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NameMr. Blum/ Ms. Lucic4CPDue DateAnonymity and Its Effect On Online Video Game Toxicity While my history with video games is a lengthy one, it has not been the most pleasant one. While I have had many joyous days playing games with my friends or just by myself, there have been many occasions where I was berated for my lack of skill by other people when I would play online. Sadly, the bad memories of gaming slightly outweigh the good, especially when I get made fun of by people I have never known. This is one of the shining problems with online gaming, as it is very likely that the people who used heavy profanity against me would probably never act that way towards me if we were to meet in real life. This is because when people say harsh things to others in a game, they know that because of the fact that their identity is anonymous, they will never receive the full punishment for their actions. People are very likely to use heavy profanity directed towards other people in an online video game more often than they would in real life. To begin, people are using the power of anonymity in online games to say whatever they want to anyone, no matter how harsh. In Wil Wheaton’s article “?Anonymous trolls are destroying online games. Here’s how to stop them.,?”, he talks about how the people in online games whose identities are anonymous have the loudest and most toxic voices out of all of the others that are playing the game (Wheaton). This shows that since people think they will not be recognized by the strangers they are playing with, they feel as if they are free to say whatever they want to the people they play with, no matter how profane their language is. Adding on to that, a lot of these gamers use scream and berate others online are old enough to know what they are doing. Wheaton brings up the point that the average age of a video gamer is 34, according to the ESRB (Wheaton). This shows that the majority of the people who act this way are not children, they are adults who should know better. Until this cloak of anonymity is taken away from these gamers, the majority of toxicity will never end. Furthermore, in a game that is single player and does not have online capabilities, people can enjoy a video game without other people spouting out profane nonsense into their ears, and instead can have a good time with the game they are playing. An article titled “Good Game?” by an anonymous person talks about how not all games are online shooter games, and how there are plenty of non-online games that are not violent or lead to aggressive behavior, and instead can leave a positive impact on the players. For example, the article talks about games like “Chibi-Robo!”, where the entire game revolves around helping people with their chores (The Economist). This point shows that since not all video games are violent shooters, the problem with profanity in video games definitely does not come from the game itself. In addition to this, the majority of these games that are friendly games that someone could relax and play do not have the capability to play online with other people. Games like “Super Mario Sunshine”, a game where you clean up graffiti and pollution does not have online play (The Economist). This ultimately means that the enjoyable experience that you can get from playing a game like this comes from the fact that people are not screaming at you for every little thing you do. The one thing to take out of this is that it would be illogical to blame the heavy use of profanity on the game, because in a lot of cases these games are not at fault, instead it is the people who ruin games behind their own cloak of anonymity. In addition, there are many good video games that have been plagued with toxicity, but no other game has been hit harder in recent years than “Overwatch.”. “Overwatch” is a shooter game, however it heavily relies on teamwork in order to win, and the developers at Blizzard Entertainment wanted the game to be inclusive to everyone, but that unfortunately is not the case, all because of the people who use their hidden identity against other people by harassing other players. An article on PC Gamer by Jay Castello talks about how the game’s developers have recognized that toxicity is a problem that is making playing the multiplayer a miserable time, and that they have hit roughly 480,000 accounts with “disciplinary actions” but it has not been enough (Castello). This shows just how big of a problem the toxicity in many video games in general is, since they took action against almost half a million accounts and the game still faces the same amount of problems with profanity. Adding on to this, the development team for “Overwatch” wanted the game to be inclusive to all players, regardless of skill level, however being a game that is meant to be inclusive and being one that is becoming known to house very aggressive players does not mix very well. The article also includes that many of the aggressive gamers in “Overwatch” and in many other online games often accuse other people of being LGBTQ+, female, autistic, etc. (Castello). For a game that is supposed to be accepting to everyone, this kind of behavior is unacceptable. Unless something is done against these people who think they can get away with anything online, these good video games will continue to decline in popularity. Anyone who plays video games online has their identity hidden from the world, and some people take advantage of this anonymity and berate the people they play with. It is very evident that if people knew exactly who these people were in real life, these toxic gamers would not be acting the way they do know. I have been a victim of these types of players, so I can say first hand that they do nothing special for the video game community except tear down its reputation. We should all strive to be kind to each other, in an out of the virtual world, because having a hidden identity should be no excuse to hurt people who want to have fun. Vinny DeFrancesco Mr. Blum/ Mrs. Lucic 4R 1/23 Works Cited Castello, Jay. “Blizzard's Failure to Curb Toxicity Undermines Overwatch's Inclusive Message.” Pcgamer?, PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES, 26 Oct. 2017, blizzards-failure-to-curb-toxicity-undermines-overwatchs-inclusivemessage/. Wheaton, Wil. “Wil Wheaton: Anonymous Trolls Are Destroying Online Games. Here's How to Stop Them.” ?The Washington Post?, WP Company, 11 Nov. 2014, posteverything/wp/2014/11/11/anonymous-trolls-are-destroyi ng-online-games-heres-how-to-stop-them/?utm_term=.a432be14f903. Wheaton, Wil. “Wil Wheaton: Anonymous Trolls Are Destroying Online Games. Here's How to Stop Them.” ?The Washington Post?, WP Company, 11 Nov. 2014, posteverything/wp/2014/11/11/anonymous-trolls-are-destroyi ng-online-games-heres-how-to-stop-them/?utm_term=.b6df5c5477db. Overall ScoreIntroductionBody ParagraphsConclusionMLA, grammar, vocabulary45-50Engaging, clear story. Clear transition. Clear, complex (subordinating conjunctions), compelling claim.Clear, complex (subordinating conjunctions) topic sentences. Introduces evidence effectively. Strong evidence chosen. Clear analyses that explain the evidence clearly and relevantly to claims. Closes paragraph to relate paragraph to topic sentence and/or main claimRestates main claim effectively without repeating it. Returns to story clearly. Connects essay to reader’s life in a compelling way.Correctly uses MLA. Uses grammar correctly. Sophisticated vocabulary. 40-4426.75/30Interesting story. Transitions from story to main claim. Effective main claim, has a subordinating conjunction. Even if it lacks a subordinating conjunction, still clearly and compellingly presents a claim to defend.Clear topic sentences. Introduces evidence well. Relevant evidence chosen. Explanations that relate evidence to claims. Provides a clear closing sentence.Returns to main claim and story. Reasonably connects essay to reader’s life. Mostly uses MLA and grammar correctly. Uses clear vocabulary to express ideas.35-39Has a story, but the story isn’t as compelling. Weak transition to main claim. No subordinating conjunction in main claim. Not a compelling idea. Topic sentences included but not very clear. Unclear introduction of evidence. Weak evidence chosen. Weak explanation of evidence provided. Weak closing sentence provided.Tersely returns to main claim and story. Vaguely connects essay to reader’s life.Several MLA and grammar errors. Uses simplistic vocabulary. 30-34Limited story provided. No transition to main claim. Weak main claim. Limited application of introduction format provided.Vague topic sentences. Lacking introduction of evidence. Weak evidence chosen or irrelevant evidence chosen. Missing closing sentence. Limited application of paragraph format. No return to main claim or story. Many MLA and grammar errors. Incorrect vocabulary usage.29 and belowDoes not apply introduction formatDoes not apply paragraph format.Does not apply conclusion formatNumber of mistakes impacts comprehension. ................
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