You can hear terrible prejudices bubble up when you’re playing a Killzone, Call of Duty or Halo match online. This stuff is bad when you’re in the heat of a tense deathmatch showdown, trying to just have fun and win. It’s even worse away from the game.
The Bigot Gamer collects all sorts of overheated sexist, racist, homophobic chatter heard while playing online multiplayer games:
This site is a social experiment. The more occurrences of discriminatory behaviour by more and more individuals posted to this site will prove to the Ann Coutlers of the world that Bigotry is alive and thriving. And when people think they are anonymous, they don’t hold back. Oh how the hate flows when you think there are zero consequences.
… we are not trying to stop discrimination in the gaming world. We’re just trying to expose it in easy, click-able links.
Without the context of kill-or-be-killed combat, you can really sit back and soak in the ignorance of the people putting their bigotry on display. Who knows, building a repository like this might make people think twice about acting this way in online games.
Comments
46 responses to “Meet The Arseholes Ruining Online Gaming”
I think the intelligence and thought behind the shit people say online is perfectly demonstrated in the video where a guy recorded some kid’s comments then played them back to him in the next game causing him to engage in a long tirade against himself.
It’s not even about what’s being said. It’s about being the loudest guy in the room.
Universal mute rocks.
So they’re saying it because they think they have to?
I guess. Some people talk shit because they’re compensating for poor performance, others talk shit because they’re poor winners. It’s offputting to anyone who isn’t noisy or extremely competent.
I don’t think people who are using racial slurs or other hate speech even are racist or homophobic or whatever (apart from being extremely ignorant about how their careless speech is extremely damaging to others). They just know that the worse words they use, the more extreme a reaction they can provoke. Trash-talking in games was originally an attempt to throw the other person off and obtain a psychological edge, now it’s almost like people have forgotten that (because we’ve developed an immunity to it) and people have compensated by upping the volume.
If you call someone a terrible thing loud enough enough times they might just lose all desire to play the game, so I guess eventually you win when they quit playing.
If you call someone a terrible thing loud enough enough times they might just lose all desire to play the game, so I guess eventually you win when they quit playing.
A shame it results in a dead community.
You mean a community of 13 year old homophobic rednecks? 😛
Yeah, this. Its not bigotry, racism, sexism, hate speech or anything like that.
Its trash talk.
No, it’s bigotry, racism, sexism and hate speech used as trash talk by those with limited vocabulary and intelligence.
I don’t think Trash Talk allows you to say anything you like, it should not be used as a get out of trouble free card. If your acting like a Bigoted, Racist, Sexist Prick and somebody catches you, you can’t just say just Trash talk, all in fun.
People should be accountable for what they do and say, if you don’t want to be held accountable than don’t say it.
Excellent comment – how is it that you don’t have more up-votes?
You don’t understand a multitude of things.
I don’t see it as a lack of intelligence I usually only view it as side effect of a repressed social control being brought out due to internet anonymity.
Is it strange that I can relate to people wanting to do this? I feel bad for having empathy for the matter.
I suppose it’s more thoughtlessness than a lack of intelligence. I certainly can be a foul-mouthed blighter when I’m raging at a game, but I try to avoid saying anything bigoted, especially if I have my headset in.
If you’re used to gaming without the physical presence of other people in the room you’re going to be more egocentric in-game (and most games are to some extent a power-fantasy where you get to be the big invincible hero). When you lose or otherwise get frustrated, that other person has taken control away from you. This sucks, so you lash out, but you still view the other player as inanimate, a part of the game itself. Your Xbox isn’t going to be offended by being called a faggot or a nigger when you get roughly violated by a Draugr Deathlord in Skyrim, so maybe you fall into questionable habits, and that’s your conditioned reflex when you get killed by some guy camping the rocket launcher for the sixth time in a row.
Now you get six people all with their headsets in feeling the same emotions and frustrations and now there’s someone calling them racial or homophobic slurs on top of it. It just becomes an extremely unfriendly atmosphere, where staunchly masculine teen homophobes will bafflingly go into loving and vivid detail about their opponent’s proficiency in the field of interpersonal penile manipulations and desire for the fruits forthwith.
I believe your second paragraph hit it home over the mindset of solo male gamers, very profound! but now we are faced with how do you teach restraint to a thoughtless gamer?
As an ex pro gamer, I concur with your comment that people ‘talk sh#t’ for a number of reasons. But I don’t think that internet anonymity is the reason it is so prevalent in gaming – both online and lan gaming.
Trash talking is systemic throughout our society and manifests within through all forms of interaction in our communities. It is a form of freedom of speech; all be it a very low form. It’s the same as forum trolling but with a voice attached to ram the message down more directly.
As a fairly talented gamer I used to play with my mic muted so not to ‘feed the trolls’.
Getting called a hacker, no life, nerd….. was more of a compliment in my mind. As you say when trolls start attacking you, they are trying to put you off your game – just like sledging in cricket/afl/nrl or bullying at schools. It’s just there’s no referee/teacher to adjudicate and keep control.
Is it right that this continues? Probably not when it’s personal attacks, but it can be comical if the banter is kept above board and intelligent.
Any chance you remember what it’s called? Wouldn’t mind seeing that.
It’s quite hilarious 😀
This one, I believe.
Link please Matt K – that sound hilarious!
Since I got back into COD I haven’t donned the headphones but have received 3 tasteful PMs (2 written and one verbal) from fellow Australians imploring me to ‘kill myself’
Good times…
Ah I see above – thanks 🙂
That sounds hilarious and awesome, you got a link?
Firs thought though is the kid has no idea peoples won voices sound much different exclusively to them (because of how the sound vibrates through our heads when we speak) and as such doesn’t recognize it. Makes it all the more hilarious.
Found it further down.
typical COD/consol gamers.
I cant stand online shooters on consoles.
I know there are people with open mics on CS:GO or TF2 but when i watch my mates play black ops online every game session almost everyone playing has an open mic everyone is talking shit, what sound like 8-12 year olds are screaming or talking shit. There is always someones mic is picking up music or background noise from his house. I also know people say “JUST MUTE THEM” but I don’t even want to be in a game with people like that. I feel that on PC at least most people do the shit talking over in game typing.
It;s the same everywhere to be honest. I seem to find the same types of people regardless of what platform.
The new Party chat on PS4 is a feaking god send for us though. We often just chat there rather than in game. (Or chop and change on the fly depending on how bad the game chat is)
I bet the guy who said “nigger is just a word” is white.
This is (almost) a non issue on PC.
64 player BF4. Everyone has mics, but 99% of the time no one says anything.
But in saying that the chat box is amusing to read. Its like the insults and abuse is more creative and thought out when its typed.
And quite often you will see ‘Admin has kicked [player] for language’.
Rubbish. I have heard the same nonsense on both platforms. Why do you think private chat servers are so big on PC?
It sure as hell isn’t because everyone is so polite on open chats.
Rubbish. I’ve never heard the same on both platforms. Played 6 or so hours of BF3 over the last week on open chat and didn’t have a single person insult me. Don’t act like a dickhead. One individual had a different experience than you, they aren’t wrong just because you feel differently without any reason to.
Mute ALL, right off the bat. Never have to hear any of it. Unfortunately you have to ‘hide’ the text chat also, but it worth it not to have to listen to morons.
This! I don’t even remember the last time I heard anyone in an online game (save but people in a party chat). Maybe that’s it – nowadays we generally play with friends in a party so rarely have the ‘opportunity’ to hear these people.
It’s like I’ve become oblivious to a whole side of humanity I’m glad I’m not aware of. :O
This guy, i do the same on BF4 on PS4, it really doesnt add anything to the experience considering all you need to do is give/follow squad commands and the rest is pretty obvious.
I admit that I completely lose my crap in these kinds of games, openly swearing my head off and making obscene, offensive remarks while I play… The difference, is that my microphone isn’t on.
I guess subconsciously I use it as an outlet, but have no intentions to offend anyone, so if you can;t keep it under control, as I admittedly can’t, turn your damn mic’ off…
I’ve had to hear so much of this from apparently-prepubescent GTA V players who don’t even understand what they’re saying, let alone possess the physical sexual maturity to follow through on most of their statements.
When it comes to an R-rated game I’ve reached the conclusion that these children are the products of their parents’ decision-making process. After all, it was likely these parents that bought the R-rated game and let their child loose on the Internet armed with an extended vocabulary of hatred and divisiveness.
and this is why i refuse to venture away from my teamspeak server.
I mean I get the whole anti-homophobia thing and I support it but online gaming without swearing is like bigmac without the meat.
You don’t have to use slurs to curse, and noone needs racism, sexism, or other bigotry as an outlet. I know better than to ever tread near most chats, as a trans lesbian the only thing I can expect is either direct ridicule, or hearing my reality used as a slur thrown at other people like I’m trash and horrible for existing.
For GTA Online, I went and specifically bought a PS3 headset to stop hearing idiocy over my speakers. Now I turn the headset on and put it somewhere I can’t hear it.
“I’m going to fuck your mother!”
“Hey now, you’re 12. You still need mum’s permission to get a coke out of the fridge.”
I always turn off voice chat audio in every online multiplayer game, in BF4 it does nothing to have to hear some sweaty dudebro in the states getting angry about lag every 10 seconds.
You think this is bad Australians make these guys sound like the tele tubbies…. i dunno what it is maybe nazi germany all migrated to Australia or something but no one in the world seems to bag on Jewish people more than australians. Australian gamers could quite easily be the worst people on the planet….. well just the ones ive met on call of duty.
This is the internet, people say offensive things just to get a rise out of others. Everyone isn’t actually a sexist, racist, homophobe. Those kind of insults are just widely used because they are easy ways to piss people off.
Wanna piss a guy off? call him gay.
Wanna piss a woman off? tell her to make you a sandwich.
Wanna piss off someone who doesn’t sound white? use a racial slur.
and now you’ve successfully pissed off everyone and didn’t even need to come up with an original insult.. I think having a website about people being assholes online is as silly having a website about people going into a restaurant and saying “OMGZ LOOK AT ALL THESE PPL EATING!?!?”. It’s the internet, people are always going to be assholes. Thats why we have mute/block buttons.
Haven’t watched the video yet but flaming is an important part of online gaming, its all the other faggots that are ruining it.
and this is why I mute or party chat when playing mp games.
Haters gonna hate.
The amount of sexist shit I experienced back in the days when I played COD has ruined me for other games. Too often I’m scared of communicating with other players because I’m expecting arseholian comments about something that’s irrelevant to the game, my gender. I feel like I should be doing something better with my time instead of smack talking some teenager who’s literally half my age.
Thank god for mute & block
I kind of expected this article to have a Twilight Zone style twist where there was just a picture of a mirror with the caption “The arseholes are all of you!” and nothing else.
“Racial slurs and insulting talk may or may not be racist. Some words used in attack form are nearly always racist, but most slurring is borderline. Slurring entire groups is just nasty, and yes it’s racism. But slurring someone who insulted you or someone you are having a fight with isn’t really racism. It’s just two people fighting. If you hate someone, you have a right to call them any name you want that applies to them to insult them. This is simply jousting between two parties, two men fighting it out and hitting below the belt once in a while. That’s a personal matter and an attack on a single individual, and it’s not racism.”
– Robert Lindsay