Sessler’s Soapbox is Tired of the Bigots on Xbox Live
By Jonathan on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 9:26 PM PST In Game Companies, Game Consoles, Gamer Life, Microsoft, Microsoft, Videos
For this week’s Sessler’s Soapbox, Adam Sessler brings up an issue that’s old, but still unfortunately valid. That is, he, like many people, is fed up with the amount of racist and homophobic talk on Xbox Live. As he points out, the situation is just getting uglier all the time. Personally, I just mute the headset from the start as a default. Occasionally I’ll crank up the volume to see if there’s any sort of reasonable talk going on, and I’m usually disappointed…in humanity. Sessler also calls on anyone out there to explain why this sort of talk is necessary. You can check out how that’s going at the video’s website here.
I can’t remember where exactly I saw this, but an article I once read brought up a good theory on why this sort of behavior is more prevalent on Xbox Live over other online gaming forums. Part of the reason stems just from the fact that the Xbox 360 comes with a headset right out of the box, rather than having one sold separately. The thing is, the person who goes out of their way to purchase an extra headset is more likely use it to simply socialize and coordinate in the game. When it’s already there, some people tend to just put it on and start talking. It really is getting worse and worse, though.
I totally agree with Sesslers. People need to grow up. I don’t play that many games, I don’t own an xbox simply on the principle that I hate Microsoft. I yell enough obscenities at XP, I’m not even going to get started with Vista. My obscenities just aren’t homophobic or racist.
As a gay guy who has been gaming since the Atari 2600, I would like to thank Sessler for at least discussing this problem. I used to play WoW and I would constantly roll my eyes at some “You fag” or “That’s so f*ing gay”. It was ignorable at first, but after awhile…it really starts to get under your skin. I mean, I don’t feel the need to flaunt my sexuality in game but apparently you “breeders” are so insecure in yours that you feel the need to try and insult us (just like for some of you I just did now) to try and fulfill some “machismo” need or something.
Perfect example is Ted Haggard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Haggard). Me thinks he doth protest too much.
But I agree, there is a level of anonymity online that people feel like they can get away with anything. I am a very athletic, 185lbs, muscular guy (this is not a personal ad
and if they were looking straight at me…they might call me “faggot”…
Once.
But parents, get involved and be aware of what your kids are doing. And adults who fall in this category…grow up. There is one thing that these verbally abusive people and gay guys have in common…they both suck.
And this is why I dont own an xbox
XBOX Live does have a feedback system, which I will use if the person becomes disruptive to the point where I’m annoyed and everyone around me is annoyed. And if it’s to the point where I actually want to leave the game, I’ll just send a report to Microsoft. The tools are there, we just have to use them.
– I’ve never actually reported anyone to MS, but I wouldn’t rule it out if someone was being a raving asshole.
I have found the best thing to do it call them on it. I had a kid going off on a rant and I essentially shouted him down, called him on his racist crap. Reminded him that some of the best and nicest guys I play with on Live are of the minority he was ranting against, and Marines, and serving our country. He was a kid with only about half a mind and shut up, some of the other kids chimed in and supported me and razzed the racist kid. He bounced himself out before the round ended.
If we let it go on around us, aren’t we just about as bad? Clean up the group you’re playing with by calling these ignorant idiots on their language and lack of maturity. They may all end up in a room together spouting their crap, but at least I don’t have to listen to it.
I am surprised at the age of some of the kids I run into in games that frankly aren’t appropriate for kids that age. Where are the parents? I am a parent and there is no way my kid was playing anything like COD until he was about 16. Is this a fertile ground for growing a new racist generation? Are these kids influenced by the diatribes they hear? Of course they are. Just like every other part of life, parents need to monitor and guide their kids. I am a 47 year old male that has been playing video games with my kids for many years. All you dads out there, play the games with your kids! Even a local coop game will give you a sense of your kids temper, especially when you encounter a #@*@$# jump puzzle. It will ive a sense of the influence it’s having on your kids live, bring you closer to understanding them, plus it’s a lot of fun. Just expect to get spanked a lot at first, it does get better but ht kids are always just a hair faster.
It pretty much boils down to maturity and respect.
I mean when I was twelve, we cursed at every given opportunity and everything that was ‘undesirable’ was ‘gay’. Of course as you get older, you either recognize the fact that the words you choose are just as significant as the actions you choose, and they reflect equally in regards to how you present yourself to the world and how others perceive you…..or you never grow up and you maintain the mentality of a foul mouthed child.
If course now, I’m significantly closer to 30, and I still curse like a sailor on amphetamines when playing Gears or Vegas 2…but the racism and homophobia has got to go.
On a side note, I’ve noticed this behavior predominantly more in ‘pick up and play’, Halo styled action games online. I’ve actually had a blast playing titles that require any moderate amount of strategy or thought in order to stay alive, as opposed to ‘running and gunning’. I suppose the aforementioned ‘children’ prefer not to access any higher level thinking skills…
wow, give them more attention please.
Who is the fool? The fool, or the fool who blogs about him?
Simple fix. Remove the anonymity that XBOX gives these kids. Make them accountable for their actions and this will end.
When they know there’s a chance you could roll up to their basement and shove your foot up their ass,they might think twice.
Why play on XBox Live when Microsoft bans gamertags which contain the word “gay”? http://consumerist.com/5008908/gay-player-name-banned-by-xbox-live
Yes, the same Microsoft which caved to an evangelical minister and backed down from supporting a non-discrimination law in Washington state a few years ago, now bans the word “gay” from a gamertag. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign still gives Microsoft a perfect 100 rating in supporting gay rights. That’s bullshit.
So is it any wonder that the haters would flock to XBox Live when the company that runs it hates gay people anyway? Gay people should not support Microsoft when they are so two-faced.
Everyone should stop buying Microsoft products and services because Microsoft peddles crapware.
Likely for the same reasons that every seventh grader give an adamant speech on Adolf Hitler
listen.
everyone is being entirely hyper sensitive.
I’m asian. and when someone makes an asian joke. its hilarious. i can laugh with them. and even when they try to be hurtful, why would i let that get to me? they don’t fuckin know me. I have my family and friends..i go to college. everything is great. why would i let some punk ON A GAME, bring my day down?
i can guarantee you I’m smarter than they are.
but more importantly, the problem is all you people who are complaining. because thats reverse racism and reverse discrimination.
if you hear “nigger” online why do you immediately feel bad for black people?
if that black person had a problem with it..thats his problem not yours. he can defend himself. why do you feel the need to defend him? because you think he is incapable of defending himself?
i know me and my buddies get drunk and say some nasty stuff…but that doesn’t mean im racist, or homophobic! i have friends of almost every background.
hell, i call my black friends nigger. they throw a “chink” right back. its no big deal.
all im sayin is dont let someone on xbox live hurt your feelings. because you will be called worse things in life, from people who actually matter…and its gonna hurt way worse.
and also i think you guys are missing the point of his soapbox.
what he was saying is that this type of language and behavior is unnecessary. why cant we just play a match, and say..
“o nice game, you kicked ass man..” or something like that..
ps there is a feature to turn off the speaking.
To those who argue that Wii’s online is better for lack of chat feature is not actually doing anything to remedy the situation. Hiding away and removing a feature that has potential to enhance gaming is not the solution. Instead you must keep this function and find some method of control within it. Taking a step back and hiding in our caves because our feelings might get hurt is not the way to go.
I agree that this is partly the parent’s fault. They should learn what their kids are doing, saying and playing. If they allow this behaviour to persist (and God forbid, encourage it) then they shouldn’t have the right to procreate.
Those who say “grow up” and “accept it this is the way the world is” : you’re basically a quitter. You see the problem and allow it to persist. Hey, remember when people back then in WW2 holocaust saw a problem and allowed it to persist
- sure its a grave example but you see the point. Avoiding the problem only worsens it perhaps to the point where it can become that bad.
Live already has offered solutions- avoiding gamers, muting them etc but again it doesn’t stop the person from acting the way they do; it only stops them from acting the way they do towards you. There is a rep system which should be used more often.
A possible solution would be to have some sort of voice/word recognition (which I know is a very difficult thing to do) and when certain words are heard from a gamertag repeatedly then the person is kicked out of a game. Repeated offenses lead to greater punishments- day/week/month/year/permanent bans.
A funnier solution would be for Microsoft to send a letter to the offender’s address after the person commits many offenses.
Finally to those actually defending the behaviour, badmouthing Adam, saying its for “lulz/lol/the funny”. You are even worse than those who act that way online because you are not only allowing it but encouraging it. You are the problem with humanity, not just gamers.
Right on, Sessler!
I agree with Robert – the homophobia starts at the top with Microsoft banning “gay”-sounding gamertags. It’s absolutely absurd and disheartening…
Hearing people regularly toss around uninspired racist or gay slurs when you’re trying to play a game and have fun mitigates that whole “fun” element. It gets mind-numbing and after a while I just sort of check out. If it was a case of being offended, at least that would be engaging… it’s a case of being bored to death.
@mark.
comparing bad words to WW2…
wow.
fail.
Personally, I hate that shit. I’m not black but I am bisexual and to hear someone using “faggot” 50 times in a match really gets to me. It doesn’t really hurt my feelings or anything but it does make me extremely sad for the future of humanity. Eventually these people that speak like this anonymously will start to use such profanity and bigotry in their daily life.
It has nothing to do with first ammendment rights or my “intolerence” for children. You don’t hear that type of thing IRL in the sense that you do online. It’s disgusting.
From now on, im just going to start reporting people. If enough of us start reporting people for using that type of talk then maybe microsoft will do something about it.
and in response to Robert and his comment about microsoft banning that one guys tag becuase it sounded homosexual…
IMO they were trying to combat this exact type of situation. If you get on a match and your gamertag is “gay” something, all you are going to hear is “hey faggot” all day long. I support the tag ban.
Your yelling at the wrong people, Halo 3 is for casual gamers which is why they can’t keep thier cool when they die. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone freak out and yell insulting stuff all the time on a PC game, apart from the odd kid on lame CSS or something but again that kid will just be an angry unloved child which only plays it every now and again.
The First Amendment is a crock of shit?
Perhaps Sessler should take a visit to China to review his statement.
This is part of the reason why I left XBox Live and bought a PS3. I spent about 2 years on XBL and at first I loved it but after the pre-teens got playing it then it went to crap. PS3 seems to incorporate a more adult, mature audience then XBL does. To fix this problem I think the parents need to step in and not use the XBox as a babysitter and raise their kids right. I know when I was growing up and I said a fowl word, I literally had my mouth washed out with liquid dial and the word I said was “b*tch”. Also Microsoft should step in and have moderators playing random matches on the most popular online games such as COD4 and Halo3. If they hear someone using profane offensive language then boot then off. Words like n*gg*r and f*gg*t should be taken extremely seriously and instantly be banned from the game for a few days. The mature people need to take gaming back, as it does have a lot of promise and benefits. We as gamers need to end this smut and represent gaming like it should be represented.
I think most of the people who take the “they’re only kids” line, aren’t one of the people/groups targeted by this bullsh*t, and they lack the empathy to understand the offense. I don’t fit the demographic, but I can tell you that if I did I wouldn’t be hurt, I’d be f*cking pissed. Those of you who believe this is innocent behavior, try to imagine people singling you out with the most personal attack, over and over again. Would you enjoy the XBox Live games if every third game some asshat decided you were the perfect target for derision?
Perhaps here is a solution for those who care to contribute to one; when you play an Xbox Live game, host it yourself. When someone starts talking that sh*t calmly tell them that you won’t put up with hateful racist and/or homophobic trash talk, then kick them. If enough people did that perhaps their enjoyment of XBox live would be adversely affected, and they might realize that their behavior has consequences.
Little kids do it because they think it’s cool. They see and hear the older kids doing it, and think by emulating it that they’ll be accepted. They don’t realize how stupid and ignorant they sound. I was pretty stupid when I was ten (who wasn’t, really), but thankfully I didn’t have a medium like Xbox Live to spread that stupidity (a little bit of common sense helped too). A lot of the little kids cursing on Xbox Live are the victims of the situation, we need to remember that
The root of the problem is the older people. A lot of us curse online without thinking about who’s listening or how old they might be. And then of course there are the morons who see anonymity as a free pass to do whatever they want and not get in trouble. Kids can’t help but emulate that kind of thing.
If we want to see a change, it’s got to come from the older crowd. Of course, these 10-14 year olds are going to be the older crowd soon, and if they continue to act the way they have been than the future of online gaming is bleak. While we still have the chance, we need to set an example during online gaming in general that vulgarity on the level of idiocy is not acceptable. Changes like these have to come from the players. If we wait for the gaming company to do something about it, we get Friend Codes and 2 Minute Time matches on Brawl as the only playable setting with strangers, all in the name of making online a “kid-safe environment”.
And it would help if parents beat their children more, instead of refusing to see anything but perfection in their little Billy. “Oh, he’s so rambunctious!” Mommy says as little Billy curses out someone twice his age on Xbox Live. “Oh, he’s just smart and creative in his own way!” says Mommy to the elementary school principal. “Pass him or I’m going to bury you in a lawsuit!”
“Oh, boys will be boys,” says Mommy as Billy is older and caught shoplifting, doing drugs, or getting into trouble at school. I believe you see where I’m going with this. Parents today seem terrified of punishing their children, and even more scared of keeping track of them and what they do. Move the damn Xbox into the family room, or another place where you can keep an eye on him. If little Billy is still cursing someone out, than beat his behind and sell his Xbox. Problem solved.
Hey, I’d like to thank you for doing that. The online profanity is too much. I don’t even put my mike in anymore.
This video needs to be put up on everyone’s xbox live dashboard to see it for free.
Great job Adam, another direct hit on one of the biggest bullshit issues on Xbox Live and the internet in general. Unfortunately, your point won’t get across because most of the people who act like this online aren’t correctly trained in typing at over 4 WPM. I agree that this is a serious problem and it is throwing a bad light on the gaming community as a whole, but if we can’t change it, just don’t pay attention to the people who do it and stick to those with IQs over their ages.
actually Kyle no he dosen’t have to take his shit anywhere because he is using his rights. And for the record the pubescent homophobic racist pricks online they are invading people’s personal rights as a human. They need to get the banhammer…im not necessarly offended by it I can take a joke like in the example if I own someone in Halo 3 they might say “Oh dude your gay”…no Im not but I understand how he uses it, but if there is a gay person in there it would totally be way out of line if that person said “Hey faggot your my bitch”
(something along those lines) Im tired of it, im also tired of 7 year olds thinking their hot shit because their 9th prestige and shove it down people’s throats…no they are seven wtf esle are they going to do 2nd grade gets out at like 2:00 so no shit. But adam to answer your question it’s wrong they need to take their Neo-Nazi, 8 year old, homophobic, racist ass somewhere else and play barbie horse adventures.
Umm it’s not only kids. Have you played with the a-holes from the southern states? Now those guys know what they are saying and have no excuse other than being genuinely racist.
Also.. if I see you playing COD4 and it is not hardcore TD, I have to say that’s “ghey”. Who plays regular team deathmatch on COD4 anyway?
I do it all the time, and I do it because it’s funny. You put too much value in words. You said it yourself it’s an anonymous environment, you can’t be actively racist or homophobic in an environment where you don’t know others races and sexual orientations. They’re fucking words, and it’s fucking humorous. You define where comedy steps out of line? There is no such thing. Dave Chappelle can be as racist as he wants, but I can’t? Don’t get me wrong I love Dave Chappelle, I just don’t think comedy has boundaries and I don’t believe in your stupid bullshit about “bad words.”
Belittling the opinions of anyone on this page who defends Adam’s argument is both arrogant and destructive to the argument at hand.
Adam has what your English professor would call an ‘opinion’. He is entitled to this as much as anyone else, and in this case, I happen to agree with what he’s saying. Trying to call him wrong won’t accomplish anything because opinions, as a rule, are neither right nor wrong, but simpling different and sometimes opposing.
Those of you defending the trash-talkers in question are, in my opinion, ignorant of the true extent that words like “nigger” and “fagot” degrade our society.
Words like N***** and F**** should NEVER, I repeat NEVER, be acceptable in our society, especially if they become acceptable only after half the population “gets over it and stops being pussies” or some bullshit like that. These words are offensive because (*gasp*) THEY OFFEND PEOPLE. I’m not talking about perhaps offending the gay guy next door because he overheard you on Xbox Live; I’m talking about prolonging and empowering a growing culture of intolerance towards both people of color and homosexuals.
Saturating our vocabulary with racial slurs to the point where they lose their meaning does not solve this problem, because these words will ALWAYS have meaning. Saturation does not take away the connotation of racial slurs, it just removes most of the relevant context. What saturation DOES do is make our society deaf to racial slurs, whether they’re on Xbox Live or being screamed up and down the streets of New York.
All that frequent spouting of racial slurs accomplishes, especially if you “don’t really mean it” or “aren’t really racist”, is empower the guy who really does mean it.
landgrafb@uwplatt.edu if you feel the need to reply, because message board trolling is for assholes.
Well, such behavior is perpetuated by the young and ignorant, sadly it’s those who really care less to change their ways. You simply cannot shame them into shape, you basically have to use psychology to change them. You have to give them other phrases to mimic then laugh and applaud when they use the “right” phrases and totally ignore them when they use racial sexist homophobic slurs. Remember, the young and ignorant only want some attention be it worded approval or worded disapproval. Negative attention is still attention. Don’t tell them they are wrong, don’t feed them, just ignore them.
Unfortunately, to do things right it often takes time. Ignorance won’t end overnight.
The trick is to find the right game. Most of the games that I play are so intense that most of the people don’t even have time to spout obscenities – they’re too busy barking orders, taking cover, calling in artillery, that sort of thing.
The games that are more casual (that I play) almost always have several administrators online, or have some sort of a voting system where you can vote out disruptive players. At the end of a match, people compliment each other on each other’s strategy and on a well-played game. All in all, they are a pleasant gaming experience.
Thanks for making a video about this! Everything about games can be so goddamn hetro, thanks for trying to get people to be more open minded and accepting
Xaroth, you are in fact mistaken. You do NOT have “freedom of speech” in an online forum where you sign an agreement to behave within certain standards.
Microsoft has the right to ban you for any offensive speech, outright.
“Free speech” in the constitution means the ability to speak out against your government, or to speak your beliefs. However, that does not translate to complete freedom of speech.
Walk into an airport and shout “bomb”, or “fire” in a movie theatre, and your ass will be in jail in a heartbeat.
It amazes me how often those who have ZERO understanding of this basic concept always shout “free speech”, when in fact it has no application in the discussion taking place.
You DON’T have freedom of speech, in the sense that you can say anything, on a privately owned board in which you sign an agreement to behave as asked.
For the last few weeks, COD4 has just gotten ridiculous. its just “omg that juggernaut faggot”, “oh those m16 camping queers”, “god those snipers are such homos”. Its seriously to the point where I will just go “HURRRRRRRR UR GAYYYY OMG THAT IS FUNNY” just to completely mock these idiots. Last night a guy called me a fag for using an m16. 5 seconds later I shot a guy who was about to kill him in the head and he thanked me. I said “Does this mean I like women now?” in a joking manner. I’m so tired of these idiots thinking that calling people gay makes them cool.
Great soapbox Adam….I really appreciate you taking up this topic, I constantly find myself playing xbox live with no headset beacuse if i wear it 10s into a game someone is dropping N bombs all over the place. Maybe M$ should give 20 day bans to people doing this sort of thing…
Nice to see a flock of white people coming here to defend their actions. If you use words known to marginalize people and insult a certain race, it doesn’t matter your intention.
Drop your f-bombs, etc whenever you want — I don’t care about that. But if you have nothing meaningful to say and would rather through around language that only makes you look stupider (and get you an honorable membership to the KKK) you’ll begin to believe what you say and likely get your ass beat when you say it to the wrong person.
BTW the morons talking about banning racist terms being a fascist act — wake the f*ck up. Fascists are racists, they would encourage such language. Maybe you’re one?
How many of you bitching about bad parenting actually have kids? Are you going to monitor your children 24/7 until they leave the house? I’m not condoning their behavior by any means but to blame the parents for the kid spouting off on live is preposterous. When I grew up, my friends and I cursed around each other all the time. I never cursed around my parents. I’m sure these kids don’t either.
My point is that you can’t watch your children all the time. Even if you could, why would you want to? You have to give your children their privacy and their space to grow up. I need my own time to do things I want as well. If I am obsessing and intruding in on every little detail in my kids’ lives, what would that do to them? What would it do to me?
Bottom line… if you don’t like it leave. I do. Maybe they will get the hint after nobody wants to play with them.
mistaWAC & iUSEbadWORDS have the right ideas also. You sensitive pansies need to stop crying over spilled homogeneous chocolate milk (lol).
I can’t understand people defending the use of bona fide derogatory language as freedom of speech, or that no one cares anymore, or that it doesn’t mean anything, or my favorite, “That kids will be kids.”
Let’s take a critical look at this. If the case were to be that these things are OK to say on a regular basis, why aren’t they said more often? Why do not only kids but also adults need the mask of anonymity to espouse such “harmless” words.
Similarly, to the “it’s competitive,” argument-i think you would be hard pressed to argue that there are few places more competitive than corporate America. I would love any to start using the N-word or the F-word “competitively” in the workplace and see how well that goes over. Or the college kids to use those words “competitively” in the classroom, or that 10yeard old to call his teach a N***** or a F*****. Or a kid who calls his mother/father a F- or a N-. I’ve got this nagging impression that it would not go over well. Similarly, I think this fairly well debunks the “mature game” argument. If these words were OK to use, you’d be able to use them without consequence without the mask of anonymity.
The fact of the matter is that those words are uncouth for a reason, and have significantly negative and derogatory cultural implications–which is why you can’t say them in public without severe repercussion. By encouraging, either actively or tacitly, this kind of behavior, you create an environment where it’s OK to reinforce those negative cultural implications, saying that yes being black is negative, and being gay is also bad and worthy of being belittled.
Of course, there’s also all kinds of moral implications involved, but I’m not expecting many people to care about the implied morality found through actions, so I’ll leave it lie.
As for trash talk- I’ll be the first to admit that trash talk is fun, but I always keep it good natured, and make sure that I place distinct boundaries around what I think is OK. I’m not afraid to say that “Hey, I’m not really cool with that, can we lay off a bit?” Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t.
And it’s also really important to take into account the medium. Why does this happen most prevalently on XBL? Why not on PC games? There are still little kids and immature adults in PC games. You still find this sometimes, but for the most part, that kind of language is highly frowned upon–and therefore doesn’t happen en masse.
So why doesn’t it happen on PlayStation as often? Arguably, MS and PS market to the same general demographic, yet this doesn’t happen nearly as much. So what is it about XBL specifically that lends itself to this kind of anti-social, pathological behavior? I don’t think it’s a question anyone here can answer, though if anyone reads this, I’m sure they will make their best effort to try.
All in all, it’s something that needs to change. The manner to fix this is unclear, and I sure as hell don’t have the answers, but I am willing to say that a major cultural shift needs to happen.
Hear, hear. Unfortunately I think even expecting people in “real life” to behave is asking too much most of the time. Add in the fact that you’re dealing with the young and anonymous and you’ve got a sure-fire disappointment waiting for you.
bottom line number one the guy above me doesn’t no what hes talking about you had a kid its your responsibility to make sure they grow up properly. You had the kid so be an actual father and raise it. It is mostly little 12-17 year olds yelling and being annoying and its because of lazy fathers like you “daniel” who say i want my time you had a kid you have no more time get over it or get off of the little lady. Your life is now your kids please see that they grow up to be good people. Basically what I’m getting at here is once your older you really can’t stop the way someone acts you can only try to get them to keep it to themselves but when there young is where they learn right from wrong so daniel get the *&^% on it and raise your kids stop being selfish
p.s. daniel was above me when i typed it now dave lol
Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it.
I think XBL seems to be getting worse, maybe because many of the adult gamers have found sites and friends they play with, and now rarely play with the general asshole public.
When I do, I mute everyone, so it’s like playing against bots. (Bots who teabag you, lol.)
I advise you to do the same, Adam – fill your Friends List with “FoF” tags; Silver accounts with GTs of adult gamers who play what you like to play.
Adult Enthusiast Gamers, Geezer Gamers, 2Old2Play, Xbox Mature Gamers, and many others are great sites enjoying Xbox LIVE the way it was meant to be played.
Cheers.
There is something to be said for profanity in the gaming arena. I defend the right of free speech, but when you say something that harms another their freedoms are infringed upon. Their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is assaulted. There is a lot of back and forth banter going on in this topic and many valid points have been brought up. Yes one’s reaction is dependent upon the person. We do indeed have the choice to choose how we react. I myself have gone the extra mile to get one or two people banned from Xbox Live.
The bottom line however, is that our choice is colored by many factors. Someone with an overabundance of pride in who they are will react much more negatively than someone with low self esteem. However, that person that had low self esteem may be more adversly affected than the person who has their pride. So who are we as humans beings to judge the actions of others? We are the ones who have to deal with the friend or family member who have been a target of this kind of talk. Any racial slur or derogetory term can have an impact no matter how slight. And those wounds are very real to the people who experience them.
To defend the profane individuals on Xbox live is your God Given right, indeed, but consider the other side as well. Consider the rules of polite society and the fact that some day you may meet face to face with that person your words hurt so bad. Think for a moment if you are at a tournament, or you find yourself at a convention of some sort. You are meeting gamers from all over the world. Gamertags are on your shirt so that you can find some of your long lost Xbox live buddies. What happens when the person you called one of those horrible names walks up to you? Would you beg forgiveness? Would you throw another racial slur at them? That is the question one should ask before they speak on Xbox live.
I don’t care why you guys do it. I don’t care if you can say it, or want to say it. But think about the other side. Think about bullies at schools and the string of school shootings this country has seen becuase of that very same reason. It is bullying plain and simple after all. No matter how you church it up this situation is bullying. How many of you who shout these horrible words have experienced that very same feeling I have just described at the hands of one of your peers? It hurts doesn’t it? I know because I have been there.
I know that writing in a forum like this won’t change a heck of a lot of minds. But if I can get through to one or two and let them know that there is hope, then I’ve done my job. I only want people to consider both sides. I made it through those awkward years and came out the other side as someone I can be proud of. But it was not thanks to those few cruel individuals who continued to put me down even when they could see my pain. I ask that everyone simply consider the other side.
One of the main problems is the fact that kids are playing games intended for Mature audiences. The parents need to take some responsibility for their kids.
great video!!
i 100% agree with Sessler, the positives of online gaming far outweigh the negatives but the anonymity of being on XBL makes people into these rude, aggressive idiots who know they can get away with trash talking like that with no repercussions.
mute em, ignore em, simple!
and again great topic Sessler!
This happens on XBOX live and the reason it will continue because the power of the games, contrary to popular belief there is little you can do for it. The PC game community is riddled with this as well but the difference is, you act like that on a Pub Server on for example TF2, and you’ll be banned from the server. Immediate consequence! XBOX live doesn’t have that, you get voted against and it’s up to some mysterious customer service person to then decide to ban hearing it third person, LOONG after the face. In PC game, not saying it’s better just comparing, that kinda of stuff doesn’t fly, shit there are servers that is ALL they do so a community of fellow “Ragers” can sit there and annoy themselves and each other.
Kids will be kids but XBOX live has most of them there, adults don’t say those things because of social contracts not because they are better. So it’s not so much a “bigot” thing as it is an overall maturity thing. These little shits are no different than tools who try to make political statement in TF2 or try to convince people how 9/11 was a conspiracy in World of Wacraft. I always answer with the same thing: “Who knew the the greatest political mind played .” Usually ends the convo since they have no real subtile or intelligent comeback for it.
You may not like it, but let me be the 1st to welcome Adam Sesslers to the internet. The great and most unstoppable hate machine ever conceived and created. Vinton Cerf is rolling in his grave..
I am happy to say I don’t talk trash. The parents of these kids that do, however need to beat their kids when they do something wrong. Hell, I’m fifteen and that’s how I was raised. I don’t know when this “being an asshole is cool, lol” trend started, but it needs to be stopped before any more damage is done to the gamer stereotype.
I rarely see this type of stuff, probably because I’m a PC gamer; most people that say this sort of stuff in servers get banned quickly or are promptly reported on a servers forum. I’ve barely played on any of the next gen consoles(the last time I played regularly on any console was on the PS2 back when socom 2 was released) so I can’t say diffidently that people are more apt to log onto the servers forum and report the person, but I assume it’s more likely to happen while gaming on the PC. Even without players actively reporting malignant players, PC servers tend to be much more organized, meaning there’s usually a non-racist/homophobic admin watching the server.
PC>Consoles amirite?
Come back when you stop bashing my 1st amendment. It’s that crock of shit amendment that allows you to come online and post your soapbox for all to see. If you don’t like hate speech, move to Germany where simply denying the holocaust is a punishable offense. Where using those sorts of slang will land you in jail. Hell, instead of being upset about pissy little kids starving for attention, why don’t you focus your efforts on Iran where simply being a homosexual will get you executed?
Don’t like it? Block them. Unplug the headset. It’s a freakin’ video game for God’s sake. Some people take this way to seriously.
It’s mainly to annoy other people.
I’ve heard that reason from several people.