On a personal note, I much prefer toxicity be free and open, to extents further than what we allow now, having gotten a 'thicker skin' from frequent 4chan usage, unmoderated internet at a young age, and overall finding joy in practicing that behavior for the keks of it. After all, what is more entertaining and free than having people spout what they never would face to face under the protection of a virtual wall in between us? To pretend this behavior does no harm is stupid, to act as if it isn't is to simply lie and be unable to accept the simple facts. People like me can be told to kill ourselves and laugh it off, but BillyBob2077 might get a good idea to do so and cause the wildest shit storm we've seen yet to spawn.
It is no secret that Skial has a toxic reputation, as the creation of this post by you of all people would work against that theory. No matter which way a person aligns themselves with Skial, understanding that toxicity is a strong theme here is universal. At most, someone might stop to explain away what level we have here, but when seeing that through the eyes of new, young players, that is still not great even if there are 'cool people'. Unlike other, smaller communities, Skial is a very well known name within the TF2 community. It is the biggest even no? When we get shit talked, it impacts more people because Skial is at the center of the attention, no other community gets talked as much as this one does. If we keep reinforcing this image we are all a bunch of insufferable dickheads, new players will feel more inclined to go to 'nicer' communities. We gain one guy that can tolerate it, another server gets five because all of those five came to Skial and got ridiculed too for existing or asking an innocent question. Why should we cater to behavior that prevents the community from gaining members? If being decent brings in more people, why do we not do that?
The rule should not be super strict however, as this would lead to a lot of unnecessary reports and ban appeals that will impress those of us who thought we have seen all the dumbest excuses the world has to offer. It would also just enable people who seem to only enjoy Skial for the sake of getting people in trouble for tiny things. It should only become strict in the sense that people simply cannot take it overboard, and that players themselves should have the right to stop interaction between themselves and others alike to a degree. We should enforce even, that players should use their power to tell a user to stop harming them in whatever manner first, that way they only make a report as necessary due to the offending player violating the most basic of respect.
An example of how this rule could be implemented could run something like this:
Harmful, or otherwise excessively toxic behavior may result in punishment per admin discretion.
Harmful or toxic behaviors may include:
-Persistent harassment/bullying (examples: persistent shit talking of a specific player over a long period of time, deliberately following them across servers to see them, 'flaming' people to force interaction)
-Threatening players well being (examples: threatening to dox, or otherwise harm the player in real life)
-Specifically using communications to be toxic (examples: only ever turning voice on to bad mouth people, only using text specifically to spew offensive material and nothing more like racism or retarded nazi propaganda)
-'Ganging up' on players (bandwagon activity like above, all players should be held accountable for their participation)
Not harmful behaviors:
-Getting mad and shit talking an enemy player
-Insulting a players skill
-Being in the same server with people you don't like
-'Targeting' a player in game, PVP wise
-Talking about sensitive/serious topics
-Hurting hackers feelings when they really have changed this time after so many years and deserve a second chance :(
It is up to the player to initiate a resolution with people they feel are harming them. If the person ignores any such request, they are choosing to persist in toxic behavior and breaking the rules (PVP is non-applicable)
I could add lots more or less, but I think I'd fair better after posting this and hearing any questions or thinking over hypotheticals. In general though, I think that curbing the current reputation would be best if possible. But rather than having some iron fist over it, we should try to give the players themselves a choice with a basic guideline as to what exceeds 'normal' levels of toxicity and what doesn't. (I apologize of my articulation or english is screwy here, I have had to retype this a few times while thinking it over.)
Edit: Uninvolved players should NOT be reporting for others in these cases unless it reaches that 'exceeding' level. Let the players involved settle it themselves.
