Harassment: Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNING: Discussion of sexual harassment/threats of sexual assault, links contain potentially triggering material.

When I play World of Warcraft, I always play female toons because honestly, I relate to them. WoW does a pretty decent job of providing clothing that doesn’t drastically change between the genders. I’m not going to stop playing female-bodied toons because men in game feel that they have the right to harass me.

I’m sick of walking into dungeons, being asked my real-life gender over and over again and when I finally concede? I get asked to do sexual favors, to makes sandwiches, “can I feel your boobs? lololol”, “where do you live real life— you’re probably fat”. I’m sick of walking into PvP and being inundated with angry players threatening rape on each other’s mothers and daughters and girlfriends. I’m sick of men loudly proclaiming their relationship status in game as if women are some kind of commodity that allow you to be accepted into gaming communities.

The infamous trolling excuse.

I’m sick of, when I call out these misogynists, being called a "bitch" and told that I should just “laugh it out, they’re just trolling”.

“Trolling” is a universal excuse that basically amounts to “they’re just joking” or “they’re just trying to get you angry”. This excuse is problematic because trolling almost always targets marginalized groups. In gaming, much of the “trolling” I have seen has been targeted towards women, gender and sexual minorities and people of color.

Additionally, a lot of insults used, no matter the victim, are usually gendered or based off of racist/heterosexist ideas. Often times “trollers” will insult people by mis-gendering them or calling them gay.

Essentially “trollers” often get away with making horrible remarks by saying that they’re just kidding. Many people also claim that trollers are only like that in-game, that truthfully they are not racist or sexist.
There are many problematic aspects of these arguments  and unless we deconstruct these excuses, we cannot move past the rampant harassment in the gaming world. If you are truly against racism, sexism and the like, trolling is unacceptable.

Another popular excuse is that people shouldn't be offended by harassment because "it's just the internet". In no other form of communication do we dismiss the words and actions of others based on the form of communication itself. We don't yell at folks over the phone, "Don't get upset, we're on the telephone!". As gaming and online communities become more and more common, we must recognize that the internet is a valid space for communication and that words and actions matter.

(TW for link: Sexual harassment, threats) At Fat, Ugly or Slutty, moderators compile screenshots of thousands of cases of harassment. This website serves as evidence for how rampant harassment in video games really is, and how there are very little repercussions for bullying online. The content of the website is sad, angering and potentially triggering. In reality, though, these screenshots represent the everyday gaming life of many women.

Fat, Ugly or Slutty compiles online gaming harassment directed at women.

Extra Credits, in their video on Harassment, note that harassment online is just a vocal minority of players, the worst part of the gaming community. Whether this is true or not, there is a large part of the gaming community that is complicit in harassment. In the Cross Assault debacle, no one in the room stood up against the sexist harassment. When I've experienced harassment in game, no one has stood with me to stop it. This has to change. We cannot just stand idly by while folks are harassed. Not only must developers do something to police the community, but we as a community must work to police ourselves.

-H.

League of Legends and the Gamification of Politeness

League of Legends, an online action real-time strategy game, has a lackluster player community known for its harassment and bullying. I was hesitant to start playing for this reason. It didn’t help that II was unfamiliar with team-based strategy games. Once I got started, however, I found myself having a lot of fun defending team towers and reading up on the best strategies for my favorite characters. Even though I was having fun and trying my best, I was not good at the game. I was bullied for my poor skills and even reported by another player for “feeding”, intentionally dying to throw the game and spite your teammates. People called me a “noob”, people told me “u suck”, and people told me to “stop playing.” So I did.

Two players defend their team's tower against enemy minions.

That was two years ago and since then Riot Games, the developers behind LoL, have implemented strategies to reduce harassment and bullying. To foster a friendlier gaming community, Riot Games encourages players to abide by the "Summoner’s Code":

I. Support Your Team
II. Drive Constructive Feedback
III. Facilitate Civil Discussion
IV. Enjoy Yourself, But Not At Anyone Else’s Expense
V. Build Relationships
VI. Show Humility in Victory, and Grace in Defeat
VII. Be Resolute, Not Indignant
VIII. Leave No Newbie Behind!
IX. Lead By Example

To promote the tenants of the Summoner’s Code, Riot introduced the The Tribunal System. It enables the wider community to determine what kind of behavior is and isn’t appropriate. It “...identifies players who have been consistently reported by the community over a large number of games and builds a Tribunal case for them. These cases are presented to random community members who use the Tribunal who then review the case files and render a judgment—pardon or punish. Player Support then uses this information to help assign the right penalties to the right players.” The Summoner’s Code is suggested as a guideline to use when deciding cases.I recently tossed around the idea of playing LoL again but still worried about the player community. Voicing these concerns to my brother, a frequent player, he stated “Oh, the community is much better now. It’s like they gamified being polite.” In addition to reporting abusive players, people can now rank others for being a good team player, being helpful, and a variety of other positive characteristics. Players receive in-game awards for having a positive reputation. At the end of the game season all players with a certain reputation level receive a limited edition item, further incentivizing good behavior.

Riot is also not afraid to punish abusive high-profile, professional players. Recently, two pro players were temporarily banned from competing in competitions. When two people on a professional team are banned from competitions, this means the rest of their team can't compete because their down teammates. It shows that when one person misbehaves, multiple people are negatively impacted. This also serves as a public example to players that harassment and bullying is not tolerated. Hopefully, good sportsmanship amongst pro players will have a trickle down effect on the more casual ones.

While their the system Riot has implemented has its flaws, their efforts demonstrate that even the worst gaming communities can change if developers (and players) take the initiative to build a positive community.

-J.