Gregory Wollf said:
I like it. I'm glad Microsoft is moderating content that comes from their systems.
Er... no, actually, moderating is what they're not doing. The root word here is moderate, aka,
"kept or keeping within reasonable or proper limits; not extreme, excessive, or intense: a moderate price." "Moderating" content would be what other people have suggested in this thread and on forums around the net: use your XBL profiles' ages to determine what content that account can and cannot access. If someone uploads a video, they can use tags or the upload form to indicate the video has swearing (which would age gate it to over 13s) or intense violence/sexual references/whatever else (which would age gate it to over 18s). "Moderating" would be then checking to make sure the videos uploaded conform to the categories in which they've been put, and you'd be able to let children game "in safety" without ham-handedly censoring adults at the same time.
Because that's what it is; censorship. They are not moderating, because the approach they're taking is nonsensical, illogical and extreme. They're censoring all content, apparently unaware of their ability to simply make age gates, like most content providers in the last 40 years. What you are supporting is blanket censorship of every piece of content in lieu of an actual sensible response to the issue. Are you really okay with that?
Gaming culture needs to step it up if we want to be taken seriously
Yes, because speaking English and using common English-language words and euphemisms makes us less worthy of being taken seriously. Remember when books, movies and music had to blanket censor all their content, banning every person who made a book, movie or song with adult language or themes, to be accessible to the 10-and-under crowd in order to be accepted as a medium?
Oh... wait. They didn't. Because that would have been fucking retarded.
They simply put a labeling system on their media, warning consumers on the front of the DVD case or CD cover what they can expect as far as adult language. Sort of what rational people expected Microsoft to do here. (And, as an amusing aside, most books don't even have that; you're just expected to know what it contains before passing it off to children. Microsoft should clearly start banning books).
and I think this is a step in the right direction. There are times when swearing is appropriate and even tasteful
And that time is absolutely never, according to Microsoft, apparently unaware that great art from theatre to music to novels have had swearing for longer than they've even been a company.
The problem here is that you're attempting to apply "moderate" logic to a situation in which no moderation is present; Microsoft is blanket censoring all content regardless of anything, and you're trying to defend it with things like "there are times when swearing is appropriate and even tasteful..." apparently unaware that Microsoft is banning it ENTIRELY, so even those times when it is appropriate and tasteful are liable to be punished.
Protecting kids is obviously an important thing. But the market isn't about children. It's not the 80s anymore; 10-and-unders aren't the primary demographic. I would think this is painfully obvious given the biggest console franchises being stuff like Medal of Gears of Calladoody: The Dudebro Edition: This Time With A Dog. It's alright if the companies take steps to protect the children playing, with parental controls and age gates to block off adult content. That's *fine*. But it's not fine when they punish the entire userbase for an absolutely pants on head retarded decision to blanket ban all adult content because they're too incompetent to make any kind of an age gate. And that's what Microsoft is doing here. And that's what you're supporting.
Are you really okay with that?