Xbox finding new ways to silence and ban players

R Type92 · Aug 31, 2023

Hello all,

I hope you are doing well today.

I think this is an issue that all gamers are facing with not only Xbox but other gaming consoles too.

We all remember playing gears of war and call of duty when we were younger. Yes we are aware that it wasn’t the nicest of comments made all the time.

What we did get though, is a community, I made so many actual friends that I played with everyday I knew so much about!

I believe the downfall of the gaming community was the removal of mics from console packages “to keep costs down”

Now we have introduced voice chat snitching, it won’t really affect me as I barely ever speak to anyone on chat who isn’t my friend already anyway. Yet I really do not understand the point? If someone says mean to you in real life you’ll probably just walk away? What’s wrong with blocking players you don’t like? It’s as simple as that, you stop playing and communicating with them.

I’ve mentioned this before as well, you can have settings that mark you as “sensitive” meaning you cannot see any mean words or profanity. You could always call it something like “forward thinking mode” or something as soft not to erupt anger.

It’s bizarre Xbox even want to ban their players in the first place, perhaps because people make more accounts and spend again.

In summary, I think we should start making steps to become a open speech platform just like X(formerly twitter) although I believe I am in the minority now, I am certain we will progress back to free speech rather than regress back to grunts and roars, let’s make the first move here and bring back mics in console packages with absolutely no bans for what you say.

Please comment and share this post if you agree so we can get some traction. Furthermore please comment with your objections!

:)

R Type92

Hey First Lady,

Thanks for your response!

I was going to mention something about bullying and harassment on multiple accounts and how that could be actioned, although it just leads to the same outcome of nobody being able to speak.

How many players are part of this group abuse? I struggle to believe a whole group of friends will follow someone on Xbox and constantly berate them with messages and partying invites, furthermore how many people are part of this friendship group? I know for certain I would not be playing with them.

Would you not be able to block the 3-4 people sending you messages? Multiple accounts, it takes you one second to block and a lot longer to create an account so I’d bet they’d get tired before you.

How would you feel about the option to exclude these types of people from socially interacting with you?

An option where you can choose:

“I don’t like any forms of abuse”

“I don’t mind what others say”

Could be an idea?

R Type92

That’s a good point.

I agree it is mainly just weaponised policy that is used by trolls to get one over on someone who is beating them in game, extremely sad.

GMS1stLDYCannon

I think its more than just cursing!!! Please say alot of racist things through the chat. They troll and follow and message and get friends to do the same. A simple block doesn't do the trick. They want everyone to be included. I'm African American and have ran across players who start attacking just off the color of my in games persons skin tone!!!I'm grown and really don't have time for that. I don't do in game chat unless its friends I know. Kind of ruins the game.

Smwutches

The rules have actually always been the same. The only differences from Xbox are how the enforcement team are handling them (ie. the strike system) or how they are reported (voice chats have always been actionable, this is just a new way of reporting them). The only other difference is people "back then" didn't use the report feature as much as they do now and people now use it to bait others so they can get them banned.

Daft Badger

It wasn't the removal of headsets with the console that led to the decline of in game chat,it was the introduction of party chat.

People were fed up with people/kids screaming insults,racial slurs,playing music etc. so party chat was introduced.

Everything you do or say on Xbox live must be rated E for everyone & the rules everyone agrees to reflects that.Break those rules & you get a ban/suspension. It's been like that for years so there's nothing bizarre about players getting banned.You break the rules & get caught,you get punished.

There's more gaming communities now than there ever has been & there's nothing stopping you from using in game chat if you want.

I've been with Xbox & Xbox live since the very start & have no desire to join in game chat anymore.

I do think people have become too wet nowadays but it is what it is so i follow the rules.

You've never had "free speech" on Xbox live so not sure how we would "progress back" to it.

Xbox finding new ways to silence and ban players