Misplay or malice? Players’ interpretations of poor gameplay in competitive team-based multiplayer online games

Abstract

Research on perceptions of gaming toxicity has focused on its verbal forms, while gameplay-related forms remain relatively understudied. Furthermore, assessments of gameplay actions as toxic may depend on situational considerations. The present study used a controlled experiment to examine player interpretations of gameplay sabotage using pre-recorded gameplay scenarios from the game, League of Legends. We found that the presence of gameplay sabotage elicited stronger negative emotions and triggered greater player-reported intentions to retaliate and correct the offending player than in comparable instances of unintentional poor gameplay. Further exploratory analyses suggested that participants rated poor gameplay as less acceptable in more competitively framed gameplay settings, even without the presence of overt gameplay sabotage. Exploratory analyses also suggested that players reported a greater likelihood of correcting poor gameplay when anticipated future interaction with the offending individual was low. These findings provide novel insights into how intentional gameplay sabotage and broader gameplay contexts such as competition and anticipated future interaction may independently shape players’ interpretations of poor gameplay in competitive multiplayer online games.