Hey everybody! Just thought I'd share this article I got in an email from IGN. It's talking about LGBT hate in online gaming, specifically Xbox Live.
You can read the article here:
http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/106/1060720p1.html?_cmpid=ign40 (http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/106/1060720p1.html?_cmpid=ign40)
And, I wanted to add, we need a gaming section in here!
Honestly, this saddens me as a gamer. I'm not much of an online gamer, I haven't had to deal with anything like that. Usually I play games with my friends, but still it saddens me that they really don't do anything to protect us.
They need tighter rules regarding discrimination, IMO.
<rant>
xbox live sucks, sorry, had to say it, more immature as hell kiddies there then anywhere else.
I would rather game where there isn't a dangerous amount of stupid present.
</rant>
(*disclamer: I'm a PS3 owner)
Quote from: The Unforgiven on January 14, 2010, 06:32:23 PM
And, I wanted to add, we need a gaming section in here!
I put a games category in the wiki but it's a bit neglected at the moment since medical stuff has higher priority.
Which is why I prefer the Wii in terms of consoles. I'd like a PS3 second though due to my friends on it, most of whom know I'm gay and accept me for who I am.
And that's why I don't have much interest in online gaming unless it's with friends. It sucks I guess, but that's the culture.
It's part of why I stay out of the general chat in all mmorpergers... /gu and /party Only for me.
It's filled with stupid, homophobic 13-year-old boys.
And you have to pay for it.
I've been doing MMO's for a while now and honestly... someone's sex life shouldn't ever come into the picture, unless your just that way. I've been around people enough ingame that yeah, depending on who your around and what you say to the rest of the community you could get jacked by some of the less respectful people. The groups I play with (Guild, Clan or what ever name you call a set group) will make sexual jokes from time to time, but I pick my Guilds with care if I have to find a new one.
Online hate, no matter where it's at is not needed, but it's just like being in public. I wouldn't go to a bar if the sign in the front window said '->-bleeped-<-s need not enter' (not like you'll find that irl, but you get my drift).
I didn't read the IGN article but I can bet, if someone is complaining that they're getting jacked for being LGBT, they must have said something to someone and it went around. I would never tell anyone ingame my sexual preference because what I do out of game has nothing to do with how I perform ingame.
For the people that get caught on a voice server like Ventrilo or Teamspeak, again I wouldn't use a voice system to talk unless I knew the people I was talking to.
... but then again, I'm an antisocial SoB ingame. I'm not 'looking for friends', it's not a social networking thing for me, I just wanna play the game.
Your results may very.
Yeah the article is more about how the social networking features can't be used by LGBT people because of the hate. Xbox live apparently doesn't let you say anything that might hint at your sexual orientation or you get banned, which is too bad if you are a lesbian who wants to play with other lesbians which is what the jist of the article is about. The ability to be out in online gaming and not experience a hate filled experience.
I mean it does kind of suck that you can be out in real life, but you have to go into the closet just to play a stupid game?
in this thread to condense replies
beyond fail
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/02/bioware-locking-down-gay-friendly-forum-topics-again.ars (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/02/bioware-locking-down-gay-friendly-forum-topics-again.ars)
I agree, that is beyond fail. They should make up their minds! Closing threads for 'spoiler material'... :eusa_doh: :eusa_wall:
I almost bought Dragon's age entirely because it had gay relationships in it.
I play on xbox live sometimes, and mostly I find the trash-talking people really funny. While there is a fair bit of gay bashing or blatant sexism, theres plenty of times where I've played with other girls who were interesting people and held their own vs the guys and so on. Then again, I'm not an easily aggravated person, so trash-talking in such an impersonal space really doesn't get to me.
You only find those types of people in games that aren't REAL RPG's, though. They are really just action games with role-playing elements.
Even then, all you need to do is find a guild that doesn't give a crap (about anything, not just about sex). Make a party, steamroll a few monsters, and log off. For the win.
I've never bothered to pay for things like x-box live. I like my free mmorpgs I can play with friends or on my own. I've never had much of a problem, but I rarely socialize in games for me they're mostly stress relief or things to kill time. The only game systems I use are my Wii (For Wii fit, Harvest Moon, and a couple other games that are good ways to kill time with friends.) and my playstation.
I think it's ridiculous that they actually ban people for their sexual orientation, but not for trash talking. Hasn't it ever occurred to them if they tightened the rules and demanded that players were more respectful towards one another that homophobic comments and other trash talking would be minimized a great deal? Who knows maybe they would have a larger variety of gamers playing then a bunch of disrespectful thirteen and under year olds who aren't even old enough to be playing most of the games.
Quote from: SarahFaceDoom on February 06, 2010, 01:47:29 AM
I almost bought Dragon's age entirely because it had gay relationships in it.
I've heard it's a really great game either way.
And this whole thing is extremely frustrating. At least it's very, very slowly changing...
Well, I just shut down my WoW accounts because of Blizzard banning me from the forums. First, they gave me a temporary ban for going to one forum for one server and asking if there were any GLBT guilds on that server, and then doing the same on another server's forum. I protested that to no good effect. After that, they started handing out bans at every opportunity, such as if I complained that one of their instances was unpopular and suggested they remove it from the random dungeon Q, or if I jokingly said one of their pets was racist. I just can't patronize that company anymore.
Quote from: glendagladwitch on April 23, 2010, 05:18:36 PM
First, they gave me a temporary ban for going to one forum for one server and asking if there were any GLBT guilds on that server
They banned you for that? Wow...
Online games can be pretty bad, but I think it's the more action oriented ones that really bring in the haters. I play guild wars and my guild is made up of friends so they are like my second family, but I can imagine if you just grouped up with random people it might go pretty bad. The only places I really see any kind of hate going on are the player vs. player areas, go figure lol.
Quote from: annyms on May 09, 2010, 10:21:29 PM
They banned you for that? Wow...
They said it was for "spamming and trolling" because I posted the same question on multiple forums. So apparently you can't ask on one server's forum if there are GLBT frindly guilds, and then go to another forum's server and ask the question there. But I think the action they took was blatant discrimination.
Back when TAINT was recruiting saying they were a GLBT friendly guild, Blizz kept banning them saying they can't do that. IT took protests and threatened law suits to get them to back off. I even went to TAINT and complained about what happened to me and they said what blizz did was justified. That response really surprised me. I just can't see it their way.
I like to play Gekkeiju Online. It's really friendly and you can get banned for racist or homophobic comments.
I'm stealth in there, of course.
It recently went through a through revamp and is taking a while for all the features to restart.
This is so ridiculous. People are just so stupid. It's really sad to see everyone be so immature and disrespectful. Too bad there isn't a LGBT server available. Of course, that would just promote segregation. I guess the only way to get things changed is to boycott the online games and get the companies' attention by reducing their profit margins to get anything changed.