In Defense of Xbox Live

[EzraPound]

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

"It's no secret" is a cliché; the statement is a little clunky.

racial epithets and gay bashing that rivals what you'd hear in any schoolyard or sailors' convention

"schoolyard is a cliché; 'sailors' convention' is a weak metaphor.

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's not good to use judgemental terminology like "garbage" or "repulsive", generally, as it has the effect of making you sound too emphatic. Also, the whole statement is far too didactic, and you effectively reveal yourself as being young by taking such a harsh view of the 'tween' crowd and making cliché allusions to their toys.

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.

Once again, too emphatic: the tone isn't one of genuine analysis.

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.

You're using too many sentences that are quick-paced and based on apostrophes. Additionally, the writing voice you've assumed - "I'd like to take this opportunity" - isn't very memorable.

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.

'teamwork minded good sports' is weak, but I like this sentence.

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.

You're using way too many clichés here: it's not necessary to refer to the antagonizing players as 'bad apples' or 'potty mouths', just describe them as they are and alternate your verbiage for variety. 'ownership of their online experiences' is a roundabout way of saying something that could be phrased more simply.

More later...

 

[Yog Sothoth]

thank you very much.... this is the sort of in-depth critique i was seeking... and thanks for saying i at least sound young... is 33 still young? lol...

you've given me a good deal to consider about my overall tone and voice; i hadn't even realized how many cliches i had used!

the only thing that is a little unclear to me is your use of the adjective emphatic in this context... perhaps that shows that i don't know as much about journalism as i'd thought, but i'm really not sure what to make of that assertion... would it be too much trouble to ask you to elaborate, or possibly give me an example of how you might re-write one of the offending sentences or paragraphs?

and i do agree that the voice i'd assumed here was not very memorable or even likable... honestly, i don't think that i'm very happy with the final result of this piece... i was excited when i started writing it, but after it was completed and i'd read it a few times, i found it somewhat distasteful... there are some things i like about it, but i know that i can do better...

More later...

i look forward to it!

 

[Eternal_Rapture]

Ive never had a problem with people on live (except for the occasional team killer), probably because I mute everyone I come across who is just plain annoying. I love the mute button.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

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.

You're using too many sentences that are quick-paced and based on apostrophes. Additionally, the writing voice you've assumed - "I'd like to take this opportunity" - isn't very memorable.

This ' is an apostraphe. This , is a comma.

My Live experience has been generally positive on Halo 3 at least. I count about 12 team-killers, 5 annoying idiots, and 3 people who wouldn't turn down their fraking music (the music of one of these was an endless loop of a 12 second piece of god-aweful techno, that's why they have a mute button ).

 

[DirkGently]

If there is a problem with Live, it's indeed that people would rather complain about how dreadful some people are in it than actually hit a button that tells Live that "here be arseholes". I mean, seriously, it's too much effort to report the people making your game experience miserable? What does that say about you.

Exercise your thumbs more and your lips less. Or, at the very least, put your money where your mouth is and report the bastards you're complaining about.

-- Steve

Because that's valuable energy that could be spent bitching and complaining, of course. Also, then you'd have to stop playing for, what, forty-five seconds?

 

[roblikestoskate]

To be fair, stuff like that is completely forgiven when you log in to a COD lobby and everyone there is singing Queen's "Don't stop me now".
That was one of the best things ever.

that is amazing. i need to play more COD.

I also feel like some games have a better defined community than others. Halo is almost too big to be good without finding a suitable website of like-minded players. games like Super SF II HD Remix have a great community. everyone i've met has been polite and constructive about competition.

 

[Yog Sothoth]

To be fair, stuff like that is completely forgiven when you log in to a COD lobby and everyone there is singing Queen's "Don't stop me now".
That was one of the best things ever.

that is amazing. i need to play more COD.

I also feel like some games have a better defined community than others. Halo is almost too big to be good without finding a suitable website of like-minded players. games like Super SF II HD Remix have a great community. everyone i've met has been polite and constructive about competition.

most of my experiences have been positive as well, but i've seen the live community take a good deal of bashing here and other places, which was my inspiration for writing this...

and i have had my share of bad experiences as well... some kid actually called me a fag and accused me of trying to hack his account after i refused to give him a trial code.....

 

[Jalhalla]

I think the problem is the games more than the actual experience.

I found that like 90% of the time, the "tweens" or just racist, abusive people were on Halo 3. Because it was a new, popular, easy-minded game. When Call of Duty 4 graced us, there was much less of the abuse and cursing, because it was aimed at a more adult audience.

May just be me though...

 

[Yog Sothoth]

I think the problem is the games more than the actual experience.

I found that like 90% of the time, the "tweens" or just racist, abusive people were on Halo 3. Because it was a new, popular, easy-minded game. When Call of Duty 4 graced us, there was much less of the abuse and cursing, because it was aimed at a more adult audience.

May just be me though...

no, i agree 100%... the halo community attracts many of the younger kids, because it doesn't require a great deal of strategy to be good at it... but left4dead seems to gather smarter team players, because anything less will get you killed in various nasty ways....

 

[Snotnarok]

Everyone wants a perfect experience, especially when you've paid for the service, but sadly you can't always have it, this I've discovered is because of people being reluctant to use the mute player button. Perhaps it's because they feel between being called a n***** and a fa**** the buffoon might say, "Hey chum, look out behind you there's a fellow wielding a knife!" and you turn and finish off the foe followed by a high five by your dark skin hating friend.

Or maybe they're just too lazy to go to the mute or avoid player button, and would just rather complain about it later on a forum. I run into people doing all sorts of stupid things, not just on XBL either, in Team Fortress 2 I've muted over a dozen players blasting music or screaming into their mics. Everyone has their definition of fun and some peoples definition is being an ass.

To sum up my small rant, the Mute Player button the most helpful button you can use next to primary fire and jump, if the game or service provides this option, then you should use it. If they're not being helpful or they're being annoying, chances are the next time you run into them it'll be the same thing.

 

[Kermi]

If there is a problem with Live, it's indeed that people would rather complain about how dreadful some people are in it than actually hit a button that tells Live that "here be arseholes". I mean, seriously, it's too much effort to report the people making your game experience miserable? What does that say about you.

Exercise your thumbs more and your lips less. Or, at the very least, put your money where your mouth is and report the bastards you're complaining about

-- Steve

I avoid/report every person who does something offensive. Every single one.

And I have no complaints about the XBL community.

 

[Yog Sothoth]

Everyone wants a perfect experience, especially when you've paid for the service, but sadly you can't always have it, this I've discovered is because of people being reluctant to use the mute player button. Perhaps it's because they feel between being called a n***** and a fa**** the buffoon might say, "Hey chum, look out behind you there's a fellow wielding a knife!" and you turn and finish off the foe followed by a high five by your dark skin hating friend.

Or maybe they're just too lazy to go to the mute or avoid player button, and would just rather complain about it later on a forum. I run into people doing all sorts of stupid things, not just on XBL either, in Team Fortress 2 I've muted over a dozen players blasting music or screaming into their mics. Everyone has their definition of fun and some peoples definition is being an ass.

To sum up my small rant, the Mute Player button the most helpful button you can use next to primary fire and jump, if the game or service provides this option, then you should use it. If they're not being helpful or they're being annoying, chances are the next time you run into them it'll be the same thing.

if you use the "avoid player" button, you're almost guaranteed to never run into them again...

 

[Yog Sothoth]

Please understand that it's not just bad mouthed kids that are a problem on Xbox live. People who mod their controls, glitch, and are just unbearably annoying show up in every other game. Reporting them does virtually nothing. I've known people with 80% avoidance with a 5 star rating by their gamertag. They still seem to cheat and be annoying all the time, and Xbox live does nothing to prevent or discourage it. And the consumers shouldn't have to work at playing a game without being annoyed or cheated. It ruins the whole thing for everybody. ...

while glitching is against the live ToS, you're right that microsoft doesn't seem to do anything about those guilty of this... their approach seems to be that it's the responsibility of the developers to close these loopholes...

modding your xbox, on the other hand, will get you perma-banned if they catch you at it... major nelson recently made an announcement that they had "bricked" a number of users they had caught doing this...

 

[Snotnarok]

Everyone wants a perfect experience, especially when you've paid for the service, but sadly you can't always have it, this I've discovered is because of people being reluctant to use the mute player button. Perhaps it's because they feel between being called a n***** and a fa**** the buffoon might say, "Hey chum, look out behind you there's a fellow wielding a knife!" and you turn and finish off the foe followed by a high five by your dark skin hating friend.

Or maybe they're just too lazy to go to the mute or avoid player button, and would just rather complain about it later on a forum. I run into people doing all sorts of stupid things, not just on XBL either, in Team Fortress 2 I've muted over a dozen players blasting music or screaming into their mics. Everyone has their definition of fun and some peoples definition is being an ass.

To sum up my small rant, the Mute Player button the most helpful button you can use next to primary fire and jump, if the game or service provides this option, then you should use it. If they're not being helpful or they're being annoying, chances are the next time you run into them it'll be the same thing.

if you use the "avoid player" button, you're almost guaranteed to never run into them again...

That too, I forgot to put that in there, thanks for that. But yeah it's a matter of using one button over the other and either one is fine and keeps the stress off you while he can babble on all the racist, moronic comments he/she/it wants

 

[KissofKetchup]

If only Microsoft would take a page from PC gaming and allow people to se up their own servers where they can monitor the content and boot and kick players who are being rude and offensive. I personally only really play online multiplayer on my PC, and I think it may be that subconsciously I'm sick and tired of all of the stupid crap that people say online. Thankfully I can avoid this when I'm playing TF2 by going to servers that have admins that can and will kick/ban these kind of a@&holes.

 

[Yog Sothoth]

If only Microsoft would take a page from PC gaming and allow people to se up their own servers where they can monitor the content and boot and kick players who are being rude and offensive. I personally only really play online multiplayer on my PC, and I think it may be that subconsciously I'm sick and tired of all of the stupid crap that people say online. Thankfully I can avoid this when I'm playing TF2 by going to servers that have admins that can and will kick/ban these kind of a@&holes.

yes, that would be great... good idea!

 

[KissofKetchup]

If only Microsoft would take a page from PC gaming and allow people to se up their own servers where they can monitor the content and boot and kick players who are being rude and offensive. I personally only really play online multiplayer on my PC, and I think it may be that subconsciously I'm sick and tired of all of the stupid crap that people say online. Thankfully I can avoid this when I'm playing TF2 by going to servers that have admins that can and will kick/ban these kind of a@&holes.

yes, that would be great... good idea!

Unfortunately I doubt that this kind of thing will ever happen though, mainly because it would cause Microsoft to lose some control over Xbox live, and I don't think that they would really like that. Plus I think the many people would really do it because the Xbox 360 caters to the more casual crowd who probably wouldn't go out and buy and set up a server let alone know how to.