Oh I don’t know… Players? Users? Fellow gamers? There are plenty of nouns to use that aren’t so incredibly toxic to other people. Just a thought.
And I should remind you, I’m a forum moderator, not a developer, so the answers to your other rhetorical questions are beyond my scope to answer for you.
It’s just about being respectful. What’s the point of causing division or making people disregard your views because you can’t refrain from being abrasive all the time? As my old mum used to say, “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. Wise words.