ABOVE RIGHT:
Splash Damage,
developers of Dirty
Bomb, strove for
transparency to
prevent community
toxicity.
RIGHT: The Sims
community is full of
people sharing jokes,
mods, screenshots,
and stories.
Groups of Wrath
FE ATURE
this is an internet communication
issue, I think, much more than it is
a videogame issue.”
Toxic, poisonous behaviour is –
whether we like it or not – a very
human thing that will never go away.
For all the good that it’s brought to
the world, modern technology – and
specifically the internet – has proven
to be the ideal breeding ground for
the darker side of human nature.
Once you sever the human
connection, reducing other people to
words and images on a silent screen,
negative behaviour is never very far
away. Most of us would never dream
of intentionally hurting a stranger,
but a cold and distant bundle of
words that say something we don’t
like? So what? In this way, the
internet combines dehumanisation
with an unprecedented ease to doing
harm to create something quite
sinister. Referencing the book This is
Why We Can’t Have Nice Things by
Whitney Phillips, Dr Lamont
considers the example of the
YouTube comments attack on Will in
the context of trolling.ROCK AND TROLL
“For some people, that is
entertainment, just seeing somebody
get worked up and knowing that they
can’t touch you and they can’t get
back at what you’re saying. I think
that ultimately that’s what the
dynamic probably is.
“You could sit with a friend and
chat and say it would be hilarious to
have a go with this guy and just
watch him lose his temper online,
and there’s nothing [they] can do
about it. ‘Let’s do it!’ I can’t think of a
non-virtual forum which would
enable you to do that so fluidly.”
You would perhaps expect that
being part of a group would keep
everybody in check, nobody wanting
to embarrass themselves in front of
their peers. The opposite is true,any of that kind of anonymous
hatred, because I think my belief was
that people would find it much more
difficult to be hostile and aggressive
and rude to a human.”
It’s important to remember that
toxicity is not a videogame problem- it is a human problem. Dr Lamont
surprises me by telling me that
similar behaviour arises in fine art
communities. “Some of it’s
horrendous,” she says. “People have
had exhibitions close down, people
have had serious talks with funders
about whether or not the funders are
still happy to support an exhibition...
THREE SPEECH
There actually are some lovely communities out there
DARK SOULS TRILOGY
Sure, you can invade (and
be invaded by) other
players, but there’s no
shortage of friendly Souls
fans willing to help others
within the community.STARDEW VALLEY
With a subreddit full of joy
and fanart, it’s little
surprise that the 2021
five-year anniversary saw
gratitude from developer
and community alike.SEA OF THIEVES
It’s become so popular, the
presence of some bad eggs
is inevitable, but there’s no
shortage of friendly pirates
willing to sail you through
the basics.TOXICITY IS NOT AVIDEOGAME PROBLEM- IT IS ACTUALLY A
HUMAN PROBLEM