Highlights

  • Marvel Snap has a social component with in-game emotes and pre-made phrases for communication, but many of these emotes have become toxic when used by players.
  • There are unwritten rules surrounding appropriate emote usage in the game, but some emotes can be considered toxic and lead to frustration when used frequently.
  • To address the issue, Marvel Snap can implement a "Mute All" setting and replace toxic emotes with new ones, reducing in-game toxicity and providing attention to other Marvel characters.

Marvel Snap is in a strange place with the social component of its online PvP gameplay, lacking a true voice or text communication feature but still fostering a community of dedicated players. Part of how Marvel Snap makes up for its lack of voice or text chat is the use of in-game emotes and pre-made phrases that players can use to communicate their feelings about a match. However, many of these emotes have devolved to represent rude or toxic behavior when used by players, creating a situation where the only means of in-game communication is a double-edged sword.

There are some unwritten rules of Marvel Snap surrounding appropriate emote usage that the online community for the game has developed. Some emotes are innocuous enough, like the Spider-Man Finger Point! emote which should be used when both players play the same card during a turn, or the Fist Bump to tell an opponent "good game." However, other emotes can be considered toxic depending on the context and how frequently players use them. Marvel Snap needs to find a way to address this issue for the sake of the game's longevity so that players don't end up becoming too frustrated playing against rude opponents.

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Marvel Snap Can Take a Couple of Different Approaches to Solving Its Emote Problem

marvel-snap-emotes-spider-man-ms-marvel-thanos-deadpool

The primary way players can deal with toxic emote users is by muting them during a match to prevent their emotes from showing up on the player's screen. However, this solution doesn't get to the heart of the problem, and it can be annoying to have to manually mute every player at the start of a match. Given that Marvel Snap has been successful without player-to-player communication, the game should implement a setting that allows players to automatically mute all opponents, so they don't have to worry about seeing disruptive emotes.

Marvel Snap Emotes that Can Be Considered Toxic

  • Ms. Marvel Thumbs Up!
  • Thanos Snap
  • Deadpool Oops...

Most of these toxic emotes are relatively tame in theory, with the Ms. Marvel Thumbs Up! emote supposed to function similarly to the Fist Bump as a way of saying good game, and the Deadpool Oops... emote intended to be used by the player to poke fun at their own mistake. Unfortunately, these emotes have developed new connotations. The Thumbs Up! emote has become a way of mocking an opponent when they lose, while the Oops... emote can also be used to mock an opponent when they make a bad play. The Thanos Snap emote has always been somewhat toxic, with its usage usually goading players into snapping or taunting them when they lose.

Aside from implementing a "Mute All" setting, Marvel Snap can try replacing some of these toxic emotes with brand-new ones that don't carry the same connotations that these current ones have come to develop. The emotes in Marvel Snap tend to be based on popular meme formats, such as the Spider-Man pointing meme, so it wouldn't be too hard for developer Second Dinner to create some new emotes using other meme formats as a template. Refreshing emotes in this way would not only help reduce in-game toxicity but also help other Marvel characters get the in-game attention they deserve.

At San Diego ComicCon 2023, Marvel Snap unveiled a set of brand-new emotes featuring Marvel characters in iconic meme formats. However, these new emotes have yet to appear in the game, and it is unclear when or how they will be obtained.

While the user experience for Marvel Snap has been improving with each update, emotes are one aspect of the game that has still gone largely unchanged. Online games are constantly dealing with ways to manage toxic player behavior, but just because Marvel Snap lacks voice or text chat doesn't mean it's safe from these types of interactions. Overhauling emotes would go a long way to making Marvel Snap a more enjoyable and less frustrating experience for many of its players.