Rule one of Internet anonymity: you can be a dick. Anytime, anywhere, and there are no consequences. This rule has somehow managed to drip over to Xbox LIVE, where you can be called any colorful racial or sexual slur with hardly a thought. It seems fans of the F-bomb will soon have their cereal peed in, however, I couldn't be happier to hear the news.
The U.S. Patent office has granted Microsoft a brand-spanking-new patent to censor audio streams real-time. Know what that means, kids? The days of talking to strangers like the scum of the earth are soon to be over. Of course, this also may make the Agent Mulders of the world a bit nervous, as it also means that anything else could technically be censored as well.
Do you think this is a good thing .. or an advancement with scary potential?
[Via GamePolitics -- Thanks, Joe]
| 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
|
98 comments | showing # 1 to 50
|
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:
10:46 AM on 10.20.2008
| 
prepare for an even more annoying onslaught of "fizucking hizomo" on XBL.
As anyone who has played on Live knows, the voice chat sound quality is one shade shy of abysmal, so who wants to bet that this real time censoring will frequently misinterpret your perfectly acceptable conversation as profanity? I imagine everyone sounding like they're cutting in and out constantly.
Not only that, but adding another layer between the voice being spoken and played back could make for some pretty annoying speech lag. Not as big a deal as actual game lag, but if you communicate with a team frequently it could get annoying.
I suppose in the unlikely event that they sidestep these issues with something like this, it might be okay. Honestly though, I think the mute buttons work pretty good.
Yeah except 95% of people can't just talk trash...they throw in all kinds of highly inappropriate slurs. Then there are also the idiots who thinks it's so funny to play annoying music into the mic for the whole game. If they can filter that stuff out, then please bring it on.
Honestly I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm against censorship but many people do and say things that I feel voids their right to free speech.
I still have absolutely no interest in talking to anyone, online or off line, while I'm playing a videogame. However, if I ever did, I now could do so without getting cussed out by strangers.
Again, FUCK THIS SHIT.
I hope it's a damn sight better than that which comes with windows, because that couldn't tell a "fuck" from a "I've got your back, friend"
On the plus side, if it works in practice, maybe Nintendo will take notes and put some effort into beefing up their next console with an online experience that's more than a punchline.
It's not really a freedom-of-speech thing for me, its more that now i'll have no point of reference to define the people who i'd actually like on my friends list.
But on CoD4, I hardly ever hear trash talking and vulgar language. Unless I'm playing with my friends, who start the trash talking.
I'm not thrilled about this, but I think it's good for people with families that want to play online. It's good and bad.
i wonder if they'll censor GAY next?
i wonder if they'll censor GAY next?
I'm sure this will be something implemented under the parental controls as Danmartigan had mentioned. My only question is will this be something you can restrict to people not listed in your friends list?
If anything it'll force people to follow Sterling's example and invent new and exciting ways to curse or at the very least give way to a whole slew of obscene amalgams.
My new misogynistic insult is Twat-Rocket!™
LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!
oh nevermind. it's too late.
As long at it doesn't pull false positives and block words like luck, sit, flag, bunt then I am okay with it.
Also this could introduce a significant delay... Think how long it takes to say motherfucker slowly - the system might need to crunch words one at a time or have a buffer set to the longest phrase it can handle
So does not apply to me i got a 5 star appoveal rating.
I have no issues with this.
But seriously. Will this include chatting to friends? Because thats nonsense, I would want to be able to swear with/at my friends. Reeks of invasion of privacy.
Thankfully it'd be unlikely to happen in Britain, listening in on chat would likely break the law here. The easy solution is to 1/2/3/4/perma week ban anyone who think it's ok to run around swearing their heads off for no apparent reason, after they've been confirmed as knobs. They'll soon learn, or just bugger off. (Possible by reporting players then have MS Admins check them out?)
it could work....