Of those hit with temporary gags, 60% alter their behaviour for the better. Less than 1% of the active base are currently banned. Overall reports are down 30% since the update.
The studio explains that most don’t quit after a string of losses in Dota 2, but are far more likely to leave if they’re on the receiving end of verbal abuse by strangers.
”Its goal is to reduce the toxicity that occurs verbally or via text chat, and as a result, to avoid causing players to quit the game solely due to negative communication experiences,” blogged Valve. Last month the studio introduced an update that tied chat bans into the current reporting system.
”Our data shows this is working exactly as we hoped,” they continued. “Many players banned eventually reach a ban free communication style, and the percentage of players being reported for communication bans is dropping over time.”
Valve acknowledge the system is far from perfect, but this is a process. ”The system is not yet ideal, but we felt it was better to gather data on this first step before trying to complicate it with extra nuance. We’ve changed the algorithm several times already, and we’ll continue to update it in response to the community’s feedback, and the data we’re gathering.”
”Some of our earlier data showed us that offensive players can be rehabilitated and that they manage to modify their communication so that they don’t cause negative interactions. To be able to do that though, they need to know when they’re producing negative interactions, and the communication ban system lets them know this.”
Check out Valve’s full blog post on the their findings with Dota 2’s new ‘shut your trap’ system.
