We’ve all been there…. If you are a gamer, more than likely you’ve seen toxic behaviour or even embarrassingly to admit, you’ve been that toxic gamer. You’ve heard the word toxic flying around in game when a player acts in a certain way or says certain things. Over 80% of multiplayer gamers experienced some form of online harassment in the past year. Toxic behaviours included sexual harassment, threats, and hate speech related to gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religion.

Source: Free to Play? Hate, Harassment and Positive Social Experiences in Online Games 2020

Those who experienced these toxic encounters mentioned they felt isolated and alone, preferred to be less social, and have even experienced depression and suicidal thoughts. Given these negative effects, what can you do to offer a safe and fun environment for everyone? Learn how to be someone everyone wants to play with and also an active gamer who helps make the gaming environment more enjoyable for everyone.

Six Easy Online Gaming Etiquettes to Follow

#6 - Be Present and Don’t Cheat

If you absolutely need to step away for a second, you should communicate and let your teammates know as soon as possible. It’s understandable things may happen and you might have to be right back. However, if you are gone for half the game, or if you are doing it more than once without good reason, or joining a game when you know you have to leave early-- you might want to reconsider playing the game. Especially during team oriented games, this wastes your team’s time as well as everyone playing the game.

#5 - Avoid Overcalling and “Backseat Gaming”

Try to communicate and talk at an enjoyable level with your team. Just like backseat driving, people have a hard time focusing on their own when there is another player playing for them. As much as you might want to help someone play the game, sometimes it’s best to have them learn on their own and then communicate at the end of the game.

#4 - Cut Out the Toxic Language and Behavior

People express anger and frustration through explicit language, which we’ve all experienced before. We all have had our fair share of F-bombs and shiitake mushrooms. But what’s not okay is when your words and actions become abusive and bullying. Rudeness, explicit language, and aggressive behavior is not acceptable.Some examples include: sexual harassment, threats of violence, hate speech, doxing, and spamming.

#3 - Encourage and Support New Players

We all started from the bottom somewhere. Think about when you first started to play. Was it helpful when your teammates were screaming at you? Didn’t you wish you had a gaming senpai back in your day? If your goal is to win (especially a team-based game), you are going to want everyone to be comfortable and play their best. Show your kohai the new ropes, how to best manage their economy, what skills work best, map callouts, etc. They will appreciate all your help and who knows you can even make a new friend from this! Team work makes the dream work.

#2 - Have fun

Everyone strives to get better at a game which is a natural goal for many people. But getting too caught in the moment can end up hurting you. The idea of winning is nice and feels good, but don’t forget you are just playing a game in the end. Ruining your fun or someone else’s isn’t the point of online gaming. A friendly reminder that the point of gaming is to have fun and spend your time enjoying what you play. You can ask yourself, why did I want to play this game? More than often your answer is not going to be related to “ruining someone’s gaming experience”. If anything you might answer more along the lines “I wanted to learn a new game”, “My friends wanted me to play”, “I’m looking for something fun to spend quality time on”.

#1 - See Something Say Something

Toxicity in gaming is increasing rampantly and can be harmful to a lot of people. Instead of normalizing toxic behaviour by trying to ignore it or assuming someone else will eventually say something, we have to start saying something when we see it happening right in front of our eyes. Something simple as “Don’t be toxic” can have positive effects. Many times, you don’t want to get involved or even worse be attacked yourself. But I promise you, if you say something you could make someone’s day and even a gaming experience they will always remember.

Gaming Toxicity

I wanted to focus on this topic as we talk about online gaming etiquette. Online gaming is growing, and even though there are great positive experiences, there is also the dark side of cyberbullying behind the screens. Toxicity in these situations usually take the form of abusive or negative language and behaviours. In the gaming community there are always a few who behave in such toxic ways that leave some players dehumanized. This type of behaviour continues to erode gaming communities. If possible, take a second to report such abusive behavior. Communities are meant to connect and support each other, and rather than destroy and bring down individuals.

Take a look at which games experienced the most in-game harassment. In 2020, 80% of players playing DOTA 2 and Valorant experienced in-game harassment:

Conclusion

Big companies want people to have a good time and continue playing their games. Luckily some have started to help make their games more enjoyable, and one way they are able to do this is by removing or reducing toxicity in the game. You can do your part and make sure the gaming community continues to be a space where people come knowing they will be safe and have a good time. If you follow these six tips, you will have a more enjoyable gaming experience not just for yourself but also for everyone else. They can help you enjoy your time no matter what game you play and who you play with. When you see someone getting harassed, it is important to say something instead of standing on the side lines and waiting for someone else to take that first step. While a lot of times we are trying to improve our gaming skills through technical guides, a reminder that you can improve another aspect of your gaming skills through social etiquette.