[coldtea]

>typically populated with the utter dregs of humanity

Or, pretty typical 13 to 25 year olds, millions of them, people that could be your son or daughter or friend, and who you enjoy the company otherwise everyday...

>willing to say the most vile thing to get attention. Genuine human interaction this is not

Or perhaps totally genuine (which is different than "compassionate"), and context-appropriate?

It's a competition, from the ancient times you're meant to take sides, disparage the opponent, sing a nice insulting song against the other team, and enjoy crushing them!

[pushpop]

“trash talk” is fine but I think what the former poster was referring to is the trolls. Online gaming is no different to any other online activity in that regard (or even real life playground “banter”). Ie some people are little shits and others aren’t. The trick is to give the shits a wide birth; which is often easier said than done.