How to Deal with Difficult Players

by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

Call me an optimist, call me naïve, but I did not see this coming.  I knew that the influx of new players from open beta would lead to a drop in the overall quality of play.  What I did not expect was the immediate and drastic increase in the amount of toxicity and outright hostility that been all too common this first week.

I, for one, can deal with poor play.  It is easy to take for granted how obvious things seem after you have been playing for a while, but when you are a new player it can all seem overwhelming.  Experienced players are able to take in big picture perspective of the game and process a variety of information at once.  New players are much more likely to have tunnel vision and simply focus on how best to play their Hero.  At Blizzcon, I took a friend to the Heroes of the Storm demo area so that he could try it game for the first time.  Afterwards, when I asked what he thought about the game, he told me how confusing it was and how he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing.  I told him it was all about reacting to the objectives and following the pings, but he didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.  He had been so focused on trying to control his Hero, figure out what abilities he had, and simply not die that he had been unable to notice anything beyond that.  That was a good reminder to me of how it is easy to forget how daunting this game can be to a new player, especially if it is your first MOBA.

What can be much more difficult to deal with are the players who are either rude, insulting or who intentionally sabotage your ability to win (or even enjoy) the game.  Heroes is my first MOBA, but I have heard plenty of horror stories from people about how toxic players in other games can be.  In fact, that has often been one of the key selling points for what makes this game different.  Sadly, with the game now essentially available to anyone who would like to play, there has been a noticeable increase in these bad apples.  Over time I think this behavior will lessen as these people either adapt to the more positive nature of this community or they go back to whatever game they came from.  Until then, here are some tips for how to cope with these challenging players.

Stay Positive

This really is the first step, but it can also be the most difficult.  When someone is being a jerk it is all too easy to respond in kind.  This is bad for several reasons.  The first is that this is often exactly what the person is looking for.  These people are called Trolls and are the reason the expression ‘Don’t feed the trolls’ is so common.  The second reason is that by arguing with these people, you end up distracting yourself and your teammates from actually playing the game.  It can turn what could be a minor distraction into a major one.  It is also quite common that repeated complaining or finger pointing can cause people to quit trying all together.  Best case scenario, they go AFK and the A.I. eventually takes control of their character.  Often though, they will simply park themselves in base and continue ranting, while your team is forced to play the remainder of the game 4 vs 5.  Your best option when someone starts to complain or be insulting is to say something positive in return.  A well-timed joke can also go a long way towards defusing the growing tension.  You might not turn the Troll around, but you may bring the rest of your team together and keep them from falling into the negativity trap.  If you can’t say anything positive then simply don’t respond at all.

 Report Report Report!

Blizzard has said repeatedly that they want to discourage poor behavior and that there will be repercussions to repeated abuse.  The report feature is one example of this.  You can access it by pressing tab during the game or from stats screen after the game.   Either way, simply find the offending players name and look to the right for a mechanical wheel icon.  Simply click that icon and you will see the report option.  I don’t want to encourage players to report others unnecessarily, but if you have someone who has obviously crossed the line, then you should definitely report them.

 Mute Player and Mute All

Blizzard has also provided the ability to mute either individual players or your entire team.   You can access the mute player feature through the same mechanical wheel icon that contains the report option.  If you have ever reported a player you may have also noticed that it also automatically mutes that person as well.  Muting can be a good option if a player is being a nuisance but you don’t feel like it has reached a level that warrants reporting.  You have probably also noticed that when you enter a game there is a message telling you how to turn off Allied chat, which effectively mutes your entire team.  I haven’t personally used this feature, but I can see where it might be useful if you get into one of those games where everyone is constantly bickering.  Sometimes you just need a little silence, and the mute feature can be a great sanity saver on those days where the negativity is affecting your enjoyment of the game.

 Change it up

If the toxic players are getting to you or a big losing streak has you down, maybe it is time to try something different.  If you have access to Hero League, now might be the time to focus on ranking up.  Unlike Quick Match, I haven’t really noticed much change in Hero League so far.  You can also try switching to Verse A.I. mode, which was formerly known as Cooperative.  No matter how badly people play or how much they try to throw the game, it is almost impossible to lose to the bots.  If things have gotten so bad that you simply can’t stand the thought of playing another game with human beings, there is a box in the bottom left corner of the screen where you can fill out your team with computer players as well.  You can still complete quests this way and you even earn gold and experience, albeit at a slower pace than Quick Match.  Lastly, try playing a new hero or using a new build.  Take the expectation of winning away and just try to have fun with something new.  If need be, mute all and just focus on what you are doing.

Play with Friends

This is often the first response you get when you tell someone that you are frustrated with solo queue.  I have saved this topic for last because if it was so easy to play with friends, then you probably wouldn’t be solo queuing in the first place.  Instead I am going to focus more on how to find friends or at the very least teammates.  Now that the game is available to everyone, you can always recruit your actual friends to play the game.  This would be the ideal scenario, as games are always more fun when you play them with friends.  Barring that, you do still have a few other options.

Do you have a podcast you like to listen to, a streamer you watch, or a website you regularly visit?  Many of these communities have created in-game chat channels to help their members keep in touch.   This can be a great way to find new people to play with.  Check with your favorite sites and find out if they have an in game channel that you can join.  With that in mind, we have recently created a Blizzpro channel.  To join, simply type “/join Blizzpro” in game (without the quotation marks, of course).  You can also take a shot on the looking for group notifications that show up in the upper right hand portion of your screen.  It is still a bit of a crap shoot, but these are people who are at least making some type of effort to find a group and be a team.  That alone puts it ahead of solo queue in my book.  Last but not least, consider sending a friend request when you find a player that you enjoy playing with.  At the very least, be willing to accept these requests from other players if they send one to you.

If all else fails, try taking a break.  Regardless of how you choose to deal with the negativity, don’t let other people ruin your enjoyment of the game.  As they say, GLHF! (emphasis on Fun)