Criticism vs. Toxicity in Gaming

If you’re reading this, chances are that you consider yourself a gamer and keep up with at least one of your favorite games, if not all of them. There’s also a good chance that you’ve been disappointed with a game, either in the lead-up to release or afterwards. You’re not alone.

In an increasingly more connected world, no longer are you forced to shell out $50-$60 for the game of your choice without countless guides, reviews, gameplay videos, and online articles to keep you informed about what other gamers, like you, are experiencing in the game. Good games are more than just the sum of research, development, and marketing that goes into them. A good game immerses you in it and leaves you with an experience that you can share with your friends, family, or even strangers and that experience can inspire them to have their own.

So what happens when a highly anticipated game is released in an unfinished state, or certain promises made by developers aren’t followed through on, or the game just doesn’t feel like the game you were expecting? Do you refund it, do you wait for it to be fixed in future patches, or do you go online and vent to your friends, on forums, or social media sites to at least get some sort of validation about experience that you were robbed of? There is no right or wrong answer here; we all handle problems in our own ways. But in recent times there has been a growing trend of developers and gamers duking it out online and it is quickly evolving into a standoff.

The dreaded mixed review rating on Steam.

Criticism vs. Toxicity in Gaming: Mixed Reviews, Mixed Feelings

I’m not usually one to preorder games, and the reasons why range from wanting a more polished experience before immersing myself in it to not wanting game-breaking bugs from ruining the experience. This isn’t a new thing for most gamers and, in fact, has become kind of the norm. Over this last year, I preordered three games – all of which were highly anticipated by their respective audiences. All of them were either in an unfinished state, or just unplayable at launch. I’m talking about things like the inability to advance through the game, performance issues, and my personal favorite – blue screens of death (BSODs) and crashes to desktop (CTDs).

I knew what I was doing when I chose to preorder these games, I knew there would inevitably be some rough edges, bugs, and other shall we say “wonky” things that would most likely get sorted out in order of severity. All three of the games I had preordered were from established franchises with a (mostly) good track record. I, like many other gamers, trusted them to deliver on the experience that they had advertised. It was my opinion then and remains my opinion now that all three fell short of that goal, and I felt that it was duty to stay updated on and inform others of my experience in an attempt to be as transparent as possible. But I was not ready for the storm that was to follow.

Recovering from a Rough Launch

On October 24th, 2023, developer Colossal Order released their highly anticipated title Cities: Skylines II, a sequel to their highly successful 2015 title Cities: Skylines. Much of the success of the series comes from its longevity through the release of paid DLC and community-driven mods. These have continued to add more flavor to the mix and further improve the game since its launch.

So it was no surprise that when the first trailer for Cities: Skylines II hit, fans of the original game were foaming at the mouth. It was like everything Cities: Skylines I had become in the almost-decade that had passed, but everything was better… a lot better. From the crisp graphics, engine enhancements, and the promise of modding support and console released after the PC launch. It sounded too good to be true – and unfortunately that quickly proved to be the case.

For many would-be players at launch, the game was slow, full of bugs, or had glaring graphical and simulation issues – and all of that was assuming they could even run the game in the first place. This quickly created a storm of negative reviews, angry forum posts and rampant trolling. It became such an issue that Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen, in one of her “CO Word of the Week” posts on publisher Paradox Interactive’s forums she addressed it directly.

Hallikainen said, “… we have seen a growing tendency of toxicity in our community, something we have not experienced to this extent before”. This is not the first time the post-launch toxicity has been addressed as she she goes on to say, “As the mentions of this in previous entries do not seem to have moved the needle, perhaps you have a constructive way of telling us how we can improve the way we communicate with each other.”

Colossal Order’s Word of the Week with CEO Mariina Hallikainen.

Reaction and Retribution

The community reaction to these Words of the Week has been nothing if not equally honest with the CEO with many voicing their support for Colossal Order’s transparency despite a rough launch. At the same time, a near-equal amount of comments voice their disgust or disdain at the state of the game, three months after launch. Many in support of the CEO’s stance seem to have come to terms with the fact that, even for all its faults, the game is better now through the patches that have been released so far.

Despite not having official modding tools – the community has created mods that help solve some of these issues and/or add features that will be there once the official tools are released. But for every supportive voice in the community there are also those who are still unhappy with the state of the game and, in some cases, have yet to even get it to run on their systems due to poor game optimization. 

So what do we do here? Do we wait in silence for things to get better, take what we can get and call it a day, or do we besiege developers and threaten them in an effort to hold them accountable? Her post ends with a suggestion that I think really says it all and is the fairest thing in this situation, which was stated in bulleted form as follows:

Give feedback and disagree, but do it constructively! Be specific and detailed, and don’t worry about what others think. We have a diverse community so opinions and experiences will always vary.

• Give feedback and disagree, but do it constructively! Be specific and detailed, and don’t worry about what others think. We have a diverse community so opinions and experiences will always vary.
• Assume people mean well and remember that tone can be hard to convey in writing.
• Help us make the community a nice place for everyone by showing your fellow mayors how to give constructive feedback.
• Always be kind 🙂

-Mariina Hallikainen

A snapshot of the comment section on one of the most recent posts.

Holding Ourselves Accountable

It may be a tough pill to swallow, but the fact is that in an age of increasingly complex games with tough deadlines imposed by publishers and the sky-high anticipation baked into the often movie-quality trailers, this is a process that’s guaranteed to happen again. But that doesn’t mean that the experience needs to be the same. As gamers we’re entitled to our opinions, especially when we’re shelling out our hard-earned money (I see you, Deluxe Edition buyers).

But we have to remember that even the CEOs, developers, and community managers are people, just like you, floating in their little own little bubbles of cyberspace and are often just as passionate about gaming as you are. Trolling, threats, and spam only add more negativity to a community that ultimately just wants the experience that they were promised at launch.

I’m not blind or deaf to the critics who say that these statements from the CEO come off as tone deaf or a way for Colossal Order to shift the blame from themselves to their most toxic community members, because the fact is that the game is still plagued with some pretty horrible issues for many players. But we owe it to ourselves and other gamers to show the same amount of accountability with the things we say and the criticisms we level at others. As time has shown as again and again, toxicity only breeds more toxicity, and if it gets out of hand then weekly updates with this level of openness and honesty may quickly become a thing of the past.

Looking to the Future

It shouldn’t be surprising when I say that everyone has different outlooks on life and the rules that govern theirs. Something that has always worked for me and that I’ve tried to abide by is the all-powerful Golden Rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But in an ever-changing world where information moves quickly and is hyper-analyzed by both experts (and those who claim to be), the Golden Rule has become a little ambiguous. Can we really say with any certainty that treating others the way you want to be treated is the way that they would want to be treated?

For as long as I’ve been a gamer in the gaming community, I’ve seen a lot of great, helpful websites, forums, etc. that spread positivity and support their members. At the same time, I’ve also seen some very toxic communities that are quick to criticize developers, games, and other gamers and are slow to forgive mistakes. The biggest takeaway for me, in seeing the stark difference between the two communities, is something I’ve always thought but never really had a label for until recently – the Titanium Rule. The Titanium Rule, similar to the Golden Rule, states, “Treat others as it is in the highest and best good to treat them.” It sounds similar enough to the Golden Rule that you could be forgiven for not understanding the difference at first, but when you do, the difference is clear. We can’t know how someone prefers to be treated, so we should treat them with basic respect and kindness and shouldn’t assume anything about them.

If we allow ourselves and our communities to become toxic cesspools of hate, then it spoils what might have otherwise been a good experience for someone and, deep down, I don’t think that’s what gamers really want. We owe it to past, present, and future gamers to treat each other with basic respect and communicate when we don’t understand or are frustrated about something in our community. This is the only way to ensure that gaming studios and gamers alike can do what they love without fear of threats and retribution. Whether you agree with me or not, there is wisdom in what is said in these weekly updates and I, for one, will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that we don’t allow the worst of us represent all of us.