Read the comments to this IGN article. I'm not quoting here to save getting banned by a swear filter:

IGN discusses homophobia in online gaming

Seems that the good old anonymity of the internet means that the overwhelming majority of the responses to this article are massively negative, hateful, homophobic, disrespectful, ignorant, etc etc. If I was an IGN community manager, I'd have my work cut out this afternoon banning most of the contributors to the thread

Interestingly enough, on the CPC Counterstrike server, it used to be ban for racism, ban for hate-speech, but using the word "gay" negatively wasn't bannable. I've always questioned it, to ehar that people don't mean it in a homophobic way, just in the slightly off-hand way that it's become in recent years. I still....personally...think it's disgusting to use it in any negative way, but that must be just me

No, I am with you on that FAF, but I fear it is a lost battle on the interwebs especially with the younger generation having places like 4chan to learn how to behave towards their fellow humans, lets face it, a lot of parents are not exactly active in that department and teachers and the like are not allowed to or are too scared to. I also have a problem with the way the word rape is used in the online gaming community, not nice, but seem alone it that also.

I had a look at 4Chan a while ago and while I appreciate that much of the content is supposed to be amusing (I think...) the abusive nature of many of the posts is worrying, as well as the desensitizing nature of much of the content. If this is what kids are using as an example of how to behave we are in a lot of trouble.

Mods everywhere need to be a lot tougher on this - it simply isn't acceptable. If they were saying "Nigger" then they'd be gone in an instant; "gay" is exactly the same issue.

I vote:

You should have seen the BBC's "Have Your Say" thread on that Ugandan law which would see homosexuals executed. The UK is not so enlightened after all.

Gay is a more difficult one, because it has so many meanings and only one of those is to relate to homosexuals.

In fact, it is only in recent terms that gay has had negative connotations.

Being a "gay blade" was a good thing, even when I was young.

4chan is dying these days. Since it become popular in the public eye (it got put on Faux News during the Project Chanology ordeal), the "newfag" 12-year old boys came in and started posting stuff like "LOLOL MUDKIPZ ANONIMUS IS LEGON LOL EPIC WIN DESU" because they think it makes them look cool and funny. But it doesnt. It reflects down on online games, and is starting to give the board "cancer", hence the term "the cancer that is killing 4chan."

Now, when you go on online games, most of the target audience for the games are teenagers to be honest, and when most american teenagers are browsing the chans and places like gamespot it leads to stuff like this. They think it's cool to talk like a farking idiot on games, and then when everyone leaves the game due to the sheer idiocy of him, he considers it a victory and goes and posts it on a new thread on /b/ (random board)

Don't get me wrong, I used to be a really heavy 4chon user, but nowadays it's dead. You had to be incredibly mentally stable to view the stuff that was on there. It was also a genuinely funny place to be too, with some incredibly smart people browsing there. I think the desensitizing nature of the stuff posted there has "helped" me to some extent too. I used to be shocked when I saw anything that was gory (laughable now, but Saw used to creep me out bigtime and I didn't sleep for ages) but now things like that don't bother me. And I suppose it's for the better considering the ammount of surgery i'v had over the past few years.

The only way to eradicate the "cancer" from online games is to probably have higher subscription fees per month on games like MW2 (yes, I know, mw2 again...) and provide proof of your age. I know some people will try and con this, but if you have to go in person (as in the person who owns the game account for example) to Game and put some more money on a card for example, games will be miles better.

Either that or shut 4chan down. It's nothing more than a moneymaker for Mr Mootles these days.

[/rant]

I still sometimes take a look at "have your say", but only to see how many posts it takes before it devolves into a rant aganist the govt or PM

Anyone remember the Zelda TV adverts?

"will you get the girl, or just play like one?"

Very amusing, and all that, but that was several years ago and they were already setting the tone.


What the hell has sexual preference or gender got to do with online gaming, and why is it necessary to distinguish oneself in any fashion, other than how well you play? I know the guy tries to address the point further on in the article, but I don't join a server with "hi, my name is Dave, I'm a heterosexual father of two".

I've had my arse handed to me, in online games, by a girl, who went on to lightheartedly abuse me for being beaten by a girl. I took it on the chin, but responded by saying her bum looked big in combats. I may well have been defeated by homosexuals too but, since I didn't join a Pride server, the issue wasn't discussed.

It's a question of maturity, and the fact that a lot of games servers are full of silly immature teenage boys; regardless of the game's age rating. I'm not saying that the 18+ are all decent upright citizens, but they, largely, have more sense than 14 year olds.

Is it also a question of sensitivity? Blind-siding someone, or sniping them whilst hiding in a tree, has often been responded to as "just gay". Big deal. Would I be more hurt if the response was "just fat"? I doubt it.

I'm sorta thinking the net will just go through and learn from all the mistakes we made/make as a species*, not helped by the fact that most people that game online, Facefook, and Twat etc** are young, or younger in their outlook.

* As much as possible. I mean progress is slow in the real world, but things are changing IMO.
**

From what I remember of playground talk 30 odd years ago, kids have not really changed a great deal. It's no surprise that young men are foolish, we've known that all along.

I have played in a clan which had 5 girls in it,they all were better than me (but i'm a n00b )and would often have the highest scores on the server .Those who think girls should be "in the kitchen" shouldn't be allowed on a server themselves.



You hit the nail on the head there m8.Though having said that i know a lot of older players that can be just as irritating and immature as said 14 year olds
There is something about on-line gaming that tends to bring the worst out of people
I have left many a server because of the immaturity of some.It wasn't much of a problem on the clan server,if peeps started getting abusive they were kicked or banned depending on the level of abuse.

The article F_A_F linked mentioned Xbox Live and the fun to be had there It is one of the many reasons
why i never got a 360.I have a friend who would often tell me about the fun he had giving abuse to other players

I can't see the attraction myself.Gaming is supposed to be fun,not a constant battle against homophobic,racist or just downright annoying immature pricks out to disrupt someone's gaming experience.


yours wecrookie

There was a java based game I played regularly a couple of years back. I was beaten on it regularly by a young lady.

Oh yes I forgot to mention she was blind.

Most UK CS:S servers are pretty decent especially compared to console games like KZ2 and MS : PR which are chock full of immature, homphobic, racist dolts. However, CS1.6 had it's fair share of anti-gay players.

I used to enjoy finding some cocky young jerk, mouthing off with "f**king fagg*tt" etc, then proceed to wipe the floor with him. Only then would I drop in "you just got pwned by a bum-loving queer, how's it feel, my precious?"

I've often used terms like 'rape' and 'gay' during online gaming, moreso out of frustration of bein killed the fifth time in a row after immediately spawning. However, I do not know nor would I care about the sexuality or gender of other players. As above, most of these players are teenagers who are still at the immature stage.

Why on earth you would advertise yourself as say bisexual is beyond me. All I care about is your username (so I can remember who the fudge shot me) and your skill level. Anything else is useless.