1. Toxic behavior in online multiplayer games BY: GEERT VAN DEN BURG CURVE FEVER A.K.A. ACHTUNG, DIE KURVE!

3. The beginning Total 1000 players Waiting time: 10 minutes or more to start a game But: Very nice atmosphere!

4. Bigger community, more toxicity - In absolute sense: more toxic behavior - Not necessarily fans of the game enter your community - Community grows, our team stayed small - We were ill prepared OMG Stupid ban! Curve Fever loses players Geert is a moron

5. Industry wide problem Big problem for other games and communities - League of Legends - Call of Duty - YouTube - Blog comments - Small group can skew perception - Need reliable manpower to handle it - Nothing to loose, because anonymous Many think:

6. Why do we care? Two of the top reasons players play Curve Fever are: 1. Competitive play 2. Social interactions I don’t recommend this game to anyone under 18, because a lot of players in this game are insulting you and your whole family

7. Who is toxic? Most of the times, not one clear profile In real life: nice guys Most of the ‘toxic’ players actually are fan of your game

8. How to handle toxic behavior 1.Remove the triggers 2.Hide toxic behavior from others 3.Give feedback to the player 4.Remove toxic players 5.Stimulate positive behavior In-game & forums

9. Triggers of toxic behavior Losing games Feeling of unfairness Very competitive environment Just liking to troll 1.Remove the triggers 2.Hide toxic behavior from others 3.Give feedback to the player 4.Remove toxic players 5.Stimulate positive behavior Don’t facilitate toxic behavior - minimize cheating possibilities

10. Hiding toxic behavior 1.Remove the triggers 2.Hide toxic behavior from others 3.Give feedback to the player 4.Remove toxic players 5.Stimulate positive behavior ReportedPlayer: lol Player1: XD ReportedPlayer: wtf ReportedPlayer: cunt green ReportedPlayer: FUCK YOU GREEN SHIT ReportedPlayer: cash angel suck a dick ReportedPlayer: lol Player1: XD ReportedPlayer: wtf ReportedPlayer: mooh green ReportedPlayer: mooh YOU GREEN mooh ReportedPlayer: cash angel mooh a mooh

11. Hiding toxic behavior Shadow banning - Shadow banned person should not know - Can apply in-game after trigger moments 1.Remove the triggers 2.Hide toxic behavior from others 3.Give feedback to the player 4.Remove toxic players 5.Stimulate positive behavior gg STFU u idiot I threaten all your family! Tight game Toxic player gg Tight game Rest of the world

12. Give feedback If not confronted players won’t understand -> Spam - Show why on their posts - Send them mail why they got banned from the game - Show message why they got banned on login 1.Remove the triggers 2.Hide toxic behavior from others 3.Give feedback to the player 4.Remove toxic players 5.Stimulate positive behavior

13. Remove toxic players Most of the times not the solution, but sometimes… (Free) players are content for paying players Can’t buy privilege to be toxic 1.Remove the triggers 2.Hide toxic behavior from others 3.Give feedback to the player 4.Remove toxic players 5.Stimulate positive behavior

14. Stimulate positive behavior More events and happenings - Tournaments - Sales! - Promo activities - Creativity contests - Selfie topic Players ask for sales and promo’s themselves Great opportunity for monetization and PR Almost always started by a woman. Get woman on your mod team! 1.Remove the triggers 2.Hide toxic behavior from others 3.Give feedback to the player 4.Remove toxic players 5.Stimulate positive behavior

15. The future of toxicity Current problems: - Need man power - Feedback often too late Future: - Machine moderators as a service

16. Conclusions We went from a very negative community to a positive community Happy with our players! 1.Remove the trigger 2.Hide toxic behavior from others 3.Give feedback to the player 4.Remove toxic players 5.Stimulate positive behavior My name is: Geert van den Burg From: Curve Fever Contact: geert@curvefever.comgeert@curvefever.com Twitter: @geertvandenburg