QFE I've only once played an online game with random people, and while it was generally positive I'm all too aware of the relative immaturity of the broader community. This is the number one reason why I only play with a couple of close friends. I know for a fact that none of them have ever slept with my mom.
I don't recall seeing the word "rape(d)" used in reference to a female gamer, ever, in my 6 or-so years of online gaming experience. I have only ever seen it used in the context of "you just got raped" etc, which has nothing at all to do with gender/sexuality. I think that we need to take these articles and websites with a pinch of salt, sometimes, however there are definitely cases of sexism in online gaming. That said though, isn't this true for every day life? Along with racism, agism, etc, the list goes on. It's human nature to protect our own ego through the use of defence mechanisms (see the sick and twisted ramblings of Sigmund Freud). That said, I do not condone online abuse in any way shape or form. P. S. Hands up, I am no saint, but I only dish out my thoughts where I believe they are due, where I think that by telling this person what I think, it'll help them or others in the game in some way.
TL;DR By starting websites and making it known that the sexism offends them, won't these women just attract more abuse because the gamers know it hits them where it hurts? Just a question.
That is why I enjoying playing with ZiiP. Their ethos is to be a gaming community, not a clan, so they welcome people of all abilities and do not play competitive matches. There is nearly always an admin on to take care of any troublesome players and the members who do get a bit worked up on team speak tend apologize and mute themselves or leave the game until they have calmed down. I have never heard any abusive language aimed at other players and when the occasional pubber comes on our TS and starts griefing they are kicked very quickly. It's great to be in a community where fathers are playing with sons and in a round where one of our members gets 70+ kills another is thrilled to get 3 and is congratulated by everyone else. Playing COD on the PS3 though was a whole other world. The abuse and levels of racism is shocking. One of my friends who played with us is female and a very good player but I was never aware of her being singled out because she was a woman.
I do at times wonder if some of these articles arise because a lady'll start playing online FPS and be horrified at the amount of abuse she receives and infer that it's because of rampant sexism, as opposed to what I think is more like the culture, which is a culture of abuse. It kind of reminds me of military humour, everyone abuses everyone, everyone takes it in good humour, and whatever thing you can be picked on to be abused about, you will be. If say an Indian person turned up one day and were included in the group, they would come to the conclusion that the group is massively racist against Indians, but it's not that, it's just that whatever makes you different, whatever differentiates you, is the thing people pick to mock and abuse. While I do think there should be kid-friendly servers out there, I also think that a certain level of smack-talk should be accommodated in some places. That said, the 13 year old COD kiddies who scream and shout abuse every time they get killed should just have some fingers removed.
I don't condone any of the words you posted above however we will in a society where you can choose to either ignore and walk away or respond. So if you don't like what you see either turn off the game, find another server, turn off chat or just get on with the game & ignore what you're seeing. The phrase; sticks & stones may break my bones but calling me names don't hurt me - rings bells
Get Rottie in here his behaviour in online games is distasteful like people come on for a good time and to sit talk to friends not to listen to people raging i've said this before and to be fair he hasn't been online in a while its getting quite peaceful
As one who plays both the MW series and the BF series (both on pc) it is scary how much of a difference there is between the two games where the people on BF is much more mature in their approach, MW really seems like THE place for twats to rage. These people are a problem and I really miss my days as admin on my clans BFBC2 server as you could just kick these people but as there are no such thing on the MW servers they have a free megaphone to everyone who plays. I have before felt the need to apologize due to the behaviour of other people as it really isn't representative of the entire gaming community. To add to some of these articles posted here Extra Credits has a good episode on this subject.
DotA and LoL are very similar in this... I have never seen such a horrendous community, and I am actually glad that Riot have noticed this and allow you to disable cross team chat and do shell out serious bans for people who are repeatedly reported (although the tribunal is still a bit broken). I used to rage in games but never with anything offensive, the worst that has ever come off of my keyboard is along the lines of "is your computer made of wood", "SPUNGY", and even the occasional "n00b". The community really needs to sort itself out though, with people raging and bring race, gender, sexuallity into it that has gone WAY to far! I saw that side of abuse better then most when I used to mix (back in the good old CSS days) with Reason Female, and honestly I would welcome females to bring their slightly level headed approach to gaming. With that said I am going to go back to providing constructive criticism on LoL for which I will be called a f--king noob for even though I am right!
Although I agree to an extent, I think the difference between the abuse reported in gaming servers and the culture of abuse in the military is the phrase "...and were included in the group." Although the language may be similar, the Indian person in your military group understands the boundaries of the trash talking, and he likely understands that offense is not given. As you said, he has been included in the group, so he's aware of the in-group dynamics. Also, while the platoon is insulting each other, they likely are doing so face-to-face. It's much easier to for the receiver of the insult to read the meta-communication and therefore he is more likely to take the ribbing in stride. In gaming servers, the only thing linking a girl to a commando kid is the server's IP address. There may be a broader group identity in the fact that they are all gamers playing the same game, but the guy on the other end of the headset has no idea who the girl is. He has no attachment to her; in a way he doesn't relate to her as a human being. She is pixels on the screen. All he sees (or hears) is a random opponent, so he is disconnected from her in almost every way. It's much easier for him to become an internet tough guy and just start hurling abuse, and since he has no way to actually relate to the other person, it's much easier for the abuse to get over the top. I'd be curious to see how the kids act if their mothers were in the same room. Better yet, I'd like to see their reactions if, after they we done yelling a string of profanities and rape threats, if they were told that their mothers were the ones on the other end.
I know folks who rage like hell at LoL, the kind who throw their headset (or whatever there is on the desk) on the wall. When you can't enjoy the game unless you win every single joust, there is a problem. Or when you enjoy bitching the other team after you won... This is so damn childish for guys in their 20's.
I hate been called a noob, a cheat, stat padder and when the say sure, right and kanker. Only met a person once that called me a cheat and I didn't need to say anything as he was about 16, skinny little shrimp and was never called it again I respect people more when they say good shot or a thank you as I play a med a lot.
have to agree with this.. it's been going on since I can remember really had guys threatening to kill me- they knew where I lived.. ect.. xD was ridiculous had nothing to do with being a girl course I liked to instigate it all.. but that's besides the point- people are easily raged (especially when they have a low iq).. it's just the way it is.. like for example guildwars pvp I seen this guy (mexican) named el deo.. I was speced to kill his class in a ruthless way- he was a necro (long cast times).. anyways I downed him in a ridiculous short 2 seconds because he was enchanted, confused and I was packing melandrus with a speed stance, short bow xD he basically exploded in his own piss.. all said was el deado.. man the things that came out his dirty mouth xD I almost fell over.. warcraft 3 after towering in a guy as orc and ending the game in 2-3 minutes- guys would roid rage freelancer was probably the one I remember the most- cause guys would spend tons on diamonds and do runs between stations across the map to make money.. I'd wait in the shipping lanes and disable them.. they'd drop out of warp and I'd be sitting there with a name like SCARYBIGFOOT demanding 50k or they become spacedust (my eagle was decked with cannonballs and nomad cannons and a tizona del sid to smack the shields out).. the guys who ended up trying to run learned that fleece johnson don't mess around xD I think have screenshots of the pms.. it was some of the funniest stuff.. some guys got so angry they couldn't type- words were all mis-spelled think gaming has gone the other way though.. devs are realizing if you give an elite player ways to totally decimate the snuffaluffagus- you lose that luffagus money.. why games have become more and more hand holding in multiplayer- no way for an elite to show off their skills.. games like diablo 3 for example- it's burn the rope with graphics.. that guy who claimed to beat it on nightmare, it's like saying he won the special olympics think spec nailed it.. that's the general population in a nutshell.. it's like slapping a guys face through his monitor- just some aren't smart enough to realize they aren't a monkey.. and to those attacking girls- it's cartman in rl
Never been a massive issue for me, but then again the games I tend to play aren't known for it as much as some others. (I tend to play TF2 online) But as a general rule, I just ignore it, doesn't bother me, why should I care what some loser playing a game on his computer thinks? (much in the same way I assume no one cares what I think )
I dunno if you guys ever run memory editors like cheat engine.. so easy to cheat- just assume everyone's a cheater.. one reasons I don't fps game anymore
If you guys want a cool game where there is never a bit of talkshit, Team Fortress 2 is for you. In 3 years, I never got insulted or saw verbal abuses, players are just relax.
TF2 has a pretty decent community, especially on public servers, it's only when you start playing competitively that you can meet some less pleasant people
