This is precisely why I've made it a habit to use the /clear command whenever I see text pop up in the chat box when playing Lockdown. Not only is it distracting but it amplifies the negative emotions that spur from these individuals, affecting your own mood and could even take a toll on your very performance. Speaking from first-hand experience here.

Know what would make Lockdown much more enjoyable?
The ability to disable the chat.

As I've said in another thread, Lockdown is a prime example of why we would want this feature. Pressing arrow-key up and enter to repeat /clear all the time gets a bit tiring, but it's totally worth it as I don't get to be distracted by the chat and bad individuals do not bother me - there's no banter for me to read. Being able to toggle the chat off either via a toggle in the options menu, a chat command or creating a new button in the UI with or without a hotkey assigned would let me shut myself off from the others and enjoy Lockdown as I should be.

Ignoring everyone in every game of Lockdown I play is not a viable solution. Hence, toggle chat.
Make it happen, Three Rings.

It seems like we have a more hostile community because it's so small, so whatever group is dominant quickly takes over and you see them everywhere. SK, and LD especially, doesn't have a broad enough audience for there to be many nice people mixed in.

what's the point of disabling chat but enabling voice chat? So you can rage at people through your mic instead of chat?

zomg dude, an enlightening video.

thats exactly the same phase i went/going through!

i started out as a gunner in LD not realising my insane disadvantages due to location then eventually switched to swords out of frustration which i found to be a huge equalizer for me. Strapped on Auto-target and LD got pretty fun but eventually i got crazy bored of doing the same thing so I started playing with it off then further down the line, I sold my power sword and went back to try gunning like a mad man. I still occasionally use the hammer for the sheer ridiculousness its equivalent to akuma/gouki's shun goku satsu.

@soral stahp hammering mah groin in LD D:<

Pro tip from Laylla: Sarcasm. This is it.

Result: Fun in Lockdown: +69

Nobody in ld seems to appreciate one simple thing...
team play.
They all have this stupid clone metagame so stuck in their heads that they don't develop the tactics/social engineering skills that could produce far stronger gameplay overall. Plus, consider the target market, which appears to currently be a mostly teenage/pre-pubes audience. I can count on one hand how many people I know are in this age category and know what the term etiquette means on a basic level.

Won't go into how skill/power ratio effs this up worse in the game. But on a principle level it's more rewarding for people to act like their shoe size and not their age both online and irl.

I agree that LD is not the friendly community it was a year ago. Sure it had its problems and disputes, but not on the scale it does now. I think people on a whole are maybe taking it too seriously, as more than just a game.

The only other thing I can think of would be for the developers to either change things that cause people grief, or to introduce content that can draw people away who are simply there because they have nothing better to do. One somewhat simple change that I fully agree with is disabling (or giving the option to disable) cross-team chat. For example, it had a positive effect in League of Legends; I've linked this article before, but it bears being linked again.

@Laylla: I used to think sarcasm would be the answer. I went so far as to name my first guild/vanity tag <Sarcasm>. But I've found that sarcasm more often exacerbates bitter feelings than it difuses tension. Your mileage may vary, but I feel that something different is necessary.

@Skold: It's hard to have team play when teams are thrown together so quickly, and aren't preserved between matches outside of GvG. The damage-seeking-striker mentality dominates simply because it is effective in the chaos.

LD is essentially skill-less and that is what people must realise. Once they realise this they will stop bragging about it. Although there are a handful skilled players ( the ones that can do in excess of 30k+ damage and other such team carries that turn the tide of the game like huntr or redhawkone).

Most of the time when you defeat someone or are defeated, one or more of the following is involved: poor weapon matchup, latency advantage, UVs, auto-target.

I don't even know why auto-target is enabled in the competitive environment of LD. Auto-target exists for some games but mostly in PvE mode while PvP mode, youre essentially on your own. Auto-target is used by some as an equalizer for bad latency but most simply do not need it. Some argue that its a preference and thats cool but you still have an unfair advantage over someone that possibly cannot utilize it properly due to location. I've not a problem with AT, i just have a problem with people that use it and go on to claim skill with it, same with the anti-ATers I don't see why they can't just turn it on as well.

There is no doubt in my mind that many of the complainers are laggers or high pingers. The only solutions is to kick out entire regions of players, get them a server or slow down the pace of LD (strikers do indeed move too fast for peoples internet connections to keep up), remove AT for LD (not a big deal really but would appease many people), weapon and armor balance or we can let it devolve further at its current pace.

You should all watch Klipik's video, very interesting. The WRH, sealed sword and pulsar lines came to mind when i saw that video. Some players have moved on and tried out other weapons and tactics besides the common polaris spam, polaris shock+sword or double swing heavy swords which i find to be admirable.

The new UI isn't helping either. Adam Jensen said it best 'if you wanna make enemies, try to change something'

@Aus-Lagger: I was thinking of Polaris, WRH, and GF and toothpick combos with AA. Double swinging (I assume this is the first hit twice) I view as a learned skill. It's not particularly effective, but it's a skill nonetheless. Same with shield canceling and alch switching. I also do agree that those with extremely high ping shouldn't be considered as much as those with good connections when balancing for competitiveness, as the best way to cater to those player is reduce their lag by either moving or establishing new servers.

To be honest, one of the main reasons I enjoy Lockdown is because of how terrible the community is. I mean, the depth of gameplay is shallow at best, so the main draw for me is the ability to kill whiny preteen boys and hopefully emasculate them a little in the process.