Ubisoft is using Rainbow Six: Siege to fight against toxic gamers. The multiplayer shooter game will no longer allow for foul language or abusive language in text chat, and users will be banned for using uncouth behavior while playing the game.
In a Reddit post on the Rainbow Six: Siege sub-Reddit, a Ubisoft community manager explained that there will be bans rolled out for players who engage in toxic behavior. If a player engages in using racial, homophobic, or hate speech, the player will be banned for two days. If it happens again or if the severity is extreme, the ban will be extended to seven days. Beyond that, if it happens again the ban will be extended to two weeks, and if a player cannot stop using "toxic" language, the ban will be permanent.
According to the post, Ubisoft will be monitoring the frequency of toxic behavior and any comments that breach the code of conduct for their mature-rated shooter. For gamers who consistently use language that offends others, their accounts will be temporarily banned. If the behavior keeps up, the player will be permanently banned.
Players who are banned for toxic behavior will receive a pop-up on their account in Rainbow Six: Siege stating that they've been banned specifically for toxic behavior. There will also be a global message spread all across the game's main servers, letting everyone know that a specific player has been banned for "toxicity."
Not everyone was on board with this new rule. Typically, banning people from an online game like Rainbow Six: Siege permanently means that they can no longer access the majority of the content that they paid for. It's an issue that some people raised with some of the permanent bans centered around games like Overwatch and Diablo III.
Others were curious why Ubisoft would attempt to police user accounts and not just add options like muting the text or blocking users who offend certain players. However, Ubisoft wanted to take measures in excising "toxic" players entirely from the Rainbow Six: Siege community.
There have been a lot of heated debates about permanently banning people from playing games they paid for, though some believe that it's a fair price to pay for people who behave in "toxic" ways. Quite naturally, the thread where Ubisoft made the announcement broke down into various arguments, and the moderators ended up having to lock the thread.
One of the issues that was raised was determining what kind of "hate speech" is "hate speech." The moderators said basic swear words were allowed, but discouraged gamers from using language that would offend others based on the code of conduct.
A large portion of the thread was spent trying to figure out what arrangement of words would be allowed and which ones would not be allowed. According to one of the moderators, Ubisoft stated that it understands that, given the nature of the game, some element of trash talking would be allowed, but anything excessive could move into "toxic" territory. It's still a bit nebulous what level of "excessive" language would be required to be put into the "toxic" category. However, expect Ubisoft to clarify this as some users trigger the system and land a ban for being toxic in Rainbow Six: Siege.
