When it comes to challenges, it’s only a real competition if spectators could kill five beers and go wild. Playing games online is no exception. I personally try to keep my behavior to the status of being at a baseball game (drunk and load but still tolerated by others). What is too common online is gamer behaving like childish savages with sense of manners.
Just because one could be anonymous dose not mean it’s acceptable to behave in such an embarrassing manner. Yet many feel it’s their right to act like childish animals behind a computer. However, like in real life, there are a set of etiquettes gamers should follow.
The most obvious etiquette to follow is avoiding the use of ethnic and homophobic slurs. Playing with a PC, it was too common to read messages like “u killed me u f***in n*****” or “I got owned by a f**”. Thankfully no one has to read these remarks when playing with a console; that’s because we get to hear them. In one game, a player was on a rant regarding why they hated “n***** f**’s”. No person would ever talk like this in public so why is it acceptable online?
After ethnic and homophobic slurs, sexist remarks are next on the list of obnoxious behavior. Despite two-thirds of gamers being women, sexism is common among the gaming community. Sexual remarks and sexism is so common that 70% of female gamers choose to play as a male-avatar just to avoid harassment.
Finally there is the issue regarding the excessive use of profanity. The problem is not swearing but when someone says it too much in one sentence. It makes no sense for someone to ever use the F-word around 5 times in a casual sentence. The only other people who swear this much are middle school kids who just learned profanity.
Everyone enjoys trash talking during a competitive event. But when the content involves offensive slurs or an excessive amount of profanity then it’s a problem. Don’t make excuses about this behavior; no amount of alcohol could ever make someone this immature yet so functional. If you’re a gamer who is +20 years of age, its time to be more mature when playing online. But if your between the ages of 17 – 20 than its better to start learning how to behave.
