Why Are Gamers So Toxic Sometimes?
Over the past week, I’ve watched a lot of streamers to find people to recommend for Part 3 of my Streamers To Watch During Lockdown series, where I try to bring my readers some quality streamers that I feel should be shared with the community. It’s something I haven’t really done in a while but I wanted to try and do it more regularly.
However, after watching two streamers surround themselves with toxic players I kind of decided that I would like to address the subject of toxic streamers and toxic gamers in general.
Many people would say that if you play games competitively you can’t help but be a little toxic every now and then. As the adrenaline kicks in, you start reacting with your emotions. I know I’m not alone in saying that I have seen many streamers who might get a little excited and become a bit mean towards others, or it might be the case where they have a friend you are playing with who becomes toxic while you and your viewers are left listening to that.
I was watching a streamer who I recently found and whose content I was really enjoying, but the company this streamer keeps can be rather off putting. They were not really losing their game, in fact, they did fairly well! But one person, in particular, kept getting killed and they couldn’t contain their frustrations at all. Saying that the players who kept killing them were cheating, they would openly take pleasure when their opponents died, or as they were about to die to yell “I HOPE YOU DIE!!” at the opposing team. To me, this is really annoying, somewhat toxic, and shows that they are a sore loser.
However, this alone was not just their fault and I could have overlooked the fact that they kept swearing and acting childish however the streamer I was originally watching really let me down. As a public figure and someone who is being looked up to and providing entertainment, I would have expected the streamer to step in and tell their guest to back off and calm down. This could have been done in a private way to avoid making it weird for everyone watching. A simple message via text or Discord would have solved the problem!
The second incident that made me want to write this article was when I was watching a streamer who was recommended by a friend. This young gentleman was streaming Overwatch and before you think “Well Overwatch is a really competitive game” it still shouldn’t be the reason you rage at players who throw abuse at you. I mean has anyone ever heard of turning the other cheek?
Their team seemed to be made of all new players, and as they started losing someone on his team told a player to “go and kill yourself”, which firstly is not okay!! This set the entire team on a downward spiral and the players started fighting amongst each other instead of playing the game. The streamer who I was watching at the time became just as toxic as the original player who began being toxic and said ‘ go kill yourself” thinking he was deafening whoever was being called out.
Now I’m all for standing up for other gamers who are being mistreated, but some of the things this streamer said made no sense and it was just adding fuel to the fire. No matter which way you look at it, his response was wrong. I’m a strong believer of treating others the way I would like to be treated and as far as I’m concerned, I would have just reported and blocked the person. We are currently going through a global pandemic and the world is already horrible enough as it is, so why add fuel to the fire? In a game of all places! This is where we come to escape and relax!!
I know these types of players are not the majority and that a lot of you would have reacted differently, and I also know there are many more games out there that have far more toxic communities around them. But should we really be fighting toxic gamers by stooping to their level being toxic ourselves? When is it okay to be ‘toxic’?
The answer to this, my fellow gamers, is that it’s never okay. 2020 has been really hard on a lot of us and we really shouldn’t be turning on each other as things are now. Video games are meant to be fun and we should all try and welcome newer generations of gamers with that energy. Please don’t go and spoil a game for someone else because you are losing or have had a bad day. You have no idea what that person has been dealing with within the real world and being mean and hateful towards them is not going to help them, or you.
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Toxic behavior is something that I have spoken about on my show. I believe that it’s deplorable for anyone to think that acting negatively is acceptable. The one thing that people need to remember, is that they are playing games. Games are meant to be enjoyed and no person who harbors toxic tendencies can rightly say that they “enjoy gaming” its ludicrous.
The other point is that gaming is now streamlined to global observation. People don’t consider that when the lights are on and the game starts. People don’t weigh and factor in that the entire moment will be eternalized thanks to the internet. For me, that would be the largest point of forewarning to keep me in line of not doing/saying anything negative. People just forget that they are being looked at!
In closing, I want to say that I believe toxicity is a direct reflection of a persons’ character. I think it’s a cop-out and an excuse for people to say that toxicity can/will happen from time to time. Yea, just like abuse, victimizing, and insulting I guess. It takes effort to be upsetting and vile. It’s natural to love and respect. People should lean on what comes natural.