How toxic is World of Warcraft really? 

When people encounter toxicity in WoW it is usually not during leveling. It is during the endgame and in particular during high m+ in my experience. I find most people will be nice towards newcomers in almost any game that you play but when playing at a more advanced level, people expect you to do things well and get annoyed if you drag them down. This is what creates toxicity in my opinion, combined with big egos.

The worst experiences are the ones that stick out the most. I can still remember the two times I have been kicked out of a group in Legion. One time was kinda warranted since it was a really really high key and I was kinda innting on the first pull of the key as an off-meta tank. The other one was in a seat of triumverate heroic where I went in for some quest completion on my shadow priest potato alt. A 3 player pre-made, one other person and me joined. The pre-made overpulled like crazy making for dangerous situations that had no reason to be dangerous. The other person first died, then got voted, which I denied and the votekick failed. After that the other person either dc'd or afk'd (not sure it's been a while) and the next votekick I confirmed. During the next inevitable overpull both myself and the replacement person died. At first they wanted to votekick the replacement person, which I denied. When that failed I was (evidently) voted out. Those kinds of experiences stick with you. The healer in the premade probably only healed his guys and completely ignored everyone else.

Look, I'm not saying other games being vastly more toxic makes it okay in WoW in any way. But holy crap having creative insult competitions with eastern europeans in DotA voice chat certainly shifted my perspective, I've been active in M+ since Legion and even the worst there is a nice breeze to that lmao.

M+ can be pretty toxic. Also the most toxic players are in SoD and Cata where some ppl are expecting you to know every pixel since its old content mostly. This is nice video but its at end of expansion when more serious players play something else.

The "how do I leave the dungeon" hits close to home. Coming from Guild Wars 2 where I always had a leave button on the side of my screen or unlimited teleport scrolls to certain hubs (and no automatic queue system, only party finder), it was very confusing to me when I started playing WoW. Took me so many dungeons to finally understand the difference between "leave group" and "leave instance" :D Personally I mostly have good experiences during leveling, except when I tried tanking. In fact, I also had a lot of strangers helping me with my questions. The real toxicity came when trying to navigate instanced endgame content...

Normally people just don't share their positive experiences. You mentioned the forums so here's an example: A bigger name there created a bunch of threads, things that made you smile, things that made you frown, etc. Guess what? Smile posts were probably less but they were a massive amount cause people just felt encouraged to share their positive experiences. It fostered a really sweet positive thing that I check almost daily just so I can congratulate them on an achievement or just give them a big ol heart for whatever lovely thing they shared. Surrounding yourself with that positivity actually goes a long way. It did for me at least. Also: Although you played badly on purpose you asked and showed interest. Even if someone got mad that was just humbling for them, making them realise that, yes, you're ''new'' and you're doing your best. I'd say there's a solution to make it better. You can encourage/ask in a friendly way if you see someone who's underperforming. Chances are that people would be very timid or maybe they'd even be punishing themselves because they feel they're failing you. You going out of your way to help rather than be toxic tends to not only help with the dungeon going properly but it encourages the player to keep playing and get better. Who knows, you might even make a lifelong friend out of that without even realising. Just be nice, whether you're a newbie or a veteran. Leveling dungeons can be toxic, although rarely but it has happened enough that each one of us here has had at least 1-2 experiences. In endgame people look at me weirdly because I just stick around no matter how bad it gets. Those can be some of the most memorable or fun experiences and if you're pretty decent and/or if your party's willing to try, you can still finish it and just have a positive experience or just a lot of fun getting a bunch of mechanics you've never seen or fun chats or whatever. That could probably make things less efficient for you but I'd say 10 years from now I'd remember the fact that I had a blast duoing a boss because I knew how to time my shields for both myself and the tank, etc., not that I got Wrathion's trinket from Ny'alotha 5 minutes quicker than I would have otherwise. (Also do you happen to be this Teezah at the start or was that just someone's thread you wanted to showcase? Name seems really familiar for some reason.)

last time I kicked someone was because they joined a dungeon, only to sit at the entrance and said "Gonna go get me some coffee, be right back" 5 minutes later still nothing. So I removed him. He was lucky I waited that long. You don't join up for a dungeon, then when you join tell everyone you won't be helping for a bit cause you're gonna go get a sub from subway real quick or a coffee. Aside from people trying to get free levels, I usually don't kick unless...someone starts out he dungeon being toxic. Trying to tell everyone what to do, getting nasty, asking why we did something ect.

This was interesting to see, however as mentioned already most new players won't say anything because they either don't know how to, or on EU servers it's often language barrier issue. I think it also matters which Chromie time you pick.. Burning Crusade dungeons hit a lot harder than other expansions, and mistakes in there can lead to wipes which sometimes lead to toxicity. That being said, these days a toxic leveling dungeon experience is once in a blue moon. M+ is probably the worst offender for toxic behaviour because of the timer and key depletion system. Couple weeks ago I healed a +4 Halls on my overgeared shaman and the tank paladin who's key it was, after the first pull was very noticeably a beginner tank.. he was keyboard turning.. only pulling a few mobs, not using defensives etc. and all 3 DPS dogpiled on him the whole run, I asked them to stop but they threatened to leave the key instead. They were bullying the tank the whole run who never said a single word btw. I whispered them after and told them sorry for this experience and that he did fine (we didn't wipe and timed the key) and to keep learning.. he never answered me back either.. I was kinda hoping that he didn't understand a single word of what happened in there and just live in blissful ignorance.

The most toxic parts of the community, the ones that used to attack new players, all moved to Classic. SoD is especially bad right now, expecting you to parse _while leveling._

As others have pointed out, toxic people are mainly in M+, pvp and raiding which are all endgame things. The worst toxicity outside of endgame content is people not responding to whispers

Great video and it really makes me wish blizzard would put some effort into the leveling experience rather than having it be a glorified time gate to endgame

Way back in vanilla I tried to play my first tank. It didn't go well and I was screamed at and hounded for a long time. I never grouped again. Played all the way from BC through Shadowlands without ever doing a dungeon or raid.

This was great, so nice to see there are nice people out there willing to help. I think we tend to remember the toxic interactions as they stick out more than the positive ones in our minds but this just shows that the majority of people are actually alright :)

Great video! I just started playing and was kind of nervous about doing something wrong, this encouraged me to communicate more, thanks!

The worst toxicity I experienced was during solo shuffle. Other than that, it’s more or less rare -

Wow still has a pull on me. Think ill Come back for the expansion. Good to see the toxic stuff/salt is lacking for new players.

1:55 Ahh i remember when I first played one of the first things I did was ask a troll how he was dancing. It was fun going around asking players not knowing what to do.

To echo people here, it's usually max level or any competitive area where I've found the toxic behavior. But as a couple others here have said, Remix had a surprising amount of it. I have seen people kicked from dungeons and scenarios because they didn't seem to know what to do. I found it absolutely laughable because they weren't even needed to kill the bosses, we were so overpowered. In two cases it happened so fast I couldn't even vote no.

Usually only the M+ Tryhard Cope Kids are the only problem I encounter. They think they are highbreed for completing the 2 mechanic dungeon 3% more harder than before is something to be proud of and they are the Elite players.

Your channel description says you're weird but it's rare finding normal videos like this. Considering the balanced perspective behind it, especially. I've always knew the mindset behind the toxic people in video games because of a classmate way back. At that time he was the only person I knew with whom I shared this particular hobby but he was (and remained, afaik) obnoxious. These people just want to feel superior, at all costs. As life progressed I saw this kind of people rise in numbers, in-game or IRL, but those who decide to stay normal and kind rose in value (most are still somewhere in the middle, I guess). So, better appreciate them enough. Being kind and showing understanding while in a setting of a _game_ should be the bare minimum IMO. And by that behavior you decrease the chances of mistreating good individuals, plus you'll attract the right people eventually if you're actually considerate in practice. I know being a nice person (without the part of tolerating wrong behaviors) isn't the most popular thing but it's actually a win-win situation too, in the end. People think individualism and selfishness make them "effective" and strong, but we're all codependent and wouldn't last a day without others. Seems the orc fans don't even learn something about life from the orcs in this game. Or they think everyone has to be an orc in order to be treated like a person 😁 Anyway, the toxicity can be explained and everyone can attribute it to whatever they want, as that's how people roll these days and they're absolute in whatever they want to promote, as well. But it should be called out more. I remember seeing guides toying with inexperienced players on the newcomer chat though, so I wouldn't expect much. That said, we're all supposed to go online with the right mindset, and taking every insult or problematic behavior 100% seriously is never recommended if you ask me. It takes experience to even try to remember that but it's a rather simple rule. Well, as a final note (to self too), having read that comment about social experiments: Trying anything else other than DPS (and be kinda clueless or slow) can filter which people are truly cool and who play just to shout at others and pretend they're pros in order to feel great. Perhaps I should try that and see if I can make a new friend that way😏

Honestly I feel like there should be a teaininf scenaruo required to complete before you can queue as a tank or healer. The roles require more game understanding and people queueing one of those roles and not knowing the game is generally how toxic experienced start.

If you play mostly solo there is not so much toxicity but if you play any group content it has quite lot bad apples.

I think the closing statement sums up my feelings on it all. I never get impatient with people who are new at the game and are willing/wanting to learn, I do get impatient with people who knowingly don’t understand a mechanic or function of the game and refuse to ask or read chat when advice is offered. It’s a give and take situation, I’m sacrificing my time and energy on trying to herd cats and people who need help refuse it. Be willing to learn and people will be willing to teach!

I used to be a very toxic player in my 20s, horrible person. I trolled, i grilled people for not being optimal, i yelled at plauers for underperforming, the works. After maturing and reading books, seeing the world, i have genuine regret for how i treated others online, and have been on a redemption arc since. In the end we are just playing video games and people deserve kindness, not toxicity

Good video keep it up man i enjoy your content :)

I started playing as a brand new player back on DF S1. No guilds, and no friends to play with si had to level on my own. After sometime leveling up found a guild and rerolled to healer because they needed one. Eventually I became the best healer in my little guild, and started playing other healers specs. The worst part was either in m+ pugs or high end m+ when you couldn't basically make mistakes. Scratch that. The worst part was when people figured out I was a girl IRL. They were either flirting all the time or making laugh of me. Even worse, getting mad if I beat them on meters.

just wanted to point out that in regards to the mulgore experience, does the quest text not give a direction?

Yeah. I was playing wow heavily from tbc into cata. I was top of my peers in many ways on 8 fully leveled and geared toons. Raiding , pvp, dungeons really all of it. I came back for a few weeks during shadow lands and have been playing dragon flight for 2 seasons. Constantly in groups that fight with each other and whine about silly stuff. I

I have only received abusive comments three time in two and a half years. One was when I was giving a ride to someone and I was short out of the sky. Most of the time, I have found people to be very nice. I spent months trying to figure out how to get out of dungeons. Also, I didn’t know I could run dungeons to level four well over a year. I thought that was end game content.

I consider myself toxic but only when bad things happen on really high keys (old 27-29 or current 15-19) I really love new players or returning cause they are keeping the game alive I've went out of my way many times to help new or casual players on a key they might need, answer some questions or even explain simple things to them, I can't be toxic to them man.

Do you think EU vs NA matters in these situations? also do you think the hype of the game matters? like right now theres somewhat nothing to do in wow in comparison to crowded expansion launches and exciting season releases, just trying it for the easiest level is kind of making me expect people to go "easy on you" since the dungeons are somewhat soloable to some level, would love to see you try it in max level normal dungeons or something.

I am one of those players who enjoys being helpful and interacting with others players, especially when they are new. I hate toxicity and it really makes a fun game pretty miserable. There is no need for it, and it seems like the players who engage in it are just sh*tty people who get off on it. Can’t think of many other reasons to do it

I recently came back to WoW after a 3 year break and retail is still incredibly toxic. I'm usually OK with this to a certain extent, but the problem is that the toxic people have completely taken over. Normal players either don't communicate anymore or have just left completely. I will say that Caraclysm Classic has way more friendly players overall.

the end game is whats toxic. its when people expect other people to know the game better than they do, or greed takes over and arguing over loot, etc. early game i think is pretty welcoming, esp if youre a new guy

It depends on where you play wow. Private servers can be fun, unique experiences, but are also typically unregulated hives of some extremely nasty folks. Some of the stuff you see in world chat will make you lose faith in people lol

Great vid

well the social thing.. we know its like in irl when someone random interacts with you its because they are filming a youtube video/tiktok..

i used to play wow when i was like 12, i did raids, dungeons, pvp, i only ever remember everyone being wholesome. And come on, you know what 12yo kids on the internet are like... and still! Nowadays i'm playing on various private servers sometimes, and everyone is really chill, we crack jokes, make better planning after wiping on yet another boss and try again, sometimes we couldn't complete an inst and everyone just agreed we aren't fit for that, apologized and parted ways... If anything, it's one of the more wholesome gaming communities out there in my experience. Part of the reason is probably that average age of players in WoW must be beyond 20 at this point.

Here's the thing. Personally, I see being ignored as toxic. I don't understand why people purposefully decide to completely ignore questions....

As with every gaming community, once you start playing in the top 15% of players in things like arena, M+, raids, etc, you start running into more and more toxic players. The same is for pretty much every game that exists. People that tend to be good at games, are the ones that take the game wayyyyyy to seriously. Apex, dead by daylight, and overwatch 2, are really bad about this, and tend to be toxic in general. Outside of those three games, the vast majority of the community of gamers are chill, until you hit that top 15% threshold.

I think that toxic stuff starts in Mythic + 😅

I see more toxicity with alliance than horde, too. Horde mostly feels like level headed adults. Alliance feels more like petulant children.

Try rated BGs rating push groups. Dungeons are asmr

I love coming across new players! The mother hen in me has to make sure they have a good experience ❤

I agree that there are real toxic people in the World Of Warcraft but playing other MMOs and games in general every game has its toxic stories have you ever asked a question or made a suggestion of a small critque in Final Fantasy? They pretty much will proclaim to your firstborn is you ever say anything about that game that isn't how perfect it is.

You missed out on pvp which is easily the most toxic part of the game

"i fight a anedote with another anedote" xd

Thanks, this was really cute

id of given you a ride to org

well to be fair a real new player wont use the chat and then people get mad couse they will think you are trolling

I think the most toxic I've ever dealt with was during MoP timewalking. This group of friends basically cussed at me, called me slurs and threatened to kick me because I refused to vote-kick another player that seemed new. We didn't even make it to the first boss and they became so unhinged over not getting their way. Or another time I was in LFR on Razageth. Most people didn't know mechanics and we kept wiping. LFR hadn't even been unlocked 3 days and this one warlock kept telling us how stupid we were compared to him. Then he died to the exact mechanics he was crying about and he was real quiet after that. Another one that recently happened just last week during MoP remix. I joined a SoO mythic raid where the raid leader, a Blood DK with over 300k threads, invited everyone who was max geared except for this one shaman healer who dungeon boosted himself to 70, still had level 40 gear, 11k threads and not even half his talents picked out. Everything seemed friendly at first, but I just couldn't ignore the shaman. Why was he there when the ilevel requirement to join was 400+? Why isn't he being kicked when he keeps dying to a light breeze? Why isn't anyone else pointing this out? And most of all, why hasn't the DK noticed? The toxic part came in when we weren't dpsing as hard as the DK. Except for the paper shaman and the DK, we were all 100k+ threads. So of course he was dealing more damage. He just had to rub it in our faces. When the shaman died for the 10th time, I asked if he was a carry. I've heard stories of people using other players to carry some scrub without their knowledge, so I had to know. Some rogue said "No, he's just so good he keeps taking aggro." ??? The shaman was never kicked. Ever. We finally made it to Garrosh and kept dying to mechanics. The whole time the DK kept telling us how trash we were and that we should be ashamed. Once we finally killed Garrosh, I immediately put the DK on ignore and bailed.

Retail isn't as toxic as SoD or Hardcore lol

Lol, do high key pugging. It's as toxic as league.

Wow toxic community makes Tjernobyls accident look like a joke.

wows only toxic when people want to progress and someones being stupid. when its casual shit nobody cares

The game is more toxic than ever. I am an optimized player and I usually do around 90 to 99 parses on my characters and even I see it every day. Especially when I level a new character like it's especially hard to get into groups because people just don't want you because you have no history of your character

Try MM+ and PvP and you'll see the worst of the game

Nobody cares about classic

toxic behavior is and was a big part of wow. and a lot of players love it, in my opinion you should be free to say and insult everyone that you want in the game . even racist words should be allowed ,. you can easily put the toxic people on ignore list.

Being toxic in wow is counter productive for your gameplay. Unless it’s targeted at horde players 😊

stop whispering and ask in chat, or /say :D

"Surely this one-time experiment done by me, a single individual, will in fact prove that WoW is not toxic at all!" Cope more. Try higher level content and watch how many people tell you to die.

Yes. Its true, all valuable people left. Also you are tackling content that people just automate. You literally dont matter because theres no dificulty. Try doing that in content requiring minimum of skill... Theyl fucking tear your throat out. Because they are betas, obsessed with proving they are good at the game. Even tho most basic challenges in wow are really not that hard. But as soon as theres performance required, youre out.