Online Gaming – What is it?

By the next day, I had purchased an XBOX for myself and was online playing against people all over the world.  Team games like “capture the flag” and “team deathmatch” allowed 4-8 players on each team to work together against another team.  The competitive nature in me took hold and I found myself playing for hours on end.  Two key elements of this “online experience” made these types of games better than any I had ever played.

• XBOX Live -the system that allows all of these gamers to come together to play against and/or with one another.
• The headset -  This clumsy, plastic, funny-looking headset connected to the controller allows me to communicate with teammates during the game.  I could hear them speak (in real-time) and I could talk back to them.  Honestly, I am still a bit amazed that this works.

My passion for video games has only grown since that day and many games have come and gone during that time.  The one constant has been XBOX Live.  No matter what game I play, I can join in with friends or randomly team up with others around the world.  Because of this, I never have to play alone and the experience changes for every match.  Playing against other, real people makes the games so much more exciting because people learn, adapt and get better every time they play.  Apparently, I’m not the only one that enjoys the opportunity to play online, against others.  On February 5, 2010, Microsoft announced that XBOX Live had reached 23 million members.

The Problems Begin

YouTube Video of Teen on XBOX Live

Unfortunately, as XBOX Live has grown so have the problems.  The problems aren’t with the hardware or functionality of connecting these gamers, but the gamers themselves.  On any given day, I can join a game on XBOX Live and be greeted with an onslaught of bad language, racial slurs, harassment and all-around hostility.  It is virtually impossible to find a game where this does not happen.  I have heard people from ages 5 to 40 use every cuss word known to man.  I’ve been attacked by individuals who have decided to simply work their way through the list of gamers until they find one that responds.  I have had people threaten to find and hurt me.  XBOX Live is still a game changer, but I have almost decided to retire the headset and play without the voices of these angry, troubled individuals who are ruining the game.  Thankfully, I am an adult and I know how to handle this.  What I am concerned about is the children that are exposed to these same situations.

I have planned this article for months and early-on thought I would present the you (the readers) with recordings from actual games, but quickly changed my mind.  After recording some of my own games and reviewing several that are already posted on YouTube, I decided that the content was too vulgar.  Instead, I urge parents to seek out this information on your own and experience it for yourself.

*** Before I go any further, I want you all to know that I am not telling anyone how to parent.  I am simply trying to educate you on the dangers of online gaming.

Hear it For Yourself

XBOX Live is not the issue here, but merely an example of an online gaming provider.  The Playstation3 also has an online gaming community.  I do not use it, but I feel quite certain that those gamers are no different.  Both companies have done a great job of providing these services and are not the reason for this behavior.

For parents interested in learning more about this situation, it will only take a minute.  Next time your son or daughter is playing a game online, ask them to unplug the headset from the controller.  Doing so will allow the voices of the other players to come through the speakers on the television.  During the game, it can be bad, but between games it gets much worse.  This is down time, while the next game is chosen, and definitely provides for the most “material.”

YouTube can also provide a number of examples.  Just type in “XBOX Live Cuss” and see what you find.  I did this yesterday and found a clip where a 16 year old (just guessing there) spent 4 minutes cussing, yelling and berating another player who could have only been 6 or 7 years old.  The worst part is, the younger player was participating and using some of the same foul language in return.

The Solution

I don’t know that there is a single answer to this ongoing problem.  Parents can set up the gaming system to limit who their children can hear (XBOX 360 instructions here), but I imagine these gamers will quickly figure out a way around this hurdle.  XBOX Live does allow users to “report” or “file complaints” against other users for in-game behavior, but I have done this repeatedly over the years and I am not sure what good it is doing.  I think the only way to help this growing situation is a 2-part plan:

1) Parents who are concerned about what their children hear could monitor the gaming at home.  Maybe move the TV and game system into a room where they can listen in on the “conversations.”

2) Microsoft/Sony or a third party should have moderators (actual people) playing the games and issuing “banhammers” to players who don’t abide by the rules of communicating with one another.  “Banhammer” is a term often used to describe how users accounts are shut down or terminated for not following the rules.