When it comes to harassment in Rainbow Six Siege, few of us have not experienced it in one way or the other. You cannot stop it, as there will always be individuals that strive on making the world miserable for the rest of us. However, at a certain point, there comes a time when they have crossed the line, and we are all required to respond as a community.

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How is Harassment Affecting the Game?

Harassment in Rainbow Six Siege has its different forms and shapes. There is plenty to choose from when it comes to this list, as there is no lack of racial discrimination, sexual harassment, hate speech or taking advantage of a group to harass individuals.







That none of us are immune to this, show the examples of professional streamers being harassed during R6S live streams. They get teamkilled or suffer verbal abuse during recording. People that are new to the game and are experiencing it through the streams will certainly not get lured in by such displays. By doing so, we are all deprived of new players, who could help us build the community and get the game to grow, which brings benefits to all of us.

So, you can already see that the developers certainly have plenty of work on their hands, as It is hard to prioritize a problem when more than one group suffers.

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How did Ubisoft Act to Resolve Harassment in Rainbow Six Siege?

Ubisoft did take steps to prevent chat harassment in Rainbow Six Siege by tracking negative players behavior. They have installed a system in which a first-time offense gets you banned for 30 minutes. If the player continues to behave the way he does, punishment time will extend to two hours.

Be sure to report anyone being toxic or harassing other players in chat. You can report in game or by going to Ubisoft Support. As for the team killing, we are investigating ways to better combat players intentionally team killing. — Rainbow Six Siege (@Rainbow6Game) 3 August 2018

Another way to address a player who has been harassing you is to go to the Ubisoft’s support website and open a ticket. From there, you will be able to explain the nature of the problem. As this may seem like a practical solution, you are usually left with a thank you and no further information.







Who is Affected by Harassment in Rainbow Six Siege?

Although I am happy to see Ubisoft address and solve different problems, voice chat harassment is something that still bothers plenty of players. The only way to solve this would be to completely re-lecture the persons standing behind the screen. However, as that is impossible, I understand that the company has its hands tied on some matters.

Another problem that players come across is the groups ganging up on individuals. You can stumble upon a group of 3-4 players, who will decide to kick you out by vote for whatever reason. One user even reported that the group decided to leave him in the game, only to continue with verbal abuse or team-killing. Others have stated that they get the same treatment for having a different accent.

I should also point out the position of female players in the community, perhaps the issue that is furthest from finding a solution. Female Gamers are at the top of the pyramid when it comes to harassment in Rainbow Six Siege, as they have to undertake constant sexual slurs, hostile behavior and a sort of tribal attitude towards them, where they are by no way accepted only for their gender.

What Causes Harassment?

Players are left with little choices in dealing with harassment. I usually go around this problem by creating a party with my friends. Leaving a toxic game can also come in handy, as it spares time and nerves. However, this is a mere escape from the obstacle, not a solution.

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To better understand why this occurs, we have to take a look at the cause of this phenomenon. Persons making these remarks are only mere shadows of the characters they play online. It is easy to offend someone or to let out the worst buried in your conscience when you are hiding under a mask. You get the full pros of being viewed by others through your virtual avatar. Some people tend to get carried away to that amount, that they can no longer see the effect this is having on others.

For me, this explains some of the frustrations shown towards female players. It is known that they make up almost half of the gaming community, yet, they can barely be seen or heard. Harassment in Rainbow Six Siege is no different than that in any other Esport. They get little or no chances to progress professionally. Sometimes, this puts females in the industry being viewed only as objects, that have no further knowledge or competence for gaming.

How to Solve Harassment in Rainbow Six Siege?

It became apparent to all of us that something needs to be changed if the game wants to progress. As the community has suggested a dozen solutions, I took the liberty to point out the most popular ones.

Some have suggested that adding a separate option for reporting toxic players would help, as Ubisoft could gather the number of reports being given to a certain person. From there, it could be easier to point out and address players that are causing the most damage, and sanction them accordingly.

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Others have said that Ubisoft needs to improve its support ticket reports, as it has been shown highly useful in other games.

Some of you might remember the League of Legends tribunal. The Tribunal was designed so ordinary players can get access to tickets, read them and vote are they punishable or not.

As newcomers and old players get driven away from the game daily, new punishments need to be established. It is important that players feel they have the power to bring changes, and see those changes in action. Only by doing so we will be able to bring changes and stop harassment in Rainbow Six Siege.