Black Ops Swastika Emblems Will Earn Xbox Live Ban

[rsvp42]

I hope my 8-pointed star of CHAOS doesn't get flagged by Corpse-Worshippers. That would disappoint Khorne greatly.

HERETIC!

 

[Flac00]

Am not a big fan of the "Jewish extermination" but the swastika should not be banned, even if drawing attention to the event was precisely the intention of the user. Despite what the MS guy says, it is political correctness.

Even though Microsoft are being massive dickheads here, it's not a surprise that they did this.

The swastika is an image that is banned in certain countries (e.g. Germany). People from Germany play the same online game that everyone else does, so they have to moderate their emblems to exclude banned images.

I could be wrong, but I'm willing to bet that it's the public (emphasis on "public") display of the swastika that's banned in Germany. And I would assume that its display in an online game doesn't qualify as a public display (unless you're monitoring your game play on a gigantic Jumbotron screen set up outdoors for all to see).

Its public enough. And EVERYONE thinks of Nazis when they see the swastika. The only reason you would put a swastika in the game in the first place would be to refer to Nazis. It is definitely good that microsoft censored this, no one should ever in their lifetimes try to be anything like the Nazis, nor should they speak of them positively in any way.

Not public enough to satisfy the prohibition of Germany's law. No more than hanging a swastika in the privacy of your own home would be prohibited under Germany's law. That was my point.

I'm not sure how you get from that narrow point to all you've said but if it provided you a springboard from which to say what you've said, that's cool, I guess. I'm not really seeing what all that's got to do with me and my point but . . . whatever.

Yeah, i like to generalize a lot.

 

[Wow they sure are generous with the usernames]

Oh and also why are they allowed in the story made of WaW. Very hypocitical

I too am unable to distinguish between historical use and use as a personal statement.

 

[BrionJames]

sounds like an asshole, who cares if idiots in the xbox live community want to use a swastika on their COD banner?

 

[le picklez]

Oh and also why are they allowed in the story made of WaW. Very hypocitical

For starters, in WaW only Nazi's had swastikas.
Xbox live users =/= Nazi's. If they are, then that's just too bad, because that means they're probably extreme racists also. (I'm talking Neo-Nazi's, not socialists.)

 

[gphjr14]

To be fair, the Nazis only committed one of the most heinous crimes in recorded human history.

really? I would say thee most notorious, I mean how many people were killed due to Alexander and his army? what about Stalin?

Stalin for the most part killed his own people so did Mao and several dictators today. But Hitler and the Nazi party oversaw the systematic persecution, collection, and attempted eradication of an entire race. Not for political difference or any crimes other than the fact they were a specific race or an "undesirable."

The swastika is an ancient symbol but the tilting at an angle and putting it on a white and red background makes it clear they were thinking of Nazism when they made it. I can see how it'd be offensive and I just find it annoying and unimaginative, but I don't think an insta ban is that necessary could just put a lock on their layers to like 3 so they couldn't make anything that ornate.

Well the Nazis did the killing for the greater good they thought, in their minds they were saving mankind from the "evil" jews.

Stalin and the rest of the dictators that killed loads of people did it for power and control over people for their own selfish needs.

Therefore I think that what the Nazis did is more "okay" than what Stalin & co did.

I'm afraid that's only about 30% true. Not to toot my own horn but I'm three classes away from having my bachelors in history, and I can say I know enough about Nazi Germany and other dictators to say that the motives for the "Final Solution" were more than just "we hate Jews." There's been political, and economic reasons in addition to racism as to why the Jews are targeted (antisemitism)centuries before Hitler came to power.

 

[MrGalactus]

Racism and Nazi ideology is what the symbol represents now. I think this is perfectly reasonable.

Xbox live users =/= Nazi's.

That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said about our Xbox LIVE community. I'm touched

 

[DarkPanda XIII]

Swastika......doesn't really matter, leave it be...though to be fair, if anybody really, really wanted to be accurate to the actual theme, they would have not banned the Swastika, but the dual SS lightning bolt symbol, just saying.

 

[jakefongloo]

This is free expression? They're banning trolls! I thought that is an activity we could all get behind but apparently not...

Frankly I'm sick of the penises beastiality FAIL signs and one man...pooping a brownish green cucumber. It was actually nausiating. Of course those guys get the final kill cam or are your rival.

 

[Dommyboy]

Ah, good. I can still keep my emblem of two towers burning and getting hit by two planes.

 

[Fox242]

Well of course there are going to be jackasses who are going to put a swastika as their emblem for shits and giggles because, well, they are jackasses. Might as well just ban the damn symbol because I doubt that the average Xbox Live gamer is going to even know that the swastika is not inherently evil. Granted most of the people who would make a swastika as their emblem are not acually Nazis, but rather complete and utter morons getting a kick out of their own stupidity, you still can't take that chance because the scars of the Holocaust still run deep. Only one this very rare exception can I understand the outrage that this might cause. Like I said, might as well just ban the symbol because how can you tell a real Nazi from some chucklehead who is looking for kicks unless they say whether it is a joke. It is a shame that there dumbasses who would actually create a swastika emblem...same goes with the comedians who create dick and sex based emblems, the freakin' idiots!

 

[Fox242]

Swastika......doesn't really matter, leave it be...though to be fair, if anybody really, really wanted to be accurate to the actual theme, they would have not banned the Swastika, but the dual SS lightning bolt symbol, just saying.

You mean the dual Sig runes? Yeah...there's no disputing the meanig of that and why someone would put that there.

 

[knuckles2812]

While I don't see people using a swastika to be in good taste, I've also seen some much more messed up things on CoD... not to mention there are swastikas all over the place when you play the zombies mode. I mean sure, you're going around killing zombie nazis and all, but I'm usually the one shooting the guy with the swastika, so I don't think it should be banned by any means. Or at least if you're going to ban people for using them, take them out of the game all together.

 

[Julianking93]

I've been playing Black Ops for quite a while now and... I've yet to see a single Swastika.

Maybe it's because I'm on Ps3.

I've mostly just seen a bunch of emblems resembling dicks or something that's supposed to look like a dick or some kind of phallic object.

I swear, those guys have some seriously repressed emotions when they call everyone "fag" or "gay" yet they're the ones with penises all over their profile >>

 

[Iamnotawitch]

Thank god someone is out there to protect my virgin eyes!

 

[JDKJ]

Swastika......doesn't really matter, leave it be...though to be fair, if anybody really, really wanted to be accurate to the actual theme, they would have not banned the Swastika, but the dual SS lightning bolt symbol, just saying.

You mean the dual Sig runes? Yeah...there's no disputing the meanig of that and why someone would put that there.

The sig runes and the death's head should, I would think, be much more objectionable than the swastika given that both are unambiguously related to the Schutzstaffel (the infamous "SS"), the paramilitary organization directly responsible for carrying out the Final Solution, while the swastika symbolizes the larger political organization of the Nazi Party. Many of the more notorious war criminals tried at Nuremberg were convicted on the basis of actions taken as officers in the SS (e.g., Hermann Göring), not in their capacities as Nazi Party officials. If the objective is to ban symbols associated with the Jewish Holocaust and that ban is limited in number of symbols, then the sig runes and the death's head should be banned before the swastika. The former are much more closely related to the Jewish Holocaust than the latter.

 

[HyenaThePirate]

The irony is soooo palpable, you could eat it with a side of coleslaw and texas toast.
A week ago people were demanding the game should be pulled, banned, or censored based on some questionable scene involving an assassination attempt on Castro and the levels of violence adding to the ongoing battle of "violent video games hurt kids" nonsense. Then there were the fanboys who still are butthurt over the whole Infinity Ward fiasco.

The very same people who were hoping and praying that the gaming community would SUPPORT the game as artistic media or whatever the argument is this week now talk about absolutes and "zero tolerance" policies in regards to censoring their OWN products.

Thanks. You just saved me the money for buying the game, which I had been waiting until this week (pay day!) to buy. But not out of my own principles I'm BOYCOTTING this GAME.
I'm an African-Irish American, but my skin is brown. Why am I telling you that? Because even though it's history towards MY people haven't been all that great, but you know what? Even IF some Nazi-wannabe scumbag was using it EXACTLY as some sort of flag that he believes in while playing online, MORE POWER TO HIM.
If you make your emblem a Mexican FLAG or Israeli flag or STAR of David or Biblical Cross, nobody is going to cry foul and demand those things be banned even though they also can be used as a symbol of "pride" that others might find offensive.

Everyone has the right to support whatever they believe with and wear it proudly.
Besides, I prefer to know who all the racists are upfront. It makes my life easier than worrying about all the ninja racists hiding in the shadows plotting my demise.

 

[JDKJ]

The irony is soooo palpable, you could eat it with a side of coleslaw and texas toast.
A week ago people were demanding the game should be pulled, banned, or censored based on some questionable scene involving an assassination attempt on Castro and the levels of violence adding to the ongoing battle of "violent video games hurt kids" nonsense. Then there were the fanboys who still are butthurt over the whole Infinity Ward fiasco.

The very same people who were hoping and praying that the gaming community would SUPPORT the game as artistic media or whatever the argument is this week now talk about absolutes and "zero tolerance" policies in regards to censoring their OWN products.

Thanks. You just saved me the money for buying the game, which I had been waiting until this week (pay day!) to buy. But not out of my own principles I'm BOYCOTTING this GAME.
I'm an African-Irish American, but my skin is brown. Why am I telling you that? Because even though it's history towards MY people haven't been all that great, but you know what? Even IF some Nazi-wannabe scumbag was using it EXACTLY as some sort of flag that he believes in while playing online, MORE POWER TO HIM.
If you make your emblem a Mexican FLAG or Israeli flag or STAR of David or Biblical Cross, nobody is going to cry foul and demand those things be banned even though they also can be used as a symbol of "pride" that others might find offensive.

Everyone has the right to support whatever they believe with and wear it proudly.
Besides, I prefer to know who all the racists are upfront. It makes my life easier than worrying about all the ninja racists hiding in the shadows plotting my demise.

Agreed. It's a lot like when federal and state laws were passed banning the wearing of Klu Klux Klan-like hoods in public. Gee, thanks a lot. Now I have no way to tell in my rear view mirror if that truckload of rednecks riding my bumper is the Klan or not and whether I should slow down to let them pass or try to outrun them.

The evil that I can see isn't my problem. It's that unseen evil that worries me.

And, cynical bastard that I am, I can't help but wonder if the self-censorship of a violent video game environment isn't somehow related to the current attempt to legislatively restrict the sale of violent video games to minors in California. Kinda like the criminal defendant who gets a haircut and shave and buys a nice suit before appearing in front of the judge.

 

[dragonslayer32]

The points on the Nazi swastika face right. The points on the religious kind, face left. So what if I flipped it?

 

[CoL0sS]

I have to admit first thing that comes to my mind when someone mentions word "swastika" are Nazis and then Buddhist symbol. However I don't find it offensive . Would it be wrong of me if I said ppl should just move on? Yes you should forgive but not forget, but seriously does dwelling on it help anyone?

Problem with that is it's still too soon. This kind of thing really needs to wait until everyone involved is dead. Otherwise you have the fun of either a holocaust survivor who had his wife gassed and his kids dissected alive, or a guard who was forced to herd thousands to their deaths being told by some teenager raised in a period of peace to 'get over it'. There are just some people who will never find Nazi stuff funny and frankly I think we owe it to them to respect that. It's rather presumptuous of us to think we have the right to declare what they can and can't be offended by.

Well I don't find Nazi stuff funny, in fact I can't even tell you how much I'm disgusted by it. I have nothing but respect for the victims of holocaust, but I don't like ppl being hyper-sensitive about certain topics. However, I don't see banning people with swastika in their emblems as a bad thing, cause let's face it most of them are trying to promote Nazism in some way, or are just seeking attention or trying to provoke a reaction. Others will just have to adapt and find symbol that isn't used by a fucked up ideology.