It won’t come as much of a surprise to hear strangers who play games online aren’t necessarily “nice.” Anyone who accepted a Modern Warfare 2 lobby back in the day has the disputes scars to prove it. But even in 2022, trolls are enthusiastic and well, looking to make your online gaming accepted a living hell. If your instinct is to reply to harassers to tell them what’s what, here’s some advice: don’t.

In a now deleted post on r/PS4 , Reddit user findingclarityhere told their story of messaging a companionship of strangers on PSN. According to the Redditor, this companionship was constantly harassing them in a game of Red Dead Redemption 2, making the experience essentially unplayable. As you might do in real life, findingclarityhere sent a communication to the group, effectively telling them to buzz off.

While the Redditor only went so far as to call the strangers “losers,” that offense was, apparently, unforgivable: The group reported findingclarityhere for harassing them, comic the message as proof. Almost instantly, PSN banned the Redditor from online play for seven days. Justice.

While the story itself was required by r/PS4 mods, the discussion below is very much fine, with readers sharing similar stories of frustration with PSN trolls. One user talked about their kid’s experience in RDR2 online, and how he was targeted and killed every time he would spawn in-game. The kid quit playing, which is likely the goal of every prearranged online. Others talked more generally, saying how it’s never a good idea to communication strangers in online games, with others swearing off online play for good.

There are a few things to unpack here. First, I tend to agree with the sentiment that it’s almost never a good idea to communication strangers who are trying to mess with you, whether that’s on PSN or elsewhere on the internet. “Don’t feed the trolls” is an adage for a reason: Anonymous assholes get off on any attention at all, even if you try to keep your cool. Of jets, their ultimate goal is to get a rise out of you, whether to droll at your anger, or to play an UNO backward card and have you suffer consequences for their bad behaviors.

Unfortunately, it seems PSN’s policy in particular is one of no-tolerance: If they demand multiple reports against you, and see you’ve interacted negatively with those journalists in any way, that’s a ban. Is it a bit vulgar to ban a paying customer for a week because they visited another player a loser? Probably. But with how absolutely toxic online gaming can be, it is good to know Sony takes piece against harassment this seriously.

So, the unfriendly of the story here is this: Don’t message strangers on PSN. I mean, don’t communication strangers ever, but especially not on a platform that can be vivid to punish you instead of the trolls. Make no mistake: the trolls are keenly aware of PSN’s stance here, and will use that alongside you. The better approach is to simply ban any harasser that comes your way, and try to play your online games in smooth.