Striking the balance: fostering respect and competitive spirit in online gaming communities

Conversation with Saahil “Universe” Arora

Shortly after the conclusion of The International 2024, we sat down with former Dota 2 pro, Saahil “Universe” Arora – who took home the top prize at The International 2015 as part of Evil Geniuses – to discuss the current state of competitive gaming. While in conversation, we veered onto the topic of toxicity in gaming, specifically, the fears of its impacts on the community surrounding the hotly anticipated Valve-developed shooter, Deadlock. You can read that portion of our discussion below.

As someone who was at the pinnacle of the Dota 2 world when you took home the crown at The International 2015, what is it like watching today’s pros?

SA: It’s always a treat to watch The International every year and see the teams evolve. It’s wild to think that it’ll have been a decade since we won TI5 this time next year. I love watching how play has changed in the time since I stepped away from playing professionally, and I was very impressed by the performance of Team Liquid. But most of all, it’s always great to see passionate players and fans come together and celebrate this game we all love. It’s easy to forget, when you’re playing online with some of the toxicity that we’ve faced in Dota, that we actually have an incredible community.

It is always a great reminder when you attend in-person events that some of these louder people calling us names or cursing us out in matchmaking lobbies aren’t the core of our communities.

SA: It is, but that fact doesn’t exactly stick out in your mind when you’re being berated by someone you’re playing with. [Laughs] MOBAs in general have long had toxicity problems. The developers have experimented with different ways to discourage this negative behavior, but we still have a ways to go. And I know a ton of people are excited about Deadlock, but it seems some of the same problems with toxicity in Dota 2 are present in Deadlock as well. I’m wondering if those issues will be addressed.

Deadlock feels poised to be Valve’s next big thing, but I was reading up on the game and I’m seeing a lot of people on YouTube and the game’s subreddit talking about toxic encounters they had in the community. I saw one video where someone just recorded two people arguing for minutes on end, throwing all kinds of insults and words I wouldn’t want to hear when I’m just trying to unwind and play a game.

SA: Yeah, it’s almost like people forget that the main point of gaming is to enjoy ourselves. [Laughs] I like to win too, but when I’m joining a ranked or unranked match, it isn’t so important that we suck all the fun out of playing. It’s not great that the game isn’t even out yet, and people are already having this experience. 

It’s the kind of thing where – even if it’s a small minority within the community – it can deter players like you who just want to jump into a match and have a good time without hearing abuse being hurled back and forth. People are coming to these games from all walks of life and skill levels. Imagine if your first experience with a new game is someone screaming awful words at you or messaging you for how poorly you played. That’s going to make you want to uninstall the game and never look back.

Toxicity really can rot a community from the inside out, and I agree: It’s extremely important to get ahead of it.

SA: And it’s a tricky balance because you want to allow players to have fun with how they express themselves, but some of the stuff that happened in Dota 2 in the past is repeating in Deadlock, and it’s not great for new players. We really need to address this issue head-on, not only with the tools and policies companies use to moderate behavior, but also by setting expectations with the community from the jump. Players need to understand what is and isn’t going to be tolerated when they fire up the game. 

Yeah, there’s nothing worse than having some random person screaming at you or someone else in chat.

SA: It can make things less enjoyable for sure, but imagine what it’s like for new players starting the game for the first time. Maybe they’re being yelled at for not being good enough, or maybe they’re playing too well, or maybe they’re just not playing the way their teammates want them to play – after all, they’re still learning the game. It can sometimes feel like you just can’t win with the people you’re matched with. 

And even if the developers give you tools to manually moderate who can and can’t communicate with you, it’s stressful to even have that in the back of your mind. And honestly, as gamers ourselves, we don’t even want to have that barrier between us and the fun looming over us. That’s what drove us to develop our automated moderation tools in the first place.

SA: And it really is a barrier, because sometimes I get the itch to play something online, but then I remember how awful lobbies can be, and it’s like, if my friends aren’t available to play, sometimes I decide to just do something else. 

GGWP’s goal is to essentially make it so that thought never even enters your head. If you get the itch to play something online, we want you to play without fear. Let our tools worry about getting rid of the toxicity.

SA: And don’t get me wrong: My friends and I sometimes get carried away with our banter, but we know each other and we all understand that it’s all in good fun.

That’s something we really hammer home with our AI: If you’re playing with just your friends, you don’t have to worry about our tools misconstruing when you’re joking with your friends as toxic. It actually looks at the dynamics of your group and if you’re playing with a group that’s 100% friends, it will be more lenient with its moderation than if you’re in a matchmade lobby as a solo or with other groups.

SA: That’s incredible. It’s so important that we’re still able to freely express ourselves among our friends and laugh until our faces hurt while also making sure that the worst elements of the community – those who would ruin the experience for everyone else – are kept in check. Like I said earlier, it’s a tricky balance to pull off for any company.

It is a tricky balance. It really is, but that’s what we want to accomplish. We love gaming as much as anyone, so it affects us personally when the most negative elements of communities end up impacting how we play. We’re training our tools to not only consider the people you are playing with, but also long-term behavior to avoid taking action against those who aren’t actually doing anything wrong.

SA: It really sounds like a win-win for everyone if you can pull that off. No offense, but hopefully we get to a place where we can all be great to one another online and there won’t be any need for GGWP’s moderation. [Laughs]

[Laughs] I hope we get to that point too, but until we do, we’re going to keep working to make online spaces better for those just wanting to enjoy themselves with their favorite games. Saahil, this was great. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with me.

SA: Thank you!