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Every Game Has the Community It Deserves
If game designers are to have any success combating toxicity, we must acknowledge that our own design choices are often the underlying systemic cause, and that it is our responsibility to change them.
In his video “we need to talk (about how we talk),” trading card game streamer Joseph “MBT” Rothschild criticizes the Yu-Gi-Oh! community for its overly harsh attitudes towards players who pick suboptimal cards for the sake of variety. This kind of toxicity is unfortunately common within gaming communities, especially now that the rise of social media and online competition have made it easier than ever to hurl insults at one’s fellow players. Instead of accepting this antisocial behavior as inevitable, however, MBT blames Konami for how narrowly it allows Yu-Gi-Oh! to be played: “… Having one format, that is constantly dominated by a design choice to make the most powerful [deck] of all time… means that the Yu-Gi-Oh! community has, by and large, coalesced around an idea of competition that excludes other ways of playing the game.”
Unlike most other competitive card games, in which there are multiple alternative rulesets for casual play, Yu-Gi-Oh!’s singular official format is designed for use at tournaments. While some fans have devised casual formats unofficially, the only play style that Konami supports and legitimizes is cutthroat competition using the latest cards. “There are just not [sic] ways to enjoy Yu-Gi-Oh! casually without explicitly flying in the face of Konami design principles,” MBT explains. “At the end of the day, Yu-Gi-Oh!’s only format being the most sweaty, tryhard one, has instilled in Yu-Gi-Oh! players a belief that you must be attempting to win at all times if you are to be taken seriously.” While MBT’s point was made about Yu-Gi-Oh! specifically, it implies a greater lesson that all game designers should take to heart: The behavior of a game’s community is not random or accidental, but rather a byproduct of how the game itself is designed.
“A photo of the final match of the 250th Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series tournament, held in Bogota, Colombia. Image taken from Konami’s official event coverage.