Editor's Note: Some language after the cut.Ever joined a Counter-Strike server, or a game on XBox Live, only to be bombarded with players abusing voice-chat? Chances are most of us have, at least once. It doesn't stop at annoyance, either. On a fairly regular basis, people trying to enjoy the game are met with unrestrained swearing and a startling use of hurtful racial terms. It's a scary reality, but why?
One could blame the anonymity that the Internet provides. Any dumb kid with an Internet connection can raise hell just because he wants to, and so long as he hides behind the moniker 'pWnAgE97' and his sweet Naruto avatar, he'll never get caught. Granted, many, many privately run severs (and forums, for that matter) have visible warnings and regulations regarding racism, usually stating that any form of it will result in a permanent ban. Even so, that doesn't necessarily stop people.
What does the elimination of that 'getting caught' factor say about people like that? It says that all they needed was to feel safe enough to sling around their hate. They saw a hidden outlet and decided that it was as good a place as any to attack people. This is probably the worst case scenario, of course.
Frustration and anger is easy to come by, especially in fast paced multiplayer games. Every match in basically any game pits players in some kind of conflict, creating a competitive, if not vicious atmosphere. Throw in terms like n00b and hacker, and you've got groups of players in games both small and larger that start disliking and distrusting one another. So while foul-mouthed, racist behavior might be the result of an individuals own personal problems, the nature of multiplayer games also creates an atmosphere that can breed bad behavior.
One other possible explanation is that, well, kids will be kids. Growing up is a learning process, after all. Imagine little JohnnyM16 shouts the N-word to someone in a Call Of Duty server. The recipient takes offense, and either gives Johnny the verbal lashing he deserves, or worse, reports him to XBox Live, or some kind of server authority, getting him banned. It might not be as effective as telling his mother, but a lot of kids will realize they caused harm when someone confronts them about it.
That isn't to say that
all games are like this. I've certainly had more good experiences gaming than bad ones. Yet it still happens, and it's scary to think that in this day and age, people, especially young adults and kids, are still so accustomed to racist words that they're willing to shout them among strangers — strangers who may feel targeted by those words.
Typical swearing is, of course, par for the course with games. It's sometimes included during in-game dialogue and one can expect that all but the most reserved of people are going to let a 'shit' or a 'fuck' loose every so often. That, I don't mind, so long as those words aren't being used to attack another person.
Do you think racism is an issue in multiplayer games? Have you ever participated in a match where a player was using racial terms in anger?
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Comments (18)
I've heard a lot of swearing, but have only heard mild racism a couple of times -- and that was quickly stamped out by the other gamers in the match. However, I don't know if it's really more prominent than I am aware of, since I usually mute other people as soon as the game begins. Having too many conversations going on at once, along with the guy singing along to some random song on his iPod, really distracts me from getting that perfect head shot.
When my CS clan ran a server, we had to deal with racism sometimes. We had the typical note against bad language and stuff like that when you came on it, but people ignore those things. A few times, people would have racist names and I'd tell them to change it, and if they refused, they got kicked and then banned. I didn't really have any tolerance for that stuff when I had admin on there. :P
In certain online games, like CS as you mention, racism is pretty rampant. It's the only place I know where the word "Jew" is one of the most commonly used insults, as unbelievable as that is.
It's an issue, but not a serious one I think. Mostly, they're just stupid kids who get a rush from saying things online to other people they could never get away with in person. It doesn't even necessarily make them racist - I think a lot of the swearing happens for the same reason.
Ick, the racism and sexism (sucks to be a girl gamer) on multiplayer gaming is just annoying.
Though, when you sneak up on someone and knife them, killing them instantly, dont you have the urge to mutter vulgarity, describing the action that you just did as well as the weakness of your opponent?
It just is =/ You can't not have people call other people names on a game. I hate how when you do good at a game people say you have no life even if last round they were fucking 33-6
@IntrospectiveOctober@xanga - Omg, r u a grlz? Tits? Roflmao! Okay, just had to say it...
@RedZeppelin6@xanga - I'm more amused when I'm 7-10, but I just got four kills, or even better yet, just one kill, and someone calls me a hacker for it. Makes my day, really. :Pyea so many people do that, especially when you're just so much better than them and they can't get a kill, like for instance, when i once took out 4 guys in Day of Defeat with only one clip of ammo with the FG-42 and only 20hp, they started accusing me of hacking and began to throw swear words and racial terms at me, calling me a n****r when i'm not even of african descent, among other things. i think it's just a medium that people use of expressing their anger, since our vocabularies DO seem to be shrinking, with people using profane language as filler words rather than as words to express true anger (times few and far between hopefully), since profane words are supposed to SHOCK people.
this is why i like playing in more empty servers or servers that strictly prohibit such actions. if i see a mic spammer, i leave, and if i'm on DOD, i warn, kick, and then ban depending on the offense and how many times it's been done before.
This is exactly why I quit Gunbound, many years ago when that used to be the new thing. I couldn't stand the hate, aggression, and sexism from other players I've battled against. And who knew such inconsiderate and unfeeling people would be found playing such cute games.
This kind of thing is why I don't play with my headset plugged in unless I know who I'm playing with. It's just not worth the filth and the trash talk.
the internet anonymity sucks..without it tons of those players behind the screens would not dare to cuss at you if you were playing face to face in the same room. i think there should be more regulations of players that are abusive or just have behavioral issues while online playing. They should NOT be playing if they are there to just spread hate. Its a game to have fun..not to spread your damn hate plague.
there was another post here on hardeest level addressing the same problems too about racism in multiplayer gaming.
it seems to me that halo 3 is especially bad with the racist terms flying around in about a 1 to 3 ratio and it gets to the point where its just like really lets hurry up and beat em so we dont have to dael with their ignorance. swearing eh thats just gaming tho they do have servers where they have "g rated language or they kick u out. good in theory but pointless on an m rated game
This is one of the reasons I no longer play in public servers. I am fairly old school, started playing online in the days of Quake: Team Fortress and Half Life: Counterstrike (yes, both of those were originally game mods, not standalone games). Back then, admittedly, voice chat wasn't common, what with everyone on dial up, but most of the chat box was filled with "ns" and "gg" for "nice shot" and "good game."
It'd say it was probably around the time of Xbox live that the smack talk started to permeate online gaming, perhaps due to the culture shift. No longer was online gaming something that only the nerdiest of nerds did. As such, jock culture overpowered the online community just as it does in gym class.
I tend to stick to the private servers that actually do ban unsportsmanlike players if I play at all.
Yes it is definately a problem that I have witnessed many times
Yes!
I bumped into a Vietnamese, communist person who disliked me for being a Vietnamese American who's got southern Vietnamese parents in some RPG game. XD
We were just doing name-callings.. I talked crap about Ho Chi Minh, and he picked on me for being an American who sucked at speaking Vietnamese...We were pissed. Rofl.
A lot of my friends play XBox live. I've been over to two of their houses when they both experienced verbal abuse from other players, and both times it was racially charged. My first friend Jakob, who was called the N-word (even though he's white?) decided to scare the guy who called him that, and sent him a recording saying, "So that's some nice hate-speech you've got going on there. I'll have you know that I AM black [sic] and that I don't appreciate what you said. It was incredibly ignorant of you. So I'll have you know, you're the n***** in this situation." It was quite funny, especially after the guy tried to deny ever saying anything racist.
Then another time my friend Mero got teamed up with three guys in Left 4 Dead, who were making fun of his username, calling him a "fag" (since he was playing Zoey) and "white trash." Mero cussed back, but the guys only shot him down so he had to quit because they kept killing him. He reported them and their dumb asses probably got banned. Haha serves them right!
@NikBv@xanga - Blame the Jew insult on South Park. Plain and simple (I am in no way hating on the show, I love it. Just wanted to point that out :P)
@IntrospectiveOctober@xanga - I can understand the sexism thing, but I never hear about it much, and I frequently play with gamers of the fairer sex. All I usually hear is them being asked if they are 12 year old boys, or if they actually ARE girls :P
@dragonair08@xanga - on the topic of Halo, that's just how that game is now. For the most part, all the more considerate gamers moved on to CoD4 and, now, MW2. Halo has become a pedo haven, more or less, same with CoD:WaW. I can't really play on those games anymore, between the modhacks and the trashtalkers.
@Dargon@xanga - now that you mention it, I miss Halo:CE. Also, I think people were too lazy to type insults. That and if it was too long, they were bound to get killed from sitting still :P
@sygma_notation@xanga - as I say many other times, this site needs a 'Like' button. That amuses me :P
@shoujo@xanga - Good lord I hate the singers. Especially when it's a song you know :P
and to poster: I've learned the mute button works well on such occasions, especially since MW2 decided to do what they have. I know mute doesnt FIX the problem, but still...
BAHAHAHA lol at all the comments racist isn't a problem people are racist cus its hilarious to see people like you make a big deal about it hahaha yur awl juz a buncha dumb porch munkies trina bee smurt shut ur faices