GGEZ: How toxicity in video games is being countered

Toxic players really can break a game, as people are less likely to play if they’re likely to encounter someone who will ruin their gaming experience.

Some games and developers make it very obvious that they attempt to tackle negative behaviour, such as Blizzard censoring the much-tilting ‘ggez’ (good game, easy; a common ‘bm’ or ‘bad manners’ phrase intended to annoy the opposing team) in Overwatch by making it autocorrect in chat to one of a few self-mocking phrases. But many players feel there isn’t enough being done by developers to prevent and punish toxicity.

This is why over 30 companies - game developers, including Riot Games (League of Legends) and Blizzard Entertainment (StarCraft, World of Warcraft), as well as game-related companies (such as Twitch and Discord) - are banding together to try and solve the issue of abusive players. The Fair Play Alliance was announced at GDC (the Game Developers Conference) 2018 this March, and the number and status of these companies really does have the potential to create some positive change for all gamers - well, not very positive for those who will get banned for negative behaviour, but honestly? Oh well!

There are of course some players that are being proactive in tackling toxicity in games on a more individual level, and even if it’s only helping change a few people’s hearts it’s still a change for the better. Influencers, such as streamers, are some of the best to try and help the situation as they build communities that represent and amplify any positivity that the streamer puts forward.

One such streamer is Not_So_Nick, who after only 4 months has amassed a 600+ follower base that has flocked to his positive vibes and anti-tilt personality. I spoke with him at a fan mini meet-up to get his views on toxicity and why it’s important for individuals to not just stay silent in the face of negativity.

Not_So_Nick posing by the Birmingham Bull at a recent fan meet-up.

Answers have been edited for clarity.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Not_So_Nick: My name’s Nick, I’m a Twitch streamer by night, English teacher by day. I’ve been streaming video games for around four months now, with a friend called James [Not_So_Goblet], and the point of our stream is to try and spread a little bit of positivity on the internet, have a good time, interact with viewers, and get a community going of people who just want to have a good time. We want to make people see that you don’t have to be toxic on the internet, you can also be quite nice to each other. That’s the mission statement, I suppose, of the stream. [Laughs]

“There’s not that social repercussion that you would have it you literally went up to someone and said, ‘hey, you’re a smelly’.”

What do you think of the level of toxicity in video games?

NSN: I feel it’s just an inherent problem with the internet, as much as I love it. I feel the internet is just an ecosystem that allows toxicity to grow, be that on YouTube or social media or in games, because of the element of anonymity. You go on the internet, you have a username, but that’s about it, so if you want to say something horrible to someone, you’re going to say it, and they might see it but they won’t know who you are, and they’re not going to find you. There’s not that social repercussion that you would have it you literally went up to someone and said, “hey, you’re a smelly”. [Laughs]

I’ve been playing games all my life, since I was 5 or 6. To me, losing in a game, or having it not work out, or dying, whatever, it sucks. Especially if you’re really trying hard and someone or something keeps beating you, it sucks and it’s always going to sick, and there’s no way around that because that’s the point. You lose, you don’t feel so good; you win, you feel great. You need to accept that. Becoming negative about losing fuels toxicity, but toxicity fuels being negative. When you’re angry, you become more toxic and agitated, and maybe you’ll make an off-hand comment. But the smack talking kind of makes the other people also play worse and get negative and toxic as well. So someone who started as feeling quite positive is now feeling terrible because someone randomly snapped at them, and unfortunately it’s something that’s very difficult to snap out of.

How do you try to combat toxicity with your stream?

NSN: Our gimmick, i suppose, for trying to combat toxicity would be that we go into multiplayer games and as soon as the match starts, or we have an encounter with the other team or players, we type or we say something along the lines of “hey! How are you today?” Just a general question asking about their life. It’s that kind of impersonal but inquisitive question that breaks the barrier between you and the other team, and a lot of the time it works and you get a response saying “hey ma, that’s really cool that you’re asking, my day was fine”. And that’s already something you’ve found out, so immediately I can be like, “aw man that’s great,” and then right there, already, in those two maybe three sentences, you’ve already established a connection, a dialogue with what are other people.

I feel like that’s one of the biggest problems with the internet and gaming is that people don’t really look at the opposite team as people? We only see them as people who we’ve beaten or lost to, we don’t see that they have real lives and they have the same feelings as us. Maybe they’re going through something bad in their life right now, or maybe they had a bad day, and they’re just in a terrible mood. We don’t know this and we don’t really care. I feel like by trying to pull out some information from these people, you’re learning more and more about them, and that’s one tiny step, but still a step, towards a more respectful community. Because it’s not about being friends with everybody of course, but at least respecting each other as human beings, even in silly games.

We’ve had so many situations where that small talk led to really interesting conversations in the game and then these people drop into the stream, and we find out so much interesting stuff about these people and we’ve made some really cool friends just by being nice and connecting to these people. I mean, we’ve had this little meet-up with people from the stream that we’ve never met before ‘irl’ but we know then through streaming. They’re fantastic people that we would never have met if not for the way we approached streaming and gaming; it’s quite amazing what can happen when you just reach out to someone.

“Right there, already, in those two maybe three sentences, you’ve already established a connection, a dialogue with what are other people.”

How do you avoid succumbing to the negativity?

NSN: If we’re playing a game that we’re enjoying and having a good time in, but then we get toxicity chucked at us and making us not enjoy the game, I feel like that’s just missing the point of gaming in general because no one’s having fun. To somebody who doesn’t game, saying that ‘it’s just a game’ is obvious. But for someone who finds games important to themself, the distinction is not as easy to remember as the outside world might think.

Recently I had this moment where I thought about everything and decided that I’m going to try my best to not get angry, or tilted, or negative even if I’m losing. And if somebody’s getting toxic at me, I’ll say you know what you did good, you guys did really well, good job. And since I’ve done that, my gameplay experience has improved so much! A lot of people think that people who aren’t negative don’t care, but that’s not true because I do care. If I’m playing a competitive game I want to be climbing and go up in ranks. The only thing I’ve changed is when I’m losing, I accept that I’ve lost and shake the other team’s hand figuratively speaking. I put extra effort into praising my team or the other team if they’re doing well. In my opinion it’s better to praise your team than flame the other team.

Why do you think it’s important to stay positive?

NSN: I’ve been having so much more fun with games since I had this shift in behaviour, and it also pushed me to stream. And the stream has been finding its own little niche with people who feel like my outlook is a cool way of looking at gaming. Seeing people in my chat saying ‘hey Nick, I’ve been trying to be more positive and I’ve been having so much more fun’ is honestly incredible. It makes me hopeful, like the community can become better. We use gaming as an escape from our stressful lives, we love playing video games, we love having something to do in a completely different world or feel like we’re getting better at a competitive game. Being positive and seeing other people be more positive gives me hope for the community and the future of gaming in general because as we create a more positive image of our community, we’re perceived better by the outside world. That’s the thing that I want to push, to show that gamers aren’t that bad. [Laughs]

TL;DR: Toxicity is infectious, but so it positivity. Be nice and you’ll have a much nicer experience and possibly make new friends. To see this in action, tune in to Nick’s stream everyday 10pm GMT at twitch.tv/not_so_nick, where you can also find links to his Discord and social media accounts.