Autcraft, a Minecraft server for autistic children, was about to celebrate its ninth anniversary when the troll attacked. They sent explicit photos and abusive messages to the autistic children on Autcraft’s social network, wreaking so much havoc that founder Stuart Duncan was forced to shut down the site. Nearly a decade of community history was lost.
For Duncan it was devastating. As an autistic gamer and father of two sons, one of whom is also autistic, he understands how gaming in a supportive community can provide a safe, reassuringly predictable space for an autistic child. Why would the troll do something so heartless? “I imagine that their lives are lacking so much happiness or love that their only sense of power is to go after the most vulnerable,” Duncan tells me.
Stories like these are depressingly common in the world of gaming, where harassment is endemic. Two-thirds of gamers have experienced toxic behaviour in online multiplayer games, according to a study by games company Unity. Anyone who has played an online shooter will be familiar with the abuse that fills your headphones and can escalate from “noob” to “kill yourself” in seconds.