EA Hosting Panel on Homophobia in Gaming

[cobra_ky]

I do understand how this matter is important and I do support it don't get me wrong. The problem I see is you could ban the word gay and fag from the earth but that is going to do nothing. The problem isn't the words it is the hearts and minds of people. And I am sorry but having this little pow wow is going to solve nothing. You can take the words but the feelings will still be there. In the real world, on the internet anywhere you go someone is gonna hate someone else for no good reason until someone finds the reset button and the planet starts again. And hopefully they will get it right next time.

a lot of people are missing the point of "this little powwow". they're not trying to end all homophobia, everywhere, forever. EA and microsoft are putting this on because they want to learn how to make online games that gay people will pay money to play, instead of getting pissed off and quitting. ultimately this is all about making money.

That is easy. When you make an xbl account instead of underground, pro ect ect they could ask sexual preference, race and religious views and then you can only play games online with people who answered the same as you. have some mods using dummy accounts directly from MS to monitor gamertags that get more than X many reports. If you get caught making an account just to troll then you lose your gold membership privileges. 60 bucks is quite a price to insult people for a few days. Problem solved.

matchmaking sucks enough already. what if you're the only gay arab shintoist on xbox live?

Why do large companies have to cater to the minority these days. (This includes government) They should be catering to the mainstream audience rather than just a few who get offended.

Rule: If your offended by it DONT DO IT

well in the case of governments, generally it's because they're constitutionally obligated to protect the rights of ALL citizens.

Who the hell do you think the mainstream audience is? look at how vocal and organized the lgbt community is politically, compared to "hardcore gamers". we're the subculture here. in a lot of ways, being gay is a lot more mainstream than being a "gamer". and in society as a whole, far, far more people are offended by bad/hateful language, regardless of whether its racist, homophobic, or just plain swearing.

like i keep saying, the gay community is a far more profitable demographic to cater to than people who like to say "******" a lot.

I'm confused as to what they're going to do. Every time someone says "gay" there's a built in system that hears it and bans the player or such?

this is pretty much exactly how it works now.

Last, why do people openly announce they're homosexual in games? Isn't that kind of... inviting, the taunts? If you piss someone off, most morons will just spew whatever comes out of their mouth. The minute you tell them something personal about you, you're just asking for them to use that as ammunition towards yourself.

ok. this is a gaming forum. we all think of ourselves as gamers, right? we come here to talk about video games.

now imagine a world where you can't talk about games in public without being mocked and ridiculed by complete strangers. a world where you can't even SAY the word "game" online. wouldn't you be pissed? wouldn't you complain? how would you like it if someone told you that it's your fault for telling people you game?

 

[The Patient Mental]

Honestly, the way people behave when they have the shield of anonymity is appalling. Racism, Homophobia, Sexism...it's all out there. And I believe that game companies should crack down on the segment of the community that acts in these ways. They won't be missed, and I'm sure more customers will come when they find online entertainment to be a safer place, less full of assholes.

Your freedoms both of thought and speech need to apply to everyone. All the time. No exceptions. There should, however be clear divisions made available for all gamers,something similar to maybe what XBL has going on, wherein each division has clear outlined rules for acceptable gamer behavior. With simple headings like families, kids, teens, adult, anything goes, etc; For every gay bashing asshole, there is a tight ass prude trying to ruin all things for all people. Taking away free speech in any context takes away one's right to disagree, it also allows for us to pass on our own responsibility to respect one's right to expression, and develop educated opinions of our own. And all this is not even bringing up what I think might be a pretty clear distinction between something being gay, and someone being of the sexual orientation known commonly as "gay", given your freedom to derive meaning from words, available to us all. Callous, and a bit tongue in cheek, but can't we just be trusted to deal with this issue amongst ourselves?

 

[Dogmeat T Dingo]

How is this an issue? I'm gay and I don't have a problem. I simply don't flaunt my sexuality on a service that's populated by fifteen year old kids, I know that almost anyone that age is an idiot. I know the author of this article took the openly gay guy on Xbox Live seriously but that wasn't really the intention, it looks like it was more for trolling purposes. Real gay guys almost unanimously despise the lisp-talking, pink wearing assholes who think the slightest bit of criticism is a hate crime. Most of us are indistinguishable from the rest of you and are just trying to get by like anyone else. Heck, statistically speaking if you work in a business with ten people chances are one of your co-workers is gay and you just don't know it.

I'm not saying hating on gays is a good thing, but people have a right to say what they want online no matter how retarded it is. And the lower the average age, the more retarded it tends to be, so nobody dressing in pink armour should expect any less on an Xbox service. Just grow up and stop being openly gay in a place where you know it's going to attract criticism, not every chatroom, game and online service is a pulpit for gay rights speeches, it just hurts the image of the rest of us. There's a time and a place for everything.

 

[Treblaine]

I think your missing the point. This panel is do disencourage a pointless hatred and to educate everyone on the importance of equality. I mean how would you feel if someone began irrationally hating you because, say, you had blue eyes or brown hair? It is something about yourself that is impossible to change, so you would want the hate to stop wouldnt you? It has nothing at all to do with groups of people believing they are ''more special'' but it is a way to help brings different groups of people together as equals.

Teh difference is that race and the color of my eyes/hair is not a choice. It is their chloice to be openly gay, and put that into their profiles. If you put it in your profile, then you need to deal with the consequences.

For example: Lets say that I have a 1/2 inch penis. I do not of course, but for the sake of this arguement, I'm going to use this as an example. If I put that into my profile, and then I get made fun of, then it is my fault. I put it in my profile, I deal with the consequences.

Interesting you should say that Gays should keep their sexuality secret as online it is entirely possible for a Black guy to pretend to be white since you only ever see their player avatar which might not even be human. So if the map is full of intolerant racists should he just pretend to be white? That is in effect the same as telling a gay player to never reveal his sexuality in an online game and THAT is bullshit.

Also interesting how you compare being gay to having a small dick... though only in an analogy you obviously see a lot of parallels between being gay and emasculation. Why is that? Do you ACTUALLY think gays are just men that want to be women or somehow deliberately want to be "less than a man"? Do you see them as just perverted masochists?

I mean we are NOT talking about gay players being permitted to proposition other players for sex or otherwise make obscene comments. It is not permitted by straight females, it won't be tolerated from them either. I mean if a player identifies himself as black, in any way, only a vile asshole would have a problem with that. Why should it be different for gays?

You CANNOT change a person's sexual preference, ether gay-to-straight or straight-to-gay. In fact Michael Jackson (RIP to the great entertainer) shows it is easier to change your apparent race than your sexual orientation.

 

[I III II X4]

Trolling by using slurs is still trolling. Using hurtful slurs.

It doesn't mean it should be illegal, but people should be aware and sypathetic to the fact that they are hurting others.

But the average individual won't, though some may change and become nicer people, you have to expect a good number of them will maintain their hateful stance until they pass on. Bottom line, people are scum.

For those of you who skipped to the end rather than read four pages of posts, allow me to summarize about half of it: "GRRR! WHAT ARE THEY DOING OUT OF THAT CLOSET?"

KISSING IN PUBLIC, THAT'S WHAT.

Now as for the thread itself, why can't we all just get along? Why must we feel the urge to hurt and discriminate against one another?

For the gaymers, would having a thicker skin help? That it would, yet the movement to make the online gaming environments less hate-filled and more game-filled would also be a boon toward the goal of tolerance.

Though as I stated above, people are scum, yet, at the same time, some people aren't scum...so there's still a chance for humanity, albeit a slim one.

 

[Pimppeter2]

People arem't homophobic. There just idiots who think its funny

 

[Treblaine]

How is this an issue? I'm gay and I don't have a problem. I simply don't flaunt my sexuality on a service that's populated by fifteen year old kids, I know that almost anyone that age is an idiot. I know the author of this article took the openly gay guy on Xbox Live seriously but that wasn't really the intention, it looks like it was more for trolling purposes. Real gay guys almost unanimously despise the lisp-talking, pink wearing assholes who think the slightest bit of criticism is a hate crime. Most of us are indistinguishable from the rest of you and are just trying to get by like anyone else. Heck, statistically speaking if you work in a business with ten people chances are one of your co-workers is gay and you just don't know it.

I'm not saying hating on gays is a good thing, but people have a right to say what they want online no matter how retarded it is. And the lower the average age, the more retarded it tends to be, so nobody dressing in pink armour should expect any less on an Xbox service. Just grow up and stop being openly gay in a place where you know it's going to attract criticism, not every chatroom, game and online service is a pulpit for gay rights speeches, it just hurts the image of the rest of us. There's a time and a place for everything.

I must congratulate you for maturity. To be tolerant in the face of intolerance and dedication to freedom of speech something to be commended for.

In other ways I kinda agree with you. Many gay right activists completely fail as they try to be as flamboyant as possible it only encourages outrage and alienation amongst the straight population plus enforce negative stereotypes. Proposition 8 is a horrible law in California that is usually such a liberal state except Gay activists there made no effort to appeal to the wider straight majority. What about all the Latino and African American families, they make up a huge part of the voting population of California and the Gay community has done nothing to endear them self to them but seems to tease them "I know you can't stand us but you better vote for our cause because 'that's equality', nener nener neee neeer!"

I personally think California's referendum style Propositions are HORRIBLE. It hijacks government away from elected officials into the hands of special interest groups. Now the state is billions of dollars in debt I place the blame squarely at the weak government, they should abandon their proposition system and repeal all laws passed by proposition.

Hitler and Mussolini loved referendums, as it is easy to propagandise to millions of people to create a populist cause on simple issues rather than in a parliament/senate where it is too easy for one person to stand up and destroy an argument. On the streets, you can't argue with a propaganda poster, the flow is one way into the population from only one perspective. California's propositions are even worse as you need at least one politician to start a referendum, in California it is possible to get a law passed without any elected legislature having any input or debate over it! At ALL!

In a referendum... the mob always wins, the majority always beats minorities regardless of how unjust their cause is.

 

[Sebenko]

Awww, boo hoo!

Whatever shall I do? Someone on Xbox live called me a fag! Like they call everyone, regardless of individual stance on anything.

Here's the thing: I don't give a damn and neither should anyone else. Sexuality isn't important in games (unless it's fear effect 2, that achievement in Bully or whatever else). It never even crosses my mind- My characters in Fallout and oblivion don't get a sexuality option because it doesn't matter, 12 year olds on Xbox live call people fags because it's what they do.

"Panelists will be addressing such issues as how to provide safe spaces for LGBT people online..."

Wait, like, a separate place? Like, say, a gay ghetto?
Like Yahtzee said would engender hatred and distance between groups in one of his reviews?


So. This fag doesn't care, and neither should you. If it is somehow important to you, go whine at the Xbox live mic users.

 

[Wargamer]

As someone who is bisexual, and has had far more boyfriends than girlfriends, I don't really see what the problem is.

Sure, the GAMERS can be complete douchebags, but short of banning everyone who ever yells "Fucking Queers!" down their headset what can they do? Besides, that'll never happen; Xbox Live would be empty! *bdum-tsish!*

Seriously, I can't think of many examples of where sexuality matters, and the ones I can are all Duke Nukem style "Macho Men" who spout sexually-explicit one-liners every fifteen seconds. So, unless EA are planning on making a game where you play as some uber-hulky gay man who announces "I'm gonna fuck your sweet manly ass!" whilst reloading his thermo-nucleonic coconut launcher, I'm not sure what difference this is going to make...

 

[KaiusCormere]

Honestly, the way people behave when they have the shield of anonymity is appalling. Racism, Homophobia, Sexism...it's all out there. And I believe that game companies should crack down on the segment of the community that acts in these ways. They won't be missed, and I'm sure more customers will come when they find online entertainment to be a safer place, less full of assholes.

Your freedoms both of thought and speech need to apply to everyone. All the time. No exceptions. There should, however be clear divisions made available for all gamers,something similar to maybe what XBL has going on, wherein each division has clear outlined rules for acceptable gamer behavior. With simple headings like families, kids, teens, adult, anything goes, etc; For every gay bashing asshole, there is a tight ass prude trying to ruin all things for all people. Taking away free speech in any context takes away one's right to disagree, it also allows for us to pass on our own responsibility to respect one's right to expression, and develop educated opinions of our own. And all this is not even bringing up what I think might be a pretty clear distinction between something being gay, and someone being of the sexual orientation known commonly as "gay", given your freedom to derive meaning from words, available to us all. Callous, and a bit tongue in cheek, but can't we just be trusted to deal with this issue amongst ourselves?

I just think people have a right to play without being exposed to hate, and that trumps other people's right to act like idiots. I joined a guild in WoW once, and one of the first things the Guild Leader said to me on vent was "Do you like fried chicken?" I was like "huh?...not quite understanding." So naturally the followup came "Are you a ******?"
I didn't stay guilded very long, needless to say.

Sadly I see this kind of behavior a lot, and I think that repressing it wherever possible is a worthy aim.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

if you can't choose to be gay, and you can't figure out why anyone else would, what makes you think its a choice at all?

I cant imagine why someone would want to be a democrat or a Nazi, but people choose to be those things as well.

This is why free speech is awesome; it allows some people to show the world exactly how busted their thinking is.

The cases aren't parallel, not even close; there's no genetic component to one's political affiliation, whereas there are genetic components to homosexuality. (Oh, and nice Godwin there.)

-- Steve

PS: I was going to include a crack about banjo playing and chasing cousins, but I figured that'd be inappropriate given the circumstances.

 

[Treblaine]

The penis thing was just an embarrassing example....much like being gay. If you put either in your profile, you are going to get made fun of.

And Michael Jackson a great entertainer? He was a child molester and a piece of shit. He gets what he deserves while he is rotting in hell.

I only said the "great entertainer" thing to defuse all the bloody MJ fans, they are crazy you know, I didn't want to pick a fight with them. No idea if the child molestation is true or not but him changing his skin colour/race = not cool. I personally don't like his music but I at least have to admit he was popular. Don't like Elvis either... but nobody can deny he WAS also poplar.

And why would it be inherently embarrassing to be gay? If you have a 1/2 inch dick you effectively can't enjoy sex, that is inherently a bad thing as regardless of which gender you prefer all of our lives ultimately revolve around sex. I mean if either IRL or online you met a Lesbian who was open about being attracted to females would you tease her about it? I think far more likely you would be titillated by the thought. This double standard of perving over lesbians and vile hatred of gays makes online a horrible place for 4-7% of gamers.

I am no different though. Lesbians kissing are hot and gays... eugh... but I at least have the COMMON DECENCY not to be a complete douchebag to them and RESPECT them enough to not grief them. Tolerance is not some hippy bullshit, it is about being a man and not a little kid, learning to show some fucking respect to other human beings. Especially team-mates.

We may be trying to kill each other with chainsaw bayonets but have you not heard of chivalry?

 

[cobra_ky]

Spoiler

[

3)Why would I want to go be gay for a week...or even a milisecond. I'm straight. And I am an antihomosexualist. Why would I want to go be gay?

I'm think it is awesome that you "chose" to be straight.

I think it's awesome too!

I am curious, of course .... when and how did you first decide that you were a heterosexual? Was it a fear of people of the same sex? Is it possible that your heterosexuality could be a phase that you will grow out of? *smiles sweetly*

I was born a man. That's when I decided I was straight. If I was meant to get it on with men, I would have been a woman. It seems a simple-enough concept to me! *Smiles Sweetly*

you're not even making sense. first off you have no memory of your birth, and you probably had no concept of gender or sexual orientation then either. second, you claim you made your "choice" based solely on your gender, which you did not choose.

if you were "meant" to get it on with men, maybe you would have been born gay.

I cant imagine why someone would want to be a democrat or a Nazi, but people choose to be those things as well.

i can't imagine why someone would want cancer, and people don't choose that. i'll ask again, what makes you think homosexuality is a choice?

 

[Iseryn]

I was born a man. That's when I decided I was straight. If I was meant to get it on with men, I would have been a woman. It seems a simple-enough concept to me! *Smiles Sweetly*

This does not make sense to me. Please explain why you believe that you being born a man makes you straight, and also why you believe that you are capable of 'choosing' your sexuality immediately upon birth.

I'm impressed that you were born an adult, rather than a boy