but the community seems very unforgiving to those individuals.
I’ve seen people get told to do LFR and not try to get into a normal etc. While the logic seems good it’s not.
LFR isn’t ideal for calmly learning. Sure we could tell people to just go find a guild but the fact is that people won’t always do this, whether it’s s bad previous experience or some other unknown reason.
Some of the issues of this bottleneck of toxicity could be resolved… Where it concerns mythic plus, but not all.
Of course people become accustomed to a certain way of things in game, or they get irate when someone has the audacity to say or suggest something that doesn’t benefit them. Yet when it comes to the toxic contributions of boosting in M+ there are options.
I’m not saying that they are large scale not costly but it really would give some quality of life changes to the vast majority.
Require level by level keystones and passing time for advancement. Require certain score to queue up. (I mean queue in the traditional sense where the company handles the players allowed in) if a player hasn’t passed the previous level then they can’t get into the next.
Perhaps a proving grounds queue in which leaders of groups can see the current DPS you are pulling. …before going in blindly or relying on progress you have or don’t on another toon etc.
Allow this queue to see how you handle mechanics. Interrupts, defensive etc. Let this test only take a max of 3 minutes and then the results shown to the group to which one is applying.
Suggestions like these would of course require investment and commitment from the company but I think there is value in these solutions. Long term.
Anyhow, I know this post is long and might even make a few of you get triggered and feel the need for rebuttal. In that end, sorry. My intention is to find like minded people, and affirm that I’m not the only person who feels this way.
This post is not all encompassing and is just my thoughts.
Thank you for taking the time to read it.