CAGcast #168: Stay Classy, Xbox Live!

I've been on xbox live for 5 years now and this is exactly why I quit playing as much multiplayer now as I did back on the original xbox days. It is absolutely sick what people think they can do online because they can hide.
 
Wow great show

Those message are funny but at the same time that's why I sold my xbox. Can't stand the immaturity, its people like that who ruin online gaming.
 
[quote name='BigBizzee']I am not a 360 owner, so this might sound like a noob questions...but what happens if you report those people that write/leave those types of messages? There HAS to be some type of deterrent for people that do that...no?[/QUOTE]

Depends on the severity of the offense. It could be a temporary ban all the way up to a permanent ban on the console and Live ID.
 
[quote name='BigBizzee']I am not a 360 owner, so this might sound like a noob questions...but what happens if you report those people that write/leave those types of messages? There HAS to be some type of deterrent for people that do that...no?[/QUOTE]

Each compliant is looked at by someone at MS and they do investigate. Depending on the nature of the offense, users can get a warning, a week-long ban on their gamertag all the way up to a permanent console ban from live. They will also report people to local authorities if it's a specific threat.

Filing a complaint does have power. People like this typically have a pattern of this type of activity. A support rep (on the xbox.com forums) told me that these people rarely only send one message to one person and it's rather easy to justify banning them.
These people do this because think they are anonymous, but MS has all the details from your gamertag (were people typically have signed up with a real home and email address), your IP address, your ISP, etc.

I once filed a complaint against a guy who got a week long ban for a text message. He guessed it was me and found a thread I had posted on xbox.com. He then threatened me on xbox.com (yeah these people are not usually that bright). The moderator granted him with a permanent console ban.

Sweet Justice.
 
Wombat -- I feel your pain. I get these type of messages more frequently that I would like. You should file complaints on those really vile messages. It does work.

I actually rather like the new Harry Potter. I only wish they had kept in the battle scene at the end of the book. I thought the previous two movies fell rather flat. Thanks for the recommendation for Spaced, I was looking for something new to watch on Hulu.

For all those people in this thread who say only play with your friends, how do you get friends on live without talking in multiplayer games? I live in a somewhat rural area and all my personal friends don't have a 360. Unfortunately, they usually just have Wii's for their families. I would like to play with more friends I could trust online but it's hard to find people when no one talks because their so afraid of the 15 year olds.
 
Jesus. Those messages were terrible. I thought they were amusing when read but listening to them was different - so fucking hateful. I hope I'm never on the gamer "spotlite".
 
Greater Internet fuckwad theory at its finest. Bunch of idiots on Live, bet most are kids too. Ahhh the savageness of youth.
 
i also would like to know if everyone gets harassed like wombat did for being in the spotlight. if so they need to get rid of that lol its like xbox is throwing you into the fire
 
uncle buck is an awesome movie.

I wish microsoft would hand out more console bans, worked well for blizzard with its games and would help weed out the retards (no offense to unoffensive mentally challenged individuals)
 
Cheapy and Wombat: it was just an off-hand comment, but you guys referred to Alpha Protocol as an "action game." It's not. It's a western RPG, and though the graphics don't really look impressive a lot of the hands-on impressions so far suggest it shares a lot in common with Mass Effect. It's from Obsidian and the designer is, if I'm not mistaken, the guy responsible for games like Planescape and Fallout 2, so it has a pretty solid WRPG background. Now I know this is the kind of thing they say all the time, but supposedly there is a lot of customization in your interactions as well, like you control the approach you take to every conversation and the way the characters respond to you can affect missions and gameplay. (They've gone out of their way to emphasize that there won't be a clear cut "good guy" or "bad guy" path to play through, but rather a lot of little choices that have no clear moral value.)

It looks to have a lot of potential but so far there has been almost zero buzz out of Sega marketing and that's really unfortunate.

Not trying to correct you guys, just want you to be more aware of what the game is really about so that maybe you might want to give it a second look when it gets closer to coming out.
 
Wombat, I really hope that you take the time to report everyone that insulted you on Xbox Live. I know that it maybe time consuming but you know if you can't make the world (of XBL) a little bit better then I definitely think that you should do it. Also, encourage others to make reports as well. The thing is if no one reports anything, then how can you expect the community to get better. Cheapy, talk w/ people from MS and get them to help you out with this. XBL needs to be cleaned up and I think that it needs to start with the efforts of Wombat and Cheapy D. If you don't report anything, then don't bother complaining.
by the way - did any women talk trash about you on XBL Wombat? (cause that would have been funny as hell!!!! lol ) If so... please play some clips. (and get her banned as well)

adding two more points:

Great show overall, I enjoyed it.

2nd: get those guys banned on XBL and name the next show: WOMBAT STRIKES BACK!
 
[quote name='sublime90']i also would like to know if everyone gets harassed like wombat did for being in the spotlight. if so they need to get rid of that lol its like xbox is throwing you into the fire[/QUOTE]


Yes they do... By the end of the week a lot of them have stopped sharing their friends lists and have put "you guys are sick in the head" messages in their gamer bio. I would think Trixie and Major would be warning people by now.

The messages probably come the same people that nominate themselves every week for the Gamer Spotlight.
 
This is why i tend to mute the audio output when I'm playing Halo, or Call of Duty when i don't know anybody. Tends to be like I'm in 7th grade again at times.
 
Wombat, those messages are really weak. There are so many embarassments of human beings out there, ignore that stuff and keep your chin up!


Has anything happened with Cheapy talking about polling the community about flipping games? Personally I hate it, I wish that crap didn't take place here, it really ruins the community vibe. Instead of a great community of gamers, it feels like a community of dickhead con artists.
 
It's not just Xbox live that is full of people like this. Every online community has an equal amount of douches. Xbox live seems worse because its easier to send these types of messages to people. Thats why Party chat is great......you can avoid a lot of this during gameplay.
 
Great show and all but, I have one complaint.

Those English accents were terrible. I'm English and I have never heard such TERRIBLE English accents. Hang your heads in shame! :evil:

Those fake threats were kinda scary :(
 
I couldnt believe the voice clips, its just pathetic that someone has bothered to spend 30 seconds hurling abuse at someone because they're jealous that they're not on the gamer spotlight.
 
Great cagcast guys as usual, i totally agree with you about the messages on xbox live, i get loads of random abuse my self, and don't use the mic unless playing with friends.
 
[quote name='mikejenks']Wombat, those messages are really weak. There are so many embarassments of human beings out there, ignore that stuff and keep your chin up!


Has anything happened with Cheapy talking about polling the community about flipping games? Personally I hate it, I wish that crap didn't take place here, it really ruins the community vibe. Instead of a great community of gamers, it feels like a community of dickhead con artists.[/QUOTE]


the thing that pisses me off the most about flipping games is when its an online deal and 1 person orders like 5 copies and sometimes it causes other people who wanted to get the deal to miss out, sucks. tons of people raped the best buy 10 dollar deal, i just wanted to get silent hill ...1 copy and i couldnt because some flipper went wild
 
What Wombat went through is the main reason my wireless headset remains tucked away. I usually only break it out when I game with friends and fellow CAGers. I thought I heard about some community watchdog group that records stuff from XBL. I could be mistaken, but if there isn't there most certainly should be one. People amaze me sometimes.

That's not to say I don't frustrated with people when they cheese or cheat in a game, I just don't make stupid texts or voice messages when it happens. People are assholes, some people are just as good or even better than you are. Deal with it.

As for the avatar outfits and whatnot, I can't see myself spending 420 MS Points on a single outfit. However, if a collection of various outfits and props from a designer or brand came out for the same price, I'd consider it a bit more than just a single outfit or prop.

I'm also keeping my hopes up that somewhere down the line we see licensed sports outfits for the avatars. If they make customizable sports jerseys (our gamertag and number of choice on an NBA, MLB or NHL jersey) available, you better bet that I'll spend a few points on that.

But a single pair of pants for 320 MS Points? Pass.
 
Wow Wombat, I always thought being the featured gamer would be pretty cool but after hearing the messages that is pretty sad. Did Trixie ever warn you things might get pretty crazy after they put you up as the featured gamer? Maybe they should offer a free gamertag change with that honor?
 
TMNT 89 on XBLA wasn't all that good, but it was okay for the $3 I spent on it.

The dashboard is still pretty slow for me at times, for both the marketplace and the games library, though the marketplace was a bit speedier in its load times today.

Splosion Man is a lot of fun, especially when you get into a good groove via sploding. Local co-op > online co-op. It's only 800 points, Wombat, not 1200 points.

There's plenty of room for everyone in Fat Princess, Cheapy. If you suck at fighting, you should definitely stick to the support roles (priest and worker).

I noticed that Spaced is on Hulu, so I'm looking forward to watching it.

I also got a few random friend requests and messages from being on Wombat's friends list, too. One was a stalker that would send me party invites as soon as I turned my Xbox 360 on and sent me numerous messages, both audio and written, which he sounded like a 10 year old that I couldn't understand at all. One of his messages was just "1600 (microsoft points logo)" and that was it. I just got around to getting rid of him, but the others haven't done anything yet. That kind of stuff is the main reason I don't really care about putting my headset on when I go to play online on Xbox Live or PSN, since I really don't care about hearing those kinds of people when I just want to play against other people.

You have to at least be a bit flattered that one of them thought you were about 20 years old.

I think the community just flamed those that do horde and flip games in the past. I remember a guy that posted a picture of his kitchen table being covered with dozens of games during the $5 CC clearance sale back in 2004 that most everyone took a crap on him.

Good show.
 
lol @ the sponsor ad @ the beginning.

Nice nsfw riffing. Glad I have headphones, lol.

And my aha moment for the week was when I realized the recent influx of random XBL messages/friend requests was the result of Wombat's dashboard fame. Fame by association--thanks Wombat! ^_^

Kudos for having the frame of mind to save those hate/retard messages for reading on the cagcast. Sorry you had to deal with that, but on the otherhand, some of those were pretty amusing. It really reinforces the amount of douchebaggery on Live. I wonder if MS gets complaints from the dashboard highlight "victims". :p
 
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Since I think MajorNelson and some others at least pay attention to this show, has there been any response from any of them?

I liked the show, even though I was saddened (and sadly unsurprised) by the immaturity of those people who left Wombat messages.

Hope Cheapy is having a sort of a good "vacation." From his Twitter posts, it sounds a bit boring.

/tk
 
I'm going to echo the sentiment of when Wombat was reading the messages, they were funny. I was luaghing as much as Cheapy was, mostly because I really couln't imagine anybody actually sending legit angry messages. But once the audio clips started rolling, I was floored. Seriously, what the fuck? What because getting spotlighted is so great, a shitton of users felt the need to bring Wombat back down to Earth? I really don't get it...

But on a slightly different, though related, note, this is exactly why I shake my head when you guys talk about Sony "needing" to give headsets to all PS3 owners. All those people who just spew angry messages on XBL probably wouldn't bother going out and buying a headset for the PS3. If you just give them one, you are helping the problem to grow.
 
Im sorry, but i feel so bad for wombat for the messages. but they are so funny..

What makes me laugh.... look here at 2.39.

You suck at Games. Yes You suck at games. That made me laugh so much. However the others were disgraceful.

youtube.com/watch?v=c7BNlFg5GkE
 
Those Xbox live messages had me laughing my ass off. I've come to expect that from random people you meet online, but something about Wombat never actually having had interaction with them makes it extra entertaining/sad. The whole idea that they go out of their way to insult someone they had no personal interaction with is just so laughably pathetic.
 
You get a thumbs up for recommending Spaced, Wombat. I remember having the imported DVD from the UK and loved it. I found it on Hulu a while ago and became happy.
 
That was the the best CAGcast in a looong time. Two reasons why: 1. Got to hear Wombat do his British accent again. 2. The truth behind the Xbox Live Spotlight. I felt just like Cheapy did when he was listening to the voice messages. It was pretty funny at first, but it really was kind of sickening after the first couple.

You're right, that's the Xbox Live community in a nutshell. The reason why I never use my headset anymore unless I'm playing with friends.
 
Like many others, the inane, childish trash-talking on XBox Live is the primary reason I don't play online so much. Like many I only play with people on my friends list -- a mix of family, "from-real-life" friends, and people I've grown to respect from forums such as this one and the roller coaster forums I participate in (not surprisingly there's a big overlap in those two geeky cultures :) )


As for flying business class to and from Japan, I think you're in for a treat, Cheapy. I haven't flown business class recently, nor have I flown it on American, but a number of years ago when I was flying quite frequently on USAirways I scored an upgrade to business class on two separate trips from Pittsburgh to England. At the time US was offering a fantastic product, and it was well worth it for the spacious seat and excellent food and booze.

Even better, I had enough frequent flyer miles saved up that when I went to Japan in 2005, I redeemed miles for a First Class ticket on ANA (a Star Alliance partner of USAirways). This was before ANA had installed the "pod seating" on all their planes, so I had "only" a lay-flat seat, but...wow. From what I've gathered modern Pacific "business class" flights are on par with that, and if so you should spend your time going over the food and drink list, stretching out, and generally living it up. The sushi I had on that flight was surprisingly good for "airline" food, for instance... The lounge access before boarding was nice, too.

(edit -- added the link for my trip. I never DID finish putting up all the pictures...)
 
The messages from those losers were really pathetic. What kind of dipshit takes time to rip someone they don't even know. They all sounded like kids muffled by their braces. I hope none of their shit bothered you Wombat.
 
Just thought I wanted to say how much I love Wombat and I really hope you didn't let any of those messages get to you as your super awesome!

Though the show before when you got on at the PSPGo for no having a second stick (which I agree, it should) one of the main reasons is that the PSP 3000 will run along side it and Sony wanted to avoid having games with 2 control set-ups. Of course this reason is stupid as the second analog stick could just be mapped to the face buttons or d-pad for new and existing games.

Seriously though, don't let those comments get to you! We LOVE you!
 
Aside from the majority of show feed back already brought up, these text/voice messages bring up another issue.

Two of the voice messages were most likely by young tweenagers (I'd guess around 11-14 based on voices) who've yet to reach, or perhaps (un)fortunately skipped, puberty.

One was a tirade filled with insults and expletives everywhere. The other was an extremely tame yet pathetic execution of trash talking.

Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume these kids do not buy games themselves and have many M rated games. Should game companies, be it the console makers or publishers (and maybe even developers), be more open about how certain games ARE NOT for certain age groups? Or perhaps stores and its employees need to either stop selling to minors or directly inform parents or whatever that young kids should not be playing certain games.

The demographic for videogames in general (age wise) is essentially young to middle aged adults. Of course a fair share of them are assholes, douchebagss, etc. Now factor in a younger age group who are middle schoolers and maybe even green high schoolers who (the majority) are deficient in maturity. This adds another element of immaturity though there are a sparse amount of adult like kids.

tldr: The gaming industry needs to curb the community and provide more form and structure. There a lot of idiots out there but perhaps it'd help a bit if we weed out the brats first.

anyway I enjoyed this podcast (168) more than most and hope there might be a segment reserved for any hate mail or general messages received while playing games (over LIVE, PSN, etc) or discussion of game communities.
 
[quote name='Gamer SDP']Aside from the majority of show feed back already brought up, these text/voice messages bring up another issue.

Two of the voice messages were most likely by young tweenagers (I'd guess around 11-14 based on voices) who've yet to reach, or perhaps (un)fortunately skipped, puberty.

One was a tirade filled with insults and expletives everywhere. The other was an extremely tame yet pathetic execution of trash talking.

Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume these kids do not buy games themselves and have many M rated games. Should game companies, be it the console makers or publishers (and maybe even developers), be more open about how certain games ARE NOT for certain age groups? Or perhaps stores and its employees need to either stop selling to minors or directly inform parents or whatever that young kids should not be playing certain games.

The demographic for videogames in general (age wise) is essentially young to middle aged adults. Of course a fair share of them are assholes, douchebagss, etc. Now factor in a younger age group who are middle schoolers and maybe even green high schoolers who (the majority) are deficient in maturity. This adds another element of immaturity though there are a sparse amount of adult like kids.

tldr: The gaming industry needs to curb the community and provide more form and structure. There a lot of idiots out there but perhaps it'd help a bit if we weed out the brats first.

anyway I enjoyed this podcast (168) more than most and hope there might be a segment reserved for any hate mail or general messages received while playing games (over LIVE, PSN, etc) or discussion of game communities.[/QUOTE]

Or maybe, instead of policing the vendors to correct the problem, we should focus on the parents who let their kids lock themselves in their bedrooms for hours at a time with no idea what's going on.

I have 2 kids about this age, and they don't play without me knowing what they are playing. They also don't play online. There is no reason for an 11 year old kid to be playing Halo 3 or COD4 online.

Parental responsibility is the issue, not more laws.

Anyway, loved the show as always.
 
Has anyone noticed that the gamer spotlight repeatedly features girls? Again and again I'm seeing a female character sitting in the gamer spotlight box. It seems to me that Microsoft is trying to make it seem as though there are more females on Xbox live than there actually are by taking a disproportionate amount of them and putting them in the spotlight. Just another part of this whole bullshit "family friendly" campaign they've been pushing since the release of NXE. Someone who doesn't play XBL might actually be fooled. Of course, it's another way to attract Wii-buying soccer moms.
 
I feel a new cagcast coming! It's called "Taintality" and for some reason keeps showing up on my itunes but won't download.
 
[quote name='TheMoniter']Has anyone noticed that the gamer spotlight repeatedly features girls? Again and again I'm seeing a female character sitting in the gamer spotlight box. It seems to me that Microsoft is trying to make it seem as though there are more females on Xbox live than there actually are by taking a disproportionate amount of them and putting them in the spotlight. Just another part of this whole bullshit "family friendly" campaign they've been pushing since the release of NXE. Someone who doesn't play XBL might actually be fooled. Of course, it's another way to attract Wii-buying soccer moms.[/QUOTE]

While it's probably true that they're overrepresenting female XBL members, it's nice to see that there are actual members of the other half of our species on the service rather than just the mouthbreathers that inhabit Halo 3 and spend too much time flaming the person in the Gamer Spotlight.

Speaking of the gamer spotlight, this was probably mentioned already, but the clip of the CAGcast showed up on Joystick. I'm in agreement with one of the commenters over there that MSFT should crack down on the cretins who sent those messages. Maybe not all necessitate punishment, but some of those messages were just too awful and hateful to ignore.

I hope you contacted Trixie or another MSFT contact about this rather than hoping they'll get the hint from other gaming websites.
 
I had an anxiety attack listening to those messages. Just as Cheapy, I found it really amusing when Wombat read the messages aloud himself. But when you played those messages back, man. I just wanted to give Wombat a hug :)
 
40% of gamers are women...I'm fairly sure that it's less than 40% on the spotlight. =]

I have to say that listening to this podcast made me smile. When I was the spotlight we weren't put on the dashboard...I STILL got all the messages. Whats more insane, two years ago I was on the Dash for Mothers Day. I think my kids counted the messages in the thousands. There were definitely bad ones (some of them ended up banned) and I ignored all the MILF and GILF ones, but honestly the ones that annoyed me the most were "ADD ME".

How rude and presumptuous to think I would just add strangers! Nothing else in the message....just ADD ME. No please...no Hey how are ya...

Some messages were great and I still have those people as gaming friends. But how sad that your life is so pitiful that you have time to send hate messages to total strangers.

Awesome podcast guys. Thanks!




ADD ME!


;)
 
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