You don't know what is true? That people can't stop playing a game? That developers care about players quitting their game? It's trivially easy to play video games and avoid trolls. There are single player games. You can play only with friends or family. You can play live service with lots of solo-oriented content and mute the chat. It's not a hyperbolic choice between playing video games or avoiding all social interaction in life period - that's a very "terminally online" kind of perspective. Normal people reduce toxic interactions where they can, they don't think, "Welp, I either put up with constant bigotry and rape threats in this totally optional entertainment or I have to move out to a shack in the woods."
For most people gaming is a social activity. The popularity and prevalence of multiplayer games vs single player games bears this out. Playing single player games is not a viable solution to avoiding harassment for people who are interested in the social and/or multiplayer aspects of gaming. Muting people who are dicks is a viable solution and that's exactly what I've been advocating for in this discussion. Many others seem to think they shouldn't need to be involved in the process and game devs or other communication platforms should do all the work for them. I don't think that's a realistic suggestion.
What is your source on multiplayer games being more popular and prevalent than single player? Because a cursory search only turns up the opposite preference. You're ignoring the parts of my argument that don't suit you as well, like playing only with friends, so I don't think you're really being an honest interlocutor. That leads me to believe you are probably a player that bullies other players, which is why you're so strongly anti-moderation.
You don't know what is true? That people can't stop playing a game? That developers care about players quitting their game? It's trivially easy to play video games and avoid trolls. There are single player games. You can play only with friends or family. You can play live service with lots of solo-oriented content and mute the chat. It's not a hyperbolic choice between playing video games or avoiding all social interaction in life period - that's a very "terminally online" kind of perspective. Normal people reduce toxic interactions where they can, they don't think, "Welp, I either put up with constant bigotry and rape threats in this totally optional entertainment or I have to move out to a shack in the woods."
For most people gaming is a social activity. The popularity and prevalence of multiplayer games vs single player games bears this out. Playing single player games is not a viable solution to avoiding harassment for people who are interested in the social and/or multiplayer aspects of gaming. Muting people who are dicks is a viable solution and that's exactly what I've been advocating for in this discussion. Many others seem to think they shouldn't need to be involved in the process and game devs or other communication platforms should do all the work for them. I don't think that's a realistic suggestion.
What is your source on multiplayer games being more popular and prevalent than single player? Because a cursory search only turns up the opposite preference. You're ignoring the parts of my argument that don't suit you as well, like playing only with friends, so I don't think you're really being an honest interlocutor. That leads me to believe you are probably a player that bullies other players, which is why you're so strongly anti-moderation.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/259577/us-single-player-vs-multiplayer-frequency-among-gamers "According to an October 2022 survey of PC and console gamers in the United States, over half of respondents stated that they spent about 75 to 100 percent of their gaming time playing alone."
https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog/single-player-vs-multiplayer-a-generational-changing-of-the-guards-or-a-bifurcation-of-gamer-behaviours "57% of gamers prefer single-player over multiplayer games, compared to 22% who prefer multiplayer games. While the overall preference for the single player mode holds true across all age segments, the degree to which the single player mode is preferred differs significantly with age."