"We can be better than this": Deadlock player urges community to prevent game from suffering same fate as CS2

Deadlock, the MOBA game from Valve has racked up quite a popularity among the fans. While the game can be quite fun and satisfying, amidst the hype, a Deadlock player thinks that this new MOBA game will meet the same fate as Counter-Strike 2 in terms of player-to-player toxicity. In line with that thought, they posted on Reddit, calling out their teammate for their toxic behavior after losing a match.

This game is brand-new. Can we make an effort to keep it from devolving into toxicity? byu/CrimsonXantriss inDeadlockTheGame

In the Reddit post, u/CrimsonXantriss said:

“It takes so little effort to be decent to one another, to keep the derogatory comments to yourself, even when things get rough. We can be better than this. We don't need Deadlock becoming just another pile of toxic elitists. Let's all treat each other and the noobs who are truly trying their best with respect.”

After reading the post, another Deadlock player, u/Trap_Squid expressed that they should ignore team chat in MOBA games:

“Just ignore any team chat. A moba is a moba. It has probably the most toxic people in gaming. If someone flames you just hit them with a "K," At the end of the day, it will be filled with very toxic people don't take it to heart. If you lose lane then it is what it is.”

Among the comments regarding how to dodge toxic comments, u/IndianoJonez gave some tips to the poster on how to counter McGinnis since the latter mentioned they lost their lane to her.

The comment by u/IndianoJonez (Image via Reddit)

Another Deadlock player, u/BothSidesToasted stated that since this MOBA game is competitive, it is bound to be toxic whether people like it or not and it will likely never change.

Comment byu/CrimsonXantriss from discussion inDeadlockTheGame

User, u/ProfessorVolga advised u/CrimsonXantriss to mute the chat which will make them enjoy their matches more often. Moreover, they further stated that muting the chat will not make them miss anything important that can potentially lead to them winning the matches, as everything can be communicated via the in-game pings.

u/ProfessorVolga's comment on the post (Image via Reddit)

While most users are expressing their opinions, user u/This-is-Citrus suggested that they should report the toxic players, as Valve has been taking severe measures against such players.

Comment byu/CrimsonXantriss from discussion inDeadlockTheGame

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely rely on the writer's opinion.

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What steps should Deadlock take to prevent toxicity?

Deadlock is a MOBA game at its core, and we all know how toxic the MOBA environment can get. However, to not become and serve the same fate as other Valve games or any MOBA games, the developers should take various steps that will erase the toxicity from the game. One step Valve can take is to hardware ban players who are toxic to their teammates or enemies.

Since banning players can make them just create another account and start playing the game again like nothing happened, a hardware ban will make them hesitate a bit as a small hint of toxicity might get them reported and ultimately receive a hardware ban.