Besides promoting cultural diversity, VALORANT’s competitive field attracts players of all ages. While the tac shooter nurtures several mechanically gifted prodigies, it isn’t every day that you get to meet a toxic youngster who calls you “old” and reminds you of your pending chores.
On Aug. 20, a Reddit user named Maximus shared a weird encounter they had with a young teammate. The kid was apparently bragging about their young age, calling the player an “old man” and reminding them to go do their job.
“Now, this one made me laugh my ass off, ‘Don’t you have a job to get to?’ I don’t even know what was going through his mind that made him think that was in any way an insult,” Maximus said in their Reddit post. “He said I was 30 (I’m 20). Was definitely the weirdest toxic encounter I’ve ever had.”
Maximus’ bizarre experience went on to attract comments from several other players, claiming to have faced sassy youngsters in their VALORANT games too. “Lmao, glad I’m not the only one. I am 29 and had a teammate that was trying to clown me for being ‘almost 30 and still playing video games,’” a player shared.
Another player wanted to remind youngsters of the privileges they have. “It’s funny because at one point we all thought it would magically change when you got older. Like no bro we walked so you kids could run,” they said.
Related: Sick of trolls? VALORANT players have a solution to griefing
In addition to kids being toxic, players also shared other strange toxic encounters they had. From trying to report players just because they aren’t having a good match to throwing a game because a teammate didn’t cover or trade their kill, there sure are a lot of weird ‘reasons’ why players choose the toxic path in VALORANT.
Using your choice of weapons isn’t safe either. “Guy was malding because I was using Bucky…” one player shared, and I cannot relate to this enough. Somehow, using a shotgun (Bucky, Judge) or a machine gun (Ares, Odin) tilts opponents and, sometimes, even teammates.
I have had players scream mindlessly on voice chat just because they were told to set up their agent’s abilities in a certain way. Even if I’m winning such games, having to endure such unruly and rude behavior isn’t pleasant. Then again, unreasonable toxic behavior is prevalent in most online multiplayer games, including Apex, League, CS:GO, and more, and there’s no way to eliminate it entirely.
In high Elo, muting a player can be detrimental to the game’s outcome, but it’s the best way to handle such outbursts anyway.
Related: VALORANT players share their best tips to level up your game sense instantly
