PlayStation went ahead and dropped a tweet that just said to be civil to other people in PSN. “In all communications, please behave respectfully.” To me, PlayStation truly can become the best place to play with your consideration and cooperation. They even dropped-us-a-link on some-netiquette times. So cute, right? But the aforementioned replies are very telling-the whole situation DID NOT go the way Sony intended.
Let me tell you what Sony hath actually meant with this tweet. This is the PSN version of “please play nicely in the sandbox”; they want to keep PSN as a nice, wholesome place where basically everyone is nice to his or her digital toys. Anyone who has ever been in competitive online multiplayer games…well, boy does it go the exact opposite. Like, at all-ever.
The response of the players was utterly brutal. Within ten minutes of the tweet going out, players began unleashing all their grievances all over the place. Something right out of a virtual town-hall meeting where everyone expressed how disgruntled they were with the mayor.
An Alexander stated “Hey, my email was compromised yesterday and some jerk unlinked my 16-year-old PS account – is it just gone now?” Oh, that was harsh! I mean, 16 years are a long time – PS2 original era, right? Just out there asking for some sort of help whilst Sony says be polite. Bad timing, indeed.
Then Komotzu slagged their reporting system: “Nah, improve your report system, trolls can easily abuse it, getting innocent players falsely banned.” Oof. That is indeed a very big problem-when systems created to protect end up harming rather. How many times have we heard cases where people got banned for no reason?
Some replies weren’t holding back at all! Jason R told them to “grow a pair” with some emojis. Daaamn, he really went there. And BestAuntieEver explained how she was warned for sending a Google link? Called it malicious? That seems… excessive. Since when is Google malicious? Unless it’s like, Google telling you how to make bombs or something but come on.
DIRRTY30 revealed his strategy: since the PS3 era days, he has only let friends message him using the filter. Smart, really. But he was then hit with a chat ban in Call of Duty for calling someone a “broke back bitch.” Which… okay, maybe don’t say that? But also, it’s Call of Duty. That game’s chat is basically the wild west.
Zestiria really nailed it: “No. We already tolerate the censorship you push onto third party games, having to pay for online and your over priced products not to mention the stick drift issue within controllers not being fixed.” DAMN. She went for the jugular. Stick drift! The eternal struggle. And paying for online? That’s always been a sore spot for PlayStation gamers since PS4 made it mandatory.
Chad (scifijunk) went ahead and added: “if you want us to respect each other then you need to respect us.” Good point. Everybody knows respect is a two-way street. It can’t just be, “you be nice to me” while ignoring some real concerns about the platform itself.
Darksouldream raised the price-related issue for Latin America, with hashtags #NoAlDolarPSN; that is another one that affects a whole lot of players beyond the U.S. and Europe.
Then just pure chaos for replies: “Clean your house.” “Can I have my refund?” “Some folk need told they’re shite, sorry 🖕.” The middle finger emoji just completes the sentiment.
AddisonAsaan gets in: “As i cuss people out in Marvel Rivals 🌚 I’m muted” like… at least he’s honest about it? The muted part probably helps.
What really intrigues me here is how this polite corporate handout turned into a full-blown protest. Gamers aren’t just pissed about toxic behavior; they are pissed about account security, pricing, controller quality, reporting systems… the whole dept! It is like Sony flung the gates open by literally asking for common decency while people are drowning in all these other issues.
This whole thing reminds me that online gaming communities aren’t a walk in the park. Yes, there is toxicity-in the language of Mr. Mizzet, from UMCP-wise-Law: “there is softball. There is a-time-there-was).” But there are valid concerns about the management of these platforms. Someone who is worried because their sixteen years of gaming history is about to get wiped away because of a security issue is going to be like “Hm, respect? Eh.” when they get told to “be respectful.”
Sony’s heart would seem to be in the right place with this message. And honestly, no one wants to receive hate mail or toxic messages. But maybe they have to patch up some of these other concerns first? At least make people feel secure about their accounts and purchases before they ask them to go ahead and play nice.
In the end, online gaming will always have just a little bit of… spirited discussion. It’s when the platform itself throws a wrench in the players’ experience and wallets that all of the real frustration bubbles up. That is what this whole Tweet up and its responses are screaming about. The players want respect, but they also want functional controllers, fair prices, and account security. Maybe those things come first, and then the name-calling can follow.
Anyway, if you’re on PSN, maybe try not to be so bad. And then again, maybe back up that account cause you never know when that controller’s gonna start drifting. That’s gaming in 2024 for ya.
