The Players are the Problem Community Managers Complain of Excessive Harassment
Some Destiny 2 and Minecraft players appear to be getting too obsessed with their game.
Kyle Orland - Jul 28, 2022 4:00 pm UTC
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In video games the community management aspect is all about listening to concerns of the players and communicating with them in a manner that makes them feel that their concerns are being taken into consideration. What happens when certain players start to cause concern themselves?
That's the question that two major gaming companies have been facing in recent days with community managers stating that the harassment of customers is making it more difficult for them to perform their jobs.
This first example comes from the Destiny 2 Community on Reddit. A member posted Wednesday complaining about the decrease in the number of threads that receive an answer from Bungie. Destiny 2 Community Manager Dylan "dmg04" Gafner responded to explain that he has taken some time off due to "some serious harassment that has been directed at me and my family," which has resulted in "an amount of less communication as the team plans future strategies and protections to avoid these sorts of things."
The the harassment Gafner is referring to goes beyond "just rude responses on Twitter or vague comments," Gafner wrote. It encompasses "real threats against our staff and our studio" from fans. Some of the abuse was apparently done via private channels. "Just that you don't see it directly in a particular message or forum response doesn't mean it did not happen," Gafner wrote.
"I will be very clear in saying that I am grateful to the studio in the way that it has helped me personally after some serious abuse towards me and my family members," Gafner wrote. "I take time off because of this."
Gafner admitted that "it's bummer" that there hasn't been more interaction in the community, but the less communication wasn't intended to be a "retaliatory measure" against the majority of the community. Gafner wrote "Sometimes we just need to take a little time to sort things out." "Can take weeks, and can take months, just like any development pipeline, as we want what's best for our players AND our employees. But, we shouldn't simply continue to operate as usual' until things are solved. 83hh It's a pain, but we want to ensure that everyone is safe and taken care.
Madness in Minecraft
Further Reading
In a FAQ that followed the announcement, Mojang clarified that it is focused less on minor infractions like swearing and more on serious instances of "hate speech and harassment, bullying, sexual solicitation, or true threats to others." Mojang also clarifies that it will not be actively monitoring chat on private servers (absent the player has filed a complaint), that humans will be involved in any ban decisions, and that bans will be susceptible to appeal.
Fans are voicing their displeasure of the new moderation system. Many angry fans are organizing under the #SaveMinecraft hashtag. This hashtag has many dramatic comparisons to George Orwell’s 1984. In one of the more simple examples of the hashtag the hashtag, a Twitter user wrote: "Just remove all chat reports." "Servers should be in charge of moderation just as they have always been."
Reporting me for saying racial slurs is literally 1.19.84#saveminecraft pic.twitter.com/43BCekvGnB
- Walnut Bread Guy (@WalnutBreadGuy) July 19, 2022
MojangMesh is a relatively new Community Manager, wrote on Reddit that, while Mojang Studios "appreciates and values" feedback, Mojang "not intends to alter" its chat moderation system. The fact that they are listening to feedback "does not mean that feedback will always change the design principles Mojang Studios adheres to," MojangMeesh explained.
MojangMeesh then took to criticize players of the Minecraft community for taking their feedback too far. Overzealous and harassing messages from some fans have been hindering communication between the company and its players, MojangMeesh wrote:
Reddit users have been following Mojang employees, commenting on the site and responding to their posts. This behavior will not inspire employees to join the community and won't bring about the changes you'd like to see. If you are strongly influenced by something in Minecraft Please let us know in the appropriate places (such as these threads) since we'd like to hear what you have to say! Harassment is not helpful to anyone, not even the devs who use it, or the players who are interested in the upcoming change. This kind of behavior is harmful to our ability to have a constructive and open conversation with you.
Although problematic players are not new to the gaming scene However, it's not often for community managers to make public complaints about harassment, which it makes their job harder. Here's hoping that cooler heads prevail in these communities and that the businesses involved continue to provide their community managers the assistance they need.