eSports has a racism problem

[Gadarene]

I realize something, perhaps we're discussing the wrong subject (although heavily related), but I think this topic is really focused on eSports, not just gaming in general. The amount of racism, misogyny and homophobia that is displayed during events creates a barrier for some players. Should a player have to mute their mic during a tournament (although I'm sure tournament rules would control that kind of activity among players)? Should a player have to ignore any media or interview coverage of an event because people are flooding chat streams with racist comments? Imagine if you will, they had an interview where they allow interaction with the public after a round and the chat stream is filled with racist comments.

I think it becomes clearer that there needs to be an environment that is accessible to more players, and moderators need to be properly trained to police such events, we already see such policing in other media (e.g., taped delays of live events). On that same note, it is obvious this is heavily related to gaming culture at large, which despite claims that "everyone gets it," everyone does not get it. Frequency does matter; for example, street harassment affects men and women, but who is it largely a problem for? Women. All street harassment is bad, but clearly women are the primary target (and likely targeting of men does not rise above random chance). With gaming, it has been demonstrated, for example, that the mere voice or notion that a female is present increases the level of harassment over three times what you would expect for anyone. That matters and that's what needs to change.

It's easy to tell people to suck it up when you do not experience the same thing ("Bleh, I've been attacked before!" Right, if you magnified your harassment, you might have a different opinion). Unrelated, but still related, I wonder how men would feel if they endured a year of street harassment.

In gaming and online, men get more death threats than women.

But there is no The Internet is a Hostile Place for Men narrative doing the rounds.

In fact, given that, men just seem to get on with it.

Hence why there is little sympathy for those complaining about it (typically women) coming from men. We know it is possible to cope with this stuff, rather than demanding the Internet be reworked to our convenience.

 

[SummerMadness]

In gaming and online, men get more death threats than women.

But there is no The Internet is a Hostile Place for Men narrative doing the rounds.

In fact, given that, men just seem to get on with it.

Hence why there is little sympathy for those complaining about it (typically women) coming from men. We know it is possible to cope with this stuff, rather than demanding the Internet be reworked to our convenience.

In the case of this tournament, why should it be allowed for players to attack your contestants and flood the chat interface with racist imagery and text? As the people running the tournament, shouldn't those people be banned?

Women and street harassment was brought in as an example, yet you're attacking that with regards to women and gaming, the topic here is racists flooding the chat interface during a publicly broadcast of a gaming tournament.

 

[Vylo]

In the case of this tournament, why should it be allowed for players to attack your contestants and flood the chat interface with racist imagery and text? As the people running the tournament, shouldn't those people be banned?

Women and street harassment was brought in as an example, yet you're attacking that with regards to women and gaming, the topic here is racists flooding the chat interface during a publicly broadcast of a gaming tournament.

It can be exceedingly hard to moderate. You are talking about tournaments with over a million viewers, all who have used the internet so they know many many many many tricks to get around filters. You need a large number of physical human being to quell them.

 

[SummerMadness]

It can be exceedingly hard to moderate. You are talking about tournaments with over a million viewers, all who have used the internet so they know many many many many tricks to get around filters. You need a large number of physical human being to quell them.

Never suggested such a process is simple, but it needs to be addressed. Your argument boils down to, it could be hard, so don't do anything? I hardly believe addressing the issue means only unfeasible solutions are available. Millions of viewers also doesn't mean millions of people interacting with the chat room.

 

[Vylo]

Never suggested such a process is simple, but it needs to be addressed. Your argument boils down to, it could be hard, so don't do anything? I hardly believe addressing the issue means only unfeasible solutions are available. Millions of viewers also doesn't mean millions of people interacting with the chat room.

If you've watched a lot of stream chats like I have, the text flies by, even with slow mode on (you can only post 1 message every 1-3 minutes). Even if 1% of the people type, its 10's of thousands of people spouting things. It isn't easy to have people parse through that and ban offenders. And then the offenders can simply bypass the bans if they put in the effort. So it can become very problematic to stop them. You should see the insanity of many games just trying to stop the actual players from being DDOSed during minor leagues. It's insane how much damage a handful of people can do.

 

[TerranceL]

In gaming and online, men get more death threats than women.

But there is no The Internet is a Hostile Place for Men narrative doing the rounds.

In fact, given that, men just seem to get on with it.

Hence why there is little sympathy for those complaining about it (typically women) coming from men. We know it is possible to cope with this stuff, rather than demanding the Internet be reworked to our convenience.

Well of course, men are expected to act like adults, while progressives seem content to treat women like mewling babes.

 

[SummerMadness]

If you've watched a lot of stream chats like I have, the text flies by, even with slow mode on (you can only post 1 message every 1-3 minutes). Even if 1% of the people type, its 10's of thousands of people spouting things. It isn't easy to have people parse through that and ban offenders. And then the offenders can simply bypass the bans if they put in the effort. So it can become very problematic to stop them. You should see the insanity of many games just trying to stop the actual players from being DDOSed during minor leagues. It's insane how much damage a handful of people can do.

Again, no one is suggesting this is a simple issue, I would probably use machine learning to parse certain poster behavior from chat logs, that will help with hard filters, as you'll be able to pick out the people that try to use tricks to get around filters. Additionally, everything doesn't need to be done live on the spot. It may hard, but I don't think you can argue it's not doable. I think a filter that uses machine learning would definitely help.

 

[Gadarene]

In the case of this tournament, why should it be allowed for players to attack your contestants and flood the chat interface with racist imagery and text? As the people running the tournament, shouldn't those people be banned?

Women and street harassment was brought in as an example, yet you're attacking that with regards to women and gaming, the topic here is racists flooding the chat interface during a publicly broadcast of a gaming tournament.

Generally I expect people of any group can cope better with this stuff, because of how men generally cope with it.

 

[Vylo]

Again, no one is suggesting this is a simple issue, I would probably use machine learning to parse certain poster behavior from chat logs, that will help with hard filters, as you'll be able to pick out the people that try to use tricks to get around filters. Additionally, everything doesn't need to be done live on the spot. It may hard, but I don't think you can argue it's not doable. I think a filter that uses machine learning would definitely help.

If you don't do it live there is not point, it is happening live. People are speaking as things are happening. I don't think you have a full understanding of how the internet functions. If they ban you, they have to identify you in some way. All you need is a way to change that identity and the ban is meaningless. Many experienced users can do that in seconds.

 

[TerranceL]

If you don't do it live there is not point, it is happening live. People are speaking as things are happening. I don't think you have a full understanding of how the internet functions. If they ban you, they have to identify you in some way. All you need is a way to change that identity and the ban is meaningless. Many experienced users can do that in seconds.

Heck it's not even that hard anymore. A paid VPN service will do the job easily.