Slashdot Mirror
Making XBox Live Less Horrifying
Gamespy has an article talking about ways to make XBox Live a better place to play. The article lists ways to improve your relations with others and generally improve the community feel of the Live network. From the article: "Xbox Live isn't always a nice place. Everyone has horror stories about some of the things they've heard (or, in rare cases, seen) coming from some of the more 'unsavory' elements of the burgeoning online community. There's a good chance (especially if you play as much Halo 2 as I do) that you've heard more racist and homophobic comments than polite ones. Now, I'm certainly no prude, and there are plenty of moments when I'll spew a steady stream of profane invectives at whichever fool just blasted my avatar. Usually, it will be something along the lines of 'Oh man, &%&$# you, you $^%#& %$@&#! I should %*#(@ tear off your $*^%@^% head and %#@#*& it!' As the old saying goes, never trust anyone who doesn't swear."
In case you were wondering, but too lazy to RTFA, the author is aware that you can mute other players. From TFA:You can also choose to mute them (this will only affect what you can hear, not what everyone else does) if you don't want to hear what they have to say.
/. for that matter. And, why the hell am I posting to /. on a Friday night... I need a life.
Which begs the question: if this guy knows that you can mute peope you don't want to hear, why is he still bitching? I guess it was a slow news day in Xbox live land... and
Frankly, I'd rather a person use his microphone, throwing around curse words in times of stress (like when grenades are going off all around him) than someone not use the microphone at all, choosing to leave me in the dark as to where the sniper is, whether or not he's seen the bomb, or if the warthog has spawned and he needs a driver. I'll live through a couple bad words if it means that he'll tell me strategically useful things!
Oh, and it should be noted that Bungie and Microsoft have dropped the Banhammer on a lot of users just for lots of repeated cases of negative feedback of the "he's an ass" variety.
Beyond the Polygons : Because 50,000 polygo
How old is that kid, 9?
If I was his father, and he spoke to me with that kind of language at such a young age.. I'd rip the X-Box out and toss it in the garbage.
"Get your own motherfucking chocolate milk, bitch!"
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
I think anyone who comes out with anything racist or homophobic should be shot with a real gun.
Ah yes, the sweet smell of tolerance.
Anyone who has been playing online games for any length of time knows that Xbox live isn't the only place where this is a problem. You're just as likely to get cursed at, called faggot/nigger/spic/etc., or stomped down by cheaters in any online PC game. Xbox live is just worse because so many games default to broadcasting the voices of other players, which is one of the worst design decisions a game manufacturer can make.
/ignore people with little effort.
This is one area where MMORPGs shine. Because the servers often track the last few lines of a player's chat, players who prattle on like this too often tend to get complained about so often that they simply get banned. It's also nice to be able to permanently
Is it just me, or is "homophobia" a poor word choice to describe people who use f*g,queer,etc. as perjoratives? Are these people really *afraid* of homosexuals? Does it make the victim class feel better to think people using those terms are afraid of them?
Just for comparison, would you call a racist " Afro-, Cauco-, Sino-, Latino- phobic?"
Would you call someone sexist "Anthrophobic, or Gynophobic?"
I think the term "sexist" is completely appropriate-- I don't know why we need to attribute psychological analysis to the description.
I know I'll get modded down for this but I always find it fascinating that people believe that all human beings magically become mature as soon as they turn a certan age or enter a university.
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
A problem with an automatic system of the sort you outlined is making clan enemies. I remember the rating system in the Sims Online having a similar problem of extortion, with the threat being "Me and my friends will give you negative feedback and everyone will avoid you" If the system automatically kicks people when they accrue too much neg. feedback a large enough group would essentially have the power to ban people from xbox live on a whim.