It& #39;s often the common wisdom that games communities online are toxic and awful places.
And many are!
And then you& #39;ll hear people say "you can& #39;t do anything about it, that& #39;s just how it is, just ignore them..."

But!
It really doesn& #39;t have to be that way.

Last week I was invited onto @JoINrbs Slay The Spire Twitch stream. I was pretty nervous!

As a games writer, my previous experiences with online gaming communities have been, shall we say, unpleasant.

But we were raising money for a good cause, so I steeled myself.

And here& #39;s the thing. In almost 2 hours with ~700 participants, NOBODY said a single misogynistic or cruel thing. Even when I led a meditation. A meditation! On a gaming stream! Nothing but kindness, good humour, helpfulness, joy & friendship.

So. It CAN be done. @JoINrbs has curated a beautiful community where respect is the order of the day.

So, you don& #39;t NEED to pander to awful people.
You don& #39;t NEED to let them say whatever they like in the name of free speech.
You can... have a nice place with nice people! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤯" title="Exploding head" aria-label="Emoji: Exploding head">

And if your place isn& #39;t like that?
You can MAKE IT LIKE THAT!
And if you can& #39;t?
You can LEAVE & FIND A NICE PLACE!

So, yeah, I& #39;m not accepting any more excuses for the hellholes of gaming toxicity.

Good people surround themselves with other good people. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="♥️" title="Heart suit" aria-label="Emoji: Heart suit">