Why this topic is important!
Everybody knows it from any online multiplayer game. Players are constantly complaining about other players. This is as old as the first multiplayer game. But why is this? Normally everybody plays the game for entertainment and simply having a good time. So why bother with complaining when you want to enjoy the game. Sometimes you get into a situation, even if you don’t do anything and some players will start moaning about you.
A healthy player interaction is the ground where every community is built upon.
Disclaimer: I do not want to indicate, that Dirty Bomb is full of toxic players, it is not. But as games grow bigger, the population grows, thus the chance for different kind of players interacting with each other increases as well as the possibilty for different opinions. See games like CS and LoL where a LOT of decent players flame bad ones for no reason.
I want to shed light into our reasoning while we are playing a game, and how we can avoid confrontations which lead to focus on the argument instead of the game.
Trashtalk Chat Simulator 2015 all over again.
When I am the victim of a toxic player
Scenario: ‘Somebody swears about me and how bad or useless I am for the team.’
Don’t pay attention to his statements
If you can, ignore it but in case you want to say something then explain how hard you try.
Keep in mind, no matter what you say; the person who blames you is always right in his perspective! No matter what you do, you can’t influence their reasoning because they will always come up with a reason for a loss.
One time it is a bad player, next time lag, another cheats and tomorrow the whole game. Normally when somebody loses everybody else is to be blamed even your mother! But when you win a game, you think you are the hero who carried the whole team; someone’s mother is never the cause for the win. How odd.
Remember the times you were upset about other players
Players who flame others are always frustrated, so they try to express their frustration about the ingame situation and blame others. Don’t take it personal, always remember when you are upset, how irrational you can become. Sometimes it is ok to become upset, just let them be as long they don’t harm anyone. You need to accept that some player is upset and keep on playing.
Show understanding if necessary. Doesn’t matter if you think he is right or wrong. You want to calm him down. That’s all.
The reasons why you shouldn’t swear at any cost are:
- When you swear back, you aren’t better than the one who is blaming you!
- The moment you swear back to him you only add fuel to the fire. It only gets worse from that point on. You might get even more upset as the dude who blames you. So this is a loss/loss situation. Nobody wants that.
Easiest and best way is not to react at all. Just keep playing and enjoy it 
When I become upset while playing
Scenario: ‘I am one of the carrying forces of my team, I try as hard as I can but still it seems I am losing’.
Keep attention to what really makes you frustrated
You are probably upset because you don’t have a ‘good’ team; But actually your teammates have not a lot to do with it. Or do you saw anybody complaining about their ‘worst’ teammates, when their team is winning? In most cases: No. When you win a game you don’t care who you play with, you just enjoy the game.
The moment you don’t win, suddenly you care about who you play with, look at the stats and become nit-picky. From the stats of your teammates you begin to judge them and automatically there will be a ‘bad player’ in your team.
So in most cases the ‘bad player’ becomes the reason of your loss and this is how we think in 99% of cases. The reality can be quite different. There can be players who have ‘bad stats’ but they only try to reach the objective.
Imagine following situation:
Let’s say there are ok players but they don’t support the dude who is statswise the worst.
But the ‘worst’ player of the team actually tries to play the objective.
Instead giving the ‘worst’ player the support he needs, the ok players go only after kills or they can’t wait for the team to push together!
My point is even the most skilled player can play horrible at times and even the worst player can help the team to win.
When players start to fight against their own team, of course they can’t handle an opposing team which act more like a unit!
Stop looking at the Scoreboard
This is a difficult one. No matter whether points or K/D. They will always be abused to measure how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ someone is, most of the time the latter. So better stop to pay attention to the scoreboard. It will distract you and the ability to focus on your aim and gameplay diminishes.
The fact that you know that you have 1500 points more or less, doesn’t influence the game at all. Well you now know that you have got XY points but that’s it. It doesn’t make your aim suddenly magical and you don’t gain any “you shall not pass” Gandalf superpowers. No… you simply don’t!
But what does it mean when somebody has lots of points?
It only means that someone does more actions in a specific time. You can sit in a corner a whole match and only put up your healing station or only spam ammo around in order to get points. But that doesn’t mean the player is actually good or bad. The score might be an indication performance wise but there is a lot more to it. What is good and what is bad in a game is always dependant on the situation.
Accept your frustration or being upset about the game
There is no problem when you get upset because everybody gets upset here and there. Don’t worry about it. But don’t let it feel other players; it causes only harm and irritation for other players. Your teammates can lose their focus as well and the possibilty to win a close match vanishes.
Most players didn’t do anything to you. Nobody gets in game with the intention to ruin others people game experience (unless hackers). Keep this in mind! Always try to be fair and respectful to your teammates as to your opponents.
Humble in victory gracious in defeat!
Treat every player equally!
When you judge other players, you don’t define them, you define yourself. When good players say Y and X player is bad, and they don’t want to play with them, this tells a lot more about the ‘good’ player. Do you want that other players say bad things about you? Of course not. There are potentially always better players and could also think that you are bad. For every good player in Europe, there are 4 even better ones in Asia 
We want to avoid discrimination. Playing a game is a whole learning process and it is always going on! Your teammates are always your best buddies for the next 15 minutes of the match. Don’t worry you won’t play with them forever.
When you want to criticize, be friendly
because often criticism has good intentions but is either badly formulated or misinterpreted as an offense. The tone and words you use are important! In case players don’t grasp what you are saying after 100 times, silence is still golden!
Take a break from the game
Be it a day or couple of days. Play other games, do other hobbies etc.
Sometimes you need to re-discover a game to enjoy it to the fullest. Playing the game every day, hours for hours, can become dull and you might forget why you do like the game when you get upset too much.
So you want to win? [b]Then better get any help you can get, even from the players who you think are bad. Every help is welcome, no matter what. Stay nice! They are your bro’s, they play the same game, so you must have something with them in common.
Simply enjoy the game!
Happy Fragging! [/b]