I know I link to these guys too much for video game discussions, but the Extra Credits episode regarding Harassment discussed harassment, bullying and hateful language in mutiplayer settings and potential ways to solve the issue without negatively impacting the community as a whole. They make the argument that the best way to disable trolls and harassers is to simply take away their microphone, so to speak, and I really like one of their recommendations: Since devs can track how often a player is muted, if someone gets muted more often then average (they cite at least 10% above the norm, though this would obviously need adjustment based on various factors per game) then they automatically begin matches muted. Players can choose to unmute them if they want to potentially deal with their language.
Yes, there's definitely potential this won't work, and there will almost definitely be a period of growing pains as the devs and players work out the kinks in the system. But the mere fact that they're acknowledging this as a major issue harmful to the gaming community and are trying to address it, instead of shrugging it off as part of gaming culture, is very encouraging.
Yes, there's definitely potential this won't work, and there will almost definitely be a period of growing pains as the devs and players work out the kinks in the system. But the mere fact that they're acknowledging this as a major issue harmful to the gaming community and are trying to address it, instead of shrugging it off as part of gaming culture, is very encouraging.