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The Podcasters Present: Get Your Gay Off My Plane, Mister
Atlus Parker
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Microsoft Further Purifies XBL Service
Does Microsoft have the right to police its own service? Do they have the right to enforce draconian naming policies on paying customers?
"No!" says the man on the internet. "Free speech is a lie!"
Personally I think we should send M$ a message by buying a copy of GTAIV and logging into a multiplayer game using our XBL Gold accounts and quietly protest this injustice by not playing or talking. What do you guys think?
Kotaku wrote:The Consumerist printed a letter from a reader, Grant, who claims his Xbox Live gamertag, "theGAYERgamer," was banned from Xbox Live. When he called Microsoft customer support, a rep reportedly told him that while she wasn't offended by his gamertag, "the greater Xbox community" had found his it offensive, thereby warranting a ban.
Does Microsoft have the right to police its own service? Do they have the right to enforce draconian naming policies on paying customers?
"No!" says the man on the internet. "Free speech is a lie!"
Personally I think we should send M$ a message by buying a copy of GTAIV and logging into a multiplayer game using our XBL Gold accounts and quietly protest this injustice by not playing or talking. What do you guys think?
Professor & Headmaster
The Sixth Annual Triwizard Drinking Tournament Part 1 |
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Portalflip
Pokemon X: Atlus | 3539-8807-3813
The Sixth Annual Triwizard Drinking Tournament Part 1 |
Pokecrawl Episode 4: The Power Of One!
Portalflip
Pokemon X: Atlus | 3539-8807-3813
Atlus Parker on
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Also purchasing multiple years of Live but not logging in.
That'll show 'em!
Does he just have to change the name or buy a new one? The screenshot makes it look like he just has to rename it, but it's not really specific.
I propose we ban these stupid references similarly to how we banned Wii puns.
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Why do you people have to take things to such extremes?
It boils down to XBL being a pay to play service. We pay so Microsoft should be kowtowing to our demands and while we're at it, they should be providing a service that never goes down. Ever. We need to be realistic here and comparing MS to Hitler isn't helping.
The Sixth Annual Triwizard Drinking Tournament Part 1 |
Pokecrawl Episode 4: The Power Of One!
Portalflip
Pokemon X: Atlus | 3539-8807-3813
What is the world coming to?
Seriously, Microsoft, is this really a problem? Is it really a problem for a child to be exposed to homosexuality?
I don't own an XBOX, but from everything I've heard about Live, the community (not to include any of the beautiful cosmopolitan people who post here) seems to be racist and homophobic.
Yeah no shit. Though I will say playing UNO with the Live Cam is a BAD, BAD idea.
Thats like saying you have free speech on here, when the mods can ban you if they feel like it. Its a private club and can refuse service if they like it. Its pretty easy to get a name that falls within their guidelines, if you dont like it you can not use their service, an I guess picket their company for unfair club rules. It isn't like you dont know the rules(or didnt accept them) when you sign up and pay them, so whats the issue here?
That's no reason not to complain when you think the moderation is unjust.
If a decision has been made by the mods here that I though was unjust, I would head straight to Tube's Circus and engage in a calm and rational discussion about it. The result would either be a compromise being met, or I would gain a better understanding of the reasoning behind it (even if I still disagreed, like the "Absolutely no use of the n-word" rule)
Also, expressing your sexuality is not sexual innuendo. They have false grounds for enforcing the name change in the first place.
Yes but what he did would be the equivilent of signing up here, reading the rules, and then putting the N word in the username, and then get angry when your banned because you think its legitimate. It dosent matter, its house rules. He got his explanation of the rules when he called, just like your example of going to a mod, he called and they said its against tos, and someone complained and must of found it offensive. so now hes crying to the internet even though he has had full awareness of what the rules were up front, and had them explained again.
While I dont want to say weither or not the name should be considered offensive, because I personally dont find it so, but I am not sure of a situation where one might find it offensive, I find it likely someone reported him for his name because he was a douchebag. Ive actually done this before in MMO's and its much more satisfying then arguing with the person, and gets better results. thats anecdotal though.
Furthermore, upon finally looking at the link, there forcing a name change, hes getting a second chance to fix the mistake and get back into the club, but hes going to go stir up trouble first for it. I just feel this is pretty cut and dry. As for it not being sexual innuendo, (edit, i read the followup from MS and this didnt apply, editing it) they state that theres no content of a sexual nature allowed, and I would agree this falls under that.
Furthermore the reasoning behind having such strict naming policies is pretty simple, if they allowed a system where if you explained the rational meaning of your name, despite its ease to interperate as breaking the rules, you cant go and explain why you were able to keep that name to everyone on XBOX live, and MS cant then go and reiterate why you get to keep gay in your name, and why this other player cant have it in his. Its a fairly common standard for any mmo or online game to have these restrictions, hell I have seen worse. Alot of ToS's essentially block words, and then block random letters from names(as in ADsdkjjkasdSxFZZ). Then it becomes a catch all so if they dont like a player they ban them for naming conventions.
Edit: I think it comes down to this for me: He has the ability to protest in much better manners then the above, he shouldnt be acting like hes some sort of crusader all of a sudden. He isnt some super freedom fighter fighting for civil rights by paying MS money and then crying to the consumerist when the ban hammer falls like he knew it would. He could be forming protest group and writing letters in the first place that their naming conventions are not fair.
Are you serious?
I really have to ask this too....
MS is not going "OMG GET RIDO F TEH GAYZORS WE HATEZ YOO" its "you broke our ToS, change your name please, thanks". Its already been said that someone with the name "theheterosexualgamer" would fall under this same policy and have to be changed. I think they said, but I would be willing to bet serious money, that "the straightest gamer" would have to get changed if it were reported in this same circumstance. Im not saying that these names dont exist or go un-touched, Im saying that if those names were in the same circumstances, and reported under this policy, they would have to be changed as well. Theres no discrimination going on at all.
I'm talking to DiannaoChong, to be clear, he was the last poster in the post tree.
Also, why would anyone call themselves theGAYERgamer, especially if they were actually gay (and if they weren't I don't see the problem with banning the name).
There are cases when the little man must stand against injustice, like with the MEPC 10-day bullshit that was actually pulled back, but this here isn't it.
Ive been trying to figure that out as well (the title is a bit misleading to me as this isnt really about MS being against gays, at least thats my argument and what they have stated so far).... haha. Not to argue Djiem, but the users sexual orientation has nothing to do with his gamertag. The legitimacy of his gamertag is not effected by his sexual preference. The tag is unacceptable if he is gay,straight, or bi.
Upon reading what is loosely a transcript of the call, the rep saying they werent offended is more of a sidestep to keep from having a no win argument with a customer that could just be trying to lay a land mine. Say you are offended, then a representative of MS has just stated that they are "offended by teh gayness", saying no leads to the argument of "then why ban me". The greater xbox community initiated the complaint(this is assumed here) and the admins banned it becuase they agreed it violated their ToS.
I think the OP should link to this: http://www.stepto.com/default.aspx (theres a warning saying its for mature audiences, but I dont see anything NSFW on this page)
It has a rep who has detailed what happened in this case very well, and what is going on. It also shows that even though in a case where someone would say "yeah but theres probably more homophobia so a gayergamer is more likely to be reported more often for more direct attention then straightergamer", the complaints are not viewed as "well this one has 20 we better do something about it and that one has 1 sit on it." 1 complaint can get your name changed. They are not clear if number of complaints kicks you up in the review queue though.
Because straight isn't naughty like "gay" or racial slurs.
They said it wouldn't be ok.
It suggested "Snatchy Hotcakes."
No what I found offensive was your example that was a real "from the sublime to the ridiculous" leap of logic basically saying that being open about your sexuality in a very standard non-offensive way is exactly equivalent to putting one of histories most reviled slurs in your username. The person didn't name themselves "HotHornyHomoLover" or something overtly sexual he merely showed that he identified himself as gay which is a perfectly valid desire for any number of reasons. This is a very obvious case of policing the victims because it's that much easier. Why should we have to hide? There shouldn't be any shame attached with simply stating "I am gay", and unless the person is being a skeevy perv about it I don't see what the issue is.
So it's not really bullshit then. They ban when they get complaints, and this is what happened.
They say it isnt okay, and if put up for review, it would be rejected, and that they have actually rejected names like that in the past, becuase the name breaks the same portion of the ToS that "gay" does.
If noone reports "thestraightergamer" nothing is going to happen though. Thats how the whole process works. MS didnt go and say "what class of people can we belittle and downsize today. John! Quick do a query for tags with "gayer" in them and ban them!" It was said at the time of the explanation that they have baned named like that in the past. If the names dont get reported, nothing happens, so yes, if it offends you, report it.
Spaniard, this has nothing to do with the players sexuality or being open or closed about it, it has only to do with the ToS and the word used. It has nothing to do with being true or not.
And your comment to Djiem is repeating exactly what he said. If theres an issue, report it, and itill get fixed. They did it in the past, they did it for this name, and they did it afterwards after their attention was brought upon the "straighter" version. Saying "oh they just did it becuase people made a big deal about it" is what they actually have always done. When this is the policy they have always had in place, it dosent really "go either way" .
I think it's pretty stupid though
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They do account for things like this on a case by case basis already, hense why "pffft I meant jolly" didnt work for this name. Some names are allowed 420 depending on how it is placed in the name, as it references a birth date etc etc instead of pot/hitlersbirthday/columbine. Does it make it ok for CowMoolester to keep his name becuase he calls up and states he does/dosent practice/support beastiality?
Obligatory bad example, but unintentional breaking of the ToS is covered, and still counts as a breaking of ToS, I can give you anecdotal evidence from personal experience. In Earth and Beyond, I had the name "Goblinking". I pissed off alot of GMs (ALOT OF GMS, its another story). They essentially were looking for ways to ban me and screw with me, even though the name could be reinterpreted as "go-blinking" which would equate to the blinking when you die and need a res in game, I had to have my name changed becuase it contained "king" which violated the ToS that stated "players cannot have titles in their name". The reason was obvious why in this case, it ruined roleplay experience where one player could demand over another based on thier name. theres no possible way this would happen anyways in the context of this games play, but it was understandable that it was in the ToS. So even though my name could be interperated in many ways, becuase its easily misidentifiable, it had to be changed. Pissed? yeah, but I didnt start a tirade against the "GM's abusing their power" on the internet, even though it later came out that they were, haha.
In this case, the GM's changed my name on me, I didnt even get to rename myself. I can't imagine the shitstorm if this dude loged on and found his gamertag changed to "TheHappiestGamer". I think that could of ended in hilarity actually, becuase the rep could say "well, we had to change the word becuase we have a filter for gay, since this is the acceptable term for the word, you either accept a form of happy, or have your account banned" would of been hilarious.
Sorry about the walls of text, I know I am not the best at pushing my ideas and throughts through words.
Others, myself included, are commenting on how even though Microsoft is well within their rights as a company, forcing TheGayerGamer to change his tag is homophobic and silly.
I don't think anything more needs to be said on my first point. It is, however, interesting that the use of the term gay, in any context, is a TOS violation, which speaks to a much larger problem in general. I find gamer culture (this forum, for the most part, excluded) to be incredibly homophobic. This is, in fact, one of the main reasons that I do not play games online. This is the larger problem and the reason I am expressing concern about this.
Because we will be using our considerable clout as a popular podcast to bring attention to this issue. This weekend we will be recording a special episode dedicated to the injustice theGAYESTgamer has suffered at the hands of Microsoft.
Also, for everyone else out there without a podcast or website you can add FriendOfGaymers to your XBL friends list. This not only shows your support for the cause but Friday and Saturday we will be holding a protest on XBL at 8pm EST. This is primetime for the service and will ensure that people notice us. Sending a friend request to FriendOfGaymers will net you an invite as we organize the protests.
The Sixth Annual Triwizard Drinking Tournament Part 1 |
Pokecrawl Episode 4: The Power Of One!
Portalflip
Pokemon X: Atlus | 3539-8807-3813
I mean, I am all for taking action when companies act unjustly (I'm sure some people remember my blog's Microsoft boycott), but I think that is an irrational backlash personally.