Is Trashtalk An Essential Part Of Online Games?

[lunavixen]

A little bit of fond ribbing is fine, but no one likes a sore loser or an excessive gloater. It's not necessary to be a trash talker and shouldn't be expected or tolerated.

 

[Agayek]

So yeah - where do you stand on this? Why do you think this stuff is so ingrained in certain online communities? Does it just come with the territories or is it learned behavior resulting from a
combination of anonymity and a lack of moderation?

First off, I'm going to start off with some definitions, because this kind of discussion is prime territory for vagueness to be misinterpreted. When I say "trash talk", what I'm referring to would perhaps be better referred to as "banter". This would be things like, upon a successful gank in a MOBA, the ganker takes to chat to say "Get owned!", or upon being killed in a shooter, the killee says "Oh it's on now *****!", etc. This is the kind of emotional, competitive language I mean when I say "trash talk".

And by and large, while I don't see it as "essential", I do view it as a fairly important/prominent aspect of competition and/or team comradery. This is a healthy and productive outlet of the emotions that build up in competitive environments, and it exists in pretty much every competitive expression of human behavior. It's not something that needs to end at all. If anything, stopping trash talking will remove a quick and harmless outlet for the emotional stress competition creates, which could very easily end in being expressed in a non-harmless fashion.

That said, "trash talk" can very easily morph into abuse over the internet. The online disinhibition effect [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect] is very much a thing, and it's the main cause of the kind of outrageous behavior we see in trolls or even simply heated discussion on the internet. This is just as present in online games as it is on forums or Twitter or whatever, and it causes people to tend to escalate much farther and much faster than they would in a face-to-face setting. That's when there's a problem, and it should be called out as such whenever anyone sees it happen.

TLDR: Trash talk isn't a problem. The internet and its impact on human behavior is.

 

[Random Fella]

If you know how to properly BM in Dota, it can be essential to your victory.
That being said I do it more for a tactical advantage over self pleasure.
Emotion directly effects concentration and decision making of the opposition, if you can throw them off, you gain advantage, but you have to do it correctly or you can cause the opposite.

 

[Reasonable Atheist]

In my opinion, it does not matter in even the slightest little bit, and maybe if you think its such a big deal you might need to get good scrub.

*cheeky wink*

 

[Vault101]

if its an "essential" part of online games then online games suck

 

[1Life0Continues]

If saying it in person would get your teeth knocked down your throat, then don't say it online.

There's a reason I don't play online anything. People often can't differentiate between a little smack talk and being a complete ****. Some people equate trash talking with the right to denigrate and put down others because...reasons.

No. It's not essential, nor is it in any way required or even necessary at all. If it was eliminated completely, I wouldn't cry a single tear.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it might be essential to you, but you are not the only one playing. And let's make this distinction clear, it's smack talk between friends, but shouting profanities at strangers just plainly makes you a prick that needs to be handled as any other prick in the game.

So go enjoy your trash talk all day long, in the circle of people that like it, everywhere else however this shit is not acceptable.

 

[DementedSheep]

Some trash talk is fun but there is a difference between ribbing and just being an asshole. Being an asshole is not essential and I don't feel sorry for them when they get banned.

 

[Greg White]

Trash talk is one thing(and even that should be kept to a minimum), but gloating or threatening someone during or after a match is another.

The problem is that many of the attributes that make someone good at online gaming don't necessarily make for a very socially adjusted person. Some people view trash talking as their way to vent on strangers, either because the game was going bad, they fail at life, or whatever other reason they have for being mad, and it's that very behavior that leads to toxicity in most communities.

 

[Gunner 51]

I hate trash talking. It's the lamest horseshit. It is (not literally) the shit from a lame horse that is so lame they aren't even going to bother making glue with it. They're going to chop it up, mince it, and sell it to Captain fucking Birdseye. That's how lame trash talk is.

Also, it's sad that being a complete cock is 'part of the game'. Try being good at the game and not being a dick. Come on, multitask!

Ha ha ha, QFT, Baffle.
Plus what you said about the horse being so lame it's going to be sold straight to Captain Birdseye made me spit my milk out.

But in all seriousness, I agree with you that there's just no need for trash talking in games at all. If I wanted to be insulted or belittled I'd walk into a bad part of town. I play to unwind, not to be wound up.

 

[Scarim Coral]

As Yatzee put it-

"Short answer, no! Long answer nooooooooooooo!!!"

As for the reason for trashtalking in online gaming, it's similar to being amon on the internet. No one knows who or where you're are in the real world therefore you can say anything offensive to the other person and get away with it. Well ok you can still get banned but at least you will never get that person slamming into your door and face you in person well unless you're that unlucky kid that was mention on the news here ages ago.