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XBox (Games) The Internet

Making XBox Live Less Horrifying 104

Posted by Zonk from the so-many-varieties-of-jerk dept.
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."
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Making XBox Live Less Horrifying More

Making XBox Live Less Horrifying

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  • A ratings system, maybe? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by KingSkippus ( 799657 ) on Friday July 29, 2005 @06:49PM (#13199343) Homepage Journal

    Disclaimer: I'm not a member of Xbox Live...

    Perhaps it would be worthwhile to implement some sort of ratings system. You get to rate your opponent on his or her conduct and sportsmanship.

    Accrue enough "demerits" from different members, and you get tagged as a habitual asshole.

    • Re:A ratings system, maybe? (Score:4, Informative)

      by CoffeeJedi ( 90936 ) on Friday July 29, 2005 @07:07PM (#13199457)
      already there, its the "feedback" system. cursing, cheating, screaming, etc are all options

      first they get a temporary ban, habitual griefers get a service cancelation

      the problem is, that its not automatic, staff have to evaluate each "problem case" when enough negative karma is acrued, then monitor the player's behaviour, so its a slow process
      • The rating system is not flexible enough. The only outcome of a poor feedback is account suspension or cancellation. In addition, you can only leave negative feedback for the worst offenses. Just being annoying doesn't qualify anyone for negative feedback.

        I hear that Xbox 360 will have a more robust system.

        • I play Mechassault 2 several times a week... they REALLY need to add to the reasons you can report someone. Teamkilling isn't cheating, it's not screaming, it's not cussing (but often engenders such) and it's not lewd or naughty, but it's damned sure irritating and makes the game a pain in the ass instead of fun. But then, I think they need to add "asshole" to the reporting system too... too many annoying people out there (and not all of them are kids)
          • Hey, being an asshole is debatable. You win and say "Whoo!", you're an asshole? You "camp" (read: using a sniper rifle), you're an asshole? Not really a defendable rating, in some areas.
            • I suppose so, it's not what *I* would call someone an asshole for but I guess some would. I personally think it would be used for stuff like "teabagging" your dead enemy in Halo 2 or spawn raping in MA2 but I'm sure someone would abuse the system.
              • why would you rate someone an asshole for teabagging you? you are already dead, let them have their teabagging fun and shut up.

                spawn raping is a perfectly valid point, but teabagging? oh noes, my internet foe is mocking me!

        • Re:A ratings system, maybe? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by KingSkippus ( 799657 ) on Friday July 29, 2005 @11:52PM (#13200568) Homepage Journal

          That's what I had in mind, something that other users can see and use to decide whether or not they want to play with other people.

          Before I decide to waste time with some anonymous person, it would be helpful if I saw something like this:

          Of this person's co-players (teammates and opponents) in the past, 14% have taken the time to rate them.
          • 74%: griefer
          • 22%: incompetent
          • 4%: capable
          This person is on 31 other players' ignore lists.

          I'd probably avoid that person. The temporary suspension of someone's account doesn't help me as a player decide whether or not I want that person as an opponent or as a teammate. The account cancellation does, but that's only used as an extreme last resort, and only after the person has already caused a lot of damage. The beauty of the system is that it would be automatic; no game admins would have to get involved except under really weird circumstances.

          Using a system like this, players will generally behave not because they're afraid of being banned, but because they're afraid of being ostracized and publically displayed as an asshole.

          It's kind of like an idea I'd like to see implemented for drivers, something I call the "Stupid System." By law, everyone's car has to have a stupid meter installed in the window, which is a receiver. Everyone who wants one is also given a stupid transmitter. When you're driving, if someone does something really stupid, like cutting across three lanes in front of you because they weren't paying attention and were about to miss their exit, then you can use your stupid transmitter to tag their car. After they receive a certain number of stupid tags from different people based on the population in their area, they get a traffic ticket. After a higher threshhold, they lose their license. The number of stupid tags a person has at any given time is displayed on the stupid meter, so that other drivers will know what they're dealing with.

          • Re:A ratings system, maybe? (Score:1, Insightful)

            by Anonymous Coward
            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.
          • The only real problem with this is that people are most likely to post feedback only when the person is pissing them off, so almost everyone's ratings would be skewed, due to this negative bias...
          • ever logged on to kuro5hin.org?

            the comment ratings system became a big game there just like this. you'd start seeing packs of trolls ruining legitimate players' reputations just because it's funny.

            eudas
        • From what I've seen, Xbox 360 does have a more robust rating system, and it includes PUBLIC ratings by peers.

          Enough people think you're a dick on Live, and you'll be branded as one...
    • That's exactly one of the biggest features of Xbox Live on the Xbox 360.

      Currently there's a feedback system for XBLive, but it's invisible to the users. They can submit feedback, but only Microsoft can see the feedback, and it's generally looked at just for super extreme cases.

      On the 360, feedback will affect a player's visible Reputation rating, and people will be able to choose game settings that only allow them to play with people of a certain Reputation rating.

      Looking very much forward to it.

    • They should divide the XBox Live community into two segments. Everyone starts out in the first "nice" segment. Accrue enough demerits and acquire the Habitual Asshole tag, and you get thrown in the "naughty" segment.

      "Nice" players would have an option to play in "nice" games (with only other "nice" players) or "naughty" games (with "naughty" players, and any "nice" players who set the option). "Naughty" players would only be able to play "naughty" games. This would be the only disadvantage to being a "na

  • Homophobia (Score:3, Funny)

    by syynnapse ( 781681 ) on Friday July 29, 2005 @07:00PM (#13199402) Homepage
    When I'm on live and somebody makes a homophobic comment I respond with "How old are you? twelve?". Of course, many times they are, making the argument a little bit harder.
    It also helps to remind people that they are spending their time playing videogames on the internet. This typically usurps any delusions they have about being "the shit" and makes it easier to make your point. The anonymity can give people delusions of granduer.

    • Re:Homophobia (Score:2, Informative)

      by KrisW ( 613034 )
      The anonymity can give people delusions of granduer. ...as explained by John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory [penny-arcade.com].

    • Re:Homophobia (Score:3, Informative)

      by jericho4.0 ( 565125 )
      A UT inta-gib server I spent way to much time on once had a big problem with an idiot with an aimbot. The guy would sit there for hours, racking up 50 kills 0 death type numbers in 2 minutes. My normal response when he showed up was to leave immediately.

      Once I tried to get him to stop. After receiving a few 1337 insults, I responded with a post along the lines of "You are obviously a child, fat, with very few friends who gets beaten up a lot." etc. He disconnected, and was much easier to get rid of after t

      • I love being censored too.
        • If you think you have the right of free speech in an online game, you're sadly mistaken.

          Besides, your right to free speech ends where my right to not listen to profanity begins.
          • My right to free speech does not end because you happen to find the things I say offensive.
            • Let me put it this way...
              Stand in front of a shopping mall shouting curses, physical threats, racial epithets, and sexual comments at anyone within earshot. Be as vulgar and offensive as your typical Counter-Strike asshat. See what happens. Tell me just how far your 'right' of free speech extends in that situation.

              Now tell me how a public game should be any different.
              • Heh, violence. Mob rule. Ignorance of law. Lack of respect for the traditions and rules of my country. Scare quotes around right. Either hyper-pc or hyper-socioconservative message... Congratulations. You deeply offended me. I presume I now have the "right" to silence you by any means necessary under the law right?
            • are you insane? you can say what you like, you can distribute all kinds of subversive ideas on his enemy territory server, you just have to manage to avoid profanity.

              if you can't express your oh-so-very-important-and-constitutionally-protecte d ideas without resorting to profanity, the chances are you aren't saying anything worth hearing anyway.

              its a swearing filter, not internet mind control. moron.

              • If you own the server you could kick anyone who doesn't goosestep and spout facist propoganda if you wanted to. Only GOVERNMENT as well as a few services are prohibited from restricting free speech. In the case of services, this is to get a common-carrier exemption for being hands-off in regards to content.

                If you don't own the server, you can go somewhere else or you can stop paying for the service. Or ya know, you could grow the fuck up.

                I think this nutjob [slashdot.org] and his little list [slashdot.org] may interest you two.

    • Re:Homophobia (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      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 ana
      • Hatred is a sign of fear.
        • "Hatred is a sign of fear."

          People like to say this, but it is not patently true in all cases.

          I HATE broccoli. I do not fear it.
          I HATE the annoying software guy my team works with. I do not fear him.
          • Are you sure? Is there no action he could take that you fear? I mean like doing somthing that ruins a project.
            • yup no fear. Annoyed yes. Fear no.

              I'm afraid of stinging insects.

              Fear is a gotcha word for the people on the other side of the arguement. Oh, they don't like me, so they must fear me.

              Not true.
      • The people calling things they don't like 'gay' and calling people they don't like 'fags' in online games aren't generally homophobic.

        Mostly they're just immature.

    • Re:Homophobia (Score:3, Funny)

      by Spoing ( 152917 )
      When I'm on live and somebody makes a homophobic comment I respond with "How old are you? twelve?".

      I've responded "Only for you sweet cheeks."

      This usually results in either;

      1. Silence. They cut out acting like an ass.

      2. Insanity. They totally loose it and start to make mistakes.

      In the case of #2, I just ramp it up. At some point they can't offend me as much as I can offend them...and they usually stop or change the subject.

      One time a commander was abusive to his team. Really nasty beyond jus

      • I've responded "Only for you sweet cheeks."

        (rest snipped) great idea. I can imagine this will work well.

        I play warcraft iii occasionally, and also occasionally deal with the trash-talking. Not as bad as the rest of this story's comments though.

        On WC3 it's either the opponents trash-talking my team (this doesn't really get to me), but being trash-talked by my own allies (noob, etc., whether they're right or not) does get to me. I usually say "be an asshole one more time and I'll leave" (and I mean it

        • So far it's always shut them up.

          Really? Wouldn't have thought that would work. You must be a good player. (I'm not...just good at tactics.)

          That said, I've gotten quite a bit of good feedback by pirating the pirates in space combat games.

          The tactic is first give them a little warning, if they persist, silently let them go...and then stalk them. Get enough heavy weappons to totally obliterate them, and carefully pick the most embarasing and public way of doing it. Picking a time when they would not

  • Mute? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by sho222 ( 834270 )
    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.

    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 /. for that matter. And, why the hell am I posting to /. on a Friday
    • For the same reason that wannabe usenet cops won't killfile posters that annoy them. The thought that someone might be talking about them to others without being able to hear it themselves makes their anus clench.
      • Not only that, but you have to first work out the persons name (not always easy), then enter several levels of menus to find them and ignore them, all the while leaving yourself standing around vulnerable to people shooting at you. Its not really worth it, especially for short games.

  • I was going to get an xbox.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by slughead ( 592713 ) on Friday July 29, 2005 @07:01PM (#13199415) Homepage Journal
    but then I saw this [voila.fr].
    • My mom would have beat me to death before anyone heard me screaming on XboxLive, but you tell kids that these days and they just wont believe you.
      • Exactly, what the hell?

        In addition, if that was being broadcast to all the team members, I would have started a kick vote.. for the love of God, that was annoying.

        I don't see too many kids in the UT2k4 assaults anymore..... and I like it...
    • 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!"
      • If I was his father and he did that I would throw him in the shittiest orphanage I could find that wasn't too much effort to drive to.

        I'd leave him with some parting words, "I'm getting a new kid now. I hope your life is hell because you're a terrible person and always will be."
        • Kids like that are only like that because their mothers and fathers always cave in. Most parents wouldn't let their kids talk like that, but some will, and so their kids demand not only chocolate milk, but that their parents get them chocolate milk, and it eventually works, and their parents get them their chocolate milk. While they play an XBOX that their parents bought them. Don't blame the kid. Blame his parents. Then smack the kid and tell him to STFU.
    • OMG!!! I LOVE THIS!!!
    • Le website et fini de quota. Et now vous ne pas comprende le joke.

    • Since the link to the video is down, here's a transcript (swiped from some forum). The beginning part is missing, as are what his mom's saying, but I think you can get the general idea from this:

      Begin.

      I need it up loud!

      No, I have to, it's a clan match

      I HAVE TO! STOP! NO I HAVE TO! MOM, quit playing that! You're messin' me up!

      You're messin' me up!

      You're messin' me up!

      You're messin' me up mom! Quit playin' that!

      You're messin' me up! Stop! You're messin' me up!

      You're messin' me up!

      No

    • I think this is a perfect example to the whole controversy over gaming. It's a clear example of poor parenting. In no way should that kid have ever been allowed to talk to his mother like that.
    • I don't know how xbox clans work, but who the hell would want that kid in their clan? I mean, he's constantly yelling AND he seems to not be able to play while yelling.
  • I don't know about anyone one else, but I've never really had a problem with that. Yeah, you'll hear someone occasionally swear off his entire team, and rarer still drop f-bombs or n-bombs (or bombs of other racial epitaphs), but I've really never seen a horrible problem with it.

    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 w

  • All I want for Christmas... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Swanktastic ( 109747 ) on Friday July 29, 2005 @07:05PM (#13199439)
    Is to be able to play XBox Live with people who have been verified as:
    - older than 18, 21, 25, etc...
    - graduated from college
    - Graduate Students
    - Ivy League Grads
    - whatever...

    I don't care what the criteria is, but I don't socialize with high schoolers in real life. Why should I be forced to in XBox Live?

    • Question is: Will they want to socialize with you? ;)

    • but I don't socialize with high schoolers in real life. Why should I be forced to in XBox Live?

      I second the sentiment.

      When I first spectated a Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow match (I did this on PC but I imagine it's similar on Xbox), one Sam Fisher put a guard in a headlock while the other Sam Fisher crouched down to put his goggles in the guard's crotch. The two young men controlling the Fishers repeated this head-lock/head-in-crotch maneuver over and over. Each time it was just completely hysterical as

      • You can typically mute the voices of annoying people through the live menus.
      • When I first spectated a Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow match (I did this on PC but I imagine it's similar on Xbox), one Sam Fisher put a guard in a headlock while the other Sam Fisher crouched down to put his goggles in the guard's crotch. The two young men controlling the Fishers repeated this head-lock/head-in-crotch maneuver over and over. Each time it was just completely hysterical as evidenced by the maniacal laugher I heard coming over the voice channel. People pay to see those kind of things, you k
    • I don't care what the criteria is, but I don't socialize with high schoolers in real life.

      You're posting on slashdot aren't you?

      No, but seriously... I've met 40 year old immature people and really serious 16 year olds. It's not really age.

      I tend to make friends with people who can use the word "F*ck!" liberaly and all been to jail at least once in their life (including me). Personally, I find people who are rude and crude more open and more forthright and more entertaining.

      I can go to work and do the office
    • They need to add it so I can join matchs with only people who do not have negative feedback, etc. Also need a way to leave feedback to whole team/everyone playing that it was agood match.

    • Re:All I want for Christmas... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Kingrames ( 858416 ) on Saturday July 30, 2005 @09:26AM (#13201907)
      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.
      • It's not that people believe people magically become mature at 18, 19, 21, graduation, or whatever. It's that people recognize that there isn't a great measuring stick, but age makes a servicable measuring stick. Checking an ID to see if someone is 21 is practical. Determining if the person trying to get into the bar is mature enough to handle alcohol is nearly impossible. Age related limits are certainly flawed, but it's the best we've got for general purpose use.

        That said, in the case of the X-Box a

  • I'm not sure if it means I'm desensitized or not, but I don't really agree with the author of that article.

    I'm equally offended if someone tells me to go suck my own dick, or calls me a oreo, spic, nigger, jew, chink, chunk, whatever... I don't see any difference in telling someone to go perform a very difficult physical feat on themselves (I've tried), or insulting them based on what may or may not be their race. /shrug
    • I'm equally offended if someone tells me to go suck my own dick...
      I don't see any difference in telling someone to go perform a very difficult physical feat on themselves (I've tried)...

      O_o

  • Gay (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by ArmorFiend ( 151674 )
    You mean 99% of the XBox Userbase isn't really gay? (I believe everything I read.)
  • I think that xbox should scrap all xbox plans and start focusing on the 360 model. When you play online you are going to run into racisim and other non desirable comments. I dont even play with my headset anymore since I always have some wanna be mack try and pick me up or put me down cuz I wont give them no play.
  • There is only one reliable way to make XBL less horrifying: Find the "mute player" command, learn it by heart, and use it at the slighest provocation. From then on, no player can annoy you for more than a few seconds.

  • It isn't just live... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by supabeast! ( 84658 ) on Saturday July 30, 2005 @12:08AM (#13200610)
    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.

    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 /ignore people with little effort.
  • Savage has the option to ignore a player. Global voting to mute any player is also implemented.

    If it's only language you're most interested in, why not just implement that and be done with the fool?

    If it's other behavior, you're dealing with a totally different level of problem.

  • He mentions getting a good circle of friends. That's exactly what I've done. It helps if you can find a good group with an internet presence, like the League of Amateur Gamers [lagxbl.com]. We're made up of a group of older people that don't get to play all the time, so it's really a better matchup for my skill level also. It was like being in the twilight zone after one round of Halo 2 when someone apologized for accidently spawn killing someone. While we still have the smack talk (of course), there's no racism o

    • Communities have always been the answer.

      It's just a night and day difference, and there is no real way to tame the wilds of the internet.
    • i mean it sounds nice, but that is the antithesis of xbox live. once of the much applauded facets of live is the player matching. no more sitting around scanning servers for ping times, etc. if you turn exclusive community you take that away. not that its a bad idea; my friends and i actually do the same to a certain extent. but you realize that online gaming [particularly xbox live] has a long way to go.

      my pc gaming experience has always been /slightly/ better, since most kids under say 16-18 rent old eno

      • i mean it sounds nice, but that is the antithesis of xbox live. once of the much applauded facets of live is the player matching. no more sitting around scanning servers for ping times, etc. if you turn exclusive community you take that away. not that its a bad idea; my friends and i actually do the same to a certain extent. but you realize that online gaming [particularly xbox live] has a long way to go.

        It's nothing like that. I don't have to sit around scanning servers. With a friends list full of

  • babies. (Score:2, Informative)

    by NihilTyrannis ( 896365 )
    whats so wrong with cursing etc? for crying out loud, if that bothers you its you with the problem.
  • Why people tend to whine so much about people being jerks over the internet or xbox live? In case you havent noticed nobody forces you to play with a jerk, if you dont like the way someone is playing LEAVE the room! if you are hosting warn the user once then KICK him out. Why is it that everyone thinks they are going to solve this problem by whining or inventing silly rules? it doesnt! 80% of the time a jerk just stops acting like one when he gets kicks out, or finds himself playing alone. Anyway you will
    • My experience was that I had to LEAVE the XBox community, as every Halo 2 game ROOM was filled with foul language, griefers and an "un-fun" environment. Yes, *most* of the people I encountered were jerks... it appears that mommy paying $200/$50 doesn't really stop them from calling people names and using inappropriate language.

      How does one gain a buddy list of decent players when the community has the manners of drunken frat boys at a whore house?

      I don't care about dying frequently... I expect that in a new
  • I've got the World Championship Poker game that lets you play people via Xbox live. I've only played a couple times, and I already had one experience where some doofus left his mic on for a good 1/2 hour without realizing it. We got to hear him talk to his wife, answer a call on his cell (and hear his 1/2 of the conversation).. and of course, hear his reactions to his cards... :)

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