Gaming Inequality

[pibs]

http://news.filefront.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/files.jpg
By:Nikole (http://www.gamegirl.com/profile/nikole/)
I'm going to do my best to leave me opinions out of this and make it as unbiased as I can, because I mostly want your opinions on the matter.
I was reading an article on bingegamer.net (http://www.bingegamer.net/index.php/opinion-no-i-dont-want-to-have-sex-with-you/). The author Allison Boyer was discussing her experiences while playing XBL. She complains that she doesn't like using her mic due to the fact that she has a woman's voice, as most women do. The problem with having a woman's voice you ask? You get comments like these:

"Ooo, your voice sounds sexy, Ooo, I'll protect you baby, Ooo, you up for some fun?



She says that while playing she will either get killed non-stop by guys thinking its funny to kill a girl or be protected by players who think its chivalrous to keep her from harms way. The bottom line being: "I'm a girl. I like to play video games. STOP RUINING IT FOR ME."


There, a simple painless little article stating how this girl felt she was being harassed and treated differently on live. Hardly breaking news or any kind of oddity. But the part that strikes me is the comments she received. The article went up today and there are already 50+ comments, the majority of which being negative and involving the world kitchen and/or sammiches. [Guys get some new jokes!!!]

* "-Get back to the kitchen" x9000!!!!

* -"grow some balls "

* "Get over it. You know the nature of how online play is on xbox live and PSN. You know what to expect. All that one can do in your position is endure it. You can't change anything by writing a piece crying about how annoying people are towards you when you play online. I get irritated at the idiots who only know how to swear all day and talk over the mic just to hear themselves say something in the game. But I don't care that much to write a cry me a river style article. If I want to play online then that is what I have to expect. It is the "nature" of playing a game online."

* -"The irony in this article is amazing. The jerks pick on you because you act like a little girl, in fact you ARE a little girl (no i don't care about your real age, someone who cries about the ean people on the internet is as naive as a 8 years old). Instead of whining you should understand that xboxlive is full of morons and the fact that you're a girl is just one more reason to add to a countless list for acting like a complete idiot. I hope you're just a troll playing the old "EHI AIMMA GRRRL GAMER!!!" card for some easy baiting. In that case it was a pleasure to feed you. tl;dr Cry me a river, build a bridge and get over it."

* -"Don't wear your mic or turn on mute. Seriously, why so many words for a non-issue? And I'm really sure the fellas are waiting in lines to tap your sh--, sister"

* -"Cute arguement, but one article on the next isn't anything more then a gossip. I appologize but no ones going to look at this and change their ways for it, ethier way it was clevar and I got a few laughs out of it."

* -"WAHHH. Like any woman, all you can f------ do is bitch. Grow some f------ ovaries, and either kill the m----------- trying to kill/protect you, or, hey, tell them to f--- off. Jesus christ, do you honestly expect the internet to feel sorry for you? Why? Because you have a f------ hole between your legs? GTFO, you stupid, worthless, hypocritical c----. Seriously. Just get the f--- off the internet right now. You belong in the kitchen anyways."



I'm gonna avoid bitching about the obvious idiots she has to deal with. I don't see how this will ever change for xbl or anywhere on the internet as long as people can hide behind the anonymity of the internet.


Am I the only one that thinks this is ridiculous?

And guys, is this how you really are and how you really view girls?

Does talking about these issues actually bring about change for the better?

Is there really anything that can be done to stop stupidity on the internet?

Source: http://www.gamegirl.com/article/64873/and-the-gamer-girl-bitching-continues/

[Veskgar]

Yeah, I play Halo 3 on XBOX Live often and its funny to hear the loser loner lowlife perverts get all in a frenzy when they find out a girl is playing. Really pathetic and I can't really blame girls for feeling intimidated.

My advice:

Don't use the mic at first, practice, get really good, then beat the hell out of guys and laugh at them when they get beat by a girl.

We need more girl gamers!

[RV2006]

I always treat everyone online as equals.
Its a shame that others are too immature not to...

Golden Rule: Respect your rivals, even if they don't respect you. (Or you could just boot them from the game...)

[titch.ryan]

to be honest, some people are morons you just have to ,live with that.

ok being a girl seems to push them p***s at little further but theres simple ways to avoid it.

[Pilot_51]

The only major factor that determines how I treat people online would be their attitude, not things they can't control such as their gender or skin color or any of that.

I have a distaste for immature people who swear a lot or break rules, so I naturally want to give them a harsher treatment if I can do it without getting myself in a mess.
If I get owned by well-mannered players, I either shut up and take it or leave.

When it comes to women gamers, I generally respect them more than the average gamer. When in the action, it's often hard to tell who exactly I'm shooting at, so I shoot at all enemies the same and put my full focus on the survival and success of my self and my team. I try to learn the skills of my teammates and adjust my strategies accordingly, especially when the team is divided into small squads.

So yeah, when in the game, women get the exact same treatment from me as the guys.


By the way, haven't I seen that image in a website or the packaging for gaming headsets?

[MicroNut]

Yes, its too easy for @ssholes to abuse voice.
They do it because they don't have to look in the face when they do it.

I am a guy and I hate using the mic too.
Hated it playing WoW and hate it playing FPS
Unless I know the person personally I dont waste my time with it.
I didn't pay for that crap, so why should I endure it?
So I don't.

Yes, its ridiculous.
No, i see women as equals and do not use lame language.
Change for the better? not any time soon.
How to stop it?
Regulated voice chat as the only option for premium game servers.
Violate the rules and your banned.

[newb_fo_life]

We're all the same so leave women alone

[FaIIen]

I think she's flattered, all women are when men pay attention to them, she's just bitching about it cause again she's a woman and she has to complain about something to draw even more attention.

This phenomenon that appears on multiplayer games has its roots deeply to human evolution, you can't accuse males for being males or women for being women.

The real problem is that there are not many women playing games and I don't really think it's because men are harassing them. Most computer games don't appeal to women. If we had more women...if they were something common like men are in multiplayer games I don't think we would be having that problem.

If you really think about it (article writter) you are actually the protective type for her. So..meh :p

[Cloudhunter]

Hmm, I think the comments are disgusting really. Why would you be flattered when people are trying to either bully you, or protect you getting in your way? Simple, you wouldn't be. It'd just annoy the hell out of you, and make you feel bad.

If you ask me, most of the male population need to grow up.

Cloudy

[stevo11185]

i lol'd

Firstly someone gave a completely valid argument. DON'T TURN ON THE MIC. If they don't know you are a girl then they wont harass you. If you have a gamer tag like XxStephaniexX then you are asking for trouble...otherwise no one will find out. What retard wants to speak online and say crap like

hahahaha i owned you
lololololol you all suck
etc etc

It a known fact that women are a lot more mature than men. No one on the internet cares. Just play the damn game.

[one winged angel]

this is interresting on the server where i play cs there are a lot of girls and they are quite good at gettin some headshots i think people thing such stupid things should just get banned

[Failedartifact]

When i PLAYED xbox live, I had 2 female friends who i knew personally. I occationally played games with them, and I heard alot of abuse from slugheads all over live. To me it makes no difference (like what RV2006 said) who i play with. To be honest, I'd rather play the majority of games with girl gamers, least then there would only the minority if any who'd always slag people off, immature and not very nice people.

edit:
Also i don't agree how some people talk about girl gamer skills. We are all human, we all can be good at anything we wish to be good at, so saying that 'they were actually getting some heads shots' is just like.. being sexest? Just because its a girl, doesn't mean that you can actually compair there skill.

Skill comes from practise, not from gender.

[dark.nowhere]

* "-Get back to the kitchen" x9000!!!!

More like OVER 9000 amirite?

In all seriousness, yeah the comments are dumb and same for what these people say on live. Welcome to the internet, it's full of children, some of them several decades old. It's a shame, but the best advice is just to keep the mic off.

[Sp3ct0r]

lol kitchen jokes are hilarious :D

[mcdougall57]

its funny coz the only girl i play online with is a mate, shes find this kind of pathetic shit funny.

[gutbub]

Oh no, somebody on the internet said something mean to me. W/e, get over it. If there wasn't a girl in the server, then the a$$hole on the mic would make fun of a dude. The only difference is, a dude wouldn't really care, because he would understand it's only the internet. So next time you don't want someone to say something dumb to you, turn your mic off, or mute the retard.

[NewSchool87]

(First post!)

I've read this type of articles for a long time, and seriously, I don't think it's that bad.

I play several times a week with my girlfriend on xbox live, usually the good, old Halo2.
Most of the time people don't even realize she is a girl, they just assume she is a 12 years old boy (even though she does have a female Gamertag).
When they do realize she is a girl, usually it is not that bad either (and considering the biggest part of the Halo2 community consists of assholes), they don't seem to insult her more because of that.

Of course usually there is one or another that doesn't stop bothering her, or that keeps sending friend requests, but it's easy to simply mute them or quit the game.

I'll ask her to come here later to see what she thinks about it, I'm interested in her point of view.

[Spotfist]

This is a such a lame complaint, it's a bit of an eye opener as I didn't think ppl would be so mean but seriously what do woman expect? It's not like I play on line and don't get people screamin "F this" and "F that" down the line, it's all part of the experience... If you don't like it don't play!

As mentioned in a previouse post, why doesn't she just say she's a guy? I hear loads of people on-line who sound like they're 3 years old, they could of course be females but I totally assume that it's some under age gamer... so irronic that the person I am talking about was being made fun of by the entire team cuz he sounded like a girl, should he complain? Should girls complain that they made fun people sounding like a girl?

Perhaps I should complain about the waste of time this has all been? Or maybe we should all forget about this, carry on with our lives and get back to the game! ;)

[gunntims0103]

lol, can't you mask your voice while playing online.

[mike_jmg]

LOL :rofl:
this is ridiculus

[jdnation]

Actually complaining about this is useless. I'm very damn certain that the guys hitting on her, killing her or protecting her are well aware of what they are doing, it's just a big fun joke to them, kind of like how a group of multicultural people are aware of racism and know that it's bad, but when they get together they tell racist jokes or use racist slang words with exaggerated voices but all in good humor, they're not actually racist, but they will imitate the whole hip hop culture and racial demeanors just for jokes amongst themselves and laugh about it because they know it's ridiculous. The best comedy comes from dealing with touchy non pilitically correct subject matter.

I think it's the same for Xbox LIVE. It won't go away not because everyone on there are sexist jerks, sure some may be, but everyone is basically in on the joke about the stereotypes surrounding girl gamers so they propogate it and act that way just for laughs. The more girls complain about it, the funnier it becomes and the longer the joke will carry on. My advice is either turn off the mike and go with an obscure username or just take it in good stride and laugh it off. I play games with girls sometimes and amongst my group the guys crack jokes about the girls and the girls laugh or crack some jokes about guys being immature. Everyone has a good time. So don't take it so seriously if that's the case... Making fun of the other or trying to be iintimidating is part of the game when it's a competitive environment.

[wolfpack]

the only girl i protect online is my gf, except she usually asks me to :p... haha but seriously though, this is sad, so what if theyre a girl. i think the thing is, is that since some of the hear a girl, theyre prolly desperate for a date and trying to get a small hookup, either that or just insult the hell outta them just because theyre a girl.

sad world still sexist, get over it guys

[josflint]

Who causes all the trouble ? Mostly yanks , probably. Or so it seems in my experiance. After some of the the comments made to my wife & daughter on PS3 i feel like meeting the people in question, alone:mad:. Point any trouble causers in ihbest & flintstone34's direction on Tiger Woods 08 PSP online . 2nd & 3rd in world , the yanks hate us , bring it on & they get it back with interest . Play online games & there's always someone better than you wether they are male or female so accept it & take defeat with good grace, then enjoy the moment when you do beat 'em:thumbup:

[goity]

Should've got PSN... :P

[unSlinger]

I really don't see how the "suck it up" attitude I'm seeing in some of these posts contributes to the overall discussion. It is true that the sort of discrimination discussed in the initial post and the article it links to is a reality for current gaming communities, but that does not make it right.

Though the article itself is unlikely to have a direct impact on the kind of culture-blind sexism it protests (as evidenced by the seemingly ignorant harassment visited upon her in the comments), any voice for change is a good voice. In this case, a heard voice.

What I wonder is: Why do some men (and some women, for that matter) find that they must, as to a life raft, cling to a fixed, assumed universal model of gender? Different cultures around the world have drastically different gender-based behavioral models than are reflected by some of the above posts. A common rebuttal to that statement might be: Well, that's there, not here. [Xenophobia, blind nationalism, etc.] Physically, no - well, maybe some of us live in Madagascar or with the nomads of the savanna or whatnot, but humanity as a whole has shown a diverse range of expression for gender roles. And we are all human.

And those lines are never clear - so why does it threaten so many when those imaginary, arbitrary lines are crossed? Is it a personal fear - that the harassing individual has about his or her own sexual identity? These are some hard questions - questions that deserve more than frivolous answers.

Now, I do not feel I am here to defend any one position, just to bring up some important points I feel are being ignored.

[blueskull1]

In my opinion places where you play to pay (like xbox live) should be monitored/moderated. It's not just sexism that runs rampant in online gaming, there is also heavy racism. I played on xbox live and even though i paid for a full year of it, I only used it for about a week until I met the person who made me want to quit it all together. See spanish is my native tongue, I speak english clearly , and you would have no trouble understanding, however , there is a trace of an accent , not a steretypical heavy accent like they show on tv and what not, but an accent nonetheless. Anyways just hearing my accent was enough to get this one guy in xbox live ranting about how mexicans are a plague and we had no bussiness playing on xbox live , he sugested i should instead go out and mow some lawns and have some beans for lunch. The comments went on and on , until i finally decided to leave. Yeah he got his way , but someone can only take so much until they snap and stoop to their offender's level. I don't like to do that so i just left it alone. So, I do sympathize with people who complain with the fact that people on xbl talk way too much crap. The thing about sucking it up or turning off your mic is not the best route either since a lot of players will boot you off their game for simply not having the mic on. Yeah that is how immature the internet is. Funny thing is that at least in my case , many of these people who think they are tough guys in the internet , wouldn't do so in real life, and that makes it even more annoying. but what ever.

[Gene]

I just think some people need to chill and stop making themselves sound like idiots. Think of it this way. It's probably just a pasty white kid trying to pretend that he is a badass when are he really is, is a dumbass.

And I agree with Blueskull1. I hate Racism more than any kind of discrimination. It pisses the hell out of me. This one time a guy came into a game of mine and the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "KKK all the way!". I got so angry I just told him to kill himself and save us the trouble. Then this moron started ranting how he's some gang member who killed some guy and burned someones house down, or something. I just got so annoyed I really could care less what gang he's part of, or what skin color he doesn't like. If this guy was as hard core as he said, what the hell is he doing sitting in his room playing a Ps3? Get a life, don't make one up.

[Cerepol]

I think the real abused people on the internet are people under 15.

[IamAbe]

i think theres a voice changer on one of the systems

[chris151]

/sigh

Seriously, if someone is protecting u, its a compliment.
It may not be one you want, but that doesnt change the good nature of the action.

BUT the real reason i even posted was to say....quit crying and deal.
I hate playing with 5 year olds. I dont write articles crying about it.
I hate dealing with teen angst ridden 13 year olds that want to prove something from behind the safety of their internet connection.
I dont cry about it in an online blog.

Please Deal.

BTW My wife plays online. she saw this and her response to this was STFU.....i almost fell outta my chair laughing.

[Mister Klownes]

On the one hand, it's sad but true. It would be great to see more female gamers so this sort of thing wouldn't even be an issue, but the truth is gaming is heavily weighted towards males.

On the other hand, complaining like this only hurts your cause. If you're upset about not getting respect, crying about your lack thereof only makes it worse.
As I've seen, people seem to be making the obvious suggestion of just gaming without the headset. I agree entirely. I don't even own one, and wherever applicable, I mute all other players. Not because their reactions to me specifically, but because I loathe them before they even speak.

In all, it's tough to decide how something like this could be resolved, other than:

Ignore the idiots and just keep gaming.

[ojdon]

Yeah, I've seen this happen before, like on Phantasy Star Universe, we were having a "Party Mission" happily chatting to each other until a Female joins the party then everyone's mind changing to this girl, and they are asking stupid questions that you would not hear in real life just because it is safe behind the mic. I for one keep out of this just because it's just another user playing the same game regardless of their gender.

[kcajblue]

this just goes to show how many idiots there are in our world.

i personally wouldnt care if a girl was playing video games, id just think its cool as not very many girls do play video games.

i wouldnt do that stupid stuff like, ill protect you baby.

[LHorse007]

I would recommend making friends with people who treat you like an equal, and don't engage in the activities described. I have quite a few girl gamers on my friends list, and yes, we get to hear the stupid guys in the lobby say crap, but come time for the game to start, we have a full party and none of that crap takes place cause there's no room for some jerk to get stuck on our team.

[aznflameboy]

i cant believe ppl can actually say that. I dont rly play online games, but i this is just stupid the way those guys acted since i kno a lot of girl gamers.

[dark heart]

HOLY CRAP i sounds like a bunch of sexist arse holes, tell them where to stick their microphones XD


i lol'd

Firstly someone gave a completely valid argument. DON'T TURN ON THE MIC. If they don't know you are a girl then they wont harass you. If you have a gamer tag like XxStephaniexX then you are asking for trouble...otherwise no one will find out. What retard wants to speak online and say crap like

hahahaha i owned you
lololololol you all suck
etc etc

It a known fact that women are a lot more mature than men. No one on the internet cares. Just play the damn game.

well why should she? is she in the wrong? she just doesn't want to back down, put urself in her situation, wouldn't you be a little resentful from the abuse you coped online?

another thing is, microphones are good for sharing strategy and plans, and directions and such.


i fully support the other gender's arguments

[Mr Corky]

I think two things, this chick is out to get attention, and most of the comments are saying that none of them have ever "abused" some chick online. I think you guys are bullshit artists, are you tell me that you have never checked the player list again cause you thought you seen a chick on there? But unfortiantly the internet have given people the "anonymous voice" and many virgins that play online games love to use that voice to say "ey sxy, wanna screw?" to female gamers. I would like everyone in this thread to play an online game with a chicks name as your own, nothing sexual just a normal name and you will see that the no one will play you any different. Its only when you use shit like "xXxBabexXx" is when you do.

[No_one_in_particular]

I think she's flattered, all women are when men pay attention to them, she's just bitching about it cause again she's a woman and she has to complain about something to draw even more attention.
Really ? I think she's irritated personally, and who can honestly blame her ? But then all women are attention-seeking bitches, right ? :rolleyes:


This phenomenon that appears on multiplayer games has its roots deeply to human evolution, you can't accuse males for being males or women for being women.
Are you saying all males are moronic sexists who can't treat women equally, and instead have to undermine them via a console?


The real problem is that there are not many women playing games and I don't really think it's because men are harassing them. Most computer games don't appeal to women. If we had more women...if they were something common like men are in multiplayer games I don't think we would be having that problem.
True, the scarcity of females is probably more to do with little interest in games than harassment, but surely if we're that arsed about getting female gamers we should be stamping out this bullshit, instead of shrugging our shoulders ?


Hmm, I think the comments are disgusting really. Why would you be flattered when people are trying to either bully you, or protect you getting in your way? Simple, you wouldn't be. It'd just annoy the hell out of you, and make you feel bad.

If you ask me, most of the male population need to grow up.

Cloudy
More complete sense from Cloudy. :)


i lol'd

Firstly someone gave a completely valid argument. DON'T TURN ON THE MIC. If they don't know you are a girl then they wont harass you. If you have a gamer tag like XxStephaniexX then you are asking for trouble...otherwise no one will find out.
How is using a female name for a gamer tag, if you're a female, "asking for it". So because they're unaware that they need to be deadly secretive of their gender they deserve to be harassed or hounded by perverts ? Get some sense.


This is a such a lame complaint, it's a bit of an eye opener as I didn't think ppl would be so mean but seriously what do woman expect?
To be able to play the game they went out and bought online without being harassed by sexist idiots ?

It's not like I play on line and don't get people screamin "F this" and "F that" down the line, it's all part of the experience... If you don't like it don't play!
Yeh...cos that's exactly the same. How dare she complain about personal attacks founded on sexism, when you've heard a few "F this!" comments inadvertently!


As mentioned in a previouse post, why doesn't she just say she's a guy?
*sigh* I think you've missed the point:
WHY SHOULD SHE.

Bah...give up ! lol.

[Cloudhunter]

More complete sense from Cloudy. :)

Why thank you :p


*sigh* I think you've missed the point:
WHY SHOULD SHE..

Precisely. For instance, imagine the situations were reversed. Would you expect to have to pretend you were a female? Of course not.

Cloudy

[No_one_in_particular]

It's just nowhere near inequality if people have to disguise themselves as white males, is it ? It's 2008, people are taught to expect inequality for the most part, so why not online ? Baffles me that people shrug their shoulders and let the idiots rule...

Apathy changes **** all.

[ruffles]

oh lol

[Emulation_Chief]

Hello:

Gender discrimination in video games is as long as VG history itself. If you can recall video game and its creators, you will notice the name of male figures. Basically, that transform video gamers into male figures, specially during promotions.

That does not mean females are excluded. Video games are games. And games have to be fun for everyone. Not only boys or men. Let's be fair with everyone. All of us deserve it.

[Broadus]

Sexism is just as bad as racism. I don't know why anyone could be stupid enough to think it's okay to be so bluntly and rudely sexist and racist. I bring up racism because I was playing Call of Duty 4 the other day and my team and I were playing against Mexicans (or Mexican-Americans? whatever) and my whole team (whom I did not know) kept saying crap like "LEARN SOME DAMN ENGLISH" and various lines about burritos and they basically put lots of emphasis on their supposed Mexican-ness. Y'know, I'm sure it was all in fun and jest, and at the time I really didn't care, but it's not a good thing. Obviously these white people would not have spoken like they did to the face of any Mexican because it was really rude and they'd be in big trouble.
I don't wanna' hear any crap about how racism is off-topic. It's the same department of prejudism brought up only by the ability to hear other players to determine their sex or race.
It is the Internet, though. You could always file a complaint against someone in XBOX Live... Y'know, I've never met any girls on XBOX Live!

[hodey]

Get over it. It is just part of gaming, espically online games. It is all mind games. Stop spending all this time complaining about what someone said, practice, then kick thier a$$. That simple ...

[Solidsnake3000]

Sexism is just as bad as racism. I don't know why anyone could be stupid enough to think it's okay to be so bluntly and rudely sexist and racist. I bring up racism because I was playing Call of Duty 4 the other day and my team and I were playing against Mexicans (or Mexican-Americans? whatever) and my whole team (whom I did not know) kept saying crap like "LEARN SOME DAMN ENGLISH" and various lines about burritos and they basically put lots of emphasis on their supposed Mexican-ness. Y'know, I'm sure it was all in fun and jest, and at the time I really didn't care, but it's not a good thing. Obviously these white people would not have spoken like they did to the face of any Mexican because it was really rude and they'd be in big trouble.
I don't wanna' hear any crap about how racism is off-topic. It's the same department of prejudism brought up only by the ability to hear other players to determine their sex or race.
It is the Internet, though. You could always file a complaint against someone in XBOX Live... Y'know, I've never met any girls on XBOX Live!

Agreed I see what you mean about the racism and it can't be stopped like at one time playing Phantasy star I got all these comments like f**k Haiti because my name was *Haitian Fresh91* and go back to your Island and some others like stupid ni**a but i reported them like always I seen at time when people made fun of girls and Chinese people. I didn't think it was fair but to hell with them I say

[staticshade]

ahh xbl users

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/04/26/x-play-xbox-live-orientation/

this video shows some of this silly behaviour in action you just have to remember that some of these people don't talk to girls in real life so they don't know what to say so they talk shit instead

[Broadus]

LOL that video is awesome

[Lehst]

I agree this is pretty ridiculous. Anyone is allowed to want to be able to play the game and have fun. We all know life isn't fair, and we do move on, but it isn't wrong to wish things to be fair. Sometimes things change and they do become fair because enough people spoke up. However I doubt much can be changed about this particular issue. The morons are the majority and there doesn't seem to be a way to speak your mind in a way that will get through to them.

And please, before you spout words like 'get over it', think about how you'd feel if you couldn't play your game like you have been. Would you like it if everyone ganged up on you, or if they all protected you and took away the challege? No, you wouldn't throw a tantrum but you wouldn't be pleased either. No one likes to miss out.

I think the writer of the original article merely wanted to say, "Please stop treating me so differently; I only want to play the game the same as you do." I can't help but wonder why it's so wrong to tell people that this stuff happens, and how infuriating it is. There might even be a few people that don't realize how their actions are ruining the fun for others. It's possible just more one person has now decided to treat people with different voices the same as everyone else, because they read the article.


Someone else posted that they often kick you if you don't have a mic on. That is sad to hear, but even if you could play without a mic and be treated normally, isn't that still unfair? The player is still being singled out, they don't get to join in all the ridiculous shouting with everyone else. Not that this is a big issue, but something to consider as well.

Lastly, the whole racism/sexism stuff boils down to just one thing. Bullying. It sounds like the other players just act like assholes to feel superior, using stereotypes as an excuse. It's a shame, but the majority will always treat those that are in some small way different from them without respect. Just because someone is mexican doesn't mean they are stupid, and just because someone is a girl doesn't mean they are pathetic at games. Even if you come across people that DO happen to fit those descriptions, it doesn't mean rest are that way. And I bet the ones that aren't get treated poorly anyways so then they SEEM stupid because they get upset by it all.

Although I'm afraid if anyone reads this response it's only people that already mostly agree with me. Do jerks that reply with stuff like 'stop crying and go to the kitchen' even bother reading more than the first post?

[Broadus]

Well people like Hodey (who posted six months ago) will try to pass all this discrimination off as nothing, meaning that they themselves probably do the discriminating often. Just because you can beat someone at a video game doesn't mean that their offensive discrimination is less insulting, and they certainly won't change their lives just because I showed them what-for in Call of Duty.

[playgamerz]

mic on XBL ? i don't use it .....

i'm not even english nor american....

[Shrygue]

This is old, please don't bump dead threads like this one.


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