Perhaps they are already on their best behavior? Developer Riot Games will soon listen to Valorant players' voice conversations, the company recently announced, and most people are fine with that.
Starting in July (opens in a new tab) (opens in a new tab)13 (opens in a new tab), Riot will be rolling out a "voice rating system" and recording in-game voice chats every time that a disruptive behavior report be submitted. by players Riot says this will help train its language model to identify disruptive behavior and says voice rating will not be used in reports. They know that "false positives" can happen, Riot admits.
Suppress disturbances
Currently, the developer is focused on improving its technology before releasing the official beta later this year. The new system will only register North American players and only those who speak English. TechRadar asked Riot if the beta has an exact release date and if they plan to roll out the review system internationally, but we didn't hear back from them right away.
The voice rating system arrives as Riot Games addresses disruptive behavior in Valorant. The company updated its terms of service in April 2021 (opens in a new tab) which now states that Riot has the ability to "record and evaluate voice communications when a report is submitted for disruptive behavior." So if you've agreed to the terms of use, chances are you're signed up.
Riot Games also published a report (opens in a new tab) in early February 2022 about its efforts to combat "cat toxicity." Reading the report, it seems that Valorant has a problem with players using offensive language and harassing others. The developer claims to actively track reports submitted by players in order to then issue appropriate sanctions to rule violators. This voice rating system is Riot taking another step towards eliminating bullies, with the goal of establishing a positive community.
Average Player Response
The response from players has been quite amazing. One would think that a game developer openly admitting that it will record players, even if it is to combat harassment, would elicit a larger backlash. But that was not the case.
In the comments made on social media and forums, most Valorant players don't care if Riot listens to them or are pretty happy with the changes. For those who don't mind, many say they use private calls from Discord or other apps when playing with friends so this news doesn't affect them. (Riot can't save people on other platforms.)
Satisfied gamers point out that people are too comfortable throwing derogatory comments in voice chat. A commenter on the Valorant subreddit (opens in a new tab) said that he hopes the system works because he often deals with racism from other players and how frustrating it all is.
However, some players were skeptical of Riot's decision. They are concerned about their privacy, pointing out that the developer is owned by the Chinese conglomerate Tencent. One commenter hinted (opens in a new tab) that Tencent would use the recordings for nefarious purposes, something that a verified Riot developer tried to quell by stating that no data will be shared and that it is to make gaming "a more enjoyable experience." ". ”
If you're interested in Valorant, TechRadar recently explained why players find the game so much fun.