After a long time pondering whether to untick all the chat options in GW2 to literally become a mute and not see anyone’s comments anymore, I have finally done it – because I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough of hearing all the homophobic remarks online (And to be frank, I get enough of it in real life… I certainly don’t need it in a game as well).
Why should I have to constantly hear comments like ’that’s so gay’ and see players use the word ‘gay’ in such a demeaning, derogatory way? I remember when this word used to mean happy. But nowadays, society just accepts it as meaning ‘strange’, ‘weird’, or ‘wrong’. I don’t care if people see me as the latter, I just expect you to either 1) keep those comments to yourself or 2) at least allow me to fully block a player so I can get on with my gaming.
This brings me to my next point. A while back I tried putting a homophobic player on my ignore list (because I know that reporting him would have done absolutely nothing), however, his messages of hate still showed in the /map and /team chat channels. This was a huge dilemma for me because I WvW a lot, and I require those channels to see what the commander is telling us to do.
Now, a large part of why I play GW2 is to get away from real life. From all the hate, and from all the homophobia. It is my escape. I am so frustrated though because no one seems to care about how these hurtful comments damage people like myself. People even defend homophobes and their comments with things like ’it’s just a game, get over it’ or ’it’s just words’. Really? Have they even walked a mile in a gay man’s shoes? Have they experienced pure hatred and patronising comments for something they cannot change, on a daily basis? I highly doubt it.
Furthermore, no one from Anet seems to care about dealing with homophobia OR the ignore system (I give them a lot of credit for the rainbow themed weapons though – that’s really awesome!), especially when I pleaded for them a few months ago to change the ignore system to REALLY mean that it fully ignores a player’s comments (including map and team chat).
I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, I can’t look into a crystal ball and predict any future homophobic remarks (but if you will step into my shoes for a moment and imagine hearing remarks on a daily basis that you’re not worthy of living, that God hates you, or that you’re weird/strange/wrong, it’s kind of hard to simply brush these comments off) – I’m not a mind reader either. What I do expect, however, is that when I do see comments that hurt me, I can put those players on my ignore list, knowing full well that they are dealt with – but even that isn’t possible, because ignoring a player doesn’t fully ignore their comments in all channels. At least, nothing has changed since that incident as far as I know.
I don’t want anyone’s sympathy, I just want change to the ignore system so that one day, perhaps I can tick all the chat boxes again, and most importantly, be able to listen to the commanders in WvW again, and know that when homophobia pops its ugly head again (because it’s not IF, it’s WHEN), I can ignore that player and their comments completely.
Till then, I refuse to have any chat boxes ticked, and I will have to remain offline/invisible until the ignore system is dealt with. Yes it hinders my game play, but it is the only way I can stay sane – it’s either that or being bombarded with homophobia everyday that I cannot ignore (not through a lack of trying either).
Yours sincerely,
frustrated player
