Ethics In Gaming

[AkaDad]

Our gaming community has a bad reputation, correctly in some cases and incorrectly in others.

With all the recent controversies lately, many in our community have been talking about ethics and corruption, so I've decided to make a list of basic principles that most of us should agree with, and hopefully follow.

To save on typing, when I say "journalist" I'm including game reviewers.

Journalists:

Corruption

1. Journalists should never accept cash, gifts, or favors in exchange for favorable reviews.

2. Journalists should always disclose conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest.

3. Journalists should recuse themselves from giving reviews or favorable press to games developed by family, partner, or spouse.

4. Journalists should not be afraid to give out negative reviews to games even when said games are being advertised on their site.

Interaction

1. Journalists should not use racist, homophobic, or sexist language, or use personal insults.

2. Journalists should not cherry-pick comments from gamers and then accuse all gamers of being representative of said comments.

3. Journalists should not engage in doxxing, bullying, or harassment.

4. Journalists who wish to voice their opinions should issue a disclaimer saying that their views are not representative of their employer.

Gamers:

Interaction

1. Gamers should not use racist, homophobic, or sexist language, or use personal insults.

2. Gamers should not cherry-pick comments from other journalists/gamers and then accuse all journalists/gamers of being representative of said comments.

3. Gamers should not engage in doxxing, bullying, harassment, issuing death threats, or SWATing journalists/gamers.

4. Gamers should not accuse journalists of corruption without factual proof.

5. Gamers should not hack and cheat to gain an advantage.

6. Gamers should not accuse journalists/gamers of forcing their views upon them and instead should use their right to not participate.

These might seem like obvious principles, but I see some of them being ignored daily and if we're going to be an ethical community, then ethical behavior should apply to everyone in our community.

All this recent fighting and animosity towards each other is exhausting and detrimental to the community as a whole. Perhaps if we follow these basic principles, show respect to one another, our community could become a better, happier place and start to repair our reputation to those not in our community.

If you have anything to add, feel free to do so in the comments below.

 

[Colour Scientist]

If corrupt journalists are no longer accepting cash bribes, I will gladly carry the burden.


For a small cash fee in a brown envelope, Colour Scientist will say nice things about you and your games/videos/grandmothers.


[sub][sub]Terms and Conditions: Colour Scientist cannot guarantee that anyone will listen to and/or read her endorsements.


No refunds.[/sub][/sub]

 

[AkaDad]

If corrupt journalists are no longer accepting cash bribes, I will gladly carry the burden.


For a small cash fee in a brown envelope, Colour Scientist will say nice things about you and your games/videos/grandmothers.


[sub][sub]Terms and Conditions: Colour Scientist cannot guarantee that anyone will listen to and/or read her endorsements.


No refunds.[/sub][/sub]

You didn't give my thread a positive review, so obviously you can't be trusted when you take someone's cash.

 

[Jack Action]

Only one question.

1. Gamers should not use racist, homophobic, or sexist language, or use personal insults.

^does this also apply to in-game trash talk? Because if yes, that kinda defeats the purpose of trash talk.

 

[AkaDad]

Only one question.

1. Gamers should not use racist, homophobic, or sexist language, or use personal insults.

^does this also apply to in-game trash talk? Because if yes, that kinda defeats the purpose of trash talk.

I can see using that language with your friends, but with random strangers?

I was thinking more along the lines of discussions like these.

 

[Jack Action]

I can see using that language with your friends, but with random strangers?

I was thinking more along the lines of discussions like these.

Fair enough. Random groups suck, anyway.

 

[Mezahmay]

Oh. Based on the title I was hoping that the blaming the journalists things was over and we could begin looking inward. Guess we're in a transitional period since both parties are covered. *looks over the gamer rules* Ah. So I should start acting like a civil human being, pretending like the monitor doesn't exist and on the other side are other human beings who might be affected by my language and illicit information unearthing. Got it.

 

[AkaDad]

I can see using that language with your friends, but with random strangers?

I was thinking more along the lines of discussions like these.

Fair enough. Random groups suck, anyway.

Agreed. It's why I rarely play multiplayer. The last game was Bulletstorm, where I was called a ****** for suggesting that we work together as a team.

 

[AkaDad]

Oh. Based on the title I was hoping that the blaming the journalists things was over and we could begin looking inward. Guess we're in a transitional period since both parties are covered. *looks over the gamer rules* Ah. So I should start acting like a civil human being, pretending like the monitor doesn't exist and on the other side are other human beings who might be affected by my language and illicit information unearthing. Got it.

I know my rules are radical. I just hope they don't turn people off.

 

[Jack Action]

Agreed. It's why I rarely play multiplayer. The last game was Bulletstorm, where I was called a ****** for suggesting that we work together as a team.

I'd see that as a bit insulting too, honestly.

But in my case, it would be more because they couldn't be bothered to come up with something more inventive. I mean if you're going to try to insult random people online, put some effort into it!

 

[carnex]

I see one big cog in you wheels there. And that's anonymity of the internet. Good luck with forcing anonymous people to keep their filthy mouths shut. And let's be honest, vast majority of people does have filthy language in their repertoire and ready to fire. There are to many words and phrases that have become everyday talk and are seen inappropriate. And I'm not talking about rape ans similar words, but about even much milder stuff.

Community would have to make a list of forbidden words, and as a person with firm belief of freedom of speech, i have a problem with that.

One of "inappropriate messages" that I used to get while playing Dawn of War multiplayer was "punt the ****" which referred to attacking from below. Gamers are weird but creative and very descriptive.

 

[AkaDad]

I see one big cog in you wheels there. And that's anonymity of the internet. Good luck with forcing anonymous people to keep their filthy mouths shut. And let's be honest, vast majority of people does have filthy language in their repertoire and ready to fire. There are to many words and phrases that have become everyday talk and are seen inappropriate. And I'm not talking about rape ans similar words, but about even much milder stuff.

Community would have to make a list of forbidden words, and as a person with firm belief of freedom of speech, i have a problem with that.

I'm not saying these rules should be forced, that's why I used the word should instead of must.

I'm not naive enough to believe gamers will all of a sudden start acting civilly, but I believe it is a goal we should be working towards.

 

[Gergar12_v1legacy]

Add enough for corruption. Whenever a reviewer gets a game and or console( if you are a giant enough website for game reviewing) for testing/reviewing, they should give it back after they are done or it's a bribe.

It creates too much bias in many reviewers

 

[Jack Action]

Add enough for corruption. Whenever a reviewer gets a game and or console( if you are a giant enough website for game reviewing) for testing/reviewing, they should give it back after they are done or it's a bribe.

It creates too much bias in many reviewers

The Ebert option is also reasonable. Specifically, donating the review copies to local orphanages.

 

[AkaDad]

Add enough for corruption. Whenever a reviewer gets a game and or console( if you are a giant enough website for game reviewing) for testing/reviewing, they should give it back after they are done or it's a bribe.

It creates too much bias in many reviewers

The Ebert option is also reasonable. Specifically, donating the review copies to local orphanages.

I have no problem whatsoever with either suggestion.

Edit: I'm not saying that giving a reviewer a game constitutes a bribe, just that giving it back or donating it is fine by me.

 

[Panda Pandemic]

I see one big cog in you wheels there. And that's anonymity of the internet. Good luck with forcing anonymous people to keep their filthy mouths shut. And let's be honest, vast majority of people does have filthy language in their repertoire and ready to fire. There are to many words and phrases that have become everyday talk and are seen inappropriate. And I'm not talking about rape ans similar words, but about even much milder stuff.

Community would have to make a list of forbidden words, and as a person with firm belief of freedom of speech, i have a problem with that.

One of "inappropriate messages" that I used to get while playing Dawn of War multiplayer was "punt the ****" which referred to attacking from below. Gamers are weird but creative and very descriptive.

This kind of leap is part of what makes it hard to take a fair few complaints seriously. So many leaps to 'censorship' and whatnot when it was never even suggested. When people keep blowing jt out of proportion like that the only recourse is to pretty much disbelieve all this nonsense of worryinf about censorship unless people can actually point to proof of others actually saying it

 

[Mezahmay]

Add enough for corruption. Whenever a reviewer gets a game and or console( if you are a giant enough website for game reviewing) for testing/reviewing, they should give it back after they are done or it's a bribe.

It creates too much bias in many reviewers

I...what? That's seriously still a concern people have? I mean...uhh...
Suppose the reviewer does not get a console to use, from a publisher, developer, manufacturer, etc. That's an out of pocket expense for a profession that is not known for paying all that well. Large enough publications only use a few office consoles anyway and the reviewers are left to game on whatever they want when they're not working at home and they pay for their own consoles anyway. If they pay for their own games, that's edging closer and closer to paying for their jobs. At $60 a pop, it only takes 8-9 games to match the cost of a console. Now let's say that their host website/publication pays for their console for them or reimburses them. Are they now biased in favor of making a clickbait review so the host website gets more ad revenue?

It isn't a bribe. Good reviewers are not expected to give a good review in exchange for doing their jobs. They receive tons of review copies over the course of their career to the point that the novelty of getting a "free game" is about as exciting as paperwork is in an office. Even the Escapist podcast crew said like two years ago that the little press gifts they get from press events are just clutter. In fact, good developers want reviewers to be critical so they know how to improve a sequel or another game they're working on. Gaming as a medium does not benefit from overly positive reviews. It doesn't even benefit the reviewer in the long term if no one listens to their review after being burned a few times. Think about that for a moment, does anyone seriously go to IGN anymore for a game review after the practically conducted the hype train for the Xbone/PS4 launch and Titanfall?

 

[gargantual]

Only one question.

1. Gamers should not use racist, homophobic, or sexist language, or use personal insults.

^does this also apply to in-game trash talk? Because if yes, that kinda defeats the purpose of trash talk.

I can see using that language with your friends, but with random strangers?

I was thinking more along the lines of discussions like these.

Well of course here. this is a civil forum with codes of conduct, but jumping in a random FPS server to police folks throwing out innocuous insults among people who might get it or don't care or at most would just ask for clairification? Every situation's different.

Why piss off the biker bar. Or roll up in the hood armed with a nanny ruler. It won't end like it does in the movies. Jus' sayin.

 

[krazykidd]

Preaching to the choir man. It's not even just gaming. It's in everything, everywhere. It's just internet culture. I think it's best if just ignored. But people can't keep their opiniosn to themselves and their mouths shut. I blame facebook for making people feel their imput is important.

#my2cents.

 

[carnex]

I'm not saying these rules should be forced, that's why I used the word should instead of must.

I'm not naive enough to believe gamers will all of a sudden start acting civilly, but I believe it is a goal we should be working towards.

By all means proclaim it. Or someone of more fame and authority to proclaim it. I will toss in my vote, and I think that would be somewhere about 20th time I do that same think. First time that it involves journalism too tho, until now it was always only gamers code of behavior. And I do believe that majority of posters here do not act like that, or at least not on regular basis.

I'm not trying to be sarcastic or counterproductive although I can see how it's exactly lie that that it's perceived in most of the cases. Others already put in their two cents with questions of private party vs online etc. I actually think reporting of players (especially now that you can record on the fly on xbox one/PS4) is best course of action to enforce any kind of rules.

Here is another idea. Implement in games switch "foul language" so that game pairs you only with people that have same idea about language used. Or add "foul language" switch to rooms/sessions in places where players organize those. That actually has a chance to work, slim chance but it has one.

This kind of leap is part of what makes it hard to take a fair few complaints seriously. So many leaps to 'censorship' and whatnot when it was never even suggested. When people keep blowing jt out of proportion like that the only recourse is to pretty much disbelieve all this nonsense of worryinf about censorship unless people can actually point to proof of others actually saying it

If you are going to try to enforce it, there is no other way to enforce it. If not, as I said I'll toss in my support, again. These things pop up from time to time.

My reaction was like this since I already saw demonstrations of speech recognizing programs that could be used for automatic reporting of foul mouthed players to whoever hold that particular gaming network. Nobody wanted to risk killing their player base and use it but idea and tech already is there.