this is the first piece of serious writing i've felt compelled to submit here. feedback of any kind is appreciated, whether it's a critique of my writing style or addressing the topic itself...
In Defense of Xbox Live
It's no secret that if you jump into a public game of Halo 3 on Xbox Live, you will most assuredly hear some of the most offensive cursing, racial epithets and gay bashing that rivals what you'd hear in any schoolyard or sailors' convention. And in many cases, those spouting such garbage are part of the "tween" crowd - children who are not yet teenagers, but who have put down their Transformers and G.I. Joes in favor of more advanced forms of playing, and who've not yet matured enough to realize that such behavior is repulsive to most adults.
It is for this reason that the Xbox Live community has earned a reputation as a wasteland of online gaming, offering only the worst of what the multiplayer gaming community as a whole has to offer. While I will not argue that there are many players on Live who fit this profile, I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the mistakes that lead well intentioned players into matches where they might be insulted or offended, and some of the tools at their disposal to avoid such problems in the first place.
First, I want to point out that many people seem to feel that it is the responsibility of Microsoft and the Live team to furnish them with a built-in community and/or contact list of mature, teamwork minded good sports. After all, they paid for a gold membership subscription in addition to their Xbox360, game library, and internet connection, so why shouldn't Microsoft do more to screen out the bad apples, cheaters and potty mouths? It is my feeling that gold members should start taking more ownership of their online experiences.
Every person who holds a gold account has as much right to use the service as anyone else, so long as they abide by the terms of service and code of conduct set forth by Microsoft, or at least don't get caught violating them. It's apparent that many Live users are satisfied to play in public games and either put up with the trash talk, mute the players that offend them, or actually join in. And for those who feel that way, who are we to tell them to change their ways? What sort of language and behavior do you think you'd witness if you wandered onto a public school field and joined in with whatever game was being played at the moment? We all know that children and teenagers can be cruel, callous and self-centered. They're just starting to define their voices, opinions and personalities, and feel that they have something to prove. Many of these kids have moved away from the baseball fields and pick-up football games to the online arena - Halo and Gears of War death-matches are the new proving grounds.
Taking this analogy a step farther, if an adult wanted to get into a game of basketball or other organized sport, he'd be poorly served by looking for it in the public park. In order to ensure that all of his teammates and opponents are good sports and mature adults, he'd get a group of his friends together, seek out an established league, or start one of his own. There is nothing stopping an adult Xbox Live member from doing the same...
The official Xbox Live forums are a great place to start. This is a place where players can seek out like-minded gamers to add to their friend lists. Teams, clans and organized games are regularly planned here, and for many this is the first point of contact with pre-existing groups, guilds and teams. Likewise, gamers who are more interested in team-killing and exploiting glitches can also meet up and arrange their next session to avoid involving parties who would rather play the game in question as intended. It takes only a small amount of effort to ask around and find a group that is a good fit for you, whatever your preferred playing style may be.
One example of a high-quality group can be found at the official web site of the racing simulator, Forza Motorsport 2. At ForzaMotorsport.net [http://forzamotorsport.net] players can organize tournaments, buy and sell cars, seek out or recruit for racing teams, offer their tuning (mechanic) services, or just show off their hottest paint schemes. The forums there are moderated with almost Nazi-like fervor to keep out the bad elements who would spoil the serious business of racing that's conducted there. Serious Forza fans would be well served to visit this site before jumping into an online race.
Now let's examine the tools built into Xbox Live that help gamers enjoys their online sessions, and avoid the players that annoy or upset them. The first, of course, is your friend list. I can't stress enough that it is up to the user to populate this contact list with the kind of people you want to play with. If you add players solely for the reason that they play the same games as you do, you'll probably be in for a rude awakening when you discover that their values and maturity levels don't match your own.
Digging a bit deeper, you can find buttons labeled "Prefer Player" and "Avoid Player" if you examine the profile of someone you've recently played a match with. This is a very simple and effective way of steering clear of the players you don't like, and increasing the odds of being matched with players you do get along with. It's also worth mentioning that you can mute any player in any game, and some games even have this option available with a single button press. And of course there is the "File Complaint" button, found in the same place as the "Prefer/Avoid Player" option. Complaints can be narrowed down to abuse of text or voice chat, poor sportsmanship, cheating or a couple of other qualifiers. Microsoft takes all complaints seriously and investigates every single one of them. There's a common misconception that many complaints need to be filed before any action is taken - the truth is that one valid complaint will yield more results that a thousand bogus ones; it's the quality if the report that matters, not the quantity.
They keys to having fun and meeting good people on Xbox Live are in the hands of every user. They need only be educated about the options and tools at their disposal and their proper use in order to avoid the griefers and bad sports who would ruin it for everyone else. There is a rich and rewarding Live community just under it's tarnished surface; you just need to look a little harder for it.
In Defense of Xbox Live
It's no secret that if you jump into a public game of Halo 3 on Xbox Live, you will most assuredly hear some of the most offensive cursing, racial epithets and gay bashing that rivals what you'd hear in any schoolyard or sailors' convention. And in many cases, those spouting such garbage are part of the "tween" crowd - children who are not yet teenagers, but who have put down their Transformers and G.I. Joes in favor of more advanced forms of playing, and who've not yet matured enough to realize that such behavior is repulsive to most adults.
It is for this reason that the Xbox Live community has earned a reputation as a wasteland of online gaming, offering only the worst of what the multiplayer gaming community as a whole has to offer. While I will not argue that there are many players on Live who fit this profile, I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the mistakes that lead well intentioned players into matches where they might be insulted or offended, and some of the tools at their disposal to avoid such problems in the first place.
First, I want to point out that many people seem to feel that it is the responsibility of Microsoft and the Live team to furnish them with a built-in community and/or contact list of mature, teamwork minded good sports. After all, they paid for a gold membership subscription in addition to their Xbox360, game library, and internet connection, so why shouldn't Microsoft do more to screen out the bad apples, cheaters and potty mouths? It is my feeling that gold members should start taking more ownership of their online experiences.
Every person who holds a gold account has as much right to use the service as anyone else, so long as they abide by the terms of service and code of conduct set forth by Microsoft, or at least don't get caught violating them. It's apparent that many Live users are satisfied to play in public games and either put up with the trash talk, mute the players that offend them, or actually join in. And for those who feel that way, who are we to tell them to change their ways? What sort of language and behavior do you think you'd witness if you wandered onto a public school field and joined in with whatever game was being played at the moment? We all know that children and teenagers can be cruel, callous and self-centered. They're just starting to define their voices, opinions and personalities, and feel that they have something to prove. Many of these kids have moved away from the baseball fields and pick-up football games to the online arena - Halo and Gears of War death-matches are the new proving grounds.
Taking this analogy a step farther, if an adult wanted to get into a game of basketball or other organized sport, he'd be poorly served by looking for it in the public park. In order to ensure that all of his teammates and opponents are good sports and mature adults, he'd get a group of his friends together, seek out an established league, or start one of his own. There is nothing stopping an adult Xbox Live member from doing the same...
The official Xbox Live forums are a great place to start. This is a place where players can seek out like-minded gamers to add to their friend lists. Teams, clans and organized games are regularly planned here, and for many this is the first point of contact with pre-existing groups, guilds and teams. Likewise, gamers who are more interested in team-killing and exploiting glitches can also meet up and arrange their next session to avoid involving parties who would rather play the game in question as intended. It takes only a small amount of effort to ask around and find a group that is a good fit for you, whatever your preferred playing style may be.
One example of a high-quality group can be found at the official web site of the racing simulator, Forza Motorsport 2. At ForzaMotorsport.net [http://forzamotorsport.net] players can organize tournaments, buy and sell cars, seek out or recruit for racing teams, offer their tuning (mechanic) services, or just show off their hottest paint schemes. The forums there are moderated with almost Nazi-like fervor to keep out the bad elements who would spoil the serious business of racing that's conducted there. Serious Forza fans would be well served to visit this site before jumping into an online race.
Now let's examine the tools built into Xbox Live that help gamers enjoys their online sessions, and avoid the players that annoy or upset them. The first, of course, is your friend list. I can't stress enough that it is up to the user to populate this contact list with the kind of people you want to play with. If you add players solely for the reason that they play the same games as you do, you'll probably be in for a rude awakening when you discover that their values and maturity levels don't match your own.
Digging a bit deeper, you can find buttons labeled "Prefer Player" and "Avoid Player" if you examine the profile of someone you've recently played a match with. This is a very simple and effective way of steering clear of the players you don't like, and increasing the odds of being matched with players you do get along with. It's also worth mentioning that you can mute any player in any game, and some games even have this option available with a single button press. And of course there is the "File Complaint" button, found in the same place as the "Prefer/Avoid Player" option. Complaints can be narrowed down to abuse of text or voice chat, poor sportsmanship, cheating or a couple of other qualifiers. Microsoft takes all complaints seriously and investigates every single one of them. There's a common misconception that many complaints need to be filed before any action is taken - the truth is that one valid complaint will yield more results that a thousand bogus ones; it's the quality if the report that matters, not the quantity.
They keys to having fun and meeting good people on Xbox Live are in the hands of every user. They need only be educated about the options and tools at their disposal and their proper use in order to avoid the griefers and bad sports who would ruin it for everyone else. There is a rich and rewarding Live community just under it's tarnished surface; you just need to look a little harder for it.
