Cultures of abuse, harassment and intolerance are endemic in the competitive video game scene. This talk will discuss the types of trolling regularly found in competitive play, why it's a bad thing, what drives this behaviour, and what steps game designers can take to minimise it for online matchmaking.
First we'll look at it from a game-mechanic perspective - that is, how to identify characteristics of games that can foster a toxic culture, but where changing them would also negatively impact the gameplay.
After, we'll approach from a ui/ux perspective, giving some examples of recent titles that have built good communities by encouraging positive communication, as well as some that have embraced trolling to make winding up your opponent a mechanic in its own right.
