PlayStation Network: Why You Should Never Message Strangers

Messaging with strangers on the PlayStation Network is not the right thing to do. Even if you’re upset. Especially in this case, by the way. Explanation.

Unsurprisingly, strangers playing online games aren’t necessarily “nice”. Anyone who has ever walked into a Call of Duty lounge a few years ago can probably tell some inspiring stories. Today, in 2022, the trolls are still alive and kicking to ruin your online gaming experience in any way they can. If you instinctively respond to these people with their four truths, heed this advice: don’t do it.

In a now-deleted post on r/PS4, user alias findclarityhere shares his story with a group of strangers on PSN. According to Redditor, this group simply harassed him while playing Red Dead Redemption 2, making the game completely unplayable. And just like you could in real life, findclarityhere sent a message to this group asking them to stop.

The user in question went no further than calling these strangers “losers,”but that offense seemed unforgivable. The group said they found clarity here on the basis that she was harassing them using this message as evidence. And almost immediately, PSN banned the user from all online games for seven days. Justice.

Although this story has already been removed by the r/PS4 moderators, the discussion is still alive, with readers sharing similar stories of frustration with the PSN trolls. A user talks about their child’s experience in the online RDR2 mode and how he was killed every time he appeared in the game. In the end, the child stopped playing, which is the goal of this kind of troll. Others share more general stories, explaining never to tell strangers about online gaming, while others have vowed never to play online again.

In any case, there is something to understand here. First of all, I tend to agree that it’s rarely a good idea to message strangers trying to confuse you, whether on PlayStation Network or anywhere else on the internet. Don’t feed the trolls, there’s a saying for good reason: anonymous jerks are looking for attention. Of course, their ultimate goal is to knock you down, whether it’s to laugh at your anger or punish bad behavior.

Unfortunately, it may seem that PSN’s policy in this matter is in favor of zero tolerance. If the moderators get multiple complaints about you and find that you interacted negatively with those people, that’s a ban. Isn’t it too extreme to ban a paying player for a week for calling another player a loser? More likely. But given how toxic online gaming can be, it’s good to know that Sony is taking very strong action against harassment.

The moral of the story is: don’t message strangers on PSN. It’s better not to send messages to strangers, but especially on platforms that can quickly punish you, not trolls. Make no mistake, the trolls are well aware of the PSN method and will use it against you. The best approach is to simply ban the stalker whenever he shows up and you can hope to play online in peace.