Blizzard introduced the endorsement feature in Overwatch . This is a way for players to be rewarded for their good behavior by other players. As Blizzard says, the system has a significant impact on the community’s mood.
This feature is about: In summer 2018, Blizzard enriched its hero shooter Overwatch with the endorsement feature. This is a function that allows you to recognize the performance of other players.
The idea behind the feature is to encourage the community to behave nicely. The feature rewards players with experience points and loot boxes. You can acknowledge others for their positive attitude, shot calling, or teamwork. Conversely, you can also report others for negative behavior.
The goal is to reward good behavior rather than focusing on punishing toxic behavior. Shortly after the feature’s introduction, Blizzard received positive feedback. Overwatch improved significantly shortly after the feature was activated.
Here are the new numbers: Since the implementation of the endorsement feature, negative behavior in the community has significantly decreased. Natasha Miller is a research scientist at Blizzard and studies player behavior.
During the Game Developers Conference, she explained in a talk that toxic behavior now occurs in 40% fewer Overwatch matches since it was activated last year. Between 50% and 70% of players are said to use the endorsement system to evaluate other players at the end of a match. (via Variety)
What counts as toxic behavior? These are all negative actions that disturb the match. “Things like players intentionally losing matches, writing or saying terrible things in chat or through the microphone, or going AFK during a game,” explains Miller.
Why does the system work so well? Miller explained that toxic behavior often arises because there are no social consequences in online games.
In online communities, there are usually no consequences for bad behavior and no rewards for star players,” she adds. “We wanted to give the community its own reward system.”
“There is a difference between physical and online communities,” she said. “If you are constantly late and only do the bare minimum at work, you will not get promoted. You will have to watch as someone else who does that work gets the pay raise.
The endorsement system gives players the opportunity to rank up when they are nice. The ranks are dynamic and change based on ratings. Players are rewarded with loot boxes in Overwatch for this. Additionally, you can find players who behave well in Overwatch with the group search feature.
Recently, a coin toss caused bad vibes in Overwatch:
