​

I was taught the way you play a game is probably the way you behave in life. When I was a kid my mom would host games of monopoly with people she used to do business with. I never really understood why but according to her in an environment of competition people reveal their real intentions. I'm an adult and I play Dota as a hobby but sometimes the people I come across scare me, really it terrifies me to think that my co-worker or professor could be someone completely different in a free society such as the internet. In Dota the only consequence for negative behavior is a report, many times just one report doesnt amount to anything and people can get away with terrible things. Now you could make a case, you could say just ignore it or mute them. But is that really how it works? I will ask you to do a simple mental exercise. Think about the most toxic player you have encountered in a game. Think about how this person handles his or her issues in real life, think about their interpersonal relationships, the way this person treats their loved ones when frustration comes. How hard can it be for someone to accept they have made a mistake? Why do most people tend to blame others so blatantly and not look at their own faults? How easy is to bully? How easy is to try to break someone down to the point they dont want to play the game anymore? Sometimes after playing a game I ask myself. Do I really want to live in this world? What can I do to make a change? How do I make a difference? I understand that there are unstable individuals everywhere that will come across at some point but the quantity I find in Dota is incredible. I dont know what this is. A rant? A call for action? What can be done? if I find an person who tries his hardest to denigrate a player because she happens to be a female and this guy cant seem to understand women are not objects? What can be done when someone is screaming and yelling in the mic because one of your teammates has a different accent that isnt american and all of sudden they tell you to go back to your country? it's a game, I get it, it just pains me to see a lot of people need help and no one is giving it to them and they keep using Dota as a way to release their anger and all kinds of issues, instead of having fun.