Zone Chat Psychology (Thoughts?)

Saucy_Jack · July 2019

So let me set the stage: tonight I was in Elsweyr, having just finished a really fun round of guild hide & seek (I hide somewhere, and provide ever-increasingly precise location hints over time; the first person to find me and open a trade window wins the prize.) At any rate, since it was so much fun, I figured 'hey, why not do this for everyone in zone?' So I found a good hiding spot, told everyone in zone chat the rules, and again provided better and better hints until finally someone found me (shoutout to Taiku_Cat!) and won the prize, 25k gold.

What I couldn't understand though, was the attitude of a number of people in the chat saying that it was pointless, or that people should just come to the wayshrine to get free gold, or this, that, and the other. I mean, there were definitely people in chat who were enjoying the hunt, and while I realize 25k isn't much for people who already have a ton of gold, it's a significant amount for any new players just starting to get on their feet. So why would people go out of their way to take a fun event that wasn't hurting anyone and try to trash it? Like, what's the point of that supposed to be?

bmnoble · July 2019

There will always be people who like to spoil others fun.

Its why most guilds avoid using zone chat and run events either in group chat for those who wish to join or use their guild chat/discord.

But some players just get annoyed, if your spamming zone chat, since in a few zones people use it to group up, eg Craglorn for trials, Summerset/Dark Elf land(can never remember the spelling off the top of my head), for WB daily's and Elsweyr for Dragon Hunts etc...

Really depends on the zone your in and how much chat traffic the zone gets.

SirAndy · July 2019

I've been here for 6 years now and i have noticed a shift in zone chat towards the negative, rude and mostly infantile behavior in the last 6 months or so.
I mean, we always had some of that over the years, but it's been noticeably worse as of late.

It feels like we had a sudden influx of hormonally imbalanced teenagers looking for a place to practice pushing their virtual boundaries and showing off their epeens.

Nova Sky · July 2019

Just ignore the folks who are being ornery and focus on those who are enjoying playing hide-and-seek with you.

Once you're richer, you can offer larger prize pools. When I've played, I've given upward of 100,000 gold to the person who found me.

MrGhosty · July 2019

SirAndy wrote: »

I've been here for 6 years now and i have noticed a shift in zone chat towards the negative, rude and mostly infantile behavior in the last 6 months or so.
I mean, we always had some of that over the years, but it's been noticeably worse as of late.

It feels like we had a sudden influx of hormonally imbalanced teenagers looking for a place to practice pushing their virtual boundaries and showing off their epeens.

Really? When I started playing the zone chat was ruthless (eso beta and on) took a five year break and when i came back I was shocked at how much more civil zone chat seems to have gotten. I guess it must just be instancing luck. I will say though that Elsweyr zone chat can get pretty toxic on a fairly consistent basis.

To OP, the answer to your question is that this is the internet and for every action there has to be an overblown reaction and someone who just really wants to troll. If public hide and seek is something you enjoy, I might suggest using the starter islands as those zones don't usually have callouts happening and I can speak from experience that Kenarthi's Roost and Bleakrock both have some excellent hiding spots. Still, it is nice to see people helping out the newer players and trying to bring a smile to someone's day, we need more of that.

Jaimeh · July 2019

I find zone chat, especially in starter areas, to be very unpleasant sometimes, and I frequently turn it off when going through them. As for the reactions to your event, you never know how something will be perceived and received, especially when you only have written speech to go by; you meant it as a fun and profitable activity for new players, but some might have thought it was just a bored max player making newbies 'puppet dance' for gold. I have participated in guild scavenger hunts in Cyrodiil, and I can attest to them being a lot of fun, but each person is different. Now as to why people couldn't leave it alone, or express their dislike respectfully? Well, that's not an issue exclusive to ESO zone chat

Also, someone might complain and be contrary, just for the sake of complaining and being contrary--just ignore them, and continue to do what you enjoy.

jainiadral · July 2019

Maybe next time try to start up a group in chat kind of like people do in the Alik'r or Auridon to form WB or dolmen groups. You know, "Type 'x' to join a game of hide & seek. Top prize, 25k gold."

Then you can keep rules and inquiries about the game to those interested and leave the jerks to their politics and trolling. <-- And those two are why I turn off zone chat and miss silly fun *sigh*

kargen27 · July 2019

jainiadral wrote: »

Maybe next time try to start up a group in chat kind of like people do in the Alik'r or Auridon to form WB or dolmen groups. You know, "Type 'x' to join a game of hide & seek. Top prize, 25k gold."

Then you can keep rules and inquiries about the game to those interested and leave the jerks to their politics and trolling. <-- And those two are why I turn off zone chat and miss silly fun *sigh*

The problem with forming a group is you can then port to the player hiding and know you are in the general proximity.

I always assume the irritating ones somehow successfully broke into their parents liquor cabinet and think they are being witty.

jainiadral · July 2019

kargen27 wrote: »

jainiadral wrote: »

Maybe next time try to start up a group in chat kind of like people do in the Alik'r or Auridon to form WB or dolmen groups. You know, "Type 'x' to join a game of hide & seek. Top prize, 25k gold."

Then you can keep rules and inquiries about the game to those interested and leave the jerks to their politics and trolling. <-- And those two are why I turn off zone chat and miss silly fun *sigh*

The problem with forming a group is you can then port to the player hiding and know you are in the general proximity.

I always assume the irritating ones somehow successfully broke into their parents liquor cabinet and think they are being witty.

Guess you can tell how often I group

Never mind, bad idea.

BomblePants · July 2019

Haha, neat game!!

Yeah I think it’s either twelve year olds or basement players....

rotaugen454 · July 2019

The same reason that you will see children performing on stage at a fair and some drunk guy will yell out “You suck!” There is a small percentage in every crowd.

The_Lex · July 2019

I beta tested the game, played for a little while but took a break, came back for Xbox release, but then switched to PC.

I noticed that zone chat on xbox was more toxic than on PC. Don't get me wrong, PC has it fair share of toxicity, especially in Cyrodiil, but it appears tamer than on console. This is not a flame console comment; just a fact I noticed in my experience.

Donny_Vito · July 2019

The_Lex wrote: »

I beta tested the game, played for a little while but took a break, came back for Xbox release, but then switched to PC.

I noticed that zone chat on xbox was more toxic than on PC. Don't get me wrong, PC has it fair share of toxicity, especially in Cyrodiil, but it appears tamer than on console. This is not a flame console comment; just a fact I noticed in my experience.

That seems odd, because on Xbox it's harder to actually type something out (unless you have a keyboard in the USB port) which leads to not much at all being said in Zone chat.

Area Voice chat....well that is a bit different.

The_Lex · July 2019

Donny_Vito wrote: »

The_Lex wrote: »

I beta tested the game, played for a little while but took a break, came back for Xbox release, but then switched to PC.

I noticed that zone chat on xbox was more toxic than on PC. Don't get me wrong, PC has it fair share of toxicity, especially in Cyrodiil, but it appears tamer than on console. This is not a flame console comment; just a fact I noticed in my experience.

That seems odd, because on Xbox it's harder to actually type something out (unless you have a keyboard in the USB port) which leads to not much at all being said in Zone chat.

Area Voice chat....well that is a bit different.

Yeah, that's really what I meant. I had to turn that off when my four year-old was in the room. lol

Donny_Vito · July 2019

The_Lex wrote: »

Donny_Vito wrote: »

The_Lex wrote: »

I beta tested the game, played for a little while but took a break, came back for Xbox release, but then switched to PC.

I noticed that zone chat on xbox was more toxic than on PC. Don't get me wrong, PC has it fair share of toxicity, especially in Cyrodiil, but it appears tamer than on console. This is not a flame console comment; just a fact I noticed in my experience.

That seems odd, because on Xbox it's harder to actually type something out (unless you have a keyboard in the USB port) which leads to not much at all being said in Zone chat.

Area Voice chat....well that is a bit different.

Yeah, that's really what I meant. I had to turn that off when my four year-old was in the room. lol

Yeah, you'll go through Deshaan and someone will have their Kinect hooked up and music going through it (sometimes good, other times not so pleasant). I've had some interesting conversations with random people though, so it's not all bad but there have definitely been some disrespectful, arrogant people in Area chat trying to troll.

StabbityDoom · July 2019

I once was in guild with someone who said he was trolling zone chat hard, and no dice. Another guildie said "Did you try racebaiting?" and he said, not yet, that's next.

That's why zone chat sucks sometimes. These people exist.

Ragged_Claw · July 2019

I don't know why but the zone chat in Elsweyr on PC NA has been horrendous lately, absolutely appalling sometimes. Not sure if it's an influx of new players just starting out in that zone or what, but none of it's game related stuff either, just arguing about politics and rl issues. I just shut the chat box down when if's really bad, but I'd rather have it open to join when people need help with bosses etc. In five years I've never seen it so bad on either server.

I don't understand why people want to get into abusive arguments with strangers in an online game instead of playing the damn game! Why buy a game? You can do that crap for free on Facebook. smh.

bigelle.x3_ESO · July 2019

My thoughts are I think you and others should stop running to the forums to complain about in game toxicity. Chat can hurt your feelings I know. Best to block, report if it's outrageous, and move on with life because no amount of crying to the devs, even if they decide to gestapo police chat like riot games, will change anything.

StabbityDoom · July 2019

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

I don't know why but the zone chat in Elsweyr on PC NA has been horrendous lately, absolutely appalling sometimes. Not sure if it's an influx of new players just starting out in that zone or what, but none of it's game related stuff either, just arguing about politics and rl issues. I just shut the chat box down when if's really bad, but I'd rather have it open to join when people need help with bosses etc. In five years I've never seen it so bad on either server.

I don't understand why people want to get into abusive arguments with strangers in an online game instead of playing the damn game! Why buy a game? You can do that crap for free on Facebook. smh.

The newest zones are cesspools until the bros leave - they only stay for new content.

generalmyrick · July 2019

Saucy_Jack wrote: »

So let me set the stage: tonight I was in Elsweyr, having just finished a really fun round of guild hide & seek (I hide somewhere, and provide ever-increasingly precise location hints over time; the first person to find me and open a trade window wins the prize.) At any rate, since it was so much fun, I figured 'hey, why not do this for everyone in zone?' So I found a good hiding spot, told everyone in zone chat the rules, and again provided better and better hints until finally someone found me (shoutout to Taiku_Cat!) and won the prize, 25k gold.

What I couldn't understand though, was the attitude of a number of people in the chat saying that it was pointless, or that people should just come to the wayshrine to get free gold, or this, that, and the other. I mean, there were definitely people in chat who were enjoying the hunt, and while I realize 25k isn't much for people who already have a ton of gold, it's a significant amount for any new players just starting to get on their feet. So why would people go out of their way to take a fun event that wasn't hurting anyone and try to trash it? Like, what's the point of that supposed to be?

people are just jerks...

its like the psychology of the people that don't like to have fun, or scared to, criticizing others that are...it occurrs across all spectrums.

nerds crit cool people because of this.
cool crit nerds for the fun they have.

etc. etc.

YOU GUYS DO YOU!

Jayman1000 · July 2019

The_Lex wrote: »

I beta tested the game, played for a little while but took a break, came back for Xbox release, but then switched to PC.

I noticed that zone chat on xbox was more toxic than on PC. Don't get me wrong, PC has it fair share of toxicity, especially in Cyrodiil, but it appears tamer than on console. This is not a flame console comment; just a fact I noticed in my experience.

Same, most console multiuplayer games I tried console players are very obnoxious and toxic; pc is more civilized.(but of course not without it's share of toxicity also) Also want to second your comment about not flaming, this is just also in my experience from both world.

Rake · July 2019

no

Girl_Number8 · July 2019

Focus on the people that enjoyed your activity, rather then the ones that didn't even bother too. They deserve none of your time.

Nice event. Try it with your guild too. I am sure they will be much more appreciative.

Nestor · July 2019

The best revenge on a troll is to ignore them.

Not always easy I admit.

ZOS_RogerJ · July 2019

Just a friendly reminder that it’s okay to disagree and debate on the official ESO forums, but we do ask that you keep all disagreements civil, constructive, and on-topic.

Saucy_Jack · July 2019

Just to reiterate, I'm not complaining, per se; just trying to get inside the head of people who go through life this way. I appreciate the dialogue and those contributing to it.

morrowjen · July 2019

StabbityDoom wrote: »

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

I don't know why but the zone chat in Elsweyr on PC NA has been horrendous lately, absolutely appalling sometimes. Not sure if it's an influx of new players just starting out in that zone or what, but none of it's game related stuff either, just arguing about politics and rl issues. I just shut the chat box down when if's really bad, but I'd rather have it open to join when people need help with bosses etc. In five years I've never seen it so bad on either server.

I don't understand why people want to get into abusive arguments with strangers in an online game instead of playing the damn game! Why buy a game? You can do that crap for free on Facebook. smh.

The newest zones are cesspools until the bros leave - they only stay for new content.

This.^

Chat is always worse in the new zones.

Lady_CC_ · July 2019

Most of the toxicity that I see (which at times can get really bad) are from people seeking attention. Like one person mentioned above, about someone saying they were purposefully trying to troll and bait. It’s for reaction, attention and something that makes them feel better about themselves or a way to blow off steam. (unhealthy way of doing so but still one of many explanations as to why)
Best thing to do is not give attention to it. Feed it by reacting to it, then positively reinforces them to do it again and again. Most attention seekers don’t care if they receive positive attention (praise) or negative attention. In fact most seek for the negative, riled up attention to feel satisfied.
Ignore, block and continue to have fun which is what the game is for.

Kuramas9tails · July 2019

Area chat is like if 4Chan and Reddit had a baby.

Which turns into its own drama show right before your eyes.

Best thing to do is ignore and go about your day.

morrowjen · July 2019

Saucy_Jack wrote: »

Just to reiterate, I'm not complaining, per se; just trying to get inside the head of people who go through life this way. I appreciate the dialogue and those contributing to it.

I don't think you'll ever be able to get inside that mindset. Some people are just wired differently. They love to be the one throwing a wet blanket on things that other people see as fun. It brings them satisfaction the same way doing something fun like the hide and seek event brings you satisfaction. It really is as infuriatingly simple as some people really do like to complain and be a pain for others. It's best to just ignore them and keep being you.

WeerW3ir · July 2019

you never seen barrens chat. play a hidenseek like this and next day...