Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan is famous for his forays into the game’s official forums. The man in charge of the multiplayer shooter has previously responded to fans unhelpfully criticizing Blizzard and questioning just how much attention the company pays to its own game.

Kaplan’s latest troll takedown may be his most enjoyable yet, as he responded to one Overwatch player (CosmicGhost) who wanted to know more about the game’s ban system. In a forum post, the player says that they have been banned from the game seven times in the last year and despite sending in five report tickets on the matter, Blizzard has yet to provide an adequate explanation for the bans.

The disgruntled player quotes Blizzard directly, with the company’s explanation detailing “actions and behaviour which are considered against the spirit of the game,” as well as “flaming,” and “toxic behavior.” But according to CosmicGhost this isn’t a good enough explanation and they will be uninstalling Overwatch as a result.

The forum thread gathered steam and eventually, game director Jeff Kaplan stepped in. Kaplan was swift in his rebuttal, noting that the banned player has received over 220 reports for harassment. Some quotes from the reported chatlogs include “they can [expletive] my [expletive]too,” “LONG WALK FOR A PILE OF [expletive],” and mindless spamming of letters. CosmicGhost regularly accuses other players of hacking, even when opponents aren’t hacking but are just playing Overwatch at a high level.

For good measure, Kaplan closes out his response to the Overwatch troll with a reminder that Blizzard is “getting stricter and that means people are going to get suspended and banned for poor behavior.” Indeed, Blizzard has outlined its plans to address toxicity in the game, including more punishments for players who post unhelpful messages and for those who harass their teammates and players on the opposing team.

CosmicGhost is a prime example of a toxic player, per Kaplan’s quotes from the player’s chatlog. It also highlights why it’s so important that the Overwatch reporting system needs to be improved and taken seriously. A recent update tells players that a player they have reported has been banned, which should give peace of mind to the Overwatch players who face trolls and abusive players like this on a daily basis.

The Overwatch toxicity problem will need more than epic callout posts from the game director in order for it to be solved, but it’s clear that Blizzard is serious about tackling the issue. All fans have to do now is wait for that seriousness to translate into more action.

Overwatch is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: Blizzard Forum