Toxic Gaming

Gamers all around the world play a variety of games, ranging from fun family games to violent, rage-inducing trials. Sometimes these games have a lasting impact on gamers, such as yourself. The problem is that sometimes those impacts aren't all that positive.

Toxicity among gamers is a common occurrence and has always been a big part of the gaming community. Toxicity can be easily defined as people just being plain old mean and hard to deal with, sometimes just because they're not very good at the game they're playing. Toxicity leads to people raging, often from both sides of an encounter. People could rage because of their toxicity towards the game itself, or people could even rage at the people who are being toxic and annoying.

Ever since the release of PacMan, there's always been that one person who takes the game too seriously, and when he loses, ends up ruining the mood for everyone else. Games used to be an experience with just you and maybe a single friend or two in the same room as you. Nowadays with the increasing popularity in online gaming, MMUs (mass multiplayer universe) are common practice, with thousands, if not millions of people coming from many different countries all with different beliefs and cultures. With MMUs, raging and toxicity are everyday occurrences. You might log on to your favorite game and have to deal with a 9 year old screaming in your ear about how you're not playing the game right.

We asked a fellow gamer what his opinion on raging was, “It's a very unhealthy habit” said Jacob Bracy. “Raging in games can be a problem since it can severely negatively affect your skills making you worse at the game and leading you to rage as well, negatively impacting the people around you too.” Raging can be a very dangerous cycle that leads to heartbreak and grief if left unchecked.

Toxicity and raging doesn't only affect a certain age group or people. Toxicity affects everyone of all ages and cultures. Not only is gaming toxicity a problem, but so is gaming addiction. Gaming addiction is a serious problem many people are hesitant to diagnose and accept. The reality is that gaming addiction is indeed rare but is still a very real problem which can ruin peoples lives if not unchecked. If you have a gaming addiction, seek help.