The presence of online trolls within the gaming sphere often creates a toxic environment for many players. In our discussions, I also noticed a tendency for trolls to target female players, and that in games with an online voice-chat system, many players will be quick in bringing to attention the presence of a female player. In my opinion, the anonymity and the disconnect provided through screens can lower some inhibitions for players to decide to troll others through the belief that their actions will not receive consequences. In addition, players who get trolled are incentivized to troll back as a form of revenge (Cook et al., 10), creating a cycle of negative atmosphere within the game. 

Fortunately, many online multiplayer games have implemented a report option for unsavory players. Hopefully, the reporting would result in consequences, such as a ban, for their actions. However, this is not a perfect solution, and at most times, they are only temporary in preventing the reported troll from finding other avenues of coming back to the game. In addition, many players, when they get trolled, do not resort to muting or reporting the trolling player in question, even though many people see getting reported to be one of the top negative consequences of trolling (Cook et al., 11).

As someone who had once taken to some trolling and have been on the receiving end of being trolled, in my personal experience, a reaction is generally incentive to continue trolling. If there is no reaction or an underwhelming reaction to trolling, usually the trolling stops due to the lack of reactions garnered from their actions. Particularly, trolling seems to be a form of attention-seeking, both negative and positive. I include positive attention because from my personal experiences, people not directly targeted by the troll might end up finding the situation funny without thinking about the experience from the victim’s shoes, or that in some twisted fashion, the victim “deserves” the trolling they receive due to some arbitrary reason. Thus, they outwardly support and contribute to the troll’s actions, and at times, might even join in trolling the victim. 

This can be detrimental to the mental health of the victim, as it can seem as if they are truly alone in their situation. In addition, as some players might respond to trolling by trolling back, I would also assume other players affected by trolling might go into a new game and troll the players there as a form of lashing out in anger. I assume this, because anger, particularly in a situation where the player has been on a losing streak, is seen as an internal trigger for trolling (Cook et al, 9), so anger from being trolled by others may also trigger one to troll people that were not involved. This can potentially create a snowball effect where players affected by a troll can go on to troll others in a new game, and the players in that new game being affected by it and moving on to other games to troll there. 

All in all, trolling is one of the key factors in creating a negative gaming environment, and may even snowball into a very negative community for a particular game. As such, although there seems to be no direct consequences of trolling, one might eventually find themselves on the other end of an unpleasant gaming experience.

Sources:

Cook, Christine, et al. Under the Bridge: An in-Depth Examination of Online Trolling in the Gaming Context – Christine Cook, Juliette Schaafsma, Marjolijn Antheunis, 2018. SAGE Journals.