Taking a hit at bad sportsmanship
Hugely popular vehicular soccer game Rocket League will attempt to curb harassment with a new 20-word language ban. To those unfamiliar with the game, Rocket League features one to four players in vehicles playing soccer with a large ball. Less than a year after its release, the game had 18 million regular players, and now boasts over 34 million. Rocket League features solo and multiplayer options, as well as cross-platform play across major consoles and systems. One drawback of online multiplayer gameplay is harassment, a phenomenon not restricted to Rocket League.
To combat the problem, developer Psyonix first introduced ‘Player Mute’ and ‘Report’ options, both accessible from an in-match menu. The new so-called ‘Language Ban’ will add a layer of automation on the report function, in such a way that if certain terms appear above a certain threshold frequency in reports on a player, the player will be automatically banned from online matches. The bans start at 24 hours, then three days, one week and then finally, a permanent ban.
The list of 20 terms has not been made public, but Psyonix says that the list will evolve over time and will include phrases in multiple languages. In the wake of the Gamergate controversy and the rampant racial abuse that some online gamers suffer, the new ‘Language Ban’ will seek to resolve much of the issues contained in the thousands of daily reports that Psyonix receives, most of which are related to abuse and harassment.
