Is Trashtalk An Essential Part Of Online Games?

Canadamus Prime

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Jun 17, 2009
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Well that depends on what you mean by "trash talk" because friendly banter is one thing, while some of the stuff I understand goes on in these online competitive environments (I don't play online myself) is unacceptable by any standard. And as I said when commenting on the Extra Credits video on the subject, if this is "part of the culture" then that needs to change, NOW!
 

Patrick Buck

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Nov 14, 2011
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Essential? No, of course not.

Hilarious? Hell yes it is.
Just to clarify I don't trashtalk online, I don't even use my mic unless talking to friends, but hearing people get so irate about small things like losing a Call of Duty match or getting backstabbed in Halo just tickles me. Then people insulting the other team saying shit like they'll crush them, I just find it funny.
I think, the problem is that people can get away with it most of the time. The anonymity along with the competition tends to breed bad words.
Gabe's Rule of internet Assholes neatly sums it up:

(I couldn't remember The Escapist's policy on profanity, so hence the spoiler title)
 

prowll

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Aug 19, 2008
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MrFalconfly said:
Trashtalk is completely 100% non-essential.

There'd literally be no adverse effect to the gaming experience if people stopped trashtalking each other (discounting some immature shutins not being able to vent on other people over the internet).
I disagree, ONLY in that the method to eliminate it would be too heavy handed.

Personally, I have a thick skin, and you can call me anything and I probably won't mind. Talk about my wife or my mother, however... you get the perma-ban, ignore list, or banned from the server. Period.

However, to ELIMINATE trash talk, currently you need to eliminate talking. Look at Hearthstone. You have a few emotes, and that's it, unless the person you're playing is on your friends list. And I know several people that would love to be able to talk to their opponents, discuss tactics, ect. Can't be done. That's the cost of eliminating trash talk, and that's sad.
 

MHR

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Yes it is essential. If there were no trash talk how would I even know I'm playing online? At that point I might as well be playing against the computer and get Microsoft Sam to spout some shit at me about how I'm a gay scrub kid homo, but I know it just wouldn't be the same.
 

LeQuack_Is_Back

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May 25, 2009
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I wouldn't mind trash talk if it was remotely clever. But no, it always falls to "your gay" "go have cancer" and "i fukd ur mom"

No, it's not essential, and I look forward to the day it's mostly gone.
 
Sep 13, 2009
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I'll just say that there's a reason that I pre-emptively mute anyone I hear speaking on the mic in online games. Every now and then I'll let someone through, but then I'll remember why I keep the non-stop complaint and rage channel turned off
 

Mikkel421427

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Nov 10, 2010
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I am partial to the occasional wisecrack, mainly since I'm from a country where, if somebody's fucking up in a way that's obvious to everyone, bad humour would be seen as going "You're shit!", but good humour would be to ask "So... How do you think it's going?". Possibly while looking over their shoulder at the thing they're doing for extra effect. I'm all for a good wisecrack, but you also need to know when to stop yourself. Wisecracks should be there to throw people off slightly, not to sit there and essentially just berate them with insults and smartass comments for the sheer purpose of pissing them off. That's harassment. The occasional wisecrack? I don't mind that
 

McElroy

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I don't play online games for fun anyway. Stupid things in chat is where the fun really is. I PLAY TO WIN MOTHAFUCKAS! I don't think I'm making anyone upset who isn't that already. It's not essential but worth having.
 

Jiggle Counter

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Essential part of gaming? Of course not. I don't think the gaming devs make a game thinking, "Trashtalk is an essential part of gaming, so we've allowed gamers to record their taunts and play them with a macro key"

People who didn't win at real life at some point in their lives often trash talk. When you've lost a game, you'll swear out. When you've won a game, you'll swear out. It just means you're a bad loser or a bad winner. Typical school bully, everyone knows that.
 
Sep 14, 2009
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Patrick Buck said:
Essential? No, of course not.

Hilarious? Hell yes it is.
Just to clarify I don't trashtalk online, I don't even use my mic unless talking to friends, but hearing people get so irate about small things like losing a Call of Duty match or getting backstabbed in Halo just tickles me. Then people insulting the other team saying shit like they'll crush them, I just find it funny.
I think, the problem is that people can get away with it most of the time. The anonymity along with the competition tends to breed bad words.
Gabe's Rule of internet Assholes neatly sums it up:

(I couldn't remember The Escapist's policy on profanity, so hence the spoiler title)
yup just about sums up my thoughts.


I don't personally do it, at least online, if I'm playing with friends then you bet your sweet ass we are griefing each other to Chernobyl nuclear meltdown limits.

Don't really see the need to let some random in some random lobby in some random game spout some random insult and let it bother me, as the quoted person said, "it tickles me" and I usually just laugh at how stupid it is.
 

TheIceQueen

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The extent to which I go is teasing talk with people I know and love. You know, the sorts of people you can shout "whore!" at and they'll respond with "I love you, too!" Other than that, I've never thought that being an asshole is an essential part of any game and that people go to great lengths to make it so just makes the game a toxic environment to be in.
 

wrightguy0

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trash talk has always seemed to permeate most competitive forms of leisure, from football to videogames, it's not integral to actual play, but it's part of the psychological wind up. Online trash talk, fueled by the dehumanizing and detached nature of playing over the computer and the anonymity it provides has encouraged players to take trash talk too far, In any field game gamer trash talk would lead to a brawl. I do think that people need to pull back some of the extreme trash talk (Rape and murder threats especially)

Trash talk is, otherwise, a perfectly normal part of competition, it even exists in war. So we don't need to end trash talk, just come up with some clever insults.
 

KraQ

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Oct 4, 2014
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Trashtalk is the result of people who are invested in what they're playing. I'm all for the denouncement of harassment and general toxicity in games, just as I'm for the denouncement of harassment and general toxicity in all walks of life, but "cleaning up" a community is often less about making it more enjoyable for everyone and more about a distanced authority trying to feel more comfortable about it.

Maybe not having slurs thrown won't hurt as much, but it won't change the fact that there are shitty people in the world and artificially hiding which of those people are shitty is only going to make reasonable people less sure of their ability to identify shit heads and deal with them accordingly.
 

Starbird

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Thyunda said:
Trashtalking does depend 100% on the context. I don't mind people insulting my skills, but then I'm a relatively high rank/level in anything I play consistently and I'm certain enough of my own ability to not only give it back, but also out-perform.
However, I'm currently playing with my girlfriend and basically getting her into the games. So she's only getting one or two kills per game. If somebody were to start abusing her for it, I don't know if her confidence will be able to handle it, and so it would really fuck me off if she felt she couldn't compete just 'cause of some piece of shit thinking he knows trash talk.

Trashtalk I think is an integral part of competitive gaming. As in, between two teams of players in high-stakes situations. Not somewhere your average newb is going to be trying to enjoy the game. And there's no excuse for just plain abusing other players. Insult their skill, not their person.
I don't think it's integral at all. Even in most sports now trashtalk is severely discouraged and often met with stiff fines and penalties. Sportsmanship is not a dead word.

The problem with trashtalking in online games is the second you say 'ok, insulting skill is fine but nothing worse' is that it escalates.
wrightguy0 said:
trash talk has always seemed to permeate most competitive forms of leisure, from football to videogames, it's not integral to actual play, but it's part of the psychological wind up. Online trash talk, fueled by the dehumanizing and detached nature of playing over the computer and the anonymity it provides has encouraged players to take trash talk too far, In any field game gamer trash talk would lead to a brawl. I do think that people need to pull back some of the extreme trash talk (Rape and murder threats especially)

Trash talk is, otherwise, a perfectly normal part of competition, it even exists in war. So we don't need to end trash talk, just come up with some clever insults.
It does? A *few* sports maybe, but the majority of sports and martial arts enforce some degree of sportsmanship and respect between two teams.
canadamus_prime said:
Well that depends on what you mean by "trash talk" because friendly banter is one thing, while some of the stuff I understand goes on in these online competitive environments (I don't play online myself) is unacceptable by any standard. And as I said when commenting on the Extra Credits video on the subject, if this is "part of the culture" then that needs to change, NOW!
Between friends, which is why I would be 100% behind opt-in private chat rooms without much moderation.

Elsewhere in the game? Be a jerk to someone, get warned. Be jerk again, get a ban. Be a jerk again, get a longer ban. Be a jerk a final time, get permabanned.
 

Elijin

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Trashtalk has its place.

That place is within private matches, groups and parties. Among friends, where its just friendly ribbing, just like if you were split screening that business.

But from one random to another? No. It never had a place, people took the spirit of trashtalking built on the foundation of knowing your competitor, and took it to an anonymous environment and jacked it up.
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

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May 15, 2010
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I'll go as far to say as sporting trashtalk is ok, but that level of trashtalk is at the end of the game mitigated by a healthy form of respect usually shown by the parties involved in the end-of-game handshake or "good game". When at the end of the game someone is a total dick to the other competitors, this is not sporting at all and should be discouraged.
Sore losers and poor winners make the art of trashtalk less of an art and more of a sign of some serious mental issues such as but not limited to narcissism.
I'm ok with people trashtalking in a game, as long as they don't delve into low points like (but not limited to) racism or attacks on a person's gender.
Its a form of psyching the opponent out, but as I said there is a point of going too far with it to get the same effect.
I have and do talk some mad "shit" sometimes in games but at the end of it all I'm happy to give opponents credit for a good match. My grandfather taught me to play competitively but also to do so with grace, taking each win or loss as a lesson and to be grateful for the experience.
My rules are pretty simple, don't be a complete jerk but a little healthy trashtalk isn't such a bad thing.
 

Starbird

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I am also not a fan of using trashtalk to try and make your opponent play worse. People have been kicked out of major sports teams for being unsportsmanlike, and in the world of martial arts that shit does not fly.

All endorsing this does is encourages people to think of nastier and nastier stuff to say to psyche out the opponent, or to rub salt in the wounds after the game.

Respect your team, respect your opponent, respect the sport.