Toxicity | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Sun, 08 Dec 2019 16:39:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Toxicity | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Ubisoft re-enables cross-team text chat in Rainbow Six Siege https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/ubisoft-re-enables-cross-team-text-chat-in-rainbow-six-siege/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/ubisoft-re-enables-cross-team-text-chat-in-rainbow-six-siege/#respond Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:36:15 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=440483 Ubisoft has put many ideas to the test in an effort to combat toxicity in Rainbow Six Siege but not all of them are well received. The team's most recent attempt was to disable cross-team text chat from the game, removing the ability for opponents to trash talk each other. Now just one day later, …

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Ubisoft has put many ideas to the test in an effort to combat toxicity in Rainbow Six Siege but not all of them are well received. The team's most recent attempt was to disable cross-team text chat from the game, removing the ability for opponents to trash talk each other. Now just one day later, cross-team chat has been re-enabled following feedback from players. 

The developers announced the feature removal on test servers yesterday, saying: “We will be removing the cross-chat feature in live games. Our data consistently shows that a very high percentage of abusive chat reports are from cross-chat. Our aim is to make games a more welcoming experience and return the focus of the in-game chat to strategic team-based communications.”

However, players argued that an on/off toggle would be a better solution. Ultimately, the developers agreed, heading back to Reddit to post the following update: “After discussing with the team, and based on feedback, we have decided to focus on implementing a on/off toggle option for cross-chat in a future update. This means: 1. Cross-chat has been re-enabled on the Test Server, 2. Cross-chat functions will stay as they are on live as well.”

We don't know when the on/off toggle will be added to the game, but the option should pop up in-game soon, hopefully before the end of the current season.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Having chat toggles is a must-have feature in multiplayer games nowadays. Trash talk is part of any competitive scene and to some, it is just harmless back-and-forth fun, while other times it can get mean spirited. Having the option to just block that out seems like the better option all around rather than removing it entirely. 

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Toxicity in Overwatch is at an all-time low according to Blizzard https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/toxicity-in-overwatch-is-at-an-all-time-low-according-to-blizzard/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/toxicity-in-overwatch-is-at-an-all-time-low-according-to-blizzard/#respond Sat, 23 Mar 2019 12:04:38 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=407849 Despite its charming aesthetic and colourful characters, Overwatch has long been highlighted for its rampant toxicity in the casual and professional scenes alike. Blizzard has been fighting an uphill battle, but it seems as though its efforts are finally paying off as it claims “disruptive behaviour” has fallen by a staggering 40%. Most competitive games …

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Despite its charming aesthetic and colourful characters, Overwatch has long been highlighted for its rampant toxicity in the casual and professional scenes alike. Blizzard has been fighting an uphill battle, but it seems as though its efforts are finally paying off as it claims “disruptive behaviour” has fallen by a staggering 40%.

Most competitive games suffer from trolls, however Overwatch places significant emphasis on its class system and the necessity of a balanced team. Needless to say, many people became irate when essential roles go unfulfilled, prompting the hurling of abuse and general toxic behaviour.

Blizzard introduced a number of steps last year in order to mitigate misconduct, including its endorsement system and the Looking For Group feature. The endorsement system lets players rate other people’s conduct within game, rating them on communication, kindness and strategic aptitude. Looking For Group allows players to search for a game while filtering for players that better compliment their roles and play style.

“It’s a difference between physical and online communities,” explains Blizzard research developer Natasha Miller during the Game Developers Conference. “If you’re constantly tardy and you only do the bare minimum at work, you’re not going to get promoted. You have to watch someone else who does the work get the raise… In online communities, there are usually no consequences for bad behavior and no rewards for star players. We wanted the community to have their own reward system.”

Loot crates are among the rewards for those with a higher endorsement level, at least in certain countries, as well as more people to match with in the Looking For Group feature. Whether it’s a fear of losing out on the incentives or a sense of accomplishment, Miller explains that this “system makes people nicer” and has resulted in a staggering 40% drop in toxicity since the launch of those features.

It’s unlikely that Blizzard will slow down on its efforts, as it continues to make its casual and professional player base much more respectful in the future.

KitGuru Says: This isn’t to say that toxicity has been completely eradicated, as it will unfortunately always be a part of any competitive game. Personally, I don’t see the harm in most games implementing their own endorsement system. Are you happy with Blizzard’s reported numbers?

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Ubisoft gives a comprehensive look into its plans to combat toxicity in Siege https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/ubisoft-gives-a-comprehensive-look-into-its-plans-to-combat-toxicity-in-siege/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/ubisoft-gives-a-comprehensive-look-into-its-plans-to-combat-toxicity-in-siege/#respond Thu, 05 Apr 2018 14:27:29 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=369471 Rainbow Six Siege has done a lot right across the years, making for staggering growth since its 2015 launch. Naturally, this increase in popularity was met with a distinct rise in toxicity spreading throughout the community, something which Ubisoft began to address last month. Now, perpetrators face incremental bans depending on the severity of their …

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Rainbow Six Siege has done a lot right across the years, making for staggering growth since its 2015 launch. Naturally, this increase in popularity was met with a distinct rise in toxicity spreading throughout the community, something which Ubisoft began to address last month. Now, perpetrators face incremental bans depending on the severity of their offence, however Ubisoft has outlined that this is just the first step it has taken in the long road to recovery.

Giving a more comprehensive look towards its toxicity management, Ubisoft released a Dev Blog, simply titled ‘Toxicity’. Within the blog, it is revealed that the team aims to complete the first step of its war on bad behaviour by monitoring chat and endowing players with the ability to manually filter their own chat as well as mute text from each individual person.

“Racial and homophobic slurs” are the first on the list that Ubisoft is keeping an eye on, that can result in players being banned for two, seven or fifteen days, or perhaps even permanently depending on severity. Ubisoft reserves the right to do any of this without warning, but will treat each case individually.

Punishment is issued based on the player’s offence, with the possibility of “particularly egregious offenders being permanently banned without a warning being applied beforehand.” This means that the minimum ban might not be applicable for some and there is a possibility for retroactive behaviour prior to the change to be taken into account if players show no improvement.

Ubisoft estimates that it will be able to introduce ‘chat filtering’ and the long-awaited ability to individually mute typed chat per-play by Year 3, Season 3. The chat filter will automatically replace words that trigger the system, alongside notifying the perpetrator that their behaviour is unacceptable. Flag this system too many times and you’re in for a ban.

Muting individual players is already in the game for voice chat but has been noticeably absent from the game’s text chat. Introducing this feature will be handy for those often paired against a distracting enemy team that types too much, simultaneously with allies that rely on the chat functionality, as players will finally be able to mute all enemies while keeping friendly communication open.

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First of all, however, Ubisoft will be addressing the increasing problem of intentionally team killing. To prevent exploits, the team has remained hush about this portion, but has revealed that it will be tracking long-term offenders and will be harsh on punishments.

“These short-term changes will begin to address toxicity, but we do not plan to stop there,” concludes Ubisoft. “We are serious about tackling the issues surrounding the potential for a negative player experience, and we will share any further changes with you prior to their implementation.”

KitGuru Says: Part of me is hoping that Ubisoft take a leaf out of Blizzard’s book with its text chat filter replacing prohibited words with something comical, even if it doesn’t suit the tone of the game. Do you think Ubisoft is headed in the right direction?

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Ubisoft swings its ban hammer with new zero tolerance system combatting toxicity https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/damien-cox/ubisoft-swings-its-ban-hammer-with-new-zero-tolerance-system-combatting-toxicity/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/damien-cox/ubisoft-swings-its-ban-hammer-with-new-zero-tolerance-system-combatting-toxicity/#respond Tue, 06 Mar 2018 12:26:20 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=365914 As it enters Year 3, Ubisoft is giving Rainbow Six Siege an extensive overhaul with many of the changes to operators and attachments already outlined. Siege’s ban system is also subject to the update, combatting “racial and homophobic slurs, or hate speech” through a tiered system that runs alongside the current reporting methods. The new …

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As it enters Year 3, Ubisoft is giving Rainbow Six Siege an extensive overhaul with many of the changes to operators and attachments already outlined. Siege’s ban system is also subject to the update, combatting “racial and homophobic slurs, or hate speech” through a tiered system that runs alongside the current reporting methods.

The new system has been outlined by Siege community developer Craig “Its_Epi” Robinson on a Reddit post, stating that it is mostly automated, however it will work on a case-by-case basis. Going live this week, the system “will be tracking the frequency at which language that violates the Code of Conduct is used by individual players.”

Language that’s forbidden is already outlined in Ubisoft’s Code of Conduct, stating that “any language or content deemed illegal, dangerous, threatening, abusive, obscene, vulgar, defamatory, hateful, racist, sexist, ethically offensive or constituting harassment” is unacceptable.

This doesn’t encompass what Ubisoft considers “positive vulgar language” that often features in competitive games such as certain trash talking and swear words, as this is natural to the competitive nature of the game. Players are also encouraged not to worry about malicious reporting, as each chat log is reviewed case-by-case and non-offenders will not be persecuted.

Players who break these rules face the prospect of a 2 day, 7 day, 15 day or permanent ban, chosen by Ubisoft based on severity and how often the player has repeated these offenses. This will yield a message to tell the user why they have been banned, as well as notifying everyone globally similar to how bans for cheating are currently conducted.

Ubisoft has asserted that this is just the first step in tackling the toxic behaviour seen in Rainbow Six Siege and that more measures will be implemented as the year progresses. As for those readying to appeal the new system, tough luck as Ubisoft notes that the only workaround it offers is allowing the player to “play pretty much any other game.”

KitGuru Says: This no-nonsense attitude is definitely needed to improve the game’s quality of life. The only flaw in this system is that it doesn’t make any mention of voice chat, which is also an increasing problem. My guess is that this will be one of the features addressed a little later down the line. How do you feel about Ubisoft’s new zero tolerance system?

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Overwatch director comments on toxicity and hero balancing https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/overwatch-director-comments-on-toxicity-and-hero-balancing/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/overwatch-director-comments-on-toxicity-and-hero-balancing/#comments Fri, 26 Jan 2018 13:44:18 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=362120 In a regular developer update, Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan has addressed a number of popularly talked about topics in the game’s community. This touches on toxicity and how the team is currently handling it, as well as the state of hero balancing, particularly in the way of Mercy. Blizzard and the Overwatch team are committed …

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In a regular developer update, Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan has addressed a number of popularly talked about topics in the game’s community. This touches on toxicity and how the team is currently handling it, as well as the state of hero balancing, particularly in the way of Mercy.

Blizzard and the Overwatch team are committed to combatting the ongoing problem of toxicity in the title, with a good amount of progress dedicated towards the reporting system. Console players gained the ability to report not so long ago which has proven successful.

Offenders in Overwatch will receive a warning before they receive a ban that their behaviour is deemed unacceptable and punishment is impending if they continue, while the people who report will be notified when their report has been sanctioned. This has resulted in a 17 percent decrease of toxicity within the in-game chat and players’ faiths have been restored in the reporting system as shown by a 20 percent usage increase.

“We know those numbers are not as great as they could be, we know that the problem is not solved, and things aren't perfect, but it's getting a lot better,” Kaplan said. “A lot of the initiatives that we're doing here at Blizzard are starting to make a difference.”

In fact, Kaplan revealed that the Overwatch team actively hunts down toxicity shown in YouTube videos and presumably Twitch also, shutting down the accounts before players even have a chance to report the bad behaviour.

Hero balancing is another thing that Kaplan touches on, describing that the judgement is made based on community feedback, statistics and the intuition of the developers themselves. “There’s no one driving thing that’s causing balance to happen at any one time,” he describes, as all three points are evaluated equally.

He explains that given there are 35 million players in the game, players might often feel like they are voicing what’s right for the game, when in fact they are a part of many smaller communities which all feel different ways due to varying mains and playstyles. “There's not always one central community voice,” which is why each of the three points of Kaplan’s “triangle” are just as important as the other.

In particular, Kaplan mentioned Mercy, whose changes are currently being experimented with in the Overwatch PTR. Mercy’s ultimate, Resurrect has been tinkered with since October last year, and finding a balance has proven difficult for the team.

“If we tone her down too much, we will bring her back,” Kaplan said. “We want her to be viable, we just need to tone down the impact of Resurrect. We do believe it's a balanceable ability.”

There are many more characters that Kaplan expresses aren’t quite where the team would like them in terms of balance, and he reassures fans that they are constantly prototyping and playtesting until a suitable direction for each is chosen. In the meantime, he feels like the balance in Overwatch still works due to the sheer amount of variety and strategy between all heroes.

KitGuru Says: It’s nice that the Overwatch team is listening so closely to fans and how they feel. Of course, not everyone will be pleased and many people are likely to feel left out as their favourite picks get hit with a nerf or don’t get touched at all, but as far as a wholesome experience goes, hats off to Blizzard. How do you feel about Overwatch’s toxicity management and hero balancing?

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Riot says League of Legends player behaviour is improving https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/riot-says-league-of-legends-player-behaviour-is-improving/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/riot-says-league-of-legends-player-behaviour-is-improving/#respond Wed, 08 Jul 2015 19:30:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=258150 It is no secret that free to play team-based games like League of Legends have a somewhat hostile community, after all, League alone has 67 million players so there is bound to be a few bad eggs in there. However, Riot says that its new “governance systems” seem to be working, bringing down incidents of …

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It is no secret that free to play team-based games like League of Legends have a somewhat hostile community, after all, League alone has 67 million players so there is bound to be a few bad eggs in there. However, Riot says that its new “governance systems” seem to be working, bringing down incidents of homophobia, racism and sexism in  the game chat.

Text abuse in League of Legends now only apparently occurs in two per cent of games, while verbal abuse has dipped by around 40 per cent, which is a significant reduction. In addition to all of that, Riot's own statistics claim that 91.6 per cent of reported players reform themselves and leave the negative behaviour behind after being reported just once.

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According to lead game designer, Jeffrey Lin, in an interview with Re/Code, this took quite a lot of research to pull off. According to the developer's research, around 87 per cent of player toxicity came from players who weren't often negative online but just appearing to be having a bad day.

Previously, Riot's approach entailed putting chat abusers in to games with other chat abusers, which created a downward spiral. Now Riot uses ‘The Tribunal', which creates files on player behaviour as reported. There is also a system in place that will warn players almost instantly for negative behaviour. Ultimately, Riot is striving to turn the League of Legends community in to a more positive place.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Both League of legends and Dota 2 have somewhat hostile communities. There will always be people looking to abuse the system while playing something free, since it isn't costing them anything. However, Riot's community changes seem to be having a positive effect now. 

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