Voice Chat and the Encouragement of Positive Online Communication
Originally Published November 28th, 2018
Online play has been around for decades, but the quality of online experiences has remained unexciting since the conception of Xbox Live in 2002. There have been plenty of hindrances to online play since then, sometimes at the fault of network security, and sometimes due to lazy game development. But these mistakes have provided the opportunity for improvement, and for the most part those responsible for the mishaps have grown and bettered themselves and their service. However, there is one integral part of the online gaming experience that is still seeing problems, and that’s in-game voice chat.
It’s mostly due to in-game voice chat that verbal abuse has been a huge issue in games like League of Legends to online first-person shooters like Call of Duty, at least when playing with random players. The only way players can halt abuse in these games is to tattle on the toxic players by reporting them to the game’s developers, and with enough reports, problematic teammates have the potential to be banned… for only a couple of days. It takes repeated bans for them to get banned forever, but they can always just buy the game again and continue the cycle. Even with this process available to all players in most online games, there’s no guarantee that action will be taken against the abuser in each case: they have to be seen as a generally toxic player in order to be taken care of. Although an attempt was made through the reporting system, any chance of having problematic players removed from a game’s community through this feature is nonexistent because of the lack of true consequences.
That being said, toxic behavior is noticeably reduced when positive play is rewarded. In the past couple of years, the Endorsement and Honor systems were implemented into the famously negative experiences of Overwatch and League of Legends. These systems take the same philosophy of reporting other players, but for good behavior like shot-calling, expressing good sportsmanship, or for just being a desirable teammate. Because of the immediacy of an endorsement level with visual feedback, normally explosive players try to contain themselves, while normally encouraging players are rewarded with a nice looking badge on their profile. Unfortunately, the system backfires for highly competitive players who may be afraid that their aggressive shot calling can be seen as negative behavior, and for extremely positive players that expect more of a reward from being consistently helpful. Players need to see more than one loot box a month to be totally swayed by this system of positive reinforcement, and serious communication through voice chat needs to be seen as valuable and desired by each competitive game’s community.
Game developers aren’t exclusively responsible for positive communications though. Nintendo’s approach to online communications with the Switch, as scrutinized as it is, comes the closest to providing a positive communication experience, despite its fair share of problems. Up until the release of the Switch, Nintendo only ever provided the voice chat hardware called WiiSpeak, which was only compatible with a handful of games. Now, the Nintendo Switch Online App for mobile devices serves as their primary communications platform, which means that players who want to engage in voice chat need to have a phone or tablet to get started. On top of that, players need to be friends to initiate a call, and twelve-digit friend codes have genuinely discouraged the mass-adding of friends that’s possible on other platforms. This all sounds negative, but the effort that players need to go through to undergo voice chat on the Switch serves as a barrier for those that are impatient or too young to know what they’re getting themselves into. It also helps bring in grouping of friends or the establishment of teams to create a more uplifting online experience. Not only is this the intent of most online games currently trending, but discouraging playing online with randomly selected players helps define what Nintendo sees as the ideal way of playing online games.
Game developers and publishers alike are trying their best to make online communications as positive as possible, but there will always be people out there who take voice chat to a negative extreme. Even if a game doesn’t provide benefits for positive online behavior, be sure to spread the positivity when you’re gaming over the holidays. Playing video games is ultimately about having fun, and being able to play good games with people around the world holds the potential for many once-in-a-lifetime experiences.