Sometimes the rigid guidelines that Microsoft uses to judge potentially offensive gamertags are puzzling at best. Names such as Cow Moolester, which I personally don’t find distasteful in the least bit, find themselves on the brutal receiving end of the all mighty banhammer. Other times people decide to use their real name, like RichardGaywood, and also get banned. But what happens to the truly hateful and offensive gamertags? Are they dealt with swiftly as well?
After leaving offensive gamertag feedback last night on two particularly hateful individuals, I was curious to see how long it would take for the names to be officially banned. I have heard stories of disgruntled gamers filing complaints on obviously inappropriate gamertags and checking it days, sometimes weeks later only to discover no punitive action was taken. Obviously bans are not instantaneous but Microsoft has repeatedly said they look at all offensive gamertag complaints. So how long does it take for a justified complaint to see results? That is what I want to find out.
Last night (06.19) at 3:06 AM PDT, I was playing Multi Team on Halo 3 and encountered two gamertags that made me cringe. The very second the game was over, I filed offensive gamertag complaints on each individual player. The person I was playing with did the same thing. After checking both accounts on Bungie this morning, they each only have 64 games played which leads me to believe they have already encountered the gamertag banhammer before and are simply continuing to choose offensive names (that is pure speculation on my part of course). I have always been a big proponent in the feedback system, and I am hoping my beliefs will prove correct that filing official complaints does in fact make a difference. Keep an eye with me on Offender #1 and Offender #2. As of publishing time, we are at nine hours. And counting, …
UPDATE : Both gamertags were banned in under 12 hours.
Posted by mendicantbias00 on June 19, 2008 at 12:48 pm
You know I am glad that I am not the only one who files complaints based on horrible GT’s. To date I have encountered at least 15 if not more of them. Some of them were bad, others were worse. (the spelling of some below may be slightly inaccurate)
RasistwhyteKid < this one proceeded to sing the “racist song” from American History X…if he saw that movie, then he certainly didn’t get the point.
Ih8nygers
SmakUrH0
just to name a few.
For things like this they need to do more than ban a GT dont you think? I think they should start banning IP addresses for multiple offenders.
Also angel, where did you read that they actually look into every offensive GT notice?
Posted by bs angel on June 19, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I read that a while ago over at Stepto.com which is Stephen Toulouse’s website (I believe he is in charge of the team that handles these complaints).
I use the feedback system a lot, and always when it is something horribly offensive regarding to one of the -isms. Things motivated by race, religion, gender, etc I have no tolerance for. First I mute, then I leave feedback, then I continue along my merry gaming way. :)
Posted by mendicantbias00 on June 19, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Thanks for the link, I hopped over there and it seems like this is very important to them so hopefully they take notice and act accordingly.
Things motivated by race, religion, gender, etc I have no tolerance for. First I mute, then I leave feedback, then I continue along my merry gaming way. – couldn’t have said it better myself. =)
Posted by Anon on June 19, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Don’t you think this is bordering on free speech infringement?
Posted by bs angel on June 19, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I don’t, no. When people sign up for Xbox Live, they agree to abide by the set Terms of Service which includes :
I have plenty of personal views and opinions about politics, religion, and things of that nature. However Xbox LIVE is not the time or place for that. If people want to express their specific views about race, which I am assuming you do considering the email address you entered, find a group that allows and encourages that. Xbox LIVE is for gaming. So just game.
Posted by Anon on June 19, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Yeah, you’re certainly correct. But, as we all know, Microsoft isn’t exactly the fastest with response or action. So don’t expect a quick consolation.
Posted by bs angel on June 19, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I agree. I have always heard rumblings about people leaving offensive gamertag complaints and nothing being done. While I have left this sort of feedback several times, I have never followed up on it. More than anything else I am curious about the very thing you mention, what sort of time frame it takes for them to enforce their TOS.
Posted by Ray on June 19, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Still there as of 5:13 pm EST.
http://live.xbox.com/en-US/profile/profile.aspx?GamerTag=N16ERSrDUMB
http://live.xbox.com/en-US/profile/profile.aspx?GamerTag=kneegrowsRdumb
I leave feedback about all of the morons I encounter on Xbox Live too… we can all make a difference!
-Ray
Posted by ClandestineMan on June 19, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I just checked your links and they do not have bungie.net data. Or maybe my connection is messed up.
I leave feedback all the time… both good and bad for people. I do hand out allot of un-sportsmanship ones. I have even had to submit some for language. But I also give out positive ones for people who do good things or help or whatever makes me feel like they deserve it. Like all the ladies that have to deal with not so nice guys. Plus by giving feedback, both negative and positive its suppose to help with never talking to people you don’t like again and play more often with people you do like. ;0)
Have a great week and weekend.
Posted by bs angel on June 19, 2008 at 2:18 pm
They don’t have Bungie accounts, but you can follow the link to their Xbox Live accounts that show if their gamertags are still active.
And I leave plenty of good and bad feedback as well.
Posted by Stepto on June 19, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I’m the Program Manager in charge of enforcement on Xbox LIVE. My team processes each of the complaints by hand, daily. The average time for you to see a punishment if the tags violate the terms of use is anywhere from 24-36 hours depending on when my people review it.
There’s one flaw in the logic of this post. Once my team issues a Forced Name Change, the user will not be able to sign into Xbox Live until they change their name. If they never change their name, they cannot log into Xbox Live, but their profile page might still be present, leading one to think no action has been taken when in fact it has.
I checked out database and these two names were FNC’d this morning. So obviously they have not tried to sign into LIVE yet or upon doing so backed out without changing their name. :>
Hawty you can feel free to email me @ stepto@microsoft.com when you wanna play gotcha with my team in the future.
S.
Posted by Stepto on June 19, 2008 at 4:14 pm
oops I had a grin at the end of that last comment but encased it in less than/greater than as a joke and your comment system nixed it, didn’t mean to sound snarky, was just trying to be light hearted.
Posted by bs angel on June 19, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Success! And in less than 12 hours none the less. Quite impressive.
Posted by Ray on June 19, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I contacted Xbox Live support about the issue, and the second one has already been taken down.
+1 for the good guys/gals. =D
Posted by Ray on June 19, 2008 at 4:22 pm
lmao… as I comment, so does the head honcho, lmao.
Thanks for keeping us safer Stepto =D
Posted by SpaceGhost2K on June 19, 2008 at 5:40 pm
To address the free speech issue… this isn’t the county courtyard. This is Disneyland. You can speak your mind on public property, but privately owned property – even if you paid to have access – is under the directions of the private owners of the property. There are no free speech issues on Xbox LIVE. It’s as simple as that.
Also, Stepto talked to us at the MVP Summit back in April. There is no need to have multiple people in your gaming section report one guy. It doesn’t matter if one person reports him or 400 people report him. His name will show up once, and that’s it. Now, if someone reports him again the next DAY, then it will show up again, but in most cases if the name was found offensive, he’ll be gone by then. So if some jackhole is ruining your game, tell the rest of your party, “I got it,” and report him. He’ll get just as much attention as if everybody dropped everything and they ALL reported him.
They also have linguistic and slang dictionaries, plus multi-lingual people on staff. Very little slips by them. However, if they deem something okay but it keeps showing up on the complain report, they will look further into it to see what it is about this seemingly acceptable name that is upsetting people. “Tubgirl” wouldn’t set off any alarms if you didn’t know the origin of the word. Once you know, guess what? You won’t see any Tubgirl gamertags for very long.
I am much amused by “Grabbed By The Ghoulies” now that I know Rare’s nuts.
Posted by mendicantbias00 on June 19, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Hooray! The System Works!
Posted by Hugh on June 19, 2008 at 10:38 pm
I just hope they’re as quick to ban gamertags that aren’t brought to their attention by a well-known community blog. I’ve had former friends who ran experiments in the past, to see how long it would take their names to get banned (if ever), and the results weren’t quite so agreeable. I’d like to have faith in the system, but sometimes I’m not so sure…
As for the person who suggested this was a Free Speech violation… shut up. Really. Just… head out of ass, please. Oy.
Posted by setters on June 20, 2008 at 3:17 am
I’m really glad that the system seems to be working – it’s unfortunate that it needs to exist on a gaming platform but some people seem to feel that their right to express their opinions is more important than my rights to not be offended.
Well done to all involved – Stepto & all who report these folks
Posted by Roka360 on June 20, 2008 at 6:33 am
Glad they are banned but someone should look at legal action, that might not be msofts dept but it would be nice
Posted by Anon on June 20, 2008 at 7:38 am
Thank you all for feeding the troll.
Epic success. :D
Posted by SoxKid05 on June 20, 2008 at 10:36 am
i was thinking that was horrible and yesterdy when i was playing shotty snipes on valhalla, one guy had a picture on his fileshare of a burning swastika and it said HEIL HITLER on it. I found that very offensive. http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Halo3/Default.aspx?player=o%20SteveButabi%20o
Thats the guy there. I wanted to file a complaint, but i didnt know what to put it under. SO i put it under profile or somehing. Let me know what you think.
Posted by bs angel on June 20, 2008 at 11:17 am
In my neverending quest to find screenshots for my other website, I have seen some truly offensive pictures, much like the one you unfortunately found. I think the best option for that one (in my opinion) would be filing a complaint and then selecting “Player Content” under “Profile and Content”. You can also go that person’s profile on b.net and report the image as inappropriate. Just follow the link you left, go to the File Share, and choose the “Report Screenshot” choice (you have to be logged in to see that option).
Posted by SoxKid05 on June 20, 2008 at 1:17 pm
thanks =)
Posted by Queen 0f Blades on June 30, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Yaaaaay. *thumbs up*
Posted by mendicantbias00 on July 2, 2008 at 5:10 am
Another victory for the good guys “iFOQnigs” is now an invalid GT!
@ SoxKid05 – I also reported that file, hopefully those hate pics get removed soon.
Posted by Alan on July 23, 2008 at 4:15 pm
i just have one cuestion, i want to change my gamertag to “metal up your ass” (its a quoute from the metal band Metallica), so i could get banned for that, i mean its not so offensive at all. Hope you guys help me:).
Sorry for my bad english.
Posted by bs angel on July 24, 2008 at 1:15 am
I’m not even sure it will accept it like that. I wouldn’t think so though.
Posted by mendicantbias00 on July 24, 2008 at 3:37 am
Well I hate to say it but this D-Bag has struck again…
http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Halo3/Default.aspx?player=o%20SteveButabi%20o
He now has his trophy shot (or most recent screen shot) displaying Forge Art (if you can call it that) that says “I BURN JEWS” complete with one spartan torching another.
I reported the 3 offensive pics.
*sigh*
I hate people…
Posted by SilentDeath006 on August 28, 2008 at 7:17 pm
i once encountered some brits from the UK with Names like TwinTowersBoom
and 911HaHa its amazing some people are so ignorant, arrogant, and just plain stupid
Posted by MM killerklown on April 16, 2009 at 6:32 pm
i just had to test this “so-called” enforcement action, as it read on my screen a couple of hours ago, for myself because like you guys i have monitored offensive gt’s , offensive bios and just plain racist immatured little kids who think its cool to call someone names, anyways i made a bio with a bunch of curse words ,mainly to monitor how long it would take for the “enforcement team” to notice but also because it would nt let me put the word “balls”.i played with this bio for 8 days without a suspension .but today i got an e-mail explaining the reason why and for how long. well im not happy about ,but at least i know it works when i push the button on some of those bad gt’s and profiles. funny cuz i got suspended for 8 days also, i wonder what they base that on.laters
Posted by Jeremy on November 2, 2009 at 9:48 am
How do you verify that someone has had to change their name?