So dear reader, when was the last time you were on Live? Now, when was the last time you were on Live and did not encounter some form of asshat? However long ago it was, it was definitely too recent, and word is starting to really get around. In an article at Gamasutra, Fulton, a Microsoft employee who worked on Shadowrun, writes that: "the online behavior of our customers is dramatically reducing our sales."
And that's just the beginning of an excellent four page article on social design and the future of online gaming with regard to social interaction. The assertion that Live is generally filled with annoying idiots has been widely held among the more hardcore gaming community since the inception of the service, but this is the first that we've ever heard anything out of Microsoft about it affecting them in any manner. In the article Fulton posits that we know and love games so we're willing to work around it or put up with it, but for newcomers to the medium, the fun/annoyance ratio could just be too high. Readers, what do you think?
Reader Comments (Page 7 of 8)
4-04-2008 @ 4:23PM
Johnny ComeLately said...
I personally think that people need to get over themselves, and stop having their "feelings" hurt.
The biggest problem I would have with Live is that fact that I can set my profile to "Recreaction" or "Pro" or "Underground", yet still run into 12 year olds.
Want some REAL privacy settings? Make Underground just what it is, gung ho, no holds barred, no WORDS barred action, make Pro for the trash talkers who will watch their mouths, and make Recreation for the sissyboys/girls that can't handle an insult. Set searches to find players just like that, and make A-holes play with A-holes, and kids play with kids.
Simple, really.
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4-04-2008 @ 4:40PM
amauro said...
Brock, I totally agree. I'm very angry that I set my profile to Underground and I get stuck with Recreational players. I don't want to play with sissy's. I want to play with trash talking players who don't give a F.
Stick me the players going to hell.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/guide/gamerzone-underground.htm
"Who are Underground Gamers?
Underground gamers are the bad boys and girls. The surly kids who hang out behind the gym."
"Who are Underground Gamers?
Underground gamers are the bad boys and girls. The surly kids who hang out behind the gym."
"Of course, as in all the Xbox Live® Gamer Zones, you still need to adhere to the Xbox Live Code of Conduct in the underground, but your fellow underground gamers will probably be more willing to overlook colorful language—not like those pantywaists over in the family zone. We're kidding."
They're not kidding...
So F all you sissy gamers who want to play violent video games in a romper room type of atmosphere. Go take your man boobs to microsoft and cry for them to correct the problem of getting matched with underground players.
You want to stop trash talking? Yer fat a$$ wont even get off the couch so shut it.
4-04-2008 @ 4:25PM
Odog4ever said...
After browsing through some of the comments, here are my two cents:
For those of you who don't mind the asshats and say we should just grow a pair I'll say this:
When you go to a movie, you expect to watch that movie and not deal with a bunch of punk kids spouting off, and talking of their cell phones. If you do encounter this, you don't go to the customer service desk and say " Can I please get tickets for the next show I'm not enjoying myself because punk kids are acting like douchebags."
You paid good money for your tickets. Why should you have to leave your movie and go to another one? They are disrupting the movie not you. Even taking 5 minutes away from that movie to track down an usher to kick said punk kids out of the movie is annoying. Why would you be ok with having to track down an usher every time you went to that same movie theatre?
Even if you were ok with it, it doesn't matter because every punk kid in town goes to that exact movie theatre.
So what do you do? Only watch DVDs at home and never go out again. No. You find a new theatre.
/end analogy
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4-04-2008 @ 4:31PM
Odog4ever said...
I think that there should be a gamer zone on Xbox live that requires you to link an active credit card. That would immediately filter out anyone under 18.
In an ideal world, anyone willing to link their card, would take online gaming seriously enough to not be a dick online but that's just wishful thinking.
4-04-2008 @ 4:55PM
Ciaran Gallagher said...
What do they expect? The world is full of stupid people - stupid people that start wars, intentionally cause economic crashes, break things etc.
Microsoft included.
And the problems of online behavior are exaggerated I have been using Xbox Live for years and I can recall only several times where I have been annoyed, usually by children singing, and squealing and saying ridiculous things - but all I have to do is turn off my mic - it's no big deal.
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4-04-2008 @ 5:13PM
amauro said...
Odog4ever, do you sit down when you pee? No, really... I'm serious.
Its not a movie theater... Its a competitive game... Next are you going to compare it to a ballet? I'm sure you wouldn't mind putting on the tights with a pink tiara while you play Uno.
Games and competitive sports have long been a place for trash talking. People who have balls play sports like football... People who don't play tennis... Video games are the same way.. you play violent video games expect some trash talking.
I just don't know what type of dumb ass signs up for a Mature rated service and wonders what happens. Do you call porno chat lines and wonder why the girls are talking dirty to you? Eh, you probably just get scared anyways.
Use your options of Mute, Friends Only, or STFU.
I do agree that MS should fix that Recreational players get matched with Underground. I don't want to play with them and I could care less about them not wanting to play with me.
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4-04-2008 @ 6:02PM
Odog4ever said...
Ok amauro I ran this through google translator so you could under stand it:
I know that you are mad that you still live at home with you mother and you feel like a big man when you "pwn noobs" on live. But you would never, ever, say that shit to my face in real life. Or anybody else for that matter. Why? Cause you're a bitch ass.
If you were to play a "competitive" game of pick-up basketball with complete strangers you would not be cussing anybody out or calling them gay, racial slurs, etc. Why? Because you would get stomped the fuck out that's why. You would wake up on the asphalt, wondering why your face hurts so bad and what happened to your tooth.
Competitive does not equal dochebag (unless it's you apparently) If you wouldn't say it to somebody's face in real life don't say it.
If you and you friends want to beat each other off, talking trash, and cumming all over each other then stick to private matches and let the rest of us play in peace.
Oh, and bitch ass (sit up when I'm talking to you boy!) Xbox live is not a mature service. Any kid can buy a live membership from the store and activate it. I mean they let you on so that proves my point right there. Cause you have to be a kid to be that fucking stupid right?
4-04-2008 @ 5:20PM
newtype2011 said...
I stopped playing Halo because of all of the intellectual trash that is on Live. I'm so tired of playing with suburban white kids who think saying "ni***" every 5 seconds is cool, as well as making a Jew joke every chance they get. I;m personally not offended by the remarks, but it's just pure ignorance and I hate listening to it. It wouldn't be a problem if I didn't need to talk or hear anyone, but I love playing Team Slayer. No dice for me.
I know that ignorance spans all age groups, but I would say most of the crap comes from the 15-22 crowd. I wish there was an option to only play with people that are in an age group you want to play with (I'm 24).
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4-04-2008 @ 6:04PM
Tom said...
When you have as many people as Xbox Live (many many millions) who are all anonymous, this is bound to happen. There's nothing that they can really do except maybe once a person who's a total dickhead constantly gets enough bad reports for the same thing, maybe they could disable their voice chat for a week (if they bad-mouth a lot), or ban them from live for a few days (for too many reports of bad online play like teamkilling or something).
I dunno, that's just my two cents.
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4-04-2008 @ 6:17PM
Ryan said...
This was one of the main reasons why I got rid of my 360. I wanted to enjoy online aspect and hear people complain. That's so fun, but when someone starts to swear every other word, it begins to destroy the online "fun-ness." It was pretty upsetting, not using your headset for a long time, because of some idiots. $60 for a wireless headset + this online problem = waste of $60. Even for a wired one. It's still a waste. So I can see why Microsoft is losing money because of it. They lost my money... sadly.
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4-04-2008 @ 6:19PM
rinks said...
What they need to do is make private chat rooms larger than 2 people. I hate playing with more than 1 of my friends, because that means the flood gates open to the moron wave.
The rare times when I have to listen to other people on xbox live, it's horrible. So I talk to my friends in private chat or just go mute.
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4-04-2008 @ 6:33PM
amauro said...
Odog4ever, I like it. Now you are talking. See, you have a pretty good rant there. Felt good, didn't it?
Stomped out? You must have missed my other post where people who know me IRL know me as the same person as on live. THE SAME. Just because you are cowering in a corner doesn't mean everyone else is. Move Bitch, move out the way!
After everything you said the fact still remains that you have man boobs.... It must be hard to type around those huge things...
Tom ,As far as disabling the voice that happened in the original xbox. For some reason they don't do it on the 360.
Seriously Everyone, are you people that pathetic that you can't hit mute or set the voice options to mute?
The people who are focused on Microsoft fixing the matching of people in different zones have it right. MS should not be matching people in underground with recreational. All over the live description it talks about zone based matching.
"Taunt opponents, strategize with teammates, groan in despair, and exult with a war cry! It's all in real time, and unless you've experienced it before, you have no idea how unbelievably cool it is (those who've played games over a LAN and heard trash talk from the next cubicle know exactly what we mean).
And if other players get obnoxious—be it over-the-top trash talk or heavy breathing—you can mute them!"
This quote is from: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/about/features-voice.htm
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4-04-2008 @ 7:12PM
Preston Crawford said...
Dude....
You
Don't
Get
It
This isn't about being a "sissy". Or "sitting down to pee". Although comments like that are the same kind of nonsense that make Live a cesspool, for what it's worth. I'm a big guy. I played college football. I've beaten down people bigger than most of the idiots on Live. And I've certainly listened to filthier language than anything I've heard on Live.
But you get to a point in your life... at least you hope you do, where you just want to converse with other people, play games and have fun. Even if you're being competitive you don't have to be a dick. You don't have to kill your own teammates in order to get the flag capture. You don't have to call someone names in order to make yourself feel better because you don't have a life. You don't have to do it. And if you are one of these people? Get help. Get therapy. There is something wrong with you, not me.
I'm trying to be happy, enjoy my life and enjoy this one chance I get on Earth. If you choose to be miserable by putting up with these tards then that's your problem. If you choose to make the lives of others miserable by inflicting this type of behavior on others then that's your problem. But there are some of us out there that are done tolerating it and will leave Live and maybe the 360 altogether, because at the end of the day it's just a video game system. And if the #1 reason it's the best system starts to really really suck, what's my incentive to keep playing it again?
4-04-2008 @ 8:59PM
amauro said...
Preston, I get what you are saying. I just think you are being a sissy and extremely lazy. Set your preferences so you don't hear anyone but friends. Mute the other players... Play games like Uno with other sissy's.
Microsoft gives you so many options but you are too lazy to use them.
I think you should enjoy your life but stfu.
4-05-2008 @ 3:06AM
Preston Crawford said...
"Sissies". Seriously? It's 2008. I just want to not play with idiots. Apparently that's asking too much. Apparently you are part of the reason why I've considered switching consoles. Congrats on being part of the problem.
4-04-2008 @ 9:43PM
BowserUSC said...
Which is why I never use a headset and always mute the other players. You're all just computer controlled drones to me.
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4-04-2008 @ 10:01PM
refinedsugar said...
An internet post about the morons on XBL is bound to bring out those morons who then reply and complain about other morons, not thinking that they themselves are morons, and are in fact part of the problem, yay! Cause and effect people, cause and effect.
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4-05-2008 @ 9:29AM
wickedpheonix said...
Mute button?
Not much they can do about it, it would be like trying to clean up some of the darker parts of our cities - just like how we can't put a camera on every street corner or a policeman in every alley (not that we would want to), we can't put a XBL-terms of use enforcer in every match.
Even if we could (speech-recognition technology to pick up on racial terms or excessive cursing, or even cursing at all in E-rated games, unless you're in a private match with friends), would we really want to? I don't think so...
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4-09-2008 @ 3:05AM
ALBERT R COOKSEY JR said...
i agree with the article because i do not play online as much i would like to because of all the racist comments i have hear. i know i can mute people but the game is not as fun to me if i want to say something but i will not because of the response i get to often
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4-15-2008 @ 8:23PM
Sammy D Kat said...
Even though I can submit negative feedback or put someone on my avoid list, I still get thrown into matches all new jerks that I haven't played against before.
MS should create filters in Live that allow you to block matchups to people who have a certain percentage of negative feedback.
Also, we should hunt down the parents of all these 13 y.o. racist homophobic asshats and neuter them so that they can no longer procreate, since they are obviously incapable of raising children properly.
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