Trash Talk VS Hate Speech

  Hate speech is a topic I've seen recurring in competitive online multiplayer gaming for a while. However, I'm seeing more people who confuse hate speech with good, ole fashioned shit talking. I'm going to attempt to write this blog without doing any research, and just give you my general opinion on the subject altogether.

  I have dealt with trash talking in multiplayer gaming long before online multiplayer was an established medium. Going back to the days of split screen multiplayer on Golden Eye: 007, I distinctly remember me, and my friends gloating over each victory we obtained. At one point I displayed my dominance as alpha male of the group by dry-humping my friend's N64. This type of behavior is what I have seen described as hate speech. None of us hated each other, and, even though we've drifted apart over the years, we remain friends to this day.

  Trash talking is something that, in my opinion, is acceptable in competitive gaming...hell competitive anything. Most people that play competitive multiplayer games aren't being paid to do so, and bragging rights are usually the main reward for victory. Also, you have to keep in mind that most of these gamers are teenage males. According to most of them my mother is into some pretty dark shit, and has been lying to me for years about her fetish for 15 to 19 year old boys. Teenagers say dumb shit. I could fill an encyclopedia with all the dumb shit I said, and did when I was a teenager.

I'm sure this is how all of Xbox Live views my mother...which is just wildly inaccurate.

  Now we get to the darker side of competitive multiplayer gaming; hate speech. Hate speech is usually lead, and/or followed by an ad hominem. An ad hominem, simply put, is an informal fallacy in debates that is intended to vilify, and/or discriminate a person in order to draw attention away from the subject at hand (ie: the gamer losing the match, session, etc). Some examples of this can be the use of racial/derogatory terms to insult a player that is assumed to be doing something undesirable. These "terms" do not necessarily define hate speech, as most are not proper words to begin with, but the context in which they're used do.

  Let's dissect the phrase "hate speech", or, more importantly, the word "hate". I'm sure most of you reading this have a pretty firm grasp of the word "hate". It's the ill contempt reserved for others. So, by that definition, hate speech is the verbal expression of ill feelings, or the desire of ill will to come  to another player. Now, while I do agree that free speech should not be hindered, it should also be noted that this type of behavior can effect to mood of the game, and break away from any desire to play it for anyone involved. So, I do praise developers that ban players using hate speech towards others.


  In short, if you aren't having fun in an online multiplayer setting stop playing; as you are not experiencing the core purpose of playing to begin with. We've all been there before. You feel frustrated because maybe you're on a losing streak, you're not getting the K/D spread you'd desire, or whatever reasons you'd have. That's completely understandable. What's not acceptable, though, is being a complete douchebag, and ruining the experience for everyone else involved. My advice is to you would be to take a break from the game. Also, start a blog. I find that helps me vent my frustrations.