- dibbs089
- |
- Elder Mythic Member
Trash talking is a part of every form of competition, not just video games. I think if you keep it in that realm it's fine (words can only hurt you to the degree that you let them). I get that not everyone wants to be expressed to that, and they shouldn't be, but trying to draw a line in the sand inevitably ends up cratering to one side. Options like the mute feature via Xbox live is a fantastic feature and ultimately leaves the choice up to everyone. You can choose to say whatever you want but people can also choose not to listen to you. Features like that which pretty much allow you to create your own experience without threatening anyone else's are really the best way to solve these types of problems.
In regards to eSports and actual live matches? I don't know. When you've reached that stage you should really be behaving like a professional, and I image any sponsor will pull their support should you act like an idiot while live. I'm still for letting people say want they want (words only become problems when people turn them into actions) but I can completely understand those arguing for the opposite.
Edit:
Posted by: LongMasterWolf
This isn't about letting someone "win" this is about whether or not we want to allow racism/sexism/bull-blam!- in our community or even society as a whole. I don't propose we continue trying to create more structures to regulate this sort of thing, the stuff we have now is fine. What we need to do is start changing our attitudes towards this stuff, rather than accept it as a part of life if everyone starts standing up against it those in the community who are continuing this trend will stop and those who may have been influenced to do this in the first place may not start. It's eliminating the problem before it even begins: curing the disease not attempting to treat the symptom. Alright, I see where you're going.
I believe that as a macro-issue, harassment, racism, and sexism have to be issues that are resolved by the community (local, state, country, or humanity as a whole). If you want to stop someone from saying something, you don't go to the government, or the sponsor, or the admin of a website and say "I want you to block any and all uses of this word because it is offensive and because it is within your power to do so". That is an exceptionally lazy solution to a problem (just prohibiting it) and I would find it morally reprehensible if someone was calling on an organization to ban something/someone on the grounds that their behavior or speech offended them or they disagreed with it (because it is very easy to get offended and it is very easy to disagree).
As I said before, this problem has to be resolved by the community and the most effective way to decrease the occurrence of these things is to let people know their behavior won't be tolerated (via shunning). If people choose to act like bigots, don't even give them the time of day. Don't respond to them in any way, shape, or form. If you provide a service, refuse to service them. If you see them in town, ignore them and go out of your way to avoid them (this is assuming of course that you live in their vicinity and know of their behavior). If you can get a whole community to do this (effectively letting them know that they can say whatever they want but if they choose to be hateful human beings they will be members of the community in name only) I bet they will change their behavior pretty quickly.
So what does this mean in terms of xbox live? Well the first step would be to mute/block them (which would control the immediate problem of you being offended). The next thing you could do it report them to Microsoft (but thew chances of them taking action are slim) or, if you're feeling bold, crafting a message to everyone on their friends list. Write down what was said and ask them if they really want to be associated with this type of person. Publish their gamer tag online (on websites that ridicule those who harass others) so that others will know what type of person this is. In short, make their behaviors known to as many people as you can and the chances go up that they will be ostracized for their behavior and will eventually cease to exhibit it (all without banning anyone's right to speech).
[Edited on 03.01.2012 5:35 PM PST]