Toxicity is perhaps Rainbow Six: Siege’s biggest problem, second only to the plethora of cheaters that Ubisoft plans to deal with in the next few months. In an effort to subdue hate speech within the game’s chat, the developer has implemented a new auto-banning system that kicks players out for saying certain phrases.

Upon typing an offending word into chat, the player is immediately disconnected with the first strike netting a 30-minute ban from all game modes, including Terrorist Hunt and Custom games. The second and third offense sees the player subjected to a 2-hour ban, with an investigation prompted thereafter that could end in a worst-case scenario of a permanent ban.

Despite Ubisoft’s claims that the automated system will “censor text chat in game based on a chat filter list,” replacing “words that have been identified as offensive and provide players with a notification that their language was found to be unacceptable,” it seems that all current offenses are still prominently displayed in chat.

While many have praised Ubisoft’s efforts to rid the game of its current toxicity problem, a plethora of players have expressed their disapproval at an unmanned system taking the context out of online interaction based on a censorship system. Ultimately, the main focus of the outcry seems to be against the developer’s spontaneous implementation with little to no warning, as well as subsequent ambiguity as to what can and cannot get a player banned.

This has bred a new kind of toxicity, in which players attempt to trick others into saying confirmed offensive words in order to get them banned. While often aimed at the enemy team in an attempt to gain player advantage, I have personally seen this backfire with two members of the trickster’s own team being caught in the crossfire, resulting in a swift forfeit. Moral of the story – be incredibly careful what you type in chat these days.

KitGuru Says: Without delving into detail, I have seen instances of players using offensive language without seeing an auto-ban, which says to me that this system will adapt over time. Still, it’s sad that there is such a lack of clarity on what is and isn’t included within the new system. How do you feel about Ubisoft’s automated process?

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