Toxicity in communities

[Flint]

At the end of my "[Competitive] Choice and Loyalty" post, I mentioned briefly about the topic of toxic behavior and using the insult of "tier whore" as a way looking down on people, which I will link the original post and quote what I was referring to.

https://mada.canadian-forum.com/t2388-competitive-choice-and-loyalty

Spoiler:

Reason I bring this up is because I felt it was really brief and  that I could have expanded this topic to an entire post.

How does one define "Toxicity"? The definition seems to vary but I'd like to assume this is an agreed definition; "Having a conduct which lacks professionalism and showing an overall lack of respect to your opponent or other players." This is an issue that I believe comes from both sides being of casual players and competitive players.

There is this negative stigma that picking a top tier deck or character is being dishonorable and/or leads to the usage of the insult of "tier whore". Which I've already discussed and quoted previously in this post, but to extend my point, I'll be quoting it again. "What isn't fine is if you insult those who don't do the same thing you're doing. Picking a top tier deck or character for the sake of winning or maximizing their potential is not a reason to insult or look down on someone's choices." The same scenario is applied to competitive players who look down on casual players who do not mimic the same thing what they're doing. Respecting how one likes to enjoy a game is what is most important in the community, since lack of respect is the origin of toxic behavior. "Tier whore" is nothing more than an empty insult.

Respect is a two-way street. You cannot expect to be respected while at the same time disrespecting other people for their choices. Insulting players and giving them a hard time is how players stray away from a community that are perceived to be toxic. We all have that deck or character that we hate playing against but even in that situation, it doesn't warrant a disrespectful attitude towards your opponent. Dislike and disrespect does not have to be synonymous with each other. Just like Rule 5 on MADA, you can disagree with someone and still respect them.

Toxic attitudes can gain that stigma that the entire community might also act the same way, which is an unfair assumption but the reality is that there is no way of getting around it other than to be respectful around your communities. If you're part of any community, being respectful is the best way to avoid this stigma and informing other toxic players that their attitudes is what can drive others from joining communities such as ours.

That's all I have to say for now. If you have any criticisms or questions, I'd like to hear them.