There’s no silver bullet for dealing with toxic gamers. But Blizzard has found one cheeky way to turn the blindingly obnoxious into something the whole family can enjoy.
The phrase “gg ez” isn’t new to Overwatch. It’s an annoying, obnoxious catchphrase that has been around for what feels like forever. I remember seeing back in the days of Brood War, and if you’ve played any online game in the past decade chances are you’ll have had it directed at you or your team at least once.
It’s “good game” for lazy arseholes, more or less. And it’s also become a common occurrence during Overwatch matches, irrespective of what actually happens. So in a small move that removes one of the many, many ways that players have when they want to be dicks to each other, Blizzard patched “gg ez” so it comes out as something else:
I RECORDED VIDEO TO SHOW YOU THAT I’M NOT LYING pic.twitter.com/4WQ8j8dBrj
— Karen (Mei-kythera) (@Malkythera) August 17, 2016
The fix is only live on the PTR server for now, but anytime the game detects “gg ez” as a chat phrase it automatically pulls a message from a pool of funnier, more sociable responses:
- It’s past my bedtime. Please don’t tell my mommy.
- I’m trying to be a nicer person. It’s hard, but I am trying, guys.
- For glory and honor! Huzzah comrades.
- C’mon, Mom! One more game before you tuck me in. Oops mistell.
- Ah shucks… you guys are the best.
- Mommy says people my age shouldn’t suck their thumbs.
- Wishing you all the best.
Other responses have reportedly been seen too, according to a thread currently on NeoGAF and another on the Overwatch sub-reddit. There’s supposedly a couple of messages indicating that players have been banned, although I haven’t seen that come up as of myself.
It’s a nice move by Blizzard that hopefully makes it through to the public arena, even if it will only result in a new meta when it comes to trash talk. It probably won’t be particularly effective for that very reason, although for a little while it will at least put a smile on some people’s faces.
Comments
31 responses to “Overwatch Is Dealing With Trolls In A Really Cheeky Way”
Where’s the Nandos?
I always wondered what kind of jackass types GG EZ and even though I don’t play Overwatch anymore it makes me happy to think that this could be in the game.
The ones who play and think they’re better then everyone else, even if they’re winning by a small margin. Usually the same ones who quit out when things aren’t going their way
I only speak for myself here… but the only time I type GGEZ is when the game was fun… and easy. Like going up against 6 Genji’s and switching to 3 Winston’s… very easy match, and hilarious cleaning them up continuously.
On that note though I do see the occasional cocky person type it when it isnt fitting :/
Good. I’m sick of people being dicks to each other.
Agreed.
It’s why it’s such a shame it is SO very easy to work around the filter… To the point where said filter will become completely useless almost immediately.
Unsportsmanlike trash talk, etc, should be reportable and result in suspensions from the appropriate chat channel. It’s the sort of thing that irritates me even when I’m in a winning team, and friends or players on my own team are the ones doing it to the opposing team.
Luckily, my friends aren’t dicks like that. I would tell them off. I report anyone who is being an arsehole. In fact, I reported a guy in Lucio ball and then he freaked out and was being me not to. My response “Don’t be a dick then”
Ever since Splatoon I’ve found myself reaching for the Nice! button that just isn’t there in other games. Unfortunate 😛
Still wish you could choose to say it to the opposition though, they deserve it sometimes.
If someone is doing really well on the opposite team, I’ll say something like “you’re making this game hell for me, stop being so good! =P”
In fact, I kept killing this one guy, and when he killed me I said “You finally got me! I deserved it though.” He responded with something like
“I know. After all these times!”
It made the game more fun.
I’m not familiar with this, don’t play online games. What does the EZ part mean? I’m not really following how it’s obnoxious. Anyone ?
Let’s say you’ve played a soccer or footbal game. Most of the time it has been one point the difference all the way through. When they finally win, they turn to you and say “That was an eay win” Despite that fact that you’ve tried your all, you have this dick saying that he found the game easy, duiscounting all your effort. It can ruin an otherwise good game.
Abbreviation of Easy, implying that your team sucks and the game was easy irrespective of whether it was actually easy. In fact, the closer the game and more evenly matched the teams are, the more likely some dickhead will say the game was easy.
Thank you both I get it now 🙂 so basically assholes.
Just assume everything anyone ever says in in-game chat is said with the intention of being an asshole.
So you mean the “fuck you junkrat” I got from the enemy Mercy yesterday wasn’t intended with all the love in the world? 🙁
That’s when you respond with “you know you love me ;D” and watch them froth from the mouth.
Pretty much!
They both encourage and discourage competitive behavior.
If you think trash talking your opponents is ‘competitive behavior’ you’re part of the problem.
Of course it is? What do you think elite professional sportsmen do all over the world? Or in any competition really. Abuse and racial chat should be unacceptable, not smack talk. You would prefer it’s like Hearthstone where you can’t even type one word to them I suppose cause it’s “safer”? Blizz even got rid of “sorry” in that cause feelings were to sore I guess.
In high level sport most athletes DON’T participate in petty trash talk. Certainly many do but they’re a minority. Most professional athletes behave like… well… professionals. On top of that, I don’t really think we should look at professional sportsmen as necessarily being paragons of good conduct…
Excellent job strawmanning my position from “trash talk should be frowned upon” to “STOP ALL THE CHAT,” too.
This is just patently false. Michael Jordan was the biggest trash talker of all time. Keep living in a fantasy world of unicorns and rainbows though.
I agree. Smack talk is just macho bullshit. It’s unprofessional and unsporting. The best players show their dominance with actual winning. Nothing else is needed.
I read through my comment and couldn’t see where I said what I thought about anything. It’s Blizzard who encourage competitive behavior while clamping down on other types of competitive behavior.
My mind immediately answered that question with “drawing, quartering and putting them on public display?”
the phrase ez reminds me of my time playing basketball with a philipino, he says that all the time. its not to offend though. Its just to get into the spirit of playing but can offend people sometimes. but once you get to know him you love him and you say it with him too. however on the internet without the person in front of you you really cant tell. and then there are people that probably do intend to tick you off…
oh and this really sound like a hoax…
if its not why dont they do something about the real toxic comments….this is like beyond small fry
Are we so sensitive and have such little control over our own emotions we can’t have a little competitive banter?
There is a difference between having a little jab to rub the salt in over a victory and telling someone to kill themselves or get cancer.
Why the hell do you have to have “a little jab to run salt in over a victory” anyway?
Oh wait, I forgot: because you’re an asshole.
It’s not “competitive banter” it’s being an asshole. Stop making excuses for it.
Exactly. Assholes always need a way to justify their defective personalities. Whether it be that old chestnut ‘it’s just healthy competition’ or ‘it’s only a joke’ or some other way to normalise the fact that they can’t coexist with others without bullying. Or show how much of a man they are because they didn’t have decent male role models.
And some jerk off will almost always pipe in with something along the lines of “you people are over sensitive SJWs” – yet another way to justify their own deep seated brokenness.
Oh man. i saw a guy do this and tried it on a normal server multiple times thinking it was fully implemented…
Hah, that’s brilliant! I particularly like the way Blizzard are passive-aggressively calling these dickwads out for what they are: immature, juvenile manchildren in need of a serious reality check (and a clip around the ear).
I don’t care about Overwatch at all (beyond its potential for porn), but I hope this finds its way into every game. LoL could be massively improved by its addition.