Valorant
Rewarding players for non-toxic behavior and encouraging non-toxicity
My Role
My Team
Project Timeline
Tools Used
Context
Problem
Players feel unappreciated/unrewarded for good behavior, which could implicitly mean bad behavior goes unpunished.
Let's face it. We just want to relax after a long day by getting on some games with friends and climbing the ladder or trying out some shenanigans we have been cooking up. Then suddenly, someone starts talking trash and throwing out insults for seemingly no reason at all.
Players often try to calm this person down, but there's usually no reward for all this effort. In fact, players feel like they don't get anything for being non-toxic in gaming communities that are usually labelled as toxic and may often succumb to their own toxic urges from time to time.
How might we…
Research
Players feel toxic behavior in voice and text chat are way too common in video games.
I conducted secondary research and managed to sit down with some players to learn more about:
The player experience
How they deal with toxic behavior
Motivation for continuing to play
Key Insights
Toxicity is too common - especially verbal abuse
Studies show that 80% of matches contain general abuse (voice chat, text chat, and another 14% of toxicity is from sexualized and gendered harassment.
Players often mute others (goes both ways)
Valorant is a team-based game that requires good communication for effective play. Non-toxic players tend to mute their teammates out of fear of toxic behavior while toxic players mute from bans or to throw.
Voice Chat Moderation is Difficult
Modern voice moderating programs have difficulty detecting toxic behavior automatically (could be due to numerous different factors). Therefore, players often have to record their games and submit special tickets for reports.
People Play the Game for the Gameplay and Rare Positive Social Connections
Players continue playing the game because many toxic players make the non-toxic ones more valuable, and proper communication leads to greater experiences.
Solution
Introducing the Valor System
So what is the Valor System?
The Valor System is an endorsement system in which players can give a "thumbs-up" to their teammates for things such as good comms, amazing plays, positive attitude, etc. Not only does this help create a more positive environment for the community, but it also rewards those who do not exhibit toxic behavior.
How can we ensure that this system isn't cheated?
To ensure that this system can't be gamified for the rewards given to highly endorsed players, I've set up a basic structure of rules to be implemented:
Players who are partied together cannot endorse each other.
You cannot endorse friends in the rare chance you face them in the enemy team.
Players who have been reported (and that report has been validated) will have their endorsements canceled.
If you have been matched with another player multiple times, you may only endorse that person 2x in a row.
You cannot endorse yourself.
Endorsement Levels
These are the icons I drew up in Figma for each endorsement level (I took inspiration from the current rank images).
Key Features
Player Profile
Instead of limiting the endorsement system in the post-match screens, I wanted to give players a feature to ensure they can learn more about their progress and the system itself.
Loading Screen
In order to view what Valor level players are at, I've placed them in the loading screens when going into a match before the username since it will be better aligned due to many players having different username lengths.
Player Endorsement
I added a new function in the post-game that allows for players to endorse each other. Since many players rush through the post-game stats, I added in a single button that makes the interaction quick. Animations for each agent have also been added in to make the players feel more immersed into the game and bring a more positive feeling to players who have received endrosements.
Usability Testing
80% of players had confidence in this system and 80% of players could complete the tasks
Based on the players' feedback, they believed that there is a chance that toxicity may be lower due to this system, as it not only gives enticing rewards, but also kind of "tricks" players into being less toxic which may eventually become a habit.
What Did I Learn?
Toxicity is a never-ending battle
I initially worked on this project to remove toxicity through punishments and rewards, but that would be taxxing as it requires me to essentially change human behavior. Instead of working so hard on the toxic people, it would be better to help reward those who were better behaved since that would set an example for most of the community.
I don't need to focus on the finer details of the system
As I was working on the project, I was spending a lot of time on things like how the endorsement system is calculated or the rules of maintaining your Valor level. This made me realize I was being pushed away from the UX side of the project and more towards the game development. I would need another teammate who is more well-versed on those calculations to make the system more fleshed out rather than having to do this solo.