Gaming

Working well with your teammates can also have a huge impact on how your team performs. Building relationships with the people you play with is also important. Thanking them for a game, sharing a joke, or just chatting about the game can help you build a network of friendly players that will make your gaming experience more enjoyable.

Tips for Developing Team Skills

There are a number of ways you can build team skills and foster an enjoyable gaming experience for all:

Keeping it friendly: Creating a welcoming and friendly environment will allow teammates to feel welcome and valued. This is the best way to form meaningful relationships and keep your gaming experience productive and fun.

Respect: Respecting other players opinions and valuing teammates' contributions to strategies and tactics helps to create team cohesion. When players feel in sync with each other and play well as a team, win or lose, it can still be an enjoyable and positive experience for everyone.

Keeping cool: It is not always easy under pressure or when you are having a tough time, but try to be aware of when you or others are triggered by frustrating situations and start to lose focus. A team that is communicating well and working together should be able to support each other and get back into the game.

Encourage feedback: If a player is having difficulties, let them tell you what the problem is and see if the team can support, assist, or advise them. Good communication in difficult or challenging situations can help pull a team together and turn a situation around. And if a player performs well, let them know, calling out good gameplay inspires teammates, which is great for team morale.

Building relationships: Use the tools or community features at your disposal to try and build a network of other players of a similar skill level. If you build a relationship with a group of players that you trust, you are much more likely to get good feedback on how you're playing and receive support when learning new skills, so you can also enjoy the whole game experience even more.

Remember that if you need help with an online gaming-related issue, we can help. We have a Support Hub that explains the various ways we can provide support for your particular problem.

Learning to recognize when team cohesion and player focus are breaking down can help players support and encourage each other in order to bring each other back into the game and re-focus on the team's objectives. Keeping cool under pressure, especially when things aren't going your way, requires resilience and a positive attitude.

Tips for Keeping Cool and Seeing the Game Through

Explore some of the ways to make sure your gaming experience is productive and fun:

Self-control: Be aware of your own emotional response and try not to lose control in difficult or challenging situations. Keeping cool sets a good example for others and can make all the difference in turning a loss into a victory.

Don't give in: If your team is heading for a loss, don't give up the fight; keep focused and try your hardest. Honor in defeat and grace in victory are both traits of a good team. Losing a game and knowing you have tried your hardest is far better than giving up or going AFK.

Support and encourage: When a team player makes a mistake, try to support them as best you can. Try to avoid venting at players who are having a tough time. If you make a player doubt themselves, they may become demotivated, which can lead to poor team performance.

Perspective: Winning and losing are both part of competitive play. Try to reframe tough games as challenges to be met and losses as opportunities to learn and improve. Using defeats to identify areas for improvement will help players accept a defeat as part of the whole gaming experience and improve their game.

We all have bad days, so if someone loses their temper and starts raging at the rest of the team, don't take it personally. Recognize that the player is just venting frustration, and try to calm them down. If they become abusive, you can put them on mute until they cool down or until you are able to help them without an emotional reaction.

Using Messaging and Live Chat Safely

Never reveal personal details such as your full name, date of birth, address, names of close friends or relatives, or phone number to anyone. It is easy to become relaxed and open when talking to someone who appears to be friendly, so always be aware that the person you are talking to may not be alone or even be who they say they are.

This also applies to people that you know in real life. They may not reveal information about you on purpose, but they may do so indirectly or have their own security breached, which may reveal something about you.

Password Security

Having a policy of using strong passwords is very important. Using names and exchanging letters for numbers or symbols is one way of doing this, but it can be very difficult to manage or even remember them!

One simple way to create a strong password is to use a sequence of random words strung together, as this is much harder to crack. Storing your passwords on your computer or phone increases your chances of having your accounts hacked or hijacked. Write them down the old-fashioned way on paper, but remember to keep them as safe as your passport or wallet.

Try to use different passwords for different accounts too; otherwise, if one account gets compromised, they will all get compromised!

Example of a Strong Password That Is Easy to Remember

Take four common but unrelated words, such as "wheel sausages, monkey ladder." This random phrase can be remembered by creating a story that is easy to recall: "I was on my bike (wheel) returning from the butchers (sausages) when a monkey grabbed my bag and ran up a ladder."

You can further strengthen your password by using capital letters at the start of each word and finishing the sentence with an exclamation mark or some other symbol. This is known as visualization and association. You visualize the story and associate it with the key words. Alternatively, you could just write it down and keep it somewhere safe!

Secure Email Accounts

For added security and peace of mind, you should create email accounts for specific games or platforms that you use. You may want one for your social media activity and another for the games you play. This reduces the risk of someone accessing your personal emails and information.

Change Your Passwords Frequently

We have mentioned this previously, but it is so important that we are saying it again! Change your password regularly; put a note on your calendar every couple of months to remind you. This will not only make your accounts online much safer, but it will also give you added peace of mind, especially if you have been targeted in the past or suspect someone may be planning to.

Respect Your Personal Information and Protect It

Nobody wants to be in a constant state of alertness, but you should always be aware of the potential dangers online and take the necessary steps to ensure your own security is protected.

Taking the steps we recommend will help you stay secure online, whether you are playing video games, using social media, or commenting on a forum. You can use our online safety suggestions to manage and control your personal security across all your accounts online.

Remember to make use of our Global Support Service if you are affected by any form of harassment or abuse online.

Disciplined practice is an essential part of a player's development, not only in the skills needed to be a winner but also in your communication and how you interact with others.

Strive to instill a positive team ethic, work together with teammates to overcome difficulties, and maintain team integrity whether you win or lose.

Tips for Becoming a Disciplined Team Player

There are a number of ways you can develop your discipline to improve your game, which we will outline below:

Understand your role: Make sure you understand the role and how to play your part. Take responsibility for your own development and training, identify what parts of your game need improvement, and apply disciplined practice to be the best you can be.

Responsible gameplay: Interacting with your teammates and other players in a responsible way will help you to keep focused and deal with any friction. If difficulties arise or heated situations occur, try to respond responsibly and not get distracted from the task at hand.

Owning your mistakes: Take responsibility for your own mistakes and learn from them. Admitting you have made a mistake and not looking for others to blame is good for team cohesion and can help you discover new areas of improvement in your game.

Responsible chat: Indulging in good-natured banter with teammates can be great fun but can sometimes be misunderstood or taken the wrong way. If you are playing with friends or people you know, this may be fine, but if you are playing with people you don't know, a humorous, well-meant joke could end up in an argument. You are responsible for your own behavior, so always try to be aware of how it may affect other players.

Lend a hand: We all started off as newbies, so if you play with someone who is inexperienced and struggling with some of the basics, give them a helping hand. This may not be well received by some, but most players will be grateful someone has taken the time to help them improve their game so they can contribute to the team more effectively.

As you progress in your personal development, you will find that discipline becomes second nature, but remember that it takes time to build these reflexes.

Flaming and Game Rage

This is when a player completely loses control and starts to hurl abuse at other players. This can take the form of on-screen abuse or verbal abuse if you are using in-game chat. There are a number of steps you can take to deal with people who have their in-game rage on! These include the following:

Block and mute: The simplest way is to turn off your in-game chat. You may be able to isolate the player from chat, but this will depend on what options are available to you at the time.

Report: Most games and online gaming platforms have abuse reporting procedures for players. You might be able to submit a report while still playing or through the admin/moderator resources after you have finished the game.

Griefing

Griefing is when players start to disrupt and annoy other players on purpose. This can involve cheating, stealing other players' swag, team killing, and generally causing as much grief to other players as they can. Some players actually enjoy playing with griefers; they see it as a challenge to see who can cause the most damage or annoyance in the game.

Griefing is recognized among most gaming communities as toxic behavior and can be reported to game moderators and admin teams. How your report is dealt with will depend on the game or platform you are playing on. For example, on Minecraft, servers are moderated independently, and you may have to try out different servers to find out if the admin team will deal with griefers. Other platforms, such as League of Legends, have automated reporting systems that recognize players who play unfairly and will take action.

Doxing and Swatting

Doxing and swatting are tactics used by online abusers to harass and annoy their victims. You can learn more about doxing and swatting by visiting the relevant resources in our Help Center; just click on the topics to find in-depth explanations of what they involve as well as how to protect yourself and avoid attacks.

Hate Speech

Hate and abuse in video games can take many forms, including racism, antisemitism, anti-muslimism, misogyny, and anti-LGBT abuse. This type of abuse can be verbal or written, depending on your in-game chat facilities. Hate speech is taken very seriously by game developers and gaming platforms, with both offering reporting and support facilities. All forms of hate speech are banned within most codes of conduct. You can also take the following steps if you see it:

Block, mute, and report: Nobody should have to endure in-game hate speech, and you should block, mute, and report any player who does immediately. This type of abuse is extremely toxic and has no place in gaming, so it is essential that it be reported.

Save evidence: If the hate speech is continual, you may also have grounds for legal action. Although hate speech is not necessarily illegal due to freedom of speech laws, it can be a criminal offense under harassment or cyberbullying laws.

It is important to consider the circumstances before taking action on hate speech. You may also want to seek professional advice before deciding on how to proceed.

Threatening and Aggressive Behavior in Games

As with hate speech, threats and aggressive abuse are regarded as extremely toxic and will be in breach of the terms and conditions or code of conduct for the game being played. This type of abuse might include threats to your life, describing violent or sexual acts, threats of physical torture, or threats to attack you in real life.

As with hate speech, you should always report any threats that are made to you to the game admins or moderators. Threats considered to be 'credible' or 'of a serious nature' could also be considered a criminal offense.

When in doubt, seek professional advice or the opinion of a legal professional before taking further action when responding to threatening or aggressive behavior.

Emotional control: Emotions are very powerful things that can make us feel warm and happy or desperate and depressed. It is how we control or regulate our emotions that determines our behavior and how others perceive us. Recognizing what triggers emotional feelings of anger is the first step in being able to stay in control, especially when you start to feel angry or threatened.

Recognize our triggers: Everyone has them, and when playing video games, there seem to be so many that can provoke an emotional reaction! Bad gameplay, rejection, loss, threats to status, and ego are all perceived as threats that can trigger emotional responses, causing people to attack others or feel that they need to defend themselves in some way.

Hijacked: When people overreact and start ranting or being abusive, this is a sure sign that the person feels threatened in some way and that the initial emotional response has taken control and the person has literally lost their cool. The need to right the wrong or regain status takes over completely, and all perspective is lost in a desperate fight for survival!

Be mindful: You might not know what will trigger someone else to totally lose it, but you can at least recognize loss of control in others and begin to regulate your own emotional responses—to try and keep composed when the red mist starts to roll in!

Take deep breaths: The term "fight or flight" is also known as the stress response. It's what the body does as it prepares to confront or avoid perceived threats. It is this response we need to look at and begin to manage. The first step in regaining control is to calm the body down, and one of the best ways to do this is with deep breathing. Deep, controlled breaths allow oxygen to flow around the body, helping you relax and lowering your heart rate and blood pressure. You can do this for 5 or 10 minutes sitting comfortably at your computer, or you can create a special relaxation spot where you can go and calm yourself.

Be the boss: You may not be able to control how your emotions react to certain situations, but you can control how you respond to them. This is the key to gaining control of emotional urges, recognizing the triggers, being aware of them, and finally, responding appropriately. You are in control of the last part of this process, and this is how you will end up behaving. Don't be a slave to your emotions; be the boss, let them do their job, and you do yours!

There are, of course, many reasons why game rage can occur, so it is important to be aware of the triggers and to be more self-aware of how you respond to gameplay challenges.

Getting a Perspective

Take the time to gain perspective on your situation and assess the threat appropriately. You can ask yourself these questions:

• Will it matter in a month's time?
• Will it mean anything at all in a year?
• Am I really at risk?
• Was it the point of feeling angry?
• Does one bad game mean everything?
• Do these people really know me?

Shifting your perspective can help you create thoughts that dispel the belief that you are under threat. If you believe that you have done nothing wrong and that others are at fault, then you can feel good about your situation despite what others believe.

If you decide that you should take the threat seriously, contact the platform administrators, or if you feel your personal safety is at risk, you can contact law enforcement.

Remember to get your perspective back on track, and then you can think about a more positive outcome from the experience. Each time you handle a situation differently, without losing control, you will gain more confidence in dealing with your emotions.

You will first need to remove the cause of the stress, which will mean taking action right away. Depending on which game you are playing and what type of gaming environment you are in, this will determine which of the following you will need to do:

Headset chat: Turn off the chat and take the headset off. You don't need to respond or defend yourself, even if you feel like you should. If you want to continue playing, then you could listen to some music instead or relax in the quiet of your surroundings.

Onscreen chat: Turn off the screen text and take the time to decide whether you want to carry on playing or not.

Take a break: Do you really need to finish this game? Is it the end of the world if you leave? No, of course not. Finish what you need to and take a break. Get a drink, read some comics or a book for 10 minutes, chat with someone, watch TV, relax, and get your perspective back. You may decide to go back to the game and save evidence of any further abuse, and you may decide to carry on playing without any communication for a while or choose to respond or report them; it's up to you. The most important thing to do is take the time to calm down, and then you can decide what to do and how you want to proceed.

Exercise: This could be getting up and having a good stretch or going for a run; it's up to you. Physical exercise produces endorphins, which help the body reduce levels of stress and pain. Getting some exercise really does make you feel better and can provide you with a boost.

Once you have managed to take yourself away from the cause of the problem, you will be able to begin to regain your perspective. This process will enable you to think far more clearly about the situation and assess it properly.

If you decide you need further help with your situation, you can make use of our Global Support Service.

Stating how you feel: If you feel you're being bullied, abused, or unfairly treated, say so. State your case and move on.

Be precise: Keep it short and sweet; let them know you are here to play the game!

Don't take it personally: We know it's hard, but try not to take abuse personally; they don't even know you!

Humor: This can be a great way to defuse situations and could help the abusive player calm down and regain perspective.

Your boundaries: Use this as an opportunity to let players know what behavior you will not accept.

What action you'll take: Let them know you will contact the game or platform administrators and report their abuse if it continues.

Change subject: Try to steer the chat away from the issue. Chat about something random just to break the thread of negativity. This can make other players realize you're human after all!

Keep a record: If you do respond to someone who is abusive, you should also keep a record of your communication. This could be a screenshot or recording of the conversation. This will help if you need to provide evidence of the abuse to the game or platform administrators if there is a dispute later.

You may wish to respond with a counter-narrative, explaining to them what it is that has offended you and what you intend to do about it. Try to be as objective as you can; you don't want to be accused of being abusive yourself.

Tech Solutions for Abusive Behavior

One way of dealing with abuse when gaming is to avoid it by turning off or muting all communication and chat facilities. In some games, it can be difficult to find this function, so you may need to search around to find the player options for in-game chat and messaging.

Some of these options could include:

Onscreen chat: Check options for muting, minimalizing, disabling, or hiding on-screen chat.

Messaging: If the game has a messaging facility, you can alter your settings to receive only messages from friends or block or mute all messages entirely. Check this out before you start playing each game.

Headset chat: Check player options for muting or disabling audio chat.

Once you have found out how to manage your communications with other players, it will be up to you to choose if you wish to openly communicate. You can choose to listen in or block it completely.

Protecting Yourself When Gaming

Consider these steps to ensure you have peace of mind and that other players know when they are crossing boundaries:

How you respond: Responding to abuse can be effective so long as you don't mirror the behavior and end up retaliating with abuse of your own, as this usually ends up escalating the situation and also makes it difficult to see who is at fault.

Not initiating contact: If you are being threatened or don't feel comfortable communicating with the person who is being abusive, don't make contact at all.

Addressing abusive behavior: Letting someone know that you feel they are being abusive may be enough for them to check their behavior. In a team environment, it also lets other players know that there could be an issue.

If you need further advice, our Global Support Service provides trained support wherever you are in the world.