Don’t allow racial baiters

[Chicago]

Hello, I have been playing over a few of the servers in recent months, and I have been noticing a trend more and more recently. We all know how it is to get trolls on the servers who ask multiple questions and make jokes about the community. That is fine, as the community for the most part is awesome. My problem would be the handful of players such as Ramlander on US Scourge server who think it’s fun to bait people into using offensive racial slurs. The fact that people will say these things to hurt people is bad enough, but having people like him in the server making it into a joke/game to get people to say these things is disturbing. 

[YetiBacklash]

IDK about your specific server experience there with that or any other player and I generally see what you've said as a positive suggestion for the community. It shouldn't be a joke or game. However, since you didn't mention it, I will say that there is a very specific time and place where the idea of goading or 'baiting' a player into typing a certain particular gamer word in chat is very much a good thing, not really a game, and - although, ideally, it wouldn't need to occur - it should not reflect poorly on the community.

(Again, IDK if this is the context for any specific situation which you witnessed/observed): When a rando blue name joins the server and starts mouthing off in voice comms, drawing on signs, etc., in racist or other harassing, anti-server-rules ways, the community player who observes this only has a few tools for dealing with it. We can report the player in-game, call upon any admins who may be currently present via the global chat, and, finally, tag the server in discord 'help' with the same call for an admin to get involved. The one instance I mention is in that situation where all that has been done and an admin simply hasn't seen the 'help' request yet or otherwise been able to step-in from their side of things. When this happens, particularly late at night where it could be hours of waiting where that player is continuing to act that way, I've witnessed instances where community players present have reacted by goading the player via global chat to get the player to progress from just saying the words, to just once typing it in chat. When that happens, the server's automatic response kicks in and the player is banned. It's not 'fun,' but it can look like a 'game' at the time, particularly if you're looking at it solely through the lens of global chat and aren't actually one of the people who are having to hear/interact with the person in-game. If this kind of effort or point wasn't at all the case in whatever instance you've mentioned, then yeah, I can't think of any case where trying to get someone to say/type any kind of slur would be remotely acceptable. I don't even know if I'm advocating the one 'exception' I've detailed, but I will say that I have seen it occur in a way that cut off that outside negative influence on the community in pretty much an instant.

The only other thing I'd say is that if 'baiting' someone instead means pretending/catfishing another player into thinking that you, yourself, are racist, homophobic, etc. and that their actions will be permissible, agreed-upon, or 'backed up' by you or others if the player posts that way in global chat / up on a sign, etc., then that's not permissible IMO and should be considered breaking server guidelines / reported to an admin, the same as any racist behavior. The community reacting to an outsider and getting them kicked from a server asap while an admin isn't available is one thing. Someone within the community being the one who introduces that theme of racism, homophobia, sexism, etc., though? If that's the case, get 'em gone.

[LPLuna]

6 hours ago, Chicago said:

Hello, I have been playing over a few of the servers in recent months, and I have been noticing a trend more and more recently. We all know how it is to get trolls on the servers who ask multiple questions and make jokes about the community. That is fine, as the community for the most part is awesome. My problem would be the handful of players such as Ramlander on US Scourge server who think it’s fun to bait people into using offensive racial slurs. The fact that people will say these things to hurt people is bad enough, but having people like him in the server making it into a joke/game to get people to say these things is disturbing. 

Like Yeti said, I'm not really sure what your specific situation is. I have witnessed what Yeti explained multiple times. When its a time where getting an admin involved is nearly impossible, instead of allowing the player to continue to spew hate, they basically taunt the offender in the global chat until they type something racist etc. This is an immediate ban, without admin needing to be there. The server become like a team against this person, which helps save individuals in game from being harassed for hours on end. I do believe that there should be a better way than this, as it does look like a game, and that in itself can be harmful to some of the players, but they work with what they have in trying to get the person off as soon as possible.

If the player you are referring to is not doing this, and just, for some reason attempting to cause issues, they need to be reported to the admin so they can review the conversations and ban if needed. If the player mentioned is attempting to con other players into saying a racial or homophobic slur, and the other player actually say it in chat, they should be banned too. I say this because let's face it, if they are able to be conned in a chat on a game to drop a slur in chat, then that word is not new to them whatsoever. And if they simply for some reason don't have the understanding that it's not appropriate...ever...in any way, then now they learned that lesson by being banned. The health and welfare of those affected by that kind of infantile game and trauma inducing language are more important to protect than someone who doesn't have the brain not to say things like that online.

Always grab an admin in discord, or send the team an email on this site so they can make the servers a safe space for everyone to enjoy the game. Thanks for speaking out on the subject!