Esports and Trash Talk - A Hot Topic?

 

First Published - 28/10/13

We are just days away from the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts, yet there is a burning issue tearing at the heart of CoD Esports – Trash Talk.

After some much publicised recent events, the subject of player behaviour and Trash Talking in CoD Esports has been brought very much into focus within the community.

There are definitely fluctuating opinions on the subject, and especially with regards to what is deemed acceptable whilst trash talking in game.

When talking to individuals from within the CoD Esports community, there initially seems almost universal condemnation of the levels and content of comments made between players and teams during matches. However, this is not to say that all of these personalities want this type of ‘banter’ to leave the game altogether. Indeed, as TCM team member MarkyB says “there’s a difference between telling someone how bad you think they are, to how good their mother is in bed!”

Another point that is put out as an explanation of this behaviour is that a lot of the comments are made in the heat of the moment, and this is some sort of mitigating factor. Again, MarkyB had a great analogy for this – “In football for example, players do things in the heat of the moment, but get punished by red and yellow cards. As soon as this behaviour is cracked down on, it will no longer be part of the regular behaviour of these players”.

Generally speaking most opinions put forward were in agreement that anything personal and insulting should be severely clamped down on in some way. CoD Esports caster Alan Brice has been particularly vocal in his dislike of these types of comments, although in general, no consensus seems to have been reached on what form of punishment should be taken against offenders.

With CoD: Ghosts just days away, the future of Esports for the franchise is again firmly in the spotlight, and many people that I have spoken to about this subject feel that the ‘scene’ is at an important juncture in terms of how Esports is viewed. Indeed Ben ‘Benson’ Bowe stated that “after speaking to the developers about this exact topic, I can tell you, it needs to stop”.

Not only this, but that all those involved in CoD Esports – Teams, Players and Event Organisers, should all agree to moving forward with any improvements in player behaviour for the good of the future of game in general.

Thanks to all those that helped contribute to this article:

@TCM_MarkyB

@Benson_EU

@Bricetacular

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Neil