Toxic Behaviors in Esports Games

Adinolf, Sonam; Türkay, Selen

doi:10.1145/3270316.3271545

Cited by 101 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Literature across psychology, sociology, media and games studies have carefully demonstrated the multitude of ways that players can behave in problematic ways and damage games and communities [2,29,49]. 'Toxic' or hostile player-community behaviours encompass a wide range of disruptive and unsporting activities [85], some of which are increasingly associated with misogyny [28] and other discriminatory and gatekeeping attitudes identified in parts of gamer culture [65].…”

Section: 1mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A draft code of ethics for the game industry is currently under development, and includes a section on 'player safety in online multiplayer games' that emphasises clear and actionable codes of conduct and the prevention of "unwanted disruptive behaviours as much as possible". 2 Nevertheless, more nuanced discussions of the practicalities and difficulties inherent in designing multiplayer games and managing communities with diverse values are still little discussed.…”

Section: Integrating Ethics Into the Design Of Multiplayer Gamesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…'Toxic' gaming communities marked by high levels of abusive chat, targeted harassment, scamming, and cheating are widely acknowledged as a familiar part of many multiplayer gaming experiences [2,29,49]. Despite the multitude of efforts on the part of game companies to combat such behaviours, players continue to express a sense that developers are ultimately helpless in curbing the inevitable tides of toxicity [79].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Ethics of Multiplayer Game Design and Community Management

Sparrow

Gibbs

Arnold

2021

Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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Game industry professionals are frequently implementing new methods of addressing ethical issues related to in-game toxicity and disruptive player behaviours associated with online multiplayer games. However, academic work on these behaviours tends to focus on the perspectives of players rather than the industry. To fully understand the ethics of multiplayer games and promote ethical design, we must examine the challenges facing those designing multiplayer games through an ethical lens. To this end, this paper presents a reflexive thematic analysis of 21 in-depth interviews with games industry professionals on their ethical views and experiences in game design and community management. We identify a number of tensions involved in making ethics-related design decisions for divided player communities alongside current game design practices that are concerned with functionality, revenue and entertainment. We then put forward a set of design considerations for integrating ethics into multiplayer game design.

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Section: 1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Integrating Ethics Into the Design Of Multiplayer Gamesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Ethics of Multiplayer Game Design and Community Management

Sparrow

Gibbs

Arnold

2021

Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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“…2017). Inquiry into toxicity in gaming is part of a larger body of literature and public interest emerging around disruptive and malicious social interactions online, cyberbullying, child-grooming, and extremist recruiting (Adinolf andTurkay 2018, Fredman 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxicity v. toxicity: How Ethnography Can Inform Scalable Technical Solutions

Sherman

McClard

2020

Ethnographic Praxis

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While a number of scholars have studied online communities, research on games has been mostly focused on the business, experience, and content of gameplay. Interactions between players within games has received less attention, and toxic behavior is a newer area of investigation in academia. Inquiry into toxicity in gaming is part of a larger body of literature and public interest emerging around disruptive and malicious social interactions online, cyberbullying, child‐grooming, and extremist recruiting). Through our research we reaffirmed that toxicity in gaming is a problem at a global scale, but we also discovered that on a micro scale, what behavior gamers perceive as toxic, or how toxicity is enacted in gaming is different depending on cultural context amongst other things. The generalized problem at scale, and its particular manifestations on the micro level raise philosophical and technology design questions, which we address through examples from our own research and its applications in the industrial settings.

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“…Players are likely to encounter other strangers when playing multiplayer online gamers: The game server will matchmake players randomly together into groups to play together or against each other. Within the game, players can communicate via text messages or voice chat, but text remains the dominant channel of communication (Adinolf & Turkay, 2018). Text chat is mainly used for enabling task-based communication like discussing strategies, but it is also the main method for displaying verbal aggression, like raging at teammates or taunting opponents (de Mesquita Neto & Becker, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining how anonymity, group identity, and secondary goals influence online verbal aggression

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Verbal aggression is increasingly prevalent online, especially so in social media and online gaming environments. These trends are worrying because despite occurring virtually, verbal aggression can cause psychological distress to victims in reality. It can also influence others to exhibit similar behavior, subsequently harming the general climate of discussion and perceptions of socially appropriate behavior. In the long run, this can reduce the quality of online interactions and mar the enjoyment of online experiences. The aim of this set of two studies is to untangle the complexities surrounding verbal aggression online, in the contexts of online commenting and online gaming.Currently, there is ample attention on research into external factors such as technological affordances (e.g., level of anonymity offered) and social norms,

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Toxic Behaviors in Esports Games

Cited by 101 publications

References 20 publications

The Ethics of Multiplayer Game Design and Community Management

The Ethics of Multiplayer Game Design and Community Management

Toxicity v. toxicity: How Ethnography Can Inform Scalable Technical Solutions

Examining how anonymity, group identity, and secondary goals influence online verbal aggression

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