8 Tips To Become an Ethical Gamer

Being an ethical gamer is all about playing fairly and treating others the way you want to be treated.

With the great emergence that the game industry has known these last years, the need for gamers to act with standards while playing has also grown.

In this article, you'll discover 8 easy tips to implement quickly to play all your video games with principles.

What is an Ethical Gamer?

An ethical gamer is a person who enjoys playing video games fairly and respectfully.

It includes not cheating, harassing others, or being disruptive in-game chat.

It also means knowing where the line is between fiction and reality and respecting others' boundaries both in-game and out.

8 Tips to Become an Ethical Gamer and Play Video Games With Ethics

As video games have become more and more popular, the values of playing them have also come into question.

What does it mean to play video games ethically?

How can we ensure that our gaming behavior is fair and respectful towards others?

Below are 8 easy tips for playing video games with ethics.

These advices are also available through our podcast episode on Spotify:

Play Fairly

Video games can quickly become challenging when playing online.

But despite all difficulties that you can face in-game, playing with fair-play is an excellent gamer habit to get, especially for those enjoying competitive games or aiming to make an eSports career.

That means avoiding any cheats attempts or exploits utilization, whatever they are, even when losing essential games or facing more skilled opponents.

Any use of them is not fair to them but can also quickly result in banishment from any competitive games and put an end to your pro gamer dream early on.

Do yourself a favor, be fair-play, and don't ever use cheats in multiplayer video games.

They are not worth it for ethical gamer and professional players in being.

Respect Others Gamers

Being better than others in a game doesn't mean being better than the person behind your opponent's or allies' characters.

Treating other players with respect anytime should not be optional but a behavior habit.

Whatever is the reason, there is no good enough excuse to bypass this ethical standard.

In fact, many factors can influence a game event or result:

• Your gamer skills are better than your opponents or allies
• You have luck, or other people are on a bad day
• Your communication hasn't been good enough
• Your game strategy hasn't worked
• You play in better conditions than other people

As you can see, none of them can explain being a toxic gamer regarding other players.

Even high-level players' skills can be challenged as most in-game skills rellies on many aspects.

That's particularly true when using any shortcuts like macros and unique controls.

Getting an edge over other players due to these customizations doesn't mean much.

Even professionally, as most macros or unique controls are just forbidden in most eSports games.

There is absolutely no excuse not to respect all other gamers, whatever their type and especially the casual ones.

But respecting others gamers also means stopping harassing other players or insulting them.

It is essential as wrong manners can have huge impacts on other real-life, and on yourself.

And consequences can be really drastic at any level, for both.

In fact, we recently saw a Japanese esports girl player being kicked out of her eSports team due to unethical behavior.

It means that not everything is allowed in the gaming community.

But making bad jokes that nobody enjoys, considering gamer girls as only aesthetic materials instead of members of the gaming community, or trolling on community chats can also quickly scale into unethical behaviors.

Be sure to avoid these bad manners, and you'll be on your way to playing your games with principles!

Don't Take Games Too Seriously

You should never forget that games are just games, whatever your level in-game is.

They should not interfere with any of your real-life responsibilities and habits while gaming.

Even when you just lost the most important game ever, can't pause your game or make a save to keep your progression.

An ethical gamer knows to play video games for what they are, first of all, enjoyment and pure fun!

Meanings that you should also know to manage your emotions to avoid losing your temper when the situation isn’t appropriate.

Set Limits on Your Gaming Time

Gaming time is probably one of the most underrated factors contributing to a good gamer life balance.

Whether you're playing casual games or competitive ones, it's essential to remember that playing video games too much isn't a good practice.

Nowadays, games are more than even made to keep players glued in front of the screen as much that possible.

Impossibility to pause your ranked game while you have to join your family for lunch, the impossibility to save your game when you want because you didn't reach a scheduled event yet or didn't get a save item, and so on!

So to keep a good balance between your hobby and your real-life daily obligations, you'll probably have to set up limits yourself.

As your gaming duration time also relies a lot on what you want to achieve with games, you'll be the best person to know which limits you can setup up.

Know the Difference Between Reality and Fiction

For many players, it is evidence.

Video games are just video games.

However, some gamers are still too attached to their avatars, items, or accomplishments.

Whether you're in a top division, just got a fantastic skin or item in a pack, or dropped the most valuable item on your server, all these things are just data—nothing more, nothing less.

You should always consider these things fictional and know to differentiate what you accomplish in video games from what you do in reality.

Plus, it will help you play video games with responsibility!

Don't Pirate Games

It seems logical, but you should never ever pirate games to be an ethical gamer.

Many people doing these kinds of acts forget about crucial factors:

• Game developers have to build games for one of the most exigent communities in the world. In any other large-size technical project, having some issues after a release is acceptable, but not in the video game industry. Game developers are humans, too, and mistakes happen. That doesn't mean their work should be sabotaged with piracy.
• Game developers work with many creators, creating new opportunities for people. But when their games are pirated, they lose a good part of their only source of income, which could result in job destruction or a dropped project. It's especially true with independent game developers. Considering the hard labor that any project in development requires, getting your games on official platforms is ethical and rewards game developers for their work.
• Games are often in promotions, and most of them cost a few bucks after several months. Plus, some bugs could even be fixed until you get them. Sometimes it's better just to wait a bit to get a game so you can afford it ethically.

So to play video games with ethics and be an ethical gamer, you should always consider picking your games on official platforms.

Don't Spend Money in Games You Can't Afford

Well, spending money on your favorite game seems familiar nowadays.

In fact, to get the last skins or packs, there are high chances you have to spend a bit of money.

Some items can either provide you some bonus or improve an avatar or item's look, and many of them are just neat!

However, you should always be aware of your spending and purchase what you can afford!

Putting yourself in a bad financial situation because of games isn't the meaning of video games.

Playing a video game is a hobby, to pass the time and get a lot of fun!

Games aren't built to ruin people.

Help Others When They Need It

Helping other people when they are struggling in games is a really good behavior to get to play with ethics.

That means giving them a hand while they make repetitive mistakes, when you see some actions that could be better with some adjustments or when they have big trouble getting out of the Elo hell zone in ranked games.

It is actually one of the best ways to meet new friends with whom you could share common interests and make some group sessions with a lot of fun, in a fantastic ethical way!

Why Should You Be a Gamer With Principles?

There a multiple reasons to be an ethical gamer during your gaming:

• You can contribute to the positive part of the gaming community by bringing good principles.
• You can change someone's life just by being kind and helpful, even behind your screen.
• You can become a model for other players and especially younger ones.
• You know exactly the difference between a game and what's happened in real-life.
• You can adequately manage your gaming duration time.

Not too bad for something that costs nothing and that everyone can do!

And this is it!

With these easy tips to implement, you could be a part of the tiny club of ethical gamer!

It's not always easy to have such good behavior, especially when losing playthroughs with a bit of competition or when you're a bit short at the end of the month while playing a P2W game.

But playing video games with ethics is all about adopting his behaviors to play with others in a non-toxic and honorable way.

What do you think about this?

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