After downloading the long awaited season 2 patch for Overwatch this September 2016, players will notice certain curious new chat lines appearing in their match channels for both quick and competitive play. As has already been reported in the PTR phase of the patch, these not so subtle auto-corrections are Blizzard’s latest answer to the great “gg ez” controversy that has been raging on the Overwatch forums ever since launch. And oh boy, has it been raging!

For all those unfamiliar with the hubbub: “gg ez” (read good game, easy) is frequently used by PvP players at the end of a match, usually in ironic manner after the opposing team has been dominated and sometimes even after a close match, to put the enemy down. It’s the shortest flame bait in recorded history but has caused so much ire and drama on the official Overwatch forums by now, that Blizzard have taken some ironic action of their own.

Naturally, emotions have been running ever higher after this on both sides of the divide. There are the hardcore and wanna-be hardcore PvP players who tell everybody to grow a thicker skin already and cry foul censorship over the auto-corrections put into the game. On the other side, there’s the more casual players who want to be left in peace and ask Blizzard for more draconian punishment of the “gg ez” or removing chat altogether from the game the way it’s been done for Hearthstone (not a team game). Because one cannot choose not to pay attention to provocation in an act of self-management.

As is usually the case, I find myself squarely in the middle of the two radical factions. I’ve been an Overwatch player since launch, I’ve played a few lackluster season 1 games and I am currently working my way up to platinum tier this season 2. As such, I’ve had my fair share of match chat, both good and bad. Personally, I don’t believe Overwatch is a particularly toxic game unless you choose to follow the official forums which seems to be a bit of an affliction with all Blizzard titles.

But yes, sometimes nerves are flying loose during a PvP match – people get very frustrated or feel the need to wave victory in the others’ face. It’s certainly not pro sportsmanship in any way but I never believed competitive gaming has much to do with professional sports, no matter all the suits and ties we get to see in eSports panels nowadays. “GG ez” isn’t classy but neither is it heinous personal abuse of which I have fortunately experienced very little in Overwatch thus far.

Both camps pro and against silly flame bait are missing the mark somewhat. For one, Blizzard did not bring down the mighty ban hammer of censorship; what they went for instead is a tongue-in-cheek message to the trolls, doing a little trolling of their own. They didn’t include any spelling variations of “gg ez” which is still easy to write in match chat, nor did they include the similarly criticized “gg” (used to mean genuine “good game” but whatever) or “close game”.

Developers know that it’s impossible to control MMO chat so instead, they are appealing to the players to do some critical thinking of their own and also, prove some of that famed sense of humor that they so vocally demand of everyone else. Who knows, maybe someone realizes competitive games are just as good without the immature asshattery. Censorship? I don’t think so!

Now about the gentle flowers who have found their way into Overwatch: On the off chance that they find themselves confronted with the notorious “gg ez” or any variation thereof, there’s already a few things they can do. There’s a handy mute player function in Overwatch, easily accessed via right-clicking the player’s name. There’s also a disable chat function. If you ever do get verbally abused, there’s a report player option. Alternatively, one could exercise the right to ignore what’s going on in match chat and just play the game and stick to team chat. So no, I don’t think Blizzard need to go to the extreme of banning match chat (and probably team chat next) just because of random “gg ez”.

It frightens me that I live in a time where people generally refuse to take responsibility for themselves – for what they’re doing but also, for how they choose to react to things. I agree we could all do without unnecessary show-boating in Overwatch but banning cross-communication altogether isn’t the right way of dealing with this and largely punishes the wrong people, like most ill-conceived laws do that are created over exceptions.

For every “gg ez” I’ve encountered in the game, there have been true shows of sportsmanship: players congratulating individuals for a good performance, genuine expressions of “great game” and teams acknowledging the others disadvantage because they had to go 5 against 6. I have added new players who were on the other team to my Battlenet friend list because of positive experiences like these.

You cannot remove all negative social interaction from MMOs without also removing the positives. Personally, I don’t play online games of any kind for an impersonal and sanitized solo experience. I exercise my right to report explicit and continued abuse on a selective basis and I do think such tools should exist! Negative outliers aside however, I find most of my online adventures greatly outweighed by positives, including those in Overwatch. As a rule, bad experiences get more attention in our human memory than good ones, even when they’re in the minority. But I play a part in all of this too and I can actively contribute to a more positive outcome for myself and others.

So for what its worth, I hope Blizzard leave match chat functionality in Overwatch. I feel treated like a child whenever a developer chooses to take my voice away along with others’, and I don’t think it’s required in order to achieve some balance and social agreement in MMOs. What do you think?

Related: Blizzard Entertainment