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"Hate speech corrodes online video game experiences"
maskedweasel
Member LegendaryPosts: 12,195
" It's not just cyberbullets that are exchanged during firefights on the XBox Live version of "Call of Duty."
Many gamers also exchange hate speech over their headsets as they stalk each other across the virtual battlefields. Players trade racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic insults so frequently that game makers are taking steps to tone down the rhetoric.
The comments would shock parents who may not realize their children are constantly exposed to language that might make a sailor blush. Most parental concerns have focused on violence, not language.
One gamer told an opponent he presumed to be Jewish that he wished Hitler had succeeded in his mission. Many exchanges involve talk of rape or exult over the atomic bombing of Japan. There are frequent slurs on homosexuals, Asians, Hispanics and women.
Such comments can be heard on all online video gaming systems, including PlayStation Network, Blizzard Entertainment (World of Warcraft) and others."
You can read the whole article here
So what do you think? Does hate speech ruin our online experience, or is it just part of the online world?
Comments
"Gamers always have the power to mute out any other player they find offensive, or can block an offensive player and not encounter him again, Toulouse said."
Excuse me sir, what's the problem now?
I should complain that atheists (who dominate the Interwebz) constantly attack my religion. Being a victim is awesome.
I hate to say it, but that's where society is today. If someone can play a game and hide behind some virtual machine and say insults to people and get away with it they will. Most people are ignorant and racist people that enjoy screaming insults at young children or people that they don't particularly like.
I have to do a research paper, and I chose violence in video games, but this is possibly a nice correlation. Call of Duty really heats people up (obviously), and if they're immature brats, the insults will start flowing. Perhaps I can tie violence to emotional overload and overreaction, though it's all based upon the person playing.
Thanks OP!
The more disturbing thing is that people don't just say things like they wish hilter had succeeded, they mean them.
I don't really understand it myself. After reading enough anonymous online sources, playing mmos, etc, I've simply concluded that most people only feign decency, and deep down inside they are twisted and ignorant.
It's not just the shoot-em-ups or people using voice comms the issue is the rise in the use of profanity and insults in all aspects of life both online and offline. MMOs are particularly susceptible to abuse by this infantile behaviour with people naming their characters Adolph Hitler and then shouting remarks out in the public chat channels to people stalking and harrassing other players. For a very small minorty this behaviour is fun for them and the anti-social aspects of it are gratifying so trying to reason with them or explain that it is not really funny goes no where.
Sadly, I don't see things getting better any time soon.
Hate speech is equally prevelant in any kind of gaming we can get it into just like it is prevelant still in any other type of medium you can frequent. What I can say for gaming though is that in some ways it is more controllable than in other mediums, for example I frequent the forums on ESPN often, if we want something to complain about in entertainment and racist remarks one only needs to look at the message boards there to see how bad things really could be. Having said that I'm sure in gaming the comments tend towards the more harsh and childish but again you can turn those functions off and not even hear what is being said if you want to comment on your favorite sports star though you are in for a big surprise.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Yeah well, it is Player vs Player. What next, mercy rules? Time outs to have a little cool down? Telling mommy?
Bleak view, but somewhat true. 'Tis a cursed world we live in, cursed by sin.
You also grew up in a time much closer to events like the holocaust and the American civil rights movement, if modern day adults are the problem now they are a much better problem than past generations of "modern day adults".
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
If there is a first person shooter that is PVP and none of this is going on, then I think we can assume the game sucks.
When are people going into these tirades? Generally when they have been wtf!!??1 pwned!
[Mod Edit]
I experienced this when I used to play Counterstrike. It really is an awesome game, but I have never encountered a more vile group of people in my life. The things they say and spraypaint are beyond words sufficient to condemn.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
I sincerely hope that your response isn't to say that those circumstances make it right to say and act any way one wants.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
The problem is people care way to much, and its just retarded. I don't give a rats ass what people say, hell most of the time I don't care what people do ingame or in real life.
Your original comment then is pretty much shot down by your last comment at twenty six years old you are pretty much the median you are the "modern day adults" you speak of so it kind of makes me look on your comment quizzically I guess your really saying everyone else is raised wrong except you.
Now in regards to this story we aren't even talking about an incident we are talking about a pattern of behavior I don't see any one person complaining about a specific incident but I shouldn't have to be called a derogatory name every time I kick someones ass in a game.
And I agree a bit with your philosophy but I hope you equally teach your child that calling people racist and insensitive things is just as bad as crying everytime someone calls them something.
My problem with stances like yours is far too often it only comes from people who have never had to deal with racist remarks against them because I don't know anyone who ever has who thinks people should be allowed to talk to anyone like that.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Ehrm... People are going to say things that they don't generally mean when they're in competitive play, nomatter what source they use to be competitive. Be it sports, games with friends, or videogames, vulgarity is always present. Generally people don't mean half of the things they say during competitive play, and i'm sure every person can relate to this statement from real life examples, so the argument that people actually mean what they say is invalid.
Anyway, if this use of language offends you, you can either suck it up and maybe even laugh at it, or mute it.
People make too big an issue out of insignificant things such as this.
Who are you to say how much someone should care? Especially about something that is said about them. If you have no problem with being called names racist or otherwise that's awesome for you I wish more of us could live like that but I can say from experience I have been forced to avoid some places and things simply because of the reaction I get for being a black man and unless you just don't care I don't see how you could say that's right in any way.
No one should feel like they are forced to avoid certain places and things just because they are going to get harrased to no end about things that are irrelevant and dated.
And again I'm forced to wonder for those who feel "no big deal" how much have you yourself been the target of racism?
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
And this is what people will continue to say until the day some incident comes to pass where someone is killed over a remark they made in game then what?
And I think we all need to speak specifically for ourselves, because while I have trash talked I DO NOT use words that are either ethnically nor racially motivated and neither does anyone else I associate with (atleast not admittedly).
Getting cursed out in a video game or on the court is fine but exactly what makes one want to attack someone elses race? And do you honestly believe that someone will make a racist comment with no more malicious intent than if I were to curse someone out? It's not the same thing.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Then perhaps others will learn their lessons and stop saying these things. But it's a lesson they need to learn for themselves. The company can try to make a pleasant gaming environment for everyone, but the best way to do that is give the power to the players. Mute, ignore, etc. I'm a proponent of bigger ignore lists, by the way.
Though the chances of something like that happening are slim and none. Especially over a game of Call of Duty. I read about emotional attachments leading to suicides in MMOs, but never emotional reactions leading to homicide in FPSs. Have any articles I could read?
And then I still dont care people are killed everyday for stupid reasons. I take care of myself the rest of the world is on its own
Hey, nice - I found a more neutral article.
Game Experience May Change During Online Play
(I just quoted your post, zym, to show that Microsoft doesn't stick their fingers in their ears and go "lalalala!")
So in general I agree with you that people are soft and get offended way too easily. However, this issue is not about people being offended. This is about people acting classless. Someone (not OP) is not cool if he calls someone a nig****. He is not cool if he calls someone a f*g. He is not cool if he uses blatant sexist and racist remarks. A person is classless if they do these things.
This stuff shouldn't be allowed not out of concern for someone's feelings, but for concern about the image we project. Make no mistake, image is everything, and image is how stereotypes are formed. Do you really want the world to think you're a classless twit just because you play games? You may think that it doesn't matter, but it does, particularly to those who work in a professional environment.
I'll also add that many children play game such as COD or WOW. These kids are subjected to this terribly negative influence on an every day basis. Kids have impressionable minds, of this there is numerous research to support. When I played wow I was called a nig**** multiple times (I'm not even black lol). If kids see this stuff they'll think it's ok, and then the cycle continues.
[Mod Edit]
i didnt want the microphone to go mainstream. i remember growing up while playing CS listening to angry adolescent boys yelling shit, and thinking to myself "if every game was like this i just wouldnt play." and nowadays i play a lot less for that reason. i quit EVE because of mic-requirements (in part), i turn off my volume when i play L4D2. i mean the people who play that game are the scum of the earth, seeing how they displace their problems on others. i dont have sound on when playing.
This is something I've thought a lot about.
There is no way I would ever let my children play any MMO, or FPS that involves a headset until they are over 18 years old. It isn't just the language, it is the idea that racist, homophobic, and general rude talk is somehow acceptable. They hear everyone they play with speaking like that day after day, after so much time it rubs off.
It is quite depressing to think that so many teenagers... and adults behave and talk like this as if it were normal.
Yep, because you never know the other person you're spouting off at the mouth to. Stuff like the fact they just got back from a military tour where they have indeed already taken lives. The point that in this game they could get your IP address and with enough due diligence your provider and with enough cunning your account, with your home address, etc. Given that this person has just had to shootup a bunch of real people somewhere in the world do you really think they would think twice about doing it to some guy running off at the mouth and insulting them?
I don't. Yeah, it's just a game and just words. Unfortuantely you ( the collective you and not jax ) don't get to decide how other take words you say to them, especially words such as these. If you're going to open your mouth with filth, be prepared to reap the whirlwind.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
Good lesson. I wonder how you learned it. Not through censorship or other efforts to "combat Hate Speech", I bet.
It's interesting - with the creeping moral decay of the last few decades, we actually care about what we say to others more than what we do to/for ourselves.