http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/02/25/getting_gay_on_xbox_live Comments On: Getting Gay on Xbox Live by Sam Machkovech en-us Copyright 2009 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0800 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:45:00 -0800 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
Posted by PS3isbetter]]> Fri, 01 May 2009 11:40:12 -0700 The Stranger Posted by PS3isbetter]]> Fri, 01 May 2009 11:38:49 -0700 The Stranger
I've been in constructive discussions with Microsoft since the beginning of this year with regards to their gamertag and other XBox Live policies.

I have a post up about it here - http://glaadblog.org/2009/02/26/xbox-liv…

Please check it out.
Posted by Justin Cole, GLAAD]]> Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:28:30 -0800 The Stranger
I worked on an article about this very subject (MS banning Richard Gaywood and other gamers who included the word gay in their gamertags/usernames) for a national monthly magazine last year (unfortunately the story was killed because of MS' refusal to comment), and MS refused to comment in any way. My contact pointed to the Xbox Live terms of service and that was it. He did not indicate that MS thought it was a problem or that it was being looked into. One of MS' employees has posted a bit about the situation on his blog and on Twitter, but even then the basic explanation is "it's against our terms of service."

All you have to do is talk to a few of the folks who have been banned in this manner (esp. Richard Gaywood) to understand how inept MS has been to date in addressing this situation...
Posted by Seattle gaymer]]> Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:50:22 -0800 The Stranger
By 8 year old boys on xBox Live!

(at least that's what they sound like on my headset)
Posted by Clueless N00b Gamer]]> Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:40:06 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Jinny]]> Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:32:32 -0800 The Stranger
"As far as we know, Microsoft is unwlling to reconsider this position"

Way to absolve yourself of doing any actual journalism, Meg.

Despite scepticism from other blogs that bias is a factor and evidence from Microsoft that it has been working on a solution, likely since the issue originally arose last year, there is still no update at Consumerist. I guess it's all about the pageviews after all.

Meg Marco - Getting it wrong and leaving it that way at Internet speed.
Posted by The Gay Curmudgeon]]> Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:45:45 -0800 The Stranger
"Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total Fuckwad"

Man that's hilarious! Thanks! BTW, I didn't think that you were being dismissive. Cheers!
Posted by Syzygy]]> Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:43:21 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Sam M.]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:38:13 -0800 The Stranger The problem is that doing that would make using voice communication all sorts of lame because of the lag. Also, people would find a way around the roadblocks by changing the pitch or tempo of their voice or publishing the banned words and creating new ones. But yes, you're absolutely right, the processing would be better spent on creating fun rather than limitations.
For those who are intolerant of the language on XBox live or any other gaming chat rooms, I second #22's suggestion about taking the headphones off and playing with friends.
Maybe I'm being a little inflammatory here but I'd wager to say that while there is quite a bit of homophobia out there, the majority of the language on XBox live is more a reflection of the personal sexual insecurities of young adults and the transferrence of angst in other parts of their lives to a venue that feels safe to verbally abuse strangers. Not unlike the comments section in the SLOG (see #25). I believe that this is the case, rather than a reflection of the actual moral and social opinions of smack talking gamers.
Posted by Syzygy]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:29:44 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Joh]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:09:01 -0800 The Stranger
Also: it's sexual orientation, not "preference."
Posted by Jeremy]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:49:44 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Sam M.]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:41:26 -0800 The Stranger Posted by RL]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:01:47 -0800 The Stranger "Now, if they could get around to magically filtering the system's voice chat, then maybe I wouldn't hear tweens call me a "fucking niggerfagjew" whenever I kill them."

I'm an audio designer who works on video games. This is an issue that we want to fix as well. A few options are available, muting offensive players, hosting "no-foul-language" rooms and reducing the number of players that you can communicate with at any given point in time. Each of these comes with it's own technical challenges. Voice recognition isn't to the point where it can filter speech in real time based off of keywords. One of the issues with this technology is that the speech would need to be delayed so that there would be time to analyze the content before broadcasting it. Even if this did happen, the keyword database would need to be continually updated as gamers found more creative ways to insult each other. Gamers might resort to insults such as "glutton of scatalogical effluence!" or "Flacid manhandler!" All homophones to potentially foul language could get banned. The censors would need to ask themselves if words like cockeyed, manhole and uranus should be banned. I'm sure if this happened, there would be even more complaints about censorship, freedom of speech, etc... Nonetheless, it is an issue that we all want to address so as to create the best game experience possible for all gamers.
Posted by Syzygy]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:34:40 -0800 The Stranger Posted by elswinger]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:04:54 -0800 The Stranger Posted by I Got Nuthin']]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:18:55 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Seriously]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:11:24 -0800 The Stranger
When I'm breaking into the poker room, and the terrorists have a lady gagged under a slot machine, I don't ask if the guy or gal laying down suppression fire for me whether he or she gets it on in the showers afterward.

Man, up gamers.


Posted by Sgt. Rockbot (Mrs.)]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:03:24 -0800 The Stranger
Not to mention the fact that the burden of evidence for a blog post is often equal to or approaching zero.
Posted by Arsenic7]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:02:03 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Thought I Saw A Bum]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:00:14 -0800 The Stranger
Oh wait, you didn't? Fucking hypocrite.
Posted by mojo mojito]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:56:53 -0800 The Stranger Posted by gay buttsex is more important than anything else]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:55:17 -0800 The Stranger Posted by ryan]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:52:01 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Guess it's time to retire "AllNightCarpetMunch"]]> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:50:25 -0800 The Stranger