Carrots over sticks: Promoting positive player behavior

This article is part of GamesBeat’s special issue, Gaming communities: Making connections and fighting toxicity.

One of the key words that you’ll frequently hear when discussing video games and community is “toxicity.” Bad behavior in games has been around since the beginning of the industry, and developers are constantly working on ways to quash it and punish the players who behave this way. However, we hear less about the inverse: Encouraging and rewarding positive player behavior in games. In the never-ending battle against toxic players, should developers be using carrots instead of sticks?