Topher's Halo 3: Homophobia Evolved post showed us a video documenting what happened to a gamer named "xxx GayBoy xxx" after jumping in to an online game of Halo 3. Word of the homophobic video is out, and now Xbox Live's Major Nelson responds and offers some advice in an email to GayGamer.
I just watched (listened) to the video you posted on your site. Needless to say, it was disappointing to see how some Xbox LIVE members behave. As you know, that is not the type of behavior we support. With over 8-million members, it's unfortunate that some members decide to act like this. I want to point out a few things that ALL Xbox Live members can do to ensure a enjoyable experience:
1) Play online only with friends.
2) Turn off voice from non-friends. This is a system level setting that work across all games, and as you can imagine, will only allow you to hear what your friends will say. You can find details on how to set it up here http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/familysettings/live/xbox360/familysettings-communications.htm
I also want to let your readers know that if they EVER encounter behavior like that in any game, they should use the in dash feedback system to file a complaint:
3) File a complaint. Using the dashboard complaint system, file a communications complaint. We DO act on complaints, so I highly encourage people file complaints where appropriate. Details on how to file a complaint here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908640?sd=xbox
Also, I'd be happy to play with you and some of your readers sometime as well.
Good on Major Nelson for responding. These recommended actions will help avoid such interactions, but it doesn't change the fact that Xbox Live has some stupid people among its users.
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
Meet the rest of the team
| BBcode help |
| [b]Bold text[/b] |
Bold text |
| [i]Italic text[/i] |
Italic text |
| [url]http://www.dtoid.com/[/url] |
http://www.dtoid.com |
| [url=http://www.dtoid.com/]Web link[/url] |
Web link |
|
| [img]http://www.example.com/robot.jpg[/img] |
 |
Post a comment! You can also post a photo below:
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
47 comments | showing # 1 to 47
|
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
Comments policy
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
9:46 AM on 11.28.2007
| 
I am surprised you can do this, but I would definitely enable the option if I had a 360. I don't want to talk with people I don't know on XBL, that's for sure.
The only gamertags that dont really get attention now are deez nuts or d33z nutz or de3z nu7z or any other combination of that stupid GT. I use the same one as here and I get idiots asking if its for the football team. God forbid the word Patriot existed before the NFL.
That said, if this is representative of the general voice-chat experience when going on Xbox Live... Yeah, turning off voice chat sounds like a good idea when I do get a 360.
What's a worse response after an individual proves your community sucks:
1) Tell the individual that they, in fact, broke the TOS.
2) Take it in stride, and offer options on how to reduce unwanted hazing on XBL.
They aren't mutually exclusive, but if I had to choose I'd take option 2 over option 1.
I'm sure he would. *wink*
From a marketing standpoint, you are correct. From a common sense standpoint, I am correct (without breaking the TOS and making the inflammatory gamer tag, this story wouldn't even exist). Can't we all just get along?
also it's not a phobia.. the guy wasn't fearful :)
oh and WELCOME TO XBOX LIVE!!
My tag "wonky" often gets "wanky" online, unfortunate, I know, but hey, shit happens - wear a helmet. Who says there are no klans in halo, eh.
That said, as a 5-year Live subscriber, things have improved DRAMATICALLY since the 360 dropped, and all of its new accountability softwares built in. I've played a good bit of Halo 3 online since its release and only a sparse few times have I come across utter fucktards.
As a whole, I think this is just what happens when you give anonymous people a microphone and no filter, and just enough material to provoke a response. I think it's more damning to humanity and the internet in general than it is to Live specifically.
Still sucks though.
"Also, I'd be happy to play with you and some of your readers sometime as well."
Why don't you start or join some games, encounter said incidents like this, bann their dumbasses, rinse and repeat.
Super cereal, I've tried to stop using the word gay as an expletive and I'll admit that it's hard. (...again no pun intended.)
Also,shitcocks
This isn't shocking or revealing of anything that we didn't know. Hell if I walked down the street wearing a t shirt that says gayboy I would expect the same thing.
It's like I make a name called "small penis" and then I get mad that all the 8 year olds online are yelling "hey small penis! i bet you have a small penis! I bet you never get laid. haha"
absolutely retarded. If anyone should be banned, its him.
That being said, they're still idiots.
And in case it wasn’t obvious enough, I don’t agree with Knives either. Homosexuality, specifically in this country, is something that evokes more negativity and outright hate than race (currently) does, if you ask me. While Neo-Nazis and the KKK, for example, are fringe groups that haven’t been relevant for decades, there are thousands upon thousands of preachers (among plenty of other people, like staunch conservatives) across the nation leading fervent anti-gay groups — with mainstream acceptance, mind you. It has been okay to be black, Asian, Hispanic, or any other ethnicity for a while now. But being gay is still not accepted by a large portion of Americans, and that’s sad, to say the least. (Full disclosure: I’m 100% straight, and the only reason I felt the need to affirm that is because of my previous sentence.)
But what do you expect with a gamertag like that on Live, milk and fucking cookies on a silver platter?
Substitute most sexual jokes for a "being poor" joke, keep all the hate comments and add some "GTFO of my country!" mentions and that's what me and my non D-toid friends get whenever we play something and keep talking in spanish.(besides some idiotic ones that confuse the language with french, british english or arabic and do insults about gayness, the accent or being terrorists.)
For the record, I wasn't trying to say that he was asking for it, just that, sadly, it is typical XBL behavior.