"Gay" Player Name Banned By Xbox Live

[+virtorio MVC]

Why do homosexuals feel the need to advertise their sexual preference to everyone?

[R-Flex]

Why do homosexuals feel the need to advertise their sexual preference to everyone?

Why do black people feel the need to advertise their race to everyone? Why do men feel the need to advertise their gender to everyone? Why do trade unionists feel the need to advertise their employment to everyone? Why do liberals feel the need to advertise their ideology to everyonhe?

It has to do with identity. As a society, we have made homosexuality into something distinct, and we have isolated the homosexual community. It is something different, and we define ourselves by our differences. Homosexuality is no different than anything else when defining identity.

[Joel]

LOL, the homosexual community made it a point to hijack words in their pushing "rights" issue. I really am glad society has comeback with using the word gay to mean something derogatory. Gay meant "happy" "jolly" cira 1930, Gay became "homosexual" cira 1990's, and now cira 2005 on, "lame" "boring" "wrong" "stupid".

It means those things now because the online puberty boys decided that anything gay was lame, boring, wrong or stupid. They didn't grab the meaning of the 30s, they grabbed the term of the 90s and made it derogatory.

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

It means those things now because the online puberty boys decided that anything gay was lame, boring, wrong or stupid. They didn't grab the meaning of the 30s, they grabbed the term of the 90s and made it derogatory.

Thats just ghey :)...

[Calum Veteran]

Why do homosexuals feel the need to advertise their sexual preference to everyone?

You're talking about homosexuals in a sense that they ALL go around advertising their sexual preference to everyone! :s How much more stereotypical and naive can you be? I know gay people who look, sound and seem straight. You would never guess if you'd just met them.

You could have said "Why do SOME homosexuals feel the need to advertise their sexual preference to everyone?" and that might have been OK. But still, the only reason why a lot of gay people act 'camp' is so other gay people know thier sexual preferecne. Let's face it, gay men are a minority and most people out there assume that a man is straight when they first meet him; therefore, some gay people may wish to have people know they are gay by being camp or 'advertising' it. How else are they supposed to find another guy to... ya know... do that sorta stuff with?

Edited May 19, 2008 by cJr.

[mjstar]

I saw a gamer tag on COD4 the other day that was something along the lines of, "inth3bum"

I wonder how much negative feedback he has compared to this guy...

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

You're talking about homosexuals in a sense that they ALL go around advertising their sexual preference to everyone! :s How much more stereotypical and naive can you be? I know gay people who look, sound and seem straight. You would never guess if you'd just met them.

You could have said "Why do SOME homosexuals feel the need to advertise their sexual preference to everyone?" and that might have been OK. But still, the only reason why a lot of gay people act 'camp' is so other gay people know thier sexual preferecne. Let's face it, gay men are a minority and most people out there assume that a man is straight when they first meet him; therefore, some gay people may wish to have people know they are gay by being camp or 'advertising' it. How else are they supposed to find another guy to... ya know... do that sorta stuff with?

I agree with your first part, this doesn't apply to EVERYONE, that is just alluding to stereotypes if you run about saying that.

As for the 2nd part, this is online gaming, not a meet up in a bar.

I still stand by my statement that advertising your background/social stance/skin colour/religious beliefs/ect in the online gaming world is screaming for attention, good or bad - You'll get both, and with how hostile gaming is online, probably more bad than good - If you think otherwise, you're naive, kidding yourself or are maybe just new to online gaming.

You won't find 13 year olds in that bar of yours, but you'll find 13 year olds playing Halo 3. There is no age restrictions to online gaming, unlike your age limit of 21 in a bar, so the maturity average dips, no infact, sores to ground zero online, than that of the maturity level in your bar.

That's why I said adopt to adapt - Keep the flaunting/showboating and "representing your social beliefs" to more appropriate avenues of life, than in a deathmatch between red and blue characters.

Or at least expect the abuse if you don't heed those words of wisdom.

People who flaunt things off like this ARE part of the problem with the viciousness in the gaming communities as much as they are victims. They give griefers ammo to play on, rinse/repeat, over and over.

Tbh do whatever the hell you want though, I'm just saying some things that could make your online gaming experience better...

However a good chunk of those serious about their names being like those we've discussed are probably up for all the attention and drama they may see/hear, and revel about how they can come home at night and whine and whine about how "L337kill3r13" made fun of their name "I'mGayandProud"...*sigh* :rolleyes:.

I mean, what ever happened to good ole online names like Audioboxer :p

Edited May 19, 2008 by Audioboxer

[magik]

My god, some people are just so thick headed. No, microsoft doesn't hate gay people. They are simply banning an account that's accumulated a large amount of negative feedback. Microsoft, like any corporation, isn't in the practice of "hating" their paying customers, quite the opposite. This guy was trying to stick his sexuality in everyone's face with his name (and going by how he handled this i can only imagine the crap coming out of his mouth in-game), people complained and Microsoft acted. Stop acting like this is some political issue, gay or straight doesn't matter. This is about protecting the xbox live community as a whole.

Exactly. (Y)

It depends on the definition of community.

If the community you refer to can even be partially defined as those (lets say approximately) 50% of the other "gamers" (in quotes because in their case I use the term lightly) that I encounter way more than I prefer on Live while playing MP games then I would have to say Yes. This is the same people that constantly spew truly despicable racial hatred and racially inspired derogatory terms, and/or the same people who posses an overall general lack of respect towards others (and as a result themselves), then again, the answer to your question is a resounding Yes... In fact I would rather MS ignore the community on most everything, never-mind this.

And let me state since I know this comment has the potential to raise hell, that I have indeed met some very cool individuals while playing on Live. As I said above the experience is usually a 50-50 one. However if I had to sum up my overall Live experience, unfortunately due to the nature of the negatives I do experience, those negatives cannot help but overpower the positives.

Regardless of your opinion of "the community", the fact of the matter is, they are the paying customer. I would sure hope that Microsoft doesn't ignore their paying customers. :)

[+virtorio MVC]

You're talking about homosexuals in a sense that they ALL go around advertising their sexual preference to everyone! :s How much more stereotypical and naive can you be? I know gay people who look, sound and seem straight. You would never guess if you'd just met them.

You could have said "Why do SOME homosexuals feel the need to advertise their sexual preference to everyone?" and that might have been OK.

Bad wording on my part, I should have worded it better AND been more specific. I apologise.

But still, the only reason why a lot of gay people act 'camp' is so other gay people know thier sexual preferecne. Let's face it, gay men are a minority and most people out there assume that a man is straight when they first meet him; therefore, some gay people may wish to have people know they are gay by being camp or 'advertising' it. How else are they supposed to find another guy to... ya know... do that sorta stuff with?

When I said that I was referring to this particular user. Picking up guys over Xbox Live? I don't think so. Putting that as a user name to get a rise out of people, possibly for attention? Quite possibly.

[NightmarE D]

I'm pretty sure I've seen this person in Halo 3 when my nephew would be playing. They liked to run their mouth whenever they killed someone and purposely get arguments started. They kept acting stupid and throwing it out there that they're gay and how everyone was making fun of them when nobody in the game said one word about their ID or anything. It was pretty obvious to me they was just there to get on peoples nerves and start arguments. They played the "sexual preference card" every time someone had some words with them. Saying they were only getting mad at them because they're gay and better than them. Stuff like that. The person was pretty annoying and wasn't even that good. Nobody was bashing the person until they started acting stupid.

I'm pretty sure it's the same person. My nephew says he recognizes the ID

[Calum Veteran]

I still stand by my statement that advertising your background/social stance/skin colour/religious beliefs/ect in the online gaming world is screaming for attention, good or bad - You'll get both, and with how hostile gaming is online, probably more bad than good - If you think otherwise, you're naive, kidding yourself or are maybe just new to online gaming...

...That's why I said adopt to adapt - Keep the flaunting/showboating and "representing your social beliefs" to more appropriate avenues of life, than in a deathmatch between red and blue characters...

...People who flaunt things off like this ARE part of the problem with the viciousness in the gaming communities as much as they are victims. They give griefers ammo to play on, rinse/repeat, over and over...

... "I'mGayandProud"...*sigh* :rolleyes:.

I mean, what ever happened to good ole online names like Audioboxer :p

When I said that I was referring to this particular user. Picking up guys over Xbox Live? I don't think so. Putting that as a user name to get a rise out of people, possibly for attention? Quite possibly.

OK, I should hav been more on-topic in my post. I was just trying explain why gay people advertise thier sexual preference in the real world (e.g. being camp). I should have focussed by response on topic. In relation to the topic, I do believe if you have a name like that then you are just asking for abuse.

Let's face it, your real name isn't "theGAYERgamer", you real-life nickname isn't "theGAYERgamer", your forum name isn't "theGAYERgamer", etc, so why should your gamertag be that? Especially with the way young people, these days, have turned the word "gay" into a derogitory term.

[obsolete_power]

OK, I should hav been more on-topic in my post. I was just trying explain why gay people advertise thier sexual preference in the real world (e.g. being camp). I should have focussed by response on topic. In relation to the topic, I do believe if you have a name like that then you are just asking for abuse.

Let's face it, your real name isn't "theGAYERgamer", you real-life nickname isn't "theGAYERgamer", your forum name isn't "theGAYERgamer", etc, so why should your gamertag be that? Especially with the way young people, these days, have turned the word "gay" into a derogitory term.

I think I agree with what you said. There is absolutely no reason for him to make his GAMERTAG of all things, theGAYERgamer, except to attract attention. He probably knew what would happen and wanted to stir things up a little. You know, test people's and especially Microsoft's reaction.

[Umbrello]

I'm pretty sure I've seen this person in Halo 3 when my nephew would be playing. They liked to run their mouth whenever they killed someone and purposely get arguments started. They kept acting stupid and throwing it out there that they're gay and how everyone was making fun of them when nobody in the game said one word about their ID or anything. It was pretty obvious to me they was just there to get on peoples nerves and start arguments. They played the "sexual preference card" every time someone had some words with them. Saying they were only getting mad at them because they're gay and better than them. Stuff like that. The person was pretty annoying and wasn't even that good. Nobody was bashing the person until they started acting stupid.

I'm pretty sure it's the same person. My nephew says he recognizes the ID

I've yet to use Xbox Live personally, but I doubt Microsoft would leave out an ignore/block feature while ingame. This would easily solve any user issues that may pop up.

It's the freedom of choice that allowed him to choose such a name, regardless of meaning or assumption, and it should be his freedom of choice to keep it. Having the community make their own rules in the playground makes things even worse. If a particular "gamer tag" acquires enough negative feedback, Microsoft comes in full sweep to ban the name in use. This only opens up abuse. I could technically pick any gamer tag out there that I find the least bit offensive, or maybe not at all, and have a following behind me to rack up various complaints against this so-called nuisance/attention-seeker/whathaveyou. The idea is curiously genuine, but I just don't agree with the execution. There's just too much room for discrepancy, specifically player assumption.

[spenser.d]

I've yet to use Xbox Live personally, but I doubt Microsoft would leave out an ignore/block feature while ingame. This would easily solve any user issues that may pop up.

It's the freedom of choice that allowed him to choose such a name, regardless of meaning or assumption, and it should be his freedom of choice to keep it. Having the community make their own rules in the playground makes things even worse. If a particular "gamer tag" acquires enough negative feedback, Microsoft comes in full sweep to ban the name in use. This only opens up abuse. I could technically pick any gamer tag out there that I find the least bit offensive, or maybe not at all, and have a following behind me to rack up various complaints against this so-called nuisance/attention-seeker/whathaveyou. The idea is curiously genuine, but I just don't agree with the execution. There's just too much room for discrepancy, specifically player assumption.

If you've read anything about how feedback works, you'd know you can't just come up with a following of your own and abuse that system. They're a bit smarter than that. And when you sign up to XBL, you forfeit your freedoms to the Terms of Service, which pretty much state that MS can do whatever they want and it really sucks for you if you disagree. They happen to be nice enough not to abuse that, though. They were right, in this case, IMO, to ban the tag, especially if it was getting as much negative feedback as it seems.

-Spenser

[PixilEyes]

Uhhhhhh. :x

Look at the bottom.

[PiracyX]

Uhhhhhh. :x

Look at the bottom.

:laugh:

[magik]

lol :laugh:

[Umbrello]

If you've read anything about how feedback works, you'd know you can't just come up with a following of your own and abuse that system. They're a bit smarter than that. And when you sign up to XBL, you forfeit your freedoms to the Terms of Service, which pretty much state that MS can do whatever they want and it really sucks for you if you disagree. They happen to be nice enough not to abuse that, though. They were right, in this case, IMO, to ban the tag, especially if it was getting as much negative feedback as it seems.

-Spenser

Oh really? And if it's the user's real name?

Yea, here's more bull**** from the geniuses at Microsoft.

http://kotaku.com/392304/xbox-live-gay-cra...tle-out-of-hand

Way to be progressive Microsoft. It's amazing, the gay community can marry now in California, but there is just another road block to gay rights that just shows how ignorant and unaccepting the country is as a whole.

One customer being offended means that another customer is denied service?

I'm an avid human rights advocate, and well, wouldn't you know it, my XBL yearly subscription is about due this month.

I won't be forking over any money to a service that discriminates against human rights, no matter how small of an infraction it may be.

This gay crackdown on Xbox Live is getting a little out of hand.

Edited May 22, 2008 by Umbrello

[magik]

Oh really? And if it's the user's real name?

Yea, here's more bull**** from the geniuses at Microsoft.

[snip]

Way to be progressive Microsoft. It's amazing, the gay community can marry now in California, but there is just another road block to gay rights that just shows how ignorant and unaccepting the country is as a whole.

One customer being offended means that another customer is denied service?

I'm an avid human rights advocate, and well, wouldn't you know it, my XBL yearly subscription is about due this month.

I won't be forking over any money to a service that discriminates against human rights, no matter how small of an infraction it may be.

This gay crackdown on Xbox Live is getting a little out of hand.

Welcome to 7 pages ago.

And besides:

Gamertags and Nicknames

When you create a LIVE account for use with Xbox or Games for Windows, you will be asked to create a gamertag. You also may be allowed to pick separate nicknames to use in-game. These gamertags and nicknames will be shown to other players when you are signed in to the LIVE service for use with Xbox or Games for Windows (the "Service") and may be displayed with your game stats and presence status as displayed in-game, via Windows Live Messenger and/or on the Web. Since these names may be publicly displayed, you should not use your personal information when creating them. You may also have the opportunity to add attachments such as of photos, graphics, text, or audio to your stats information. If you do this, those attachments will be able to be viewed or heard by other users of the service.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/legal/

[Umbrello]

No this was not 7 pages ago. This is a new incident of Microsoft making a fool of themself.

Besides, Microsoft didn't ban the name because it was his real name, they only banned the name because of the word 'gay' in it.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

No this was not 7 pages ago. This is a new incident of Microsoft making a fool of themself.

Besides, Microsoft didn't ban the name because it was his real name, they only banned the name because of the word 'gay' in it.

Both incidents are posted on Neowin already. You are indeed late to the discussion.

Richard Gaywood was his real name, thus breaking the TOS.

Second topic on the subject

[magik]

No this was not 7 pages ago. This is a new incident of Microsoft making a fool of themself.

Besides, Microsoft didn't ban the name because it was his real name, they only banned the name because of the word 'gay' in it.

Wrong yet again. Re-read this thread from the start. We have already gone over why his gamertag was banned, but I will recap it here for you:

There are several viable reasons why his gamertag was banned, here they are in order from most likely to least likely:

1 - The community repeatedly reported his gamertag as offensive. With enough complains and Microsoft's discretion, they forced him to change his gamertag.

2 - Microsoft is proactively and/or retroactively banning gamertags with offensive words in them

3 - It is the user's real name used in his gamertag, which goes against what is suggested in the terms of use.

Get it? Got it? Good. (Y)

[booboo]

How about changing it too, "iLikeBalls" or something? Or "I_AM_NOT_GAY_I_JUST_LIKE_MEAT!"

Edited May 22, 2008 by booboo

[Umbrello]

Wrong yet again. Re-read this thread from the start. We have already gone over why his gamertag was banned, but I will recap it here for you:

There are several viable reasons why his gamertag was banned, here they are in order from most likely to least likely:

1 - The community repeatedly reported his gamertag as offensive. With enough complains and Microsoft's discretion, they forced him to change his gamertag.

2 - Microsoft is proactively and/or retroactively banning gamertags with offensive words in them

3 - It is the user's real name used in his gamertag, which goes against what is suggested in the terms of use.

Get it? Got it? Good. (Y)

Actually a completely other thread that I somehow missed. Questions answered. I still think people who complain about this sort of petty **** need to face the facts and go outside. See some sun.

IM SO OFFENDED BY THE WORD GAY THAT I CANT PLAY WAAAAA :unsure:

[Emn1ty]

Go find out what the word 'Gay' means.

It was hijacked by homosexual Men.

Gay means happy, so the user name is happier than gay.

Yet again, you got morons telling us what to do.

Do you understand what a word is? Words aren't derogatory because of their definition, but because people take offense to them. It has nothing to do with what the word actually means. For example, and sorry for offending anyone in this topic but this point needs to be made, the word N*gger is derived from the Spanish word Negro, which means black. So technically it is just a horribly spelled Spanish word. But does that change the fact that Blacks associate that word with slavery and torture to their people? No, it doesn't. f*ck is another good example. The word f*ck is a farming term, which means planting seeds. Then that word was re-made into planting seeds somewhere else (women). Now it is just used as a general statement for hundreds of different things. It is a label, an action, an insult, an adjective, etc. Does the fact it is a farming term mean no one gets offended? Hell no.

You can go around preaching this all you like, but it still remains that others take these things seriously.