I suppose this is just another letter complaining about the problems on Xbox live; except this one isn’t about server issues, or glitches or connection problems. It probably will not affect more that 90% of people that play online but after some recent events it has become an issue that needs to be raised. I guess I should point out now that I am a girl gamer, I’ve been on Xbox live for nearly four years and for the most part I have never had any troubles. I prefer party chat when I am playing with my friends, and besides the occasional random friend request, life online is fairly peaceful.

Unfortunately this utopia doesn’t always last. As a girl online I expect a certain amount of abuse, I shouldn’t have to accept it, but sadly it has become part of the online community. Behind a television screen people can be anyone they want to be, they can say things that they wouldn’t dream of mumbling in the real world and you learn to take everything with a pinch of salt. More girls are interested in games than ever, we have our own consoles and accounts, but so many men find it surprising when we join their lobby. Now I am not a sensitive person, I am not easily offended and I will certainly give as good as I get when the abuse starts flying. No one should have to deal with it, but I can cope with being sworn at and shouted at, some of it is just laughable, however there are some lines that should never be crossed.

Last night I was in the ‘just one more game’ frame of mind on Modern Warfare 3, my friends had gone to bed and I stayed on for just a couple more games to level up. I would love to name and shame the delightful character I encountered in that last game but I am currently taking this issue up with Xbox Live so it would be inappropriate. Needless to say, this gentleman was clearly older than the usual teenagers that are out looking for arguments, and made it very clear that he disagreed with women playing Xbox. As I said, I am not easily offended but many of the comments that he made I could not even repeat to my friends. It was completely sickening, making lewd sexual comments, making jokes about raping women, but talking to me as though I was a little girl. What began as an insult on my game play then turned into a vile personal attack, shocking everyone else in the lobby as well.

As soon as the game had finished I wasted no time backing out, filing a complaint against him, avoiding him as a player and muting his gamertag. I completely appreciate that the number of complaints that get made on a daily basis are so astronomically high that they cannot all be fully investigated by the Live team, however hard they try. I also understand how many of those complaints are unfounded, made in rage against a player that was just better than them. I am therefore pushing for an amendment to the Xbox Live reporting system, for an opportunity to file a complaint for sexual harassment. I know this was not an isolated incident, I have friends that have had equally as unpleasant experiences with ignorant chauvinistic idiots, and no one should have to put up with that sort of abuse just for being a girl.

Even after I left that game I discovered another flaw in the Xbox Live system. Despite the fact I had done everything I could to avoid this person in the future and raise awareness that his behaviour was unacceptable, he could still send me messages. This were just as crude as his language in the game, but the option to ‘Block Communications’ is only open once someone has sent the message, and not before. This is then a problem for anyone having issues across the Live community, that there is no way to completely prevent incoming messages until the damage has been done.

Though unacceptable and unnecessary, the anger and abuse rages through the online gaming community, whatever the game, whatever the genre, whoever the players. When things go just a step too far I just don’t think the support is there to help the victims and prevent abusers moving on and doing it again with no consequences. Xbox Live allows players to prefer or avoid others, scoring their reputation, but having a bad reputation is nearly like a trophy and has no affect on their ability to play. So I ask the question: why should girl gamers get more abuse and disrespect than anyone else online?

Therefore I want:

1) the option to Block Communications with a player immediately so no more abuse than necessary has to be endured.

2) a reform of the player preferred system so that a bad repuation actually has an impact on a player's profile, maybe including more categories to encover other problems

3) a possible option to record in game chat which would not only identify abusive behaviour but could also clear someone's name who had been wrongly accused. Perhaps also a folder to save text and voice messages so reporting is easier.