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One of my all-time favourite first-person shooters, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, is about to tell naughty players to sort their attitude out.

In a new blog post on the official site, the Valve team write that while you can already tweak what you see in-game like turning off players' avatars, names, and voice/text chat—they're a bit of a nuclear option as it affects everyone. To help with this, Valve has been working on a new system based on reports.

Yes, reports. User-made reports on behaviour will now have a bigger effect on players who are deemed to be repeat offenders. People who get a lot of reports, will end up seeing a warning message and if they continue being crap they'll become muted by everyone by default until they earn "enough XP to remove the penalty". However, people can still go and unmute them manually.

Valve said they're already tracking the reports, and said to get into the habit of using the reporting system with the "Abusive Communications or Profile" option if you come across someone being terrible.

Interestingly, the report system takes into account the person reporting as much as the person being reported. If a regular player who doesn't report often makes a report, it will be weighted more heavily than someone who doesn't play often or reports constantly.

What are your thoughts on such a system?

You can find CS:GO free on Steam.

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Mezron Feb 7, 2020
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Quoting: Geppeto35There are two types of different unpleasantness: naughty behaviour (ex: two time in the last month I played a guy that killed me while team mate in last survivor; the guy that cry in his mic; guy with music in the mic, etc.) and cheaters.

At least if cheaters were put aside it would help this great game. Yesterday, I stopped to play after 4 different rounds I was in front of cheating people with no fun. Replay VERY helps and it should be used by full time moderators after reports.
The inventiveness of cheats is also incredible: the classical guy that only killed by head shoot in one bullet whatever the gun he had, the guy that can take 3 awp shots in a raw with only 80hp decreased (meaning that he can probably tweak his cheat? or with adding more armor? don't know how) -seen yesterday, the guy that can view all hidden people ...I don't know how also :D
This game is a hack hole for hackers XD

Yeah man. This is why I stick to games where I play only with people I know. Every so often I try playing modern games with the public and I regret it.
Eike Feb 7, 2020
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Quoting: RafiLinuxYeah man. This is why I stick to games where I play only with people I know. Every so often I try playing modern games with the public and I regret it.

I stopped playing Call of Dutys when they didn't make server browsers anymore. There used to be some cool servers with decent behaviour, but when I couldn't choose anymore...


Last edited by Eike on 7 February 2020 at 6:20 pm UTC
namiko Feb 7, 2020
This move may either be really smart or really stupid. There are probably groups of people who will tell all their friends to mass report people periodically, but they also play the game enough to not be seen as report-griefers. How do you account for that?

This sounds like two wolves and a lamb voting on who's offensive. Democracy is a great idea in most cases, but not here.
Kimyrielle Feb 8, 2020
Quoting: einherjar
Quoting: Kimyrielle
Quoting: SalvatosInteresting, but I hope it doesn’t start penalizing people who make frequent legitimate reports... I would expect people who are frequently targeted by reports to be weighted down instead.

... The toxic masculinity (and that's what we're talking about here in the end) that has more or less defined gaming culture since its inception needs to be finally removed from it.

Oh I think you forgot to mention that it is WHITE toxic masculinity! Of course women (and divers people?) do never show toxic behavior. Masculinity is the root of all evil (at least in the gaming world)!

It is really sad, that you bring this nonsense into the discussion. Hope you can find the irony.

I have no clue about their skin color, nor that it matters. You can't really see that stuff in chat, or in voice com. Shocking, I know! But what I can tell you is that in the cases I was able to ascertain their gender, 100% of the people that ever harassed me online were male. To you and your personal version of reality, it might be nonsense. To me - you're probably a part of the problem. Among things because your post made it evident that you're clearly in denial mode, because you felt a need to ridicule my point like that instead of addressing it in a mature fashion. Gosh, were have we seen THAT rhetoric before?
Doc Angelo Feb 8, 2020
Quoting: KimyrielleThe toxic masculinity (and that's what we're talking about here in the end) that has more or less defined gaming culture since its inception needs to be finally removed from it.

People are people. Some are assholes, some are nice. Some of them are male, some of them are female. Who cares? It's the behavior we're talking about, not the gender.

It would be awesome if you could believe me that what I say comes from a place where I hope that people can be nice to each other, no matter what their gender, their skin color, their religion is or whatever you could use to divide human beings into groups.
Doc Angelo Feb 8, 2020
Quoting: namikoThis move may either be really smart or really stupid. There are probably groups of people who will tell all their friends to mass report people periodically, but they also play the game enough to not be seen as report-griefers. How do you account for that?

I'm fairly sure that they have thought of that. They also have the system that detects review bombing. If one person gets repeatedly reported in a short frame of time by people that have one or more online-friends in common, it's rather clear what is happening.

There are a load of measure you can use for the weight of the report system. Of course, it all depends on how they use the metrics they have. I kinda trust Valve that they will again come to a sane and useful implementation. They have a lot to tackle in quality regarding their client, but they mostly get these kinds of things done well.
orochi_kyo Feb 8, 2020
Quoting: Geppeto35
Quoting: SirLootALotIsn't the entire point of cs:go to swear at each other in russian?
or in spanish, depending on time you play ^^

You English speakers are not exactly the "etiquette masters". Just saying.

About hackers, I think some people can't deal with the fact that some players know the map so much that their shoot at walls knowing their bullets are going somewhere where enemy players could be passing by and it is not wallhacking. "50% of cheaters" sounds you are frustrated with your own level.
TheSHEEEP Feb 8, 2020
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Quoting: zimplex1I don't believe being "toxic" should be a punishable offense. People should just mute or vote kick.
I agree. "Sticks and stones..." and all that.

Quoting: Kimyrielle
Quoting: einherjar
Quoting: Kimyrielle
Quoting: SalvatosInteresting, but I hope it doesn’t start penalizing people who make frequent legitimate reports... I would expect people who are frequently targeted by reports to be weighted down instead.

... The toxic masculinity (and that's what we're talking about here in the end) that has more or less defined gaming culture since its inception needs to be finally removed from it.

Oh I think you forgot to mention that it is WHITE toxic masculinity! Of course women (and divers people?) do never show toxic behavior. Masculinity is the root of all evil (at least in the gaming world)!

It is really sad, that you bring this nonsense into the discussion. Hope you can find the irony.

I have no clue about their skin color, nor that it matters. You can't really see that stuff in chat, or in voice com. Shocking, I know! But what I can tell you is that in the cases I was able to ascertain their gender, 100% of the people that ever harassed me online were male. To you and your personal version of reality, it might be nonsense. To me - you're probably a part of the problem. Among things because your post made it evident that you're clearly in denial mode, because you felt a need to ridicule my point like that instead of addressing it in a mature fashion. Gosh, were have we seen THAT rhetoric before?
You prevented yourself from being taken too serious in this discussion by bringing in that "toxic masculinity" nonsense as soon you saw an opening to stick it to "the patriarchy" or whatever crusade it is you are on.
If you truly believe shitty behavior in gaming would only come from men, you are absolutely delusional. And probably blind to the irony of trying to paint masculinity as toxic.

Most reports of harassment and stories about people being douchebags in a competitive game tell about that person being male? What a surprise, in games that have a player base that is 80% (or more) male...

Quoting: GuestIronic that a thread talking about muting toxic people made mute a member here. :D
When someone continually harasses you, that person should be actively punished/reported, sure.
But blocking someone for disagreeing with you just makes you live in a bubble far away from reality. That will hardly solve any problems and just paints you as a weak-willed and immature person. It is the equivalent of a little child putting fingers in their ears, going "lalala I can't hear you!".


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 8 February 2020 at 11:54 pm UTC
Kimyrielle Feb 9, 2020
Quoting: TheSHEEEPYou prevented yourself from being taken too serious in this discussion by bringing in that "toxic masculinity" nonsense as soon you saw an opening to stick it to "the patriarchy" or whatever crusade it is you are on.
If you truly believe shitty behavior in gaming would only come from men, you are absolutely delusional. And probably blind to the irony of trying to paint masculinity as toxic.

Most reports of harassment and stories about people being douchebags in a competitive game tell about that person being male? What a surprise, in games that have a player base that is 80% (or more) male...

First you say that most people in games known to be problematic are males, then you bash me for pointing out the fact that the overwhelming majority of toxic people in online games are males, and that the underlying problem is what's usually referred to as "toxic masculinity".

That makes obviously no sense. Other than it's the expected reaction of people that are part of the problem, either actively or passively, by defending these people or ignoring the issue to exist in the first place. I just wonder...if I am making all of this up, how come that many games publishers put in place measures to combat a problem that according to you and some other posters here, doesn't even exist?

Honestly, the gender issue is important only because it's required to understand what the issue ultimately roots in, and you cannot solve any problem without realizing its root causes. Not every male is an online bully. But almost all online bullies are males, and to solve the problem we need to talk about the difference between toxic and healthy masculinity. It's just a fact. Get mad at me in the "Just shoot the messenger and the issue will go away" fashion, if you want to. It's not that I would care. Honestly not.

As a general remark: I got quite some experience with bullies, both online and offline. And honestly, if I had a dime for every time I heard the line "Take a chill pill! It's just a game!!!" when somebody tried to excuse being an asshole in a game, I'd be rich. Thing is that that people don't magically change their personality when they log into an online game. If somebody behaves like a complete piece of crap in a game, a complete piece of crap is who they really are. The people that are part of the problem obviously don't like to hear that, so they get all defensive and aggressive when somebody points that fact out. As if a nice person would ever log into a game to troll others. Sorry, but no, that doesn't happen. Only assholes do that. As in real life assholes. So no, I don't need to take a chill pill. The people who deny the issue to exist need a reality check and acknowledge that a great many humans just aren't nice, and we need sufficient means to deal with them. Both in real life and in online games, where the prevailing culture is still in Three-Monkeys-Mode.
dvd Feb 9, 2020
Quoting: Kimyrielle
Quoting: einherjar
Quoting: Kimyrielle
Quoting: SalvatosInteresting, but I hope it doesn’t start penalizing people who make frequent legitimate reports... I would expect people who are frequently targeted by reports to be weighted down instead.

... The toxic masculinity (and that's what we're talking about here in the end) that has more or less defined gaming culture since its inception needs to be finally removed from it.

Oh I think you forgot to mention that it is WHITE toxic masculinity! Of course women (and divers people?) do never show toxic behavior. Masculinity is the root of all evil (at least in the gaming world)!

It is really sad, that you bring this nonsense into the discussion. Hope you can find the irony.

I have no clue about their skin color, nor that it matters. You can't really see that stuff in chat, or in voice com. Shocking, I know! But what I can tell you is that in the cases I was able to ascertain their gender, 100% of the people that ever harassed me online were male. To you and your personal version of reality, it might be nonsense. To me - you're probably a part of the problem. Among things because your post made it evident that you're clearly in denial mode, because you felt a need to ridicule my point like that instead of addressing it in a mature fashion. Gosh, were have we seen THAT rhetoric before?

Honestly, i play way less online games than i used to, and it's mainly because of the gahmer posturing that constantly goes on. And i haven't even met one of the real toxic ones. In CS, the very few times i play it, i enjoy having voice turned off, and i will probably enjoy turning the chat off too. I stay away from the competetive game mode anyway.

On the topic it would be great if they managed to get a system going that discouraged bad behaviour.
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