Ubisoft is cracking down on 'toxic' Rainbow Six: Siege players

Cal Jeffrey

Posts: 4,140   +1,406
Staff member

In a crackdown against toxicity in Rainbow Six: Siege, Ubisoft has announced it will start issuing bans (including permanent varieties) against players exhibiting toxic behavior.

“We will be implementing an improvement on the system we have been using to ban players that use racial and homophobic slurs, or hate speech, in game,” said Rainbow Six: Siege Community Developer Craig Robinson on the game’s subreddit.

The improvement Robinson refers to is a toxic player report button that has been up on test servers for the last few weeks. Moderators will investigate flagged users and punishments will be handed out accordingly.

The bans for this will fall within the following durations, depending on severity:

  • 2 Days
  • 7 Days
  • 15 Days
  • Permanent

We will be tracking the frequency at which language that violates the Code of Conduct is used by individual players, and will apply the appropriate ban on a case-by-case basis.

Talking smack in a competitive online game like Rainbow Six just comes with the territory but apparently, some players have been going too far with how they are treating other players. Ubisoft is not so concerned with the typical trash talking as it is focused on players using racial and homophobic slurs and other abusive language.

“Any language or content deemed illegal, dangerous, threatening, abusive, obscene, vulgar, defamatory, hateful, racist, sexist, ethically offensive or constituting harassment is forbidden,” states the Ubisoft CoC.

In addition to the ejections, global messages will be displayed when a user is banned for toxicity — a virtual public flogging so to speak. Robinson also said they are working on adding a “mute function” for text chat (you can already mute a user’s audio).

Some players have expressed anger at the new guidelines and reporting system. Robinson’s response to those users on Twitter was one of disbelief.

Indeed, if all of the players who are now concerned they will be banned for toxicity turned off their mics, Ubisoft would not need to implement the system.

Permalink to story.

 
I wonder how long it will last before the costs to revenues forces a reversal ..... or they get a suite for violations of free speech? I think it's a good idea, but will probably not last that long. Next, instead of being able to shoot the opponent you'll have to run up to them and beg them to be nice!
 
Given the context of online gaming and back and forth banter is why people have a problem with it. I don't really have a dog in the fight but I also just laughed at the juvenile banter. Banning people for it seems ok but at the same time ultimately pointless giving the venue it is taking place in.
 
They need to address team killing and players leaving ranked matches at the slightest hint of loss.
 
When I admin'd I let people crap talk back and fourth, we had pretty strict rules on racial or sexist insults and that was about it. Now if you tell someone you F'd there mom you might get served a lawsuit. With all the stuff happening so far for video games this year, videos games might be radically different (in a bad way) in the near future.
 
I wonder how long it will last before the costs to revenues forces a reversal ..... or they get a suite for violations of free speech? I think it's a good idea, but will probably not last that long. Next, instead of being able to shoot the opponent you'll have to run up to them and beg them to be nice!

Free speech laws don't apply here. Before playing you must agree to their terms of service. And that boils down to playing by their rules. If they say no toxic chatter and you do it anyway - you get the ban stick. You can yell "free speech" all you want, but doesn't apply.
 
Whatever happened to voting systems? Let the players police each other like in years past but keep a record of votes to kick, silence or report a usertag. The server mods for the game companies can take action if a clear pattern of negative behavior is observed. But perhaps the more important question is why are these companies more concerned about offensive language than the fact their glorifying people killing each other with all types of weapons? These game have "achievements" for being the most effective murderer. Kill streaks and hyper-aggressive behavior are celebrated and better virtual killing tools are only a micro-transaction away - these companies literally profit from virtual arms sales. If I was a hard-core FPS fan I'd be less concerned about someone calling me a dirty name than the fact we're training the next wave of "gun-free zone" mass murderers. If games that *focus* on violence can make you racist or whatever-phobic they can sure as hell make you more violent.
 
They need to address team killing and players leaving ranked matches at the slightest hint of loss.

I stopped playing Siege only after a couple of days cause of the team killing. Majority of the players were messing with me and saying crap just cause I was a new player. I never experienced such hatred and toxicity towards new players in any game.
 
I wonder how long before people will go to jail for hate speech.

Ubisoft is in it's right to police it's platform in any manor it sees fit. You cannot go to jail for hate speech though, not unless you are inciting violence or encouraging people to break the law.

I wonder how long it will last before the costs to revenues forces a reversal ..... or they get a suite for violations of free speech? I think it's a good idea, but will probably not last that long. Next, instead of being able to shoot the opponent you'll have to run up to them and beg them to be nice!

A company cannot be sued for stifling speech on their own platform. They could state "Homosexuals only" and it would be completely legal. The first Amendment only applies to the government, not private entities. This is a common misconception many people have.

Whatever happened to voting systems? Let the players police each other like in years past but keep a record of votes to kick, silence or report a usertag. The server mods for the game companies can take action if a clear pattern of negative behavior is observed. But perhaps the more important question is why are these companies more concerned about offensive language than the fact their glorifying people killing each other with all types of weapons? These game have "achievements" for being the most effective murderer. Kill streaks and hyper-aggressive behavior are celebrated and better virtual killing tools are only a micro-transaction away - these companies literally profit from virtual arms sales. If I was a hard-core FPS fan I'd be less concerned about someone calling me a dirty name than the fact we're training the next wave of "gun-free zone" mass murderers. If games that *focus* on violence can make you racist or whatever-phobic they can sure as hell make you more violent.

Giving the player the ability to ban other players by simply voting. Good god that would be terrible. Systems like that are open to so much abuse. In the end, the best way to get rid of trolls is to collect reports and have a human look at them and decide if there is a legitimate case for a ban/suspension.

Also, it has been proven time and time again that video games do not cause an increase in violent crime. In fact the opposite appears to be true.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/us/politics/trump-video-games-shootings.html

Stop blaming virtual guns for something they couldn't possibly do. If a person is truly mentally troubled, wouldn't it be more wise to have federal mental health health records added to background checks instead of blaming violent video games even though all the evidence says otherwise? I don't get it, the Florida shooter didn't play video games, he shot guns in real life as part of an NRA program.
 
Whatever happened to voting systems? Let the players police each other like in years past but keep a record of votes to kick, silence or report a usertag. The server mods for the game companies can take action if a clear pattern of negative behavior is observed. But perhaps the more important question is why are these companies more concerned about offensive language than the fact their glorifying people killing each other with all types of weapons? These game have "achievements" for being the most effective murderer. Kill streaks and hyper-aggressive behavior are celebrated and better virtual killing tools are only a micro-transaction away - these companies literally profit from virtual arms sales. If I was a hard-core FPS fan I'd be less concerned about someone calling me a dirty name than the fact we're training the next wave of "gun-free zone" mass murderers. If games that *focus* on violence can make you racist or whatever-phobic they can sure as hell make you more violent.

I always liked this system when I was heavily into shooters. I liked player controlled servers with their own rules and general setups.
 
I have always loved FPS's and the crazy thing is I am just so-so a player. However, there is some serious crap said on the games and I found the litany of extreme verbal assaults on anyone who is less than the top tier of players was excruciating. The words said by some of the younger players, 8 to 15 was quite putrid. If I caught my kid talking like that I would have smacked him in his mouth. I always played on a PC and have had sub-par equipment, I just quit gaming because I got tired of losing to all the "daddy's money" kids with the $10k worth of equipment or the military guys with the tax payer machines racking up the mega kills. I think this is a good way of cleaning up some of the devious comments these kids and adults are saying, however, you are trying to calm the hate speech during a war game! Kinda Ironic it seems....just saying.
 
I wonder how long before people will go to jail for hate speech.
That's going to depend on which segments of the population are allowed to define it.

As minorities are taking the initiative now, and the majority is pandering to them at a heretofore unprecedented level, I don't imagine it will be very long.

Realistically speaking, due process has all been eliminated from sexual harassment allegations, and if you say "boo" to some of these millennials, they'll commit suicide, and leave a note with your screen handle on it.
 
LOL Siege is not Siege without toxicity! most people just laugh it off, there's always some special snowflake who is offended by some bad words from a stranger over the internet.
 
Good. Now the children and/or morons getting banned from R6S might have a chance at being rehabilitated by playing a game that's actually good, hopefully from a better publisher than Ubisoft.
 
I wonder how long it will last before the costs to revenues forces a reversal ..... or they get a suite for violations of free speech? I think it's a good idea, but will probably not last that long. Next, instead of being able to shoot the opponent you'll have to run up to them and beg them to be nice!

How would they get sued for violating someone's freedom of speech?? The first amendment only protects you from the government violating your right to free speech. Private companies can censor you all they want. That's why your job can fire for saying racist ****. You agree to Ubisoft's Terms and Conditions when you make your account. Also, I doubt all the edgy 14 year olds who are salty they can't spam "******" in the chat anymore will impact their revenue to any noticeable degree. Toxic communities hurt games, because most people get turned off of games where every match all you see and hear is annoying bullshit over the mic or in the chat. It makes new players not want to play when they get **** talked to them for not already being masters of a game that can have as high of a learning curve as Siege does. Toxic players aren't fun to play with. Ubisoft wants their game to be fun. Therefore, cutting back on the toxicity is probably a good thing for the game. The chat isn't your personal depository to spew annoying slurs and bullshit into, it's for making callouts and giving helpful information to your team. Just be a decent person and you don't have to be worried about getting banned.
 
LOL Siege is not Siege without toxicity! most people just laugh it off, there's always some special snowflake who is offended by some bad words from a stranger over the internet.
LOL Siege is not Siege without toxicity! most people just laugh it off, there's always some special snowflake who is offended by some bad words from a stranger over the internet.
The virtue signaling is strong with the Epi dude. It's pretty sad actually. A great game being ruined by censorship, when all they needed to do was add a "mute" feature. Done.
 
I stopped playing Siege only after a couple of days cause of the team killing. Majority of the players were messing with me and saying crap just cause I was a new player. I never experienced such hatred and toxicity towards new players in any game.

World of tanks has gotten pretty bad with the toxic chat.
But IMO WG deserves what ever they get. they have literally cheated their fan base .by selling them in game equipment. only to rebalance it later.NERFED is the term used .I have experienced it my self .and if other developers make games in the same way. I'll quit gaming...
 
The virtue signaling is strong with the Epi dude. It's pretty sad actually. A great game being ruined by censorship, when all they needed to do was add a "mute" feature. Done.
Couldn't agree more, it's daft! If people want to bust each others balls let them and if they don't want to hear it as you said mute voip/text!
 
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