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Been thinking a lot about this clip these last few days. The idea that voice chat in games creates an unfair advantage against people in marginalized communities is actually pretty valid. A thread of my thoughts: https://clips.twitch.tv/DifferentYawningSwanResidentSleeper
To start I'm disappointed by many streamers who generally have good takes on issues like this. IMO the reason many of them dog-piled so hard on this was because they are upset at @Twitch's abysmal community understating over the last few years and less of the actual comment made.
Counter claim of "everyone experiences toxicity in gaming". While true, you argue against the fact that people from marginalized communities do experience an elevated level of harassment in game. If you can't believe this then you need to spend some time to find the empathy.
IMO unfair advantage comes b/c people in these communities have to deal with the added level of fear when speaking in voice chat. Even if they need to "toughen up", learning to deal with the extra harassment is a new skill they must learn, thus creating an unfair playing field.
Say you have 10 skill points:
Non-harassed gamer:
Mechanics - 4
Neutral - 4
"Thick Skin" - 2
Harassed gamer:
Mechanics - 2
Neutral - 2
"Thick Skin" - 6
The added worry of harassment detracts from their ability to do what matters most, ACTUALLY PLAYING THE GAME.
Non-harassed gamer:
Mechanics - 4
Neutral - 4
"Thick Skin" - 2
Harassed gamer:
Mechanics - 2
Neutral - 2
"Thick Skin" - 6
The added worry of harassment detracts from their ability to do what matters most, ACTUALLY PLAYING THE GAME.
While I don't think removing voice chat entirely is the solution I do believe there are a variety of options that should be explored. Game developers NEED to be better at filtering toxicity in gaming. It's absurd we don't have stricter guidelines in the year 2020. Some solutions:
1. Aggressive punishment for toxic users in text chats.
Rainbow Six Siege is a shinning example for a system that SHOULD be implemented by EVERY major game today. There is no excuse in typing a slur period. https://www.polygon.com/2018/7/14/17572060/rainbow-six-siege-bans-moderation-chat-anti-toxicity
Rainbow Six Siege is a shinning example for a system that SHOULD be implemented by EVERY major game today. There is no excuse in typing a slur period. https://www.polygon.com/2018/7/14/17572060/rainbow-six-siege-bans-moderation-chat-anti-toxicity
2. Natural Language Processing for voice chat
Dev's should implement NLP to be used against users reported for hate speech in-game. If a player's sentiment has been deemed to be toxic in voice chat they should be muted or receive an appropriate punishment.
Dev's should implement NLP to be used against users reported for hate speech in-game. If a player's sentiment has been deemed to be toxic in voice chat they should be muted or receive an appropriate punishment.
3. Force voice filters for players not in a party
There should be a set of rotating forced voice modulators for online games in non-party voice channels to obscure the identity of non-partied gamers. Users in a party may opt to use their raw mic input.
There should be a set of rotating forced voice modulators for online games in non-party voice channels to obscure the identity of non-partied gamers. Users in a party may opt to use their raw mic input.
If you made it this far thank you for reading my thoughts!
I welcome any questions or discussion regarding the topic.
I welcome any questions or discussion regarding the topic.
