Cover-Credits:
If you are unaware about Behavior and Communication scores in Dota 2, you should note that Valve added these to the game in 2023 via the Summer Client update. If a player’s communication score or behavior score tanks below a certain number, they will be subjected to penalties in-game that have significant impact on gameplay.
While usually only extremely toxic players undergo these penalties, in an interesting development, popular streamer and content creator Janne "Gorgc'' Stefanovski saw his communication score tank live on stream. As a result, Gorgc is now voice chat banned in Dota 2 on his account.
Gorgc's Communication Score Tanks, Loses Voice Chat Feature
Recently, on a live stream, after finishing a game of Dota 2, Gorgc was greeted by the match rewards and was taken aback after seeing his communication score update. It stood at 7,439 and as a result, Gorgc's ability to voice chat, coach, and ping allies have been disabled.
After being greeted by this pop-up, Gorgc said, "I lost a 1000 [communication] score? Dude! I swear I have not even flamed that much. I literally have not flamed that much... Do you understand what's being done to me in the past few games?"
The streamer then proceeded to talk about the times his teammates grief him in-game and wondered how these "toxic" players could use voice chat and how he's being penalized.
Gorgc swiftly went to his match history and reviewed all his previous games to see if he was genuinely toxic in voice chat. However, he attributed this dip in communication score to him being a streamer.
One of Valve's major intentions with introducing the Summer Client Update in 2023 was to make Dota 2 enjoyable for all players. Apart from the new armory and rendering features, Valve also introduced the new "player behavior system" to the MOBA game. Valve reiterated that the best games of Dota are the ones where the entire teams works together to attain victory.
It added, "A Dota game at its worst is the opposite: teammates fighting you instead of the enemy, or enemies picking a fight through chat messages rather than well-timed abilities."
Valve figured that playing Dota 2 with toxic players ruined games for others and thus introduced new player behavior features to ensure that the good side of the game is preserved.
The publisher made it clear that a player’s behavior score (capped at 12,000) will not only affect matchmaking but also affect the features they have access to including post-game item drops, game pausing, and ranked play. Likewise, one’s communication score (also capped at 12K) will affect pinging ally abilities, coaching, tipping, text, and voice chat.
Another streamer who has been in the spotlight for the last month or so, Mason "mason" Venne, also vowed to go into "PMA" [positive mental attitude] after his scores on his new account were also bad.
The American player was banned after receiving a “Highly Toxic Lump of Coal” in the Frostivus Gift bag as he utilized behavior-boosting services, which is clearly against Valve’s Terms of Service.
