Regardless of what you think about Justin Carter’s current situation in jail, and regardless of whether or not he was serious, one thing is clear: the comments he made on Facebook, where he said he would “shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts” are messed up.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen trash talk get out of hand. In fact, there are a number of cases in the last year that come to mind. Here’s a situation that is eerily similar to Carter’s: Josh Pillault, a Runescape player, is facing up to 10 years in jail after telling another player he would attack his high school. The allegedly not-serious threat came after Pillault was repeatedly antagonized by said fellow player.
There’s more. Earlier this year, Microsoft’s E3 conference came under scrutiny due to the “playful” (but unscripted!) banter where a Killer Instinct producer told an Xbox Live community manager to just “let it happen” and that it would “be over soon.” Many felt uncomfortable watching the conference, as the exchange could be said to evoke the thought of rape.
Before that, top-level Call of Duty players made headlines after a video compilation of ridiculous rage moments during a championship emerged. The players defended the trash talk by saying that it helped them play better — which is absurd, but hey. That’s what they claimed.
There are probably countless other incidents not mentioned here, but you don’t have to look far to see evidence of gaming’s arguable problem with trash talking. Xbox Live users are famed for being potty mouths, and League of Legends regularly makes the rounds as Riot finds the best practices to deal with toxic community members. You might say trash talk is unavoidable, as gaming is often a competitive activity. Things can get heated between players. Adrenaline gets going, but your body is stationary — making trash talk oh-so-easy to engage in as an outlet.
I’m certainly not going to pretend I don’t trash talk, but I do believe banter can be playful. At the very least, trash talk shouldn’t involve threats to kill people who aren’t even in the match or game. That’s stupid.
Which is not to say that trash talk against other players is any prettier. The problem is that when you’ve only got moments to say something, chances are you’re going to focus on surface-level stuff: appearances/weight, gender, race — which means it’s superbly easy for the trash talk to be homophobic, racist, or sexist. That’s no good — and already, the frenzied way that trash talk happens tends to be unbecoming, nevermind lazy and bigoted.
But it’s that need for immediacy that makes it difficult to judge trash talk in the first place. Is it that the person genuinely holds awful beliefs? It could just as easily be that what you say in moments of anger or rage isn’t representative of your typical demeanor; just an honest mistake. It could be that you’re just saying what you think will hurt the most, so naturally you’ll go for the ugly stuff. It could be that you’re just parroting stuff you’ve heard others say.
At the very least, trash talk shouldn’t involve threats to kill people who aren’t even in the match or game.
I’m sure you have your share of people who trash talk because the veil of anonymity makes it easy for them to get away with it. And for those who seek the high of an epic burn against another person, I can’t help but draw a comparison to rap battles — where the entire point is to diss the other person. Dissing becomes an art form, and rappers are expected to keep their cool against opponents regardless of what was said.
Still, the danger, as I see it, is that regardless of why it’s happening, and regardless of what type of person you “really” are, if you’re engaging in trash talk, it’s likely that you’ll err into dangerous, uncomfortable territory. You’ll say stuff you don’t mean. You’ll say stuff that’ll get you into trouble. I can’t be the only one that’s becoming self-aware about what they say during games thanks to all these recent incidents, right?
The thing is, trying to figure out how to “fix” trash talk might be a lost cause. Aside from stuff that’s obviously bigoted or more of a threat than just banter, how do you figure out what’s acceptable to say, what doesn’t cross the line? Boundaries are different for every person. You can’t know, and when things go sour, I’m going to guess that many of you didn’t really mean it. Why risk it?
It’s almost like the real problem with trash talk is that no words are necessary: we could just let our skills speak for themselves.
The Multiplayer is a weekly column that looks at how people crash into each other while playing games.
Comments
82 responses to “The Problem With Trash Talk”
the “the veil of anonymity” is exactly why this is such an issue and appears to be only getting worse. Sitting in you’re living room, “trash talking”, there’s just no sense of consequence. Other than these select cases, for most people they’ll just cope a ban at most and they wont even care.
Sitting in your living room hearing an anonymous nobody sprouting bullshit online is just as harmless. Especially since you can mute them.
It is not an issue. We’re (presumably) not in school anymore. We know better then to care about this stuff.
“You offended me” – who are you and why should I care? Unless we’re in a niche game, we’ll probably never see each other again anyway.
Using the mute button only means they can get away with the matter and are not made to face the consequences of their actions.
If it is unacceptable in real life, it is just as unacceptable if conducted via digital communications.
Last I checked, real life doesn’t have a mute button so why should same matter be handled any different if done digitally?
By your argument I can’t stab people in real life so I shouldn’t be able to in a game. Actually, if I get knifed by someone, shouting “I’ll stab you!” Is a hell worthy trespass. After all, no one else is going to know he just knifed me and I’m gunning for some payback (you know, little instances that make MP games more fun than a K/D ratio). Well, can’t say that in real life. Good bye RP aspect to every game ever.
Secondly. What actions? They said something. Did your ears start bleeding? Have they somehow prevented you from living your life? Are you that hung up on the anonymous opinions of people who don’t know you at all, and willing to change yourself and aspects of your life based on what these people say?
Obvious you know nothing about what words really can do. What if the listener has depression? The subject can done something far worse in less time than it takes to press the freaking mute button!
Sorry, but trash talk, irrespective of where it is unacceptable. ALL actions be it physical or verbal have CONSEQUENCES. Even this very post I am writing now will have consequences both good and bad.
Am I going to wish I hadn’t said that? No, they are consequences I have to own and I have made the effort to make sure they are not offensive nor disrespect anyone.
Well, you’ve proved to me you don’t know much about anxiety or depression…
As someone who has had severe clinical depression and used games as an outlet – and I speak only for myself on this – it depends on the context of the exchange. If they’re genuinely trying to hurt your feelings (ie. cyber-bullying, trolling) it’s more likely to make an impact if a nerve is hit, otherwise it’s all in the name of the game. As with all communication, context is important. This article is about banter, though. Not its ugly cousin, cyber-bullying.
It sounds like people are now required to make their intentions very clear while speaking online, or face serious life consequences.
Because digitally there is a mute button. I hate differentiating between ‘real life’ and online because they’re both real life, but online we have different tools to deal with social situations. We don’t have to share space in the same way we do in bars or on the bus.
Bars have bouncers/guards or whatever they are called today. If I was being offensive in a bar I have two choices.
I can either man up and rope myself in or the bouncer will do it for me with a good piece of pavement.
Actually, if someone is swearing and getting all up in your face like someone on Xbox LIVE would do, you can call the police to get him arrested as you feel threatened by him.
How? There not really at your moms, you have no way of knowing where or who they are. I assure you calling the Police because some online douche called you a nasty homophobic racial slur will result in zero repercussions.
The most painful thing that you can do to a Troll is mute them and ignore them. They would never admit it, but they would rather be kicked in the groin with a Steel Cap boot than be Ignored.
Trolls don’t need an Audience they need somebody to engage them so they can try to hurt them.
And online you have options too. You can mute them, take your headset off, leave and find another match, ignore them so you don’t get matched with them again. You essentially don’t need the bouncer with online interactions. Sometimes you need a moderator or GM when you’ve got public chat channels, but that’s about it.
It may not be the beatdown you think calling someone a cockstain on CoD deserves, but it’s a quick, easy and effective resolution.
Not really. People trash talk in almost all sports regardless of whether it’s anonymous or consequences. The only thing that makes video games different is that trash talk can’t evolve to the next level when a line is crossed, so it keeps going.
Jesus H Christ. Is this really an issue?
Yes.
Aww 🙁
I love this exchange. Very neatly summarizes at least part of the issue.
No its not, trash talking exists in EVERY competition, its a way to unnerve and throw the enemy/competition off there game, the worse it is the better it works.
people need to get over it, its phsychological warefare at its basest form, its been used for centuries and will continue to be used for centuries more, why? because its effective.
I trash talk constantly, its fun, entertaining and i dont limit it to online either.
That’s called bad sportsmanship and while it exists it DOES NOT make it acceptable.
My advise to you will be to watch your mouth very carefully. The phrase “Loose lips, sink ships” comes to mind here and if your post is anything to go by you are the Titanic all over again. Keep this up and you eventually come to your iceberg and by then it will be so big you will have a hard time owning the consequences of what you mouth fired.
Look at any of the greatest sports players – Michael Jordan, Anderson Silva, Muhammad Ali, John Mackenroe and see how competitive they get…they trash talk. It is psycholigical warfare, it is showing some arrogance, but IT ONLY EFFECTS PEOPLE IF THEY LET IT GET TO THEM. Some people are smart with trash talk and some people are just your ‘keyboard warriors,’ but in the end, if you want to use phrases: ‘sticks and stones will break my bones, but trash talking doesn’t mean SHIT’ (or something like that.)
I do not care if the talk comes from Prime Minster Rudd, President Obama or the current Pope. Trash talk is OFFENSIVE regardless of form.
Furthermore, trash talk is nothing like psychological warfare. That is different altogether and even if it were it would only have acceptance in one place, in a war zone!
There’s really no argument here. If you let it effect you and find it offensive, mute them, because it will never stop (and I will make sure of that.)
It does come from rudd, obama daily and anyone else in power…
Thats how they get into power, every political add is a smear campaign cleverly disguised, but it all adds up to 1 thing, trash talk and psychological warfare and to say that they are not the same thing show’s just that you’re either very naive or ignorant.
How do you even make it outside? You don’t think callous words spoken with sarcasm are EVER appropriate? That it’s ALWAYS “offensive”? My girlfriend’s family talk trash all the time, one side is white, the other Japanese. The Japanese jokingly call the white side “white devils” and the other side constantly take their shoes off at the door as a rib. Now you’re telling me that this family behaves unacceptably and are offensive because they’re so close, they can make light of their racial divide?
No. Garbage.
Reason being is that it isn’t up to someone else to decide what is acceptable for an individual. When you say trash talk is “OFFENSIVE regardless of form”, I say that’s a lie because people need to be offended for it to be offensive. I was playing Street Fighter 4 last week (steam sale) with my brother and he informed me of something dastardly he would make me do to my dog if i won. No doubt someone else may have gotten offended but myself – having a sense of humour and a general awareness of the world beyond my own culture, race and gender – was not offended due to his tone, the inflection and context of the situation.
Trash talk is NOT harrassment, it’s trash talk. If the recipient says the trash talk has gone too far and it doesn’t cease, that’s NOT trash talk, that’s in fact harrassment.
I’m not quite sure it’s EVER worth 10 years in jail however.
Yes, it is offensive. Thats the point. It has to be to be effective.
Incidentally, being offended by something doesn’t actually make you right. I only makes you angry.
I dont think trash talking is bad sportsmanship at all, it is a way to get in your oponents head and make them lose focus on the task at hand, but the one thing most sportsman know is that what happens on the field stays on the field. Trash talking very much has a place in sports but only if you dont cross a line
it DOES make it acceptable, that’s exactly what it makes it, as pointed out below by dreamcaster (@jackunit13) the GREATESTS sportsmen and warriors and leaders in all of human history use it because its effective and acceptable, EVERY politician, lawyer, police officer, sportsman, military, they all do it, because it works and is accepted!
I don’t need to worry about what i say, trashtalk has its places, pretty much any competitive area (just have to be smart about it) im honest, brutally so, its served me incredibly well all my life, you would be amazed at how well received it is when you are brutally honest in work, in relationships in everything.
Why walk on eggshells?
Sure you don’t joke about killing kids, or about rape in a public forum in a climate currently harping on about those sort of things, but to attempt to stop people from trash talking is ludicrous plain and simple.
the problem with trash talk is that these days people are soft, they need to harden up, this wasn’t an issue 5-10 years ago because people knew trash talk was exactly that… TALK.
Yes. The best example is 80s/90s NBA basketball. Amazing.
This is not about people being soft. These days become has had enough of those with foal mouths and intimidation. I am one of these people and if someone trash talks me I am going to tell them that this is unacceptable. Granted the consequence maybe that I will come to harm but I am not going to take it lying down.
It doesn’t matter if you are a star player, a political figure or a religious decibel. If you trash talk, expect backlash because it is a form of verbal abuse.
And no matter the form, it is unacceptable. The consequences can be dire. For example, if I say to someone “the world would be better off without you” without knowing the person is suicide what do you think will happen?
It maybe talk but it can still cause irreversible damage. Thank about that before thinking trash talk is acceptable.
As i said earlier there is a line that can and will be crossed, saying the world would be better off without someone is kinda rough and probably shouldnt be said. If you were just talking shit and changed it to this game/match would be better off without you all of a sudden you are trash talking and not telling someone they should kill themselves.
Everything can made out to be unacceptable if you put extreme measures on it, telling a kid that they are superman to make them happy only to have them jump off the roof cos they think they can fly
I actually apologise. I let my head get a way too hot here.
This is not sarcasm, I genuinely am sorry for using that example and I should have stepped back and think of a more appropriate one.
To those who have lost someone with comments like that or are currently at their lowest, I am sincerely sorry.
Just to clarify, im not saying you should take trash talk lying down either. You have 3 options, 1) take it like a bitch (not recommended) 2) Trash talk back 3) Say nothing back but kick thier ass in whataver sport or game you are playing. Well i suppose 4 options cos i usually try for a combination of 2 and 3, unsuccesfully alot of the time cos im a huge smart ass but not the greatest at sports 🙁 but you get the point
Yeah, because winning by intimidating opponents with your filthy mouth is so much better than winning with actual skill.
Why not both? why cant i win with my skills at making you second guess yourself? or allow yourself to become heated causing impairment to you’re own judgment causing you to make a mistake?
If you have the skills, why would you need to resort to such underhanded (and unacceptable) tactics?
If you really have the skill, so would have no need for trash talk then.
Because its FUN, and completely acceptable.
Sometimes I want to win and I want to rub it in. This may be because of the other persons playing style and/or things they have said…
Trash talk isn’t just ubiquitous, it’s ooooooold, too.
It’s been around ever since one army camped outside another army’s city and noisily bashed their shields all day and night, chanting, “We’re gonna cut your tadgers off.”
That’d be way more effective than today’s standards.
You can be thrown out of games and banned/fined for trash talking in sport. Especially if you start throwing around the vile bullshit that happens in online gaming.
Only if people aren’t aware of how to mute or block communications with other players. Im not big on trying to make other people feel bad, but online gaming is full of it. Just casually playing GTA IV on xbl, the sheer amount of people putting other people down in horrible ways is insane.
When you just tell them to “F*ck off” they suddenly switch up to an offended “Whoa, watch your language buddy”… Which confuses the hell out of me. How is a little bad language worse than groups of people verbally attacking other people because of insane things like race, sex, social class, religion, orientation not to mention their mothers sexual activities etc.
Its not like its limited to games, you see it happening on this site in the comments. Just because you make a simple point simply people write off your argument as invalid and will trash talk your ability to make an argument.
TBH I dont really think there is an easy solution to the whole trash talking in society. For some weird reason plenty of people seem happy to go about their day and try and make other people feel worse about themselves… Doesn’t really speak well for us as a society.
That being said, having a joke taken out of context and completely ignoring the clarification that is was a joke and jailing a person for 10 years for one line of a confirmed joke is unjust. What ever the joke was about or implied.
For me there is two types of trash talking
1 – trash talking that it’s banter or getting into someones head but keeping it respectful
or
2 – trash talking where they are just keyboard warriors or just plain stupid…just look at the 12-14 year old COD players who think that being racist is just trash talking.
I’m using to hearing trash talking because I use to play basketball where it happens all the time and I know that I have trash talked before but I would always keep it respectful..
In video games…all you hear is a voice and these people think they can live behind an avatar…but yes the mute button is great (All hail the Mute button)
The mute button is there specifically for these people. The more attention they get (like this) only aids them. Not to mention encouraging other young gamers to do it as well. “The grown ups think it’s uncool, I’m gonna do it”.
To them, racism, sexism, etc is just trash talk. The great majority of them won’t believe what they say as fact. They’re not coming from KKK rallies. They probably just watched Bad Boys.
No, the mute button is to cancel out the sound if you need to hear what is going on around you. It is not a censoring mechanism one uses when one is being disrespectful.
As I said to your earlier comment, if it is unacceptable in real life it is just as unacceptable if done via digital means such as Twitter, Facebook or XBL.
People who talk trash should be made to face the consequences of their actions, even if they think they are under no obligation to own them.
Yes. Mute individual people to hear the game better rather than going to sound options and turning off voice. You definition of the function makes much more sense. How silly of me.
Just stop taking things so personally and/or being so sensitive.
This is not a question of taking things personally or being so sensitive. What I am doing is highlighting that some talk is unacceptable and it is wrong to think it should be tolerated.
As I said before, if something is unacceptable, it is unacceptable irrespective of the communication means/medium.
By your own posts, Kyle Sandilands should not have face the backlash he got when he made those comments about Magda Shebansky going to a concentration camp to lose more weight.
yes, but what is unacceptable to you obviously isnt to me, or others posting here, why do you get to decide what is or isnt acceptable?
No because what Kyle Sandilands did was a personal verbal attack where he targeted someone. Trash talking is not the same thing. Have you ever watched Rugby League before? Soooo much trash talking as well as many other professional sports. Do you see those sport stars go and cry to their coach after the game that they are upset with what an opposition player said to them? No. What law or rule says that it is unacceptable? Everything is becoming so pc these days that it’s getting beyond a joke. If you can’t deal with people trash talking then you shouldn’t be playing competitive multiplayer. And as many have said before me there is a MUTE function, use it.
This was in reply to WiseHacker obviously…
Can’t it be both? Although I know I certainly use it for one more than the other, which – to me – is a better indicator of its adopted ‘purpose’.
Let me put this scenario to you. If you are playing an online game and there is someone trash talking.
From what I can tell from your other posts, you tend to mute them and you even mute yourself so you vent alone.
The question I put to you is this: if someone is bad mouthing why should *you* mute them? They should be the ones being muted or removed as you have done nothing wrong.
To the one bad mouthing, its more power to him or her and less incentive to behave.
Enh. The incentive to misbehave is usually the reaction. Trolls are like fire – they die without oxygen. (So, kids – that means get a plastic bag and some cord handy! I jest.)
‘Shoulds’ are a luxury, really. I shouldn’t have to lock my door – the fact that the door is there and the property mine should clearly indicate that without invitation, others shouldn’t be there. But I do have to lock my door. ‘Should’ is useful when you have a measure of control, such as in a small or tightly-regulated environment, such as high-level athletes have to adhere to or a private forum or guild. Against the unstoppable tide of human aggression in competition in the general public? Should takes a backseat to pragmatism.
Oh yeah. I keep forgetting that angle. My bad.
I’m of the old mould where trash talk is often used to make someone disappear (the old school bullying tactic which has only gotten worse thanks to social media).
When you mute them they are the ones being muted. You’re saying “everyone should do and say what I believe is correct so I don’t have to take a moment of my time to not hear things I don’t agree with”.
Play single player, your life will be so much easier.
Not going to say that this use is universal, but on xbl/GfW I use the mute function to mute disrespectful players. It can be used as a censoring mechanism. The only other reason to mute specific people would be that their mic is picking up background noise that is piercing your ears…
I agree that people that trash-talk should be held accountable for their actions, but when you can use tone and inflection to make something you say discounted as ridiculous (without need ing to add “just kidding”), and the guy used “jk” that is universal net speak for “im saying something ridiculous or stupid” and being jailed it… I don’t even know how to say how stupid that is.
Some people might present you with the idea that there is no such thing as “respectful trash-talk” or “respectfully getting inside someones head”.
Way to take a dumb quote out of context, and not fully quote it.
If I’ve had a bad day at work, or I’m playing really bad at whatever game I’m in, I’ll either have my headset muted or turned off. I’ve become conscious of the rot I was hurling and random because they got me.
When I do have the mic in I usually try yo congratulate my killer on their shot/ability to outmanouver me.
This way I can still yell abuse at the screen, but with my mic off I’m not actually hurting anyone, just venting.
If only more people thought the same way as you.
There’s no way in hell I’d play a PVP game and leave my mic on. Not even for team-mates, and especially not for opponents. The stream of profanity which can leave my mouth… Makes me glad I have excellent sound-proofing (sex-tested and approved), for the sake of my neighbours.
Agreed, the only time i switch my mic on these days is when i party up with IRL and long term online friends. Being paid out for having and Aussie/English (Im from Adelaide) accent and then the resulting “convict!” etc just annoys me…
A heart is either still or beating. Not ‘still, beating’.
Anyway, there is still trash talk in organised sports at every level – from amateur to professional – and it’s used to put your opponent off their game. To use a non-sports example – Psych Outs in Baseketball weren’t just invented for Baseketball. They happen all the time.
In professional sports there are limits to what you can and can’t say, and even still professional sportsmen do their best to cross the line into territory that many might think is unacceptable – all in an effort to throw their opponent of their game. If you say something nasty about someone’s mum and they throw a punch at you, sure you’re a bit of a dbag – but if they get sent off for throwing the punch, your team just got an advantage.
If MMA fighters still engage in trash talk, a sport where they literally let their fists do most of the talking for them, then there must be some skill differentiator or affector involved in the art of trash talk.
Funny thing is, it’s actually bad for the people doing it. Just look up any studies about punching pillows for anger management to get the general idea.
Does the author of this article even know the context of Justin Carters comment? He was responding to someone who called him crazy. He was being blatantly sarcastic. This doesn’t deserve to be brought up in a discussion about trash talk.
I find the “trash talk” of those guys in that CoD competition that Kotaku posted a few months ago way more disturbing.
Well, I saw this as more of a launch point for a larger and broader point, but you’re right – it’s a bit tenuous when considering that this was undoubtedly sarcasm in response to someone calling him crazy.
Yeah I don’t have a problem with the subject, just a bit tired of the constant misinformation spread around about Carter.
Good article, well-put. I like the mention of rap battles, good perspective to consider.
there’s trash talk and then there’s being a dick. there is a fine line in the middle that some can manage to not cross.
I think it’s just poor/bad trash talking, rather than being a dick! They don’t really want to rape your mum…
The lads and I are getting to the age where ‘Your Mum’ jokes are losing a bit of their shine. It’s almost to the point of, “Well, ever since retirement/menopause/losing Dad, she’s been a bit neglected… you know what, if you can give the old girl a good time, I’m all for it!”
The list goes on…just good old fashioned banter!
Time to understand that any level of compeditive activity will feature some form of trash talk from one team to the other. You think gamers are bad, Patricia? Go see a Collingwood AFL match.
Sticks and stones. Move on and, again, stop making a big deal out of something that has been going on since the dawn of competition.
When I first read this article I thought it was a ludicrous stretch to connect “let it happen” and “[it will] be over soon” to rape – after all it makes perfect literal sense in the context of getting completely destroyed in a fighting game. But then I did a few Google searches and asked my wife her opinion, apparently those phrases are strongly associated with rape. Live and learn, I guess.
I don’t play the sort of games that attract a lot of trash talk. It just isn’t for me. It’s OK for people to say ‘trash talk is just part of it’, so long as they realise it does exclude a bunch of people from playing….
I played professional CS Source for a number of years (2 seasons CEVOP, 2 seasons CEVOI).
And you know what? I trash talk like there’s no tomorrow. It works. It’s great.
I don’t understand how people saying ‘its offensive it shouldnt be allowed’ don’t see the irony in their own posts. When did offended people’s opinions become more heavily weighted than every other person?
To quote the great Stephen Fry (as he probably often is):
“It’s now very common to hear people say, ‘I’m rather offended by that.’ As if that gives them certain rights. It’s actually nothing more… than a whine. ‘I find that offensive.’ It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. ‘I am offended by that.’ Well, so fucking what.”
The same thing happened with the joke of an R-18 rating.
Well said, man stephen fry has the best outlook on shit
Is this an article or a blog? If you need a lesson in offensive stuff, please just watch any decent comedian and try (TRY, please…) to understand how offensive remarks can provide some very real insight into important social issues. Trying to say that you can arbitrarily just go over the line just smacks of ignorance about speech and basically every other social issue that doesn’t involve just making someone uncomfortable.
This kind of bullshit is exactly why I don’t play online anymore – too many douche bags hide behind their anonymity and get personal with their “trash talk”. I put up with fuckwits all day at work; I game to relax, not to deal with more idiots.
Oh, and that video is cringe worthy. Talk about perpetuating a negative gamer stereotype.
Fucking Hernandez again :(. Seriously guys, stop publishing this idiot.
I’ve never seen people rage harder than console gamers. How ridiculous.
And here on the other side of the ring:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/07/brazilian-referee-decapitated-stabs-player
Until sports heroes stop doing this and justifying it, we cannot expect kids to act any better than their ‘idols’.