Inappropriate players

@raphael-bahauss
She said she was going to cancel her pre order in my mind that is a hit on the game. That why I said that.

@sergent-c****r Well , I can understand that.
The game itself isnt to blame , but not knowing where Rare stands and what they intend to do probably made her take that decision.
Also , I believe there must be some ppl from Rare reading this post and most likely will address her concerns.
After that , it will be up to her and them.

I hope she recants and gives it a shot at launch and like I said earlier too : im also waiting for launch or any given statement from Rare before making a purchase.

Definetely a shame that someone feels disgusted enough to cxl their preorder , but I can't blame her or the company for that choice.

Hopefully , all will be resolved and she'll feel secure and confident enough in their response to possibly return to SOT. ^^

@raphael-bahauss
They should figure out who those people are and put a permanent bounty on their heads.

@sergent-c****r Hopefully they went ahead and took a peek already.Im pretty sure they did monitor players to see how they reacted etc....
If she did bring it to their attention , they'll do something bout it.On top of that, if things like that happens in a Beta, then who knows how it will go when it hits live.
So , my belief is that they take this matter seriously ^^

@crimsonwhispers said in Inappropriate players:

I'm also not trying to make this a big deal with the whole we are girls thing it can happen to anyone any gender we just wanted to bring the issue to light with the pirate community to hopefully prevent it from happening more to others

I think we should all make a big deal out of this sort of thing. Yes you're right, it can happen to any gender, but let's not kid ourselves, it happens to women to a ridiculous degree.

The unfortunate truth is that, for the most part, this is the landscape women have to navigate in online gaming currently. I hope you and your friend don't have to miss out on this game due to this harassment, but if you did, I wouldn't blame you for one second.

As others have said, the only real mechanism in the game is to report this sort of behavior. I hope Rare takes a hard stance on harassment and abuse in their game. I would like to see these types of abusive players banned immediately. If we take a harder stance on abuse and harassment, the culture will change a lot faster.

For you and your friend personally, I might suggest circumventing the problem and just communicating through party chat. While I would prefer that the community draw a hard line on this issue so you wouldn't have to do that, that sort of movement takes time and real understanding from the community, and based on some responses in this thread, we have QUITE a ways to go before we're there. As much as it pains me to say it, I bet that you will not be free of this harassment in the lifespan of Sea of Thieves. So if the options available (muting players, reporting players) aren't enough, I'd say just stick to party chat and enjoy the game. It's not right that you would have to do that, and it's a sad concession to have to make, but if it's a choice between that and not experiencing the game (which is shaping up to be pretty great IMO), it might be your only real option. You might also try to find crewmates on the forum to fill out your 4-person crew. I think most people are on the "treat women with respect" side, at least from an ideological standpoint, so you'll probably be able to find some nice people to play with.

Further, to other male players: don't stand for this kind of behavior in your crew. Don't dismiss abuse as harmless. If you're on a ship with somebody who is harassing anyone, put them in the brig, report them, and tell them it's not cool. Rare can only do so much here. We need to craft this community to not tolerate this kind of behavior. The dismissive attitude of the community (seen in many posts in this thread) is just perpetuating the problem. To the people dismissing this as "just words" or "not important," I would say this. Behavior in-game is a reflection of behavior in real life. The more we normalize abuse, harassment, and discrimination in games, the more we normalize it in the world as a whole. Women are regularly deterred from playing games because of this abuse. I have seen this first hand many times. This is not the exception, it is the norm. I don't imagine the OP was genuinely hurt or scared by what happened, just disgusted. It is disgusting that women should have to mute a huge percentage of players for their bad behavior. It would be so very sickening log into a game and be reminded that society as a whole regularly marginalizes your entire gender. Basically these guys are saying "you're a woman, we don't want you here." It's not insignificant, it's not something that we should just gloss over and say "oh there are a few bad apples anywhere, just mute them." This issue is bigger than that, and acting like it's insignificant is effectively the same as saying it's okay.

@raphael-bahauss "Thats nice, well lets just live in a world where unicorns f**t rainbows and pretend the world is filled w only decent human beings."
If youve actually read what ive said in this thread you would know i have said the complete opposite, we dont live in a nice world and it will most likely never be. Better prepare yourself and grow stronger so you can handle the world better.

"Words dont hurt as much as acts? You have never worked w the abused now did you? If you did , you wouldnt say such things."
No, i have never worked with the abused, but i am one and thats exactly why i am saying this. best way to deal with hurtful words is to grow a thicker skin, to realize words only hurt you as much as you let them. I was bullied in school (thats why i said earlier you hear just as bad things in school) and I simply stopped caring for what they said to me, when i came to that realization that i didnt have to care, that words didnt actually hurt me, that it was me that was letting myself being hurt by it, was the moment i stopped being depressed by it. i stopped being victimized by it and could live a normal life despite still getting negative comments.

"There is a mute button , sure , but how should it be necessary?There is a disclosure and policy vs such behaviour in the user's agreement when you sign in to play."
There is a mute button because people still break the rules, and even if people dont break the rules you might still find someone annoying and want to mute them for it.

"which means insults have already been shouted before you could mute"
which isnt a problem if you dont care/dont get hurt by the insults they shout at you
".And , wait a second...isnt it supposed to be a friendly Pirate world?"
In games where you kill each other you will still have people shittalking at any age. and so what if someone tossed a random insult at you? you dont know that person why should you let it bother you? The moment you stop caring what random people say is the moment it stops hurting when you hear it, you cant say the same about a slap in the face, no matter how hard you try to ignore a slap in the face it will still hit you and it will still hurt.

"People like you are the problem by making such verbal abuse a banality and something to be discarded by a wrist slap!"
Yes, i dont want to punish people because of words. those who bullied me i dont want them punished either.

"you just cautioned abuse and the victims of these abuse to take a hide while the abusers run away free"
Im not telling them to take hide, im telling them to stand up for themselves and grow as a person so petty people that do hurl insults at them wont bother them anymore, so the "victims" wont be victims anymore.

"you seen the vids bout predators online"
In what way does having a thicker skin lead to being victim for online predators? how does having the mental capability to dont get hurt by insults have anything to do with online predators? "A mentality that , causes youngsters to avoid dangers on the web , bcuz its a virtual world..." what are you even on about?
"cyberbullying aint a myth! Shame on you!"
Yes, there is such a thing as cyberbullying, but unlike IRL bullying cyberbullying is super easy to stop, its called a block/mute button. Someone says a nasty word to you and wont stop: ((block)) and youll hear no more from that person.
A random insult from a random anonym person that you will most likely never see again after you are done playing isnt bullying.

I know this game is meant to be a place where everyone is nice to each other (except for the killing and stealing), but you will always encounter an insult here and there of different severity. I think its important to teach people of all ages to grow a thicker skin towards it than to always be shielding and cuddling them so they will become stronger mentally and be more prepared for the cruel world we live in so they can more easily deal with things themselves. Hence why a mute button is sufficient for this game.

@sloth-demon-685 I am not new to online gaming nor am I a child. That being said, I feel that I should be able to play a game in a relatively respectful atmosphere. Yes, it's a pirate game. I expect looting and cannons and a certain amount of thievery. But, that being said, I think we need to return to the original topic of the post. Inappropriate players. The actions and comments were in no way, on any level, acceptable to anyone; male or female. Regardless or age. We had originally been in party chat but switched to area when we realized hat they were talking to us. That's when all of this happened. But, the area chat shouldn't be a toxic community. It's meant to be a fun interaction within the game in addition to the adventure. Has it occurred to you that some of these female players may be victims of these types of physical crimes in real life and these types of threats cause unnecessary stress and anxiety?

@sergent-c****r I am hoping that Rare addresses this issue before release. I enjoyed the game until we came across these players so I will be watching to see what, if any, actions will be taken to counteract this type of behavior.

@sloth-demon-685 there are cures for cancer. Remove the tumors and treat with radiation. Rare and xbox have the ability to do that.

@winglezzangel said in Inappropriate players:

Has it occurred to you that some of these female players may be victims of these types of physical crimes in real life and these types of threats cause unnecessary stress and anxiety?

It is unfortunate when someone are assaulted physically/sexually, but if they have developed ptsd from it then it is their own responsibility to avoid spaces that has a high chance of triggering them and online spaces with random people with mics is one of the spaces to be avoided because no matter how well regulated it is, there will always be some that says those triggering words.
Best advice for those that has ptsd from something traumatic happening: disconnect from the internet, seek professional help so they can help you overcome the trauma/ptsd so you can live a normal life.

@face-0-o Well , Im old enough to k the world is full of people that dont really care bout others , are mean to each other and its upside too.The "I comment when and I where I want" is just not necessary.If I need to tough it up , I suppose you shouldnt have comment in the first place, since you can tune it out , r ? o_o

@kigretheviking I get your point , but my issue isnt w being offended.Its about starting the community on the right track rather then condoning abusive acts from the start!
Dont get me wrong , I can be foulmouth myself , difference is , I wont use r**e-threats or racial slurs in the process.

It was just about to prevent unacceptable behavior , but Im all for the lets kick his a*s approach or the occasional swearing when you missed a shot etc.

What I dont accept is ppl freely using terms you actually
wouldnt say to someone's face : like obvious slurs and threats.

Besides all that , I aint reporting someone because he said the F word , grunted or anything like that.

Like I previously said : there is a fine line between having fun or just making people's lives miserable, thats it!

I mean I played GTA and I tuned it out because , well for a first the content aint for underage kids and is revolving in a criminal context.So I wasnt surprised to hear the most outlandish comments, but then again , you watch the franchise and kinda k what to expect from those playing it! lol

This game aint Rated R , Im just stating that kids etc
might be playing this game.It would be nice to make sure that besides the occasional swearing , these kids dont fall
prey to abusive behavior, thats all.

@crimsonwhispers I hope such verbal abuse wont be a recurring experience if you decide to purchase the game and
play it.
Im done with this topic , since there is nothing new to add besides replying to people who considered themselves "worldly" enough to know better then everyone else , that are either patronizing or just plain making a mockery of your issues.
The fact you need to fight to make abuse unacceptable and that some people claim its part of life are also part of that issue.
Funny how these people allow themselves the freedom to say outlandish things yet IRL they'd never dare!
So keep your chin up along w those willing to make this game great.

And for the "all-knowing" , "all-seeing" people out there
imbued with inner science , enjoy the game too.

FYI ; knowing the topic , if it aint a big deal then dont reply
since that for those who started the topic it is!

It is disrepectful to just say it aint a big deal and by replying and commenting yourself, you r making it a big deal.

So , hope to see you all on the high seas , be it at the end of our cannons or puking our guts out on the same deck!
Cheers Mateys!

@winglezzangel
I hope there is strict actions. I would say still play the game and just use party chat. But you shouldn’t have to. Those guys are a bunch of jerks.

@andlav said in Inappropriate players:

Yes, there is such a thing as cyberbullying, but unlike IRL bullying cyberbullying is super easy to stop, its called a block/mute button. Someone says a nasty word to you and wont stop: ((block)) and youll hear no more from that person.

If someone gets stabbed, the police investigate the stabber, and they throw him in jail (ideally). You seem to favor an alternate approach: just handing out band-aids and then forgetting about the fact that somebody just got stabbed.

That's exactly the dismissive attitude that allows abuse to proliferate in online spaces. We victim blame, saying "you should have muted them," "you should have had thicker skin" instead of dealing with the problem and making our online communities welcoming for women.

@KigreTheViking said in Inappropriate players:

"Words online from strangers CANT be more hurtful than a real life slap!"

This is so wrong, my ability to even has been compromised. Have you ever been slapped? It doesn't hurt much at all. If I could get slapped in the face before each play session and then be guaranteed to see no online harassment, I would take that deal EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Getting slapped with no emotional weight behind it is nothing. Emotional abuse can often be more powerful than physical abuse.

@KigreTheViking said in Inappropriate players:

You shouldnt be playing multiplayer games AT ALL if words offend you.

You may as well have just said "Abuse victims have no right to feel safe in online games." Think about that for a minute.

Also, words offend everyone. If you think there are no words that might offend or upset you, you're kidding yourself.

@WinglezzAngel said in Inappropriate players:

the area chat shouldn't be a toxic community. It's meant to be a fun interaction within the game in addition to the adventure.

Exactly! Why is this hard to understand?

@Sloth-Demon-685 said in Inappropriate players:

theres nothing we can really do more than our current block and report options.

There isn't more Rare can do, I agree. As long as Rare is rejecting this behavior and banning abusive individuals effectively when they are reported, they're doing a good job. Mechanically, they can't do anything more within the game while maintaining voice chat. They might come up with some kind of creative reputation system, but I'm not sure how that would actually work.

However, we as a community can do more. Read through this thread and see the people normalizing the harassment of women online. If everyone who jumped in this thread simply said "that's awful, if they were on my crew I'd have put them in the brig and reported them immediately." These abusive people would be banned super fast, and the landscape would change very quickly, but we don't do that. People abuse because they can, because we let them. The community is quicker to defend abusers' right to abuse others than it is to defend victims' right to have a fun experience.

There are two things we can do. 1. We reject this abusive behavior as a community by reporting abuse and calling out abuse sympathy, and 2. We demand heavy punishment for abusers from Rare and Microsoft. That's it. That's all we need to do. If everyone who isn't abusive did both of those things, we would have a vastly more welcoming community for women.

Maybe you already do those things, and if so, that's cool. I'm not trying to call you out. I'm more calling out everyone in this thread who is perpetuating this behavior by saying "oh you can't do anything about it, just deal with it or quit." And I recognize that there's a hint of that in my previous post, so I'm also calling out myself a little bit, but that's okay. I'm far from perfect, I'm just trying to be better.

I think maybe we need a icon in the top like chat overly that says who is speaking so it’s easier to identify who is saying things like this.

@andlav so what you are saying is that victims of physical abuse are not welcome or do not belong in the gaming community? That is like saying a previously injured soldier does not belong on the battlefield.

@carm3154 thank you