Anti-troll guide with tips and thoughts

A guide on some things you can do to fend off trolls and make your L4D2 experience better.

About trolls in L4D2

This is a guide aimed mostly for those new to the game and especially those moving up from easy and normal to advanced and expert... and VS (unfortunately).

L4D2 is a game that is nothing short of infamous because of the toxic side of its community: trolls, people that aim to ruin the fun for you and others for little reason. It's not only children and teens who do this, but also people who are well past the age of 20 and should know better. With the anonimity internet has to offer, many indulge in completely changing up their behavior, simply for reasons like "because I can". Completely normal and well-mannered people in real life can turn into sarcastic dirtbags online, and in this game, it's best to be prepared for them.

"Why are there so much more trolls in Left 4 Dead 2 than in other games?". The answer is simple: L4D2 offers a very troll-suitable environment: being able to quickly connect and disconnect and being able to wreak havoc in various ways in mere seconds. A troll could ruin about 3-4 games in under a minute when swapping from server to server. There are people who do this every single day.

Trolls mostly reside in difficulties like advanced and especially expert and any game of realism and VS, so if you've only played on advanced or lower, chances are you haven't seen too many or even any of them. Don't be fooled, they are here, and they are legion.

It has even come as far as that users have created artificial trolls that automatically join servers and aim at survivors. That is correct, AI trolls. It was once said that one of the ways humanity might finally go extinct is because of being taken over by the AI, and this is the beginning.
Less dramatically, people go long ways to troll.

Steam does not care about trolls in any of their games. Their focus is only on money, trade scammers and people jeopardizing their venues or income. That's why you need to take control of the situation yourself. Don't report them, it's a waste of your time. Steam only hands out VAC bans which are only for cheating. Valve doesn't ban anyone from their games for reasons like harassment, no matter how severe.

Identifying trolls

There's multiple types of trolls in L4D2, so I'll add some individuals later. Most trolls will fit these descriptions:

• Private profile
  
• Disturbing, dark, weird or disgusting profile pictures. Be especially cautious of profile pictures featuring anything L4D(2) related, like a survivor or infected. Stock profile pictures can also be red flags
  
• Provoking name with diseases, sexism, racial slurs, famous media characters (e.g. Donald Trump, Stalin, Mao Zedong) and so on
  
  • Trolls also use survivor names as nickname and add the accompanied profile picture. It's pretty obvious as they will have a latency next to their name as well as a join message
• Spams their vocalizer immediately upon arrival on the server
  
• Tries to stay behind the team
  
• Has an unhealthy craving for shotguns, molotovs and gascans
  
• Uses items at illogical times, in a wasteful manner (not to be confused with noob players)
  
• Is part of Steam groups like "ragequit", "lol you suck" and the likes
  
• Says upon arrival, "hey friends :) I am pro player!" or something along those lines
  
• Pretends to be stupid or a noob, characterized by suspiciously accidental friendly fire or mistakes and overly sarcastic messages such as "oooops XD"
  
• Mutters senseless rubbish into the mic or chat
  
• Starts up a random vote, usually one to make the map restart or to kick players. This gives trolls more time for their monkey business as it will deny any other vote for a short time
  
  • Any player who joins and does this is almost always a troll, so ready your rifle

Block ⠀e v e r y ⠀ troll you meet in L4D2 on Steam

This deserves its own category honestly, because I cannot overstate this. If you block someone on Steam, it will prevent them from joining you as well as prevent you from joining them in L4D2. You will literally never see the troll again as long as you have them blocked (unless they are using an alt account but then just block them there too). The more times you do this, the less trolls you'll meet. It won't stop the ever-continuing flow of trolls however because new players will always enter the game, but it will definitely help, especially against those who troll as a routine of their existence.

Dealing with trolls in campaigns

Most trolls are not very sharp and immediately start shooting and spasming. This is the type you will meet the most. They are quick and painful if they succeed. Often times they don't waste any time planning any better strategy against you than to mow you down with whatever they enter the game with, be it an uzi or be it an m16. The later in the game they mess your team up, the worse. They are swift, so be ready for it and be ready when it comes.

General anti troll strategy

• Since they are fast in the execution of their plans, try to identify them beforehand
  
• The first rule of dispatching any troll: incapacitate or kill them. Yes, do it, or they'll do it to you. If you see any clear-as-day signs of trolling like kickvotes or restart campaign votes upon join, generic troll-evident chat or basically anything I mentioned above beyond a reasonable doubt, fan the hammer and don't hold back. There are people who do this even if they aren't 100% sure, so don't feel bad. Unlike in L4D, incapacitated players are unable to harm the team damage-wise, so they basically lost when they go down
  
  • Inform other players not to pick them up. Shoot them if they do not comply. Always shoot bots helping up trolls
• Unless they are a friend of yours, never assume someone isn't a troll unless it is very obvious
  
• Bear in mind that during the progression of the map you should not loosen up your thoughts about players as they can play it "secretive" and attack you at a later point than joining you. More on that later
  
• Preferably have an autoshotgun ready in case someone is a troll. Sniper rifles are another great option
  
• Try to get your hands on sensitive items trolls could abuse such as bile bombs and especially molotovs and gas cans
  
• A very common yet dangerous tactic is the molotov in the saferoom trick. More often than not, they will wait for everyone to go in, so you can already counter this by waiting for them
  
  • Should it happen anyway, they will likely be outside spamming e on the door. To get out, wait for them to open the door. Wait at the opening edge and slip out soon as they open it and give them a mouthful of lead
• If you notice a troll is joining your team, kill the bot before they are able to join
  
• Sometimes trolls come in duos, which is not just for the reason of more lunacy, but also for the ability to counter-vote any kickvotes, thus enabling them to stay for as long as they want. You're better off starting a new game in that case
  
• Trolls sometimes change their name to that of a player on the server. When this happens, do not kickvote them or vote "yes" on a kickvote on one of the names as there is no distinction between them and you may very well end up kicking the guy who is not the troll. Simply incap the player that wasn't playing that character before
  
• Try to load up a full lobby before starting. Not only are players (usually) better than bots, but some trolls can swap from bot to bot and this way you have enough time to check who you are playing with
  
• Optional: play on a troll-protected server. I used to be the owenr of a dedicated server with a freeze button I could press whenever a troll was instigating friendly fire. There aren't many of these out there, but there are some
  
• You can also make a server like this yourself. There are addons for this in the workshop as well as mods outside of L4D2. Note: you have to host a local server (with increasingly higher ping the further someone is away from you) for this or buy your own server, let alone have the knowledge to set it up
  
• Don't fret it too much if they succeed. Anger is their lifeblood. Ditch them from your server or find a new server and carry on. I usually just speedrun a level up to the point where we died if trolls ruin it

There are also trolls who play it smart and look for the best possible moment to strike. These are just as - if not far more - dangerous than common trolls as some planning can make their rate of success considerably higher.

Anti "secretive troll" strategy

• You have more time to identify them so use that time well
  
• Observe what they are doing. They like to play lone wolf, away from the sight of others. They usually stay on the far front of the team (to find and waste items before the team gets to them) or stay behind (classic troll)
  
• They are usually very silent and suddenly strike out of nowhere. If you can, stay behind the team with an autoshotgun or sniper rifle
  
• These are the kind of trolls that can play entire maps like any normal player and then turn against you, usually at the end of a map. Always be cautious when reaching the saferoom
  
• If you have a reasonable suspect of trolling, start a kickvote (make sure to type "troll" into chat to notify your teammates). Be VERY careful when doing this as when it starts up, they may break disguise and start shooting you
  
• If they are blocking an escape, such as not going to the rescue zone, just incapacitate them

Again, found a troll? Block them on Steam. Keep doing it for every troll you meet and also warn your friends

Shutting a troll up

If they have a mic and are using it in malign ways:

voice_show_mute

or

status

This will bring up a list of all the players on the server. Pick the number of the player you want to mute and add it instead of the number sign in the command underneath:

voice_mute #

The player which corresponds with the number will be muted.

If they don't have a mic but are active in the chat, you can try the following command:

hud_saytext_time 0
hud_saytext_time 12

This works in any Source game. It hides the chat. Very simple, very effective. You will still see the chat if you open the chat window (y and u by default). To turn it on again, type it but with a 12. The value stands for seconds that the chat is visible after a message.

If they are spamming the vocalizer:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=215436127
But honestly, if you have to take these measures because someone refuses to knock it off, you're better off kicking them or creating a new game.

Dealing with trolls in VS

As if VS wasn't already one of the most caustic communities, trolls will add insult to injury here. However, trolls in VS work a little bit differently than in regular campaigns. Because of the short nature of many VS games due ragequits for reasons like unfair skill distribution over the teams, trolls very much aid in stranding VS games also, setting off a chain reaction of quitting players.
I suggest you block every single player who acts like a jerk in L4D2 but if you want to go solely for people ruining the game, watch out for the following type of trolls.

VS trolls

The vast majority of VS trolls are suiciders: people who join a server, jump out of the window, off the cliff or into the water to kill the survivor and then leave and go somewhere else to do the same. This becomes even worse if they then join the enemy team, putting them at an unfair advantage. Very unsportsmanlike. There's not much of a strategy against them, just block them.

There's also the classic kind of troll again, trying to shoot you with (usually) uzis and pump shotguns, which is not very effective because the difficulty level of VS is normal. More of a nuisance than very game-breaking. But again, just block: they may have more tricks up their sleeve.

Pubstompers

Technically not a type of troll compared to the types I covered earlier but purely because of the asinine nature of these type of people, I'd like to address them regardless so you know about them.

Not every pubstomper is like this, but many are, and nearly none of them has good intentions. Basically, they are pre-made teams (consisting of players with often thousands of hours in L4D2) who team up against lesser-skilled opponents on purpose, nearly only for the childish humour and satire of collecting the reactions (you sometimes see said reactions on their Steam profile) and to deliberately get into arguments. They are also the creators and propagators of so-called rage groups: Steam groups solely dedicated to harass people that are bad or new at the game or even those quitting for different reasons than ragequitting (*).

Unless you have a very good team to actually pose a threat to them, I advise you to block them or at least steer clear of them. You probably won't have a very nice time even if you remain silent and try your hardest. Likely the team will ragequit so much that other pros start joining up one by one and kickvote you out regardless because you're playing sub-par for their level. Pick your poison.
If you ever come across a lobby with 4 players on either team and little to no players on the other, you know what's up...

These are not gameplay trolls, but rather trolls aiming to annoy and shame you verbally. You meet them in many games outside of L4D2 too. You should always remember that you are not at fault. You play the game for fun (I assume at least) and if you do bad, so what? Nobody cares. Don't let these cμnts get to you. They don't know anything about you; you could've been any individual and they would still spew vitriol at you, so never take anything personal, especially not from those aiming to just be annoying. Let it slide off and keep playing. Don't be discouraged and don't quit. Quitting this or any game because of a few spoiled kiddies isn't worth it.

To round up, VS on its own is a very not-nice place with the wrong kind of players so unless you can manage to stay cool or have fun with a private group of friends there, just stay away from it as it can really ruin your day if you meet the kind of people described above. Again, they are here every day, so don't let your guard down.

(*) Update:Steam patched this, but probably not for the reason listed above, but rather people from all sorts of places keep complaining they get irrelevant Steam group invites from strangers (which encompasses this as well, actually. You can no longer send Steam group invites to people not in your friends list.

Ending

Feel free to comment suggestions, improvements, more tips or even experiences with trolls (so we can all learn from them). Bυllshit comments will be removed so don't try.

One final message:

[Ghostface]

It's why democracy is a failure. As the host I should have complete autocratic control, so if someone so much as shoots me too much I ban em. Sadly it takes 2 trolls to literally have a nigh-bulletproof strat.

[Internet Slayer]

Great guide. Thankfully I haven't encountered too many trolls, but if I do see any, I'll know what to do.

[GLHF]

Man thanks to your guide I'm able to reduce the number of griefers I met by blocking them. I don't know about this and met with a lot of griefers ruining the game incapacitating you. I hope they'll get what they deserved in the future, literally. Once again, thanks for your guide!

[Ewgene]

@puNK monk: even to this day, roughly 8 years after I started playing, there's still new people joining with trolls among them. It is a never-ending cycle of necessary pain, but L4D2 still is my game of choice for casually hanging out with friends. Just got to be wary of those who don't know what being a decent human being is about. I also wish more games would employ this neat block feature. You can see my comment down below saying I blocked over 1K players last year. In the meantime that number is only a few steps away from leet ...

[a Gaycist]

ive been grinding this game since pandemic, the only thing ever stopping me from playing this game a lot before is the toxic playerbase. i dont mind it, but its a team game and out of 4 survivors u cant really count on much if half ur team is troll or too salty about said troll and leaving. i said to hell with it, i got time today and hundreds of hours later, i can fully enjoy the beautiful skill curve on this game as well as troll/reverse-troll/kick/pubstomp on command. this is a very hostile environnement indeed dont dwell too deep in it! the blocking tip is a must its fucking godsent and the one about looking out for stacked teams in lobby is great precaution too. while u might learn challenging them, it might come at the cost of 3 salty teammates during an entire campaign. if u wanna avoid bad versus game build a team! anyway im just surprised i come across this guide and it resumes so much of what i could see thru the years. great work !

[Ewgene]

@Snitch: There is virtually no difference with the actual trolls, but L4D1 is a game much more suited for trolley because blocking doesn't work and kickvotes don't ban players until the end of the campaign, or even the end of the level.

[dex]

l4d1 trolls are worse than this.

[Ewgene]

As far as I know, it only works for L4D2. This game alone has managed to put nearly 1K players on my blocked list, and they're still coming.

[Cardigan]

This blocking thing is just OP. Does this work for other games that use similar matchmaking as well? Is it only for Valve games etc?

[The Unknown Writer]

That's alright