>

Kinda, but it goes along with gaming.
Lol 😂 I do miss the old Xbox lobby chats, straight shit talking for hours >

The latest cod release has brought it back in all its glory >

Call of Duty and Halo started off the toxic gamer movement. I found my old 360, I started smiling thinking about all the ungodly names I was called in the lobbies. If only my mom knew how many people they said fucked her. >

When I was 12 a drunk 40 year old told me he'd cut my head off and shit down my neck. Glorious, online gaming was just glorious. >

Lol you can’t recreate these memories >

The MW 2 call of duty lobbies were hilarious ngl. When someone would be using noob tubes or the overpowered duel 1887 shotguns. Good times. >

This is exactly what I thought of. I’m not a big mic user but I’ll toss it on for some COD grind and trash talk >

Trash talking was one thing that I didn't mind. 
But toxic gaming communities have gone way beyond that. 
I've got like 3000 hours on Dota 2 and matchmaking is literally a roll of the dice to see which team has less griefers on their side. 
It's dogshit and a waste of everyone's time. A little shit talk back and forth back in the day raised the stakes of the game but now most of the shit talk is your own team. It's not just that way for Dota either, all MOBAs are the same. >

Shit-talking for a few seconds in between lobbies is okay, but completely tearing down teammates or harassing someone specifically is never a good look. >

It's especially painful in games like Dota where communication is key to winning, games are long, and you get punished if you leave. 
Sometimes its literal BS from minute 1 and it can go on for an hour. >

Trash talk on the other team can be fun but it's usually just so bitter and spiteful that it makes me uncomfortable. Like I dont wanna hear 2 kids yell at each other over a USB mic for an entire match >

Nobody likes actual toxicity
Edit: Other than really shitty people who as this guy says like seeing people rage quit >

Because of the inevitable toxic person in every lobby I just 'mute all' at the beginning of each match. 
Yeah, I could mute that one person in the lobby, but..
1) I don't wanna be faffing about mid-game to mute a specific person
2) The context of other chat is lost when you can't hear part of the 'conversation"
I'd love to have chat on, it would be cool if people could talk about the game or discuss tactics, give callouts etc. But I'm not into hearing kids losing their shit and insulting people and their moms. >

Try Squad. Good comms there usually. >

I played Squad for a bit, maybe it's just my bad luck, but I always ended up with keyboard warriors who acted like it was real life and not just a game. Other than that it was fun, but for fucks sake, I already lived a warzone once or twice, I don't wanna do it in a damn game as well... >

aaaalot of vets play >

I know that, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not real life, and that too many people treat it like it is >

Halo 2 lobbies back in the day were a different breed >

I enjoy trash talking, but only when playing with people I know. Insulting strangers is bad, insulting your homies can be fun. >

insulting the homies is my favorite past time but i’m so nice to strangers lmao >

Lmao “i’m the nicest person you’ll meet until you get on my gaming side” >

Especially squeakers w/ cheap mic or headset >

Toxic gamers enjoy toxicity? Who knew? >

It's part of the reason single player games have made a comeback, so good. Fuck online games. >

I'm so glad campaign style and open world games are making a come back over battle Royale bullshit. >

I find both to be fun. BR’s for adrenaline and competition. Single players for relaxation >

I just played through resident evil 7. That is not a relaxing game. >

So you like having a 10 year old kid (who sounds like Fred) scream through his dollar store mic and blow out your speakers/headphones? OK… >

If you generalize it like that, no, but if you contextualize it to like where the kid is bitching and to the point of absolute feral cries because he keeps getting spawn-killed, then yes. It's like in a game of monopoly where you have three properties in two corners and your friend keeps landing on them. >

schadenfreude
That's the word you're looking for. >

Didn't even know there was a word for this, appreciate it. >

I think this is half of reddit. People just come here and enjoy being insufferable assholes to anyone about anything. >

I think there's a difference between trash talking and toxicity.
trash talking or light taunting to make your competitor lose focus is a little bit of a lost art and can be done in a funny and clever way without toxicity, racism, or bigotry. 
unfortunately these days a lot of people confuse trash talk with being straight up toxic and shouting racial slurs or trying to make your opponents so upset on a personal level that they quit playing. you're not even a gamer if you do that because you're not there to play games at that point, you're just a bully. >

Fr there’s a difference between saying “gg ez” and “KYS N-word” lol. Some people don’t know the difference.
I’ve been told the most disgusting nasty horrible things by some guys in games bc I’m a girl. It feels very different being personally targeted as opposed to some idiot just saying “y’all trash” or whatever haha.
(For the record, I don’t endorse either but I do think they’re very different things) >

10000% agree with this 
Trash talking someone for their skill/poor performance is one thing 
resorting to sexism, homophobia, racism, etc and other such personal attacks should always be condemned >

There's a difference between trash talking or teabagging and throwing around slurs in chat. A vast majority of people wouldn't consider a little trash talk toxic, it's toxic when you blame your team for everything and tell them to kill themselves, it's toxic when you call someone on the enemy team the hard R. >

The hard R? Rigger? >

Hacker >

What a save!
What a save!
What a save!
[chat disabled for 5 seconds] >

And you're the reason they got rid of proximity chat and teamspeak in all games and everybody uses party chat now. >

Trash talking is different than toxicity. Trash talking is an art and when done correctly it is a tool to get into an enemy's head. Toxicity is just unclever and gross, usually racist, and just isn't fun. When you trash talk and get talked back to there is a rhythm and comradery that makes the game more fun. Toxicity is just name calling and usually doesn't have any cleverness or thought you it, it's aimed to emotionally attack the other person rather than be a strategic attack to get in their head and throw off their game. >

Trash talking can be great for shutting down some toxic assholes.
Get in a good jab and a lot of them just shut up.
Those that don't, or those that play music over the chat, etc, then it's time for a block/mute.
Unfortunately, there is a fragile portion of the populace that thinks it is all "toxic".  Even worse, a lot of them are Johnny-come-latelies with an outsized ego and think the world should conform to their sensibilities, which makes them toxic in their own right.  They're often just as bad or even worse than your typical random insulting trolls because they do it with clarity of conscience.
I call it "the bully loophole".  When you're so "anti-bully" that you allow yourself to be nasty and vitriolic without any sort of limitation, especially not accurate judgement of others.  Anyone who crosses their path is a potential target to be hounded. >

You like being toxic online because it has zero recourse, just an outlet for you to be an asshole. >

Pretty much yes. >

I'm the guy who will mute voice chat immediately upon playing an online game for the first time, but this is a pretty popular opinion. At the very least, it's very popular for people who use voice chat to be trashtalking douchebags >

I’m sure it’s fun for you but it’s just annoying to listen to and we all mute you.  Like calm down it’s literally just cod. we’re all playing the same game and you’re the only one that’s screaming the same recycled jokes over and over and over again. it just makes you look stupid tbh. do it if you want but it’s not making you look as cool as you feel lol >

it's just a game brother >

I know!  I'm so smart! Where's my cookie? >

I don’t mind it but I don’t get to hear it cause of those idiots blasting music in their shitty mics. Why is that so popular? >

For ps5 a lot of mfs just forget to mute the controller >

the toxicity is why i avoid the cesspool of high school teenagers that play trending games. miss me with that waste of energy >

Eh, I used to like it too when I was somewhat competitive. Now I'm not and it just makes me roll my eyes hearing people take something so silly, so seriously. >

Valorant and league suck. The toxic community is the game. >

Yeah yeah, it's great
cries in Apex Legends >

its not even that bad. In plat rank when people actually use game chat I have a good time. Id rather have everyone use gamechat and rarely get a asshole then 90% of poeple having it off. Plus you can just mute assholes or do the arguable better thing and mess with them. >

Gaming. The worlds largest waste of time and energy. >

Bad take. >

I like it and I don't care when it happens to me because cyber bullying isn't real just close your eyes lol. I miss the days of playing fighting games on Xbox live and getting hate mail after absolutely smoking someone, it was like winning twice >

Just a few weeks ago, I was playing injustice 2 and I was in a match against this guy who kept spamming a certain move as red hood to keep me stun-locked and try and get a cheap win. I somehow managed to get a lucky hit in and beat him and I was so upset, I trash talked for the first time in like 6 years and said “get fucked, you move-spamming scrub”. Felt good lol >

You like it because you like the sense of superiority. You're not fighting your opponent, you're battling your insecurities. >

Or...it's just fun to get inside people's heads. Have you heard about how Micheal Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Shaq trashtalked opponents? It's part of any competitive game. 
People trashtalk because it's fun being the best. >

These people never played sports >

Trash talk is okay. Toxic being an asshole is exactly that. >

And it’s people like you who are the reason certain video game communities don’t grow. >

Most of reddit is just as toxic >

Trash talking is one thing, but I just got harassed when I was gaming as a child. >

how so? >

That sounds more like a community / server issue rather than a game issue. If you just play matchmaking you wouldn't come against the same people regularly enough for them to 'care' about hurting you. I never met the same person twice personally in any game that don't have dedicated servers (so like, most shooters)