Obviously not being gay, it doesn't upset me much. I always try to take things in the spirit in which they are intended. Living in redneck country, there are a lot of "gay" jokes about people. It is easy to see it as anti-gay, but there are just as many jokes about guys skirts flying up, vaginas hurting, etc., which you may see as sexist. Stingy people have had Jewish jokes in their direction, people who make mistakes are compared to retarded people.

I'm not saying that none of it is mean spirited online, because obviously some of it is. But I know that when I hang out with "the guys" we make fun of each other in any way possible, and none of it is very sensitive. But I also recognize it for the spirit in which it is given. I think when you get men (in general) into groups, we just tend to be more crass than we should.

Again, that is just a general observation, the point of which is that I could easily see us making gay jokes directed at others, but if they found it offensive, or gay, etc., we would find something else to make fun of them about. For whatever reason, when we find a wound, we pour salt in it.

Well, I don't think I missed the point because I said that it seemed as if it was intentional and apparently it was. To quote DC's character "The Question"..."People Suck". It seems to me when you throw them a bone like a provocative gamertag they're gonna bite.

File complaints, put them "Ignore" and don't let their stupid ass behavior take away from your enjoyment of online gaming.

Tracer Bullet, if you did purchase a 360 and get on LIVE you know you would have nothing to worry about with the crowd here at dvdtalk.

I have to say that my friends list is at about 85 people after the last trimming and over 90% left are from here. Most times when I randomly join a game I will end up turning down the volume on my headset. I don't even try to weed out the assholes most times....I just ignore them all.

You guys file complaints? Which section are you in? Underground? I thought the concept of Underground was to have a place where no holds are barred, while easily offended folks have everywhere else? I know some people who left that section for friendlier waters, but I'd never file a complaint.

EDIT: And to the guy talking about "where da cash at?", I have that happen ALL the time. I think its hilarious. I'm on the opposite side on the issue, as I prefer trash talking strangers to my friends list, as I'd rather shoot down obnoxious beat boxers than my friends.

I'm in the Recreational zone - but that is irrelevant to the topic at hand. Underground or not, hate speech breaks the Live TOS and the agreements to play online. I absolutely file complaints.

Also, people who spew garbage like that should generally be shunned in every way possible until they grow up.

I agree that the recreational zone should be safe for even children's ears, but the Underground shouldn't be so policed. Then again, I go on Live to play games and have fun, not impose my will on others. If someone says something that offends me or refuses to stop telling everyone how great the movie Predator is, I could always hit ignore. I don't try to make a game often played against teens, children, and social outcasts into a personal crusade, I'm there to kill people and kick their remains.

I enjoy the trash talkers from time to time. Granted it can get excessive at times, your exposure to it REALLY isn't that prolonged or arduous. Most experiences are in the pregame lobbies where some "hard ass" thinks he can have the biggest e-peen by spouting off his five favorite four letter words. This never bothered me, in that anyone that could take offense to such middle school-type insults really needs to learn a lesson.

My recent experience with this was playing Halo 3 (go figure) where an individual used the same insult 4 times in one sentence. I explained to the person that their lack of vocabulary choices probably resulted from not reading enough books, then explained how words are grouped to form sentences, sentences to paragraphs, etc. Even his teammate found it enjoyable

After putting someone in their "place" as-it-were, you can imagine that person left the post-game lobby immediately without uttering another word.

You could say that I reduced myself to their level, but I feel if I go away smiling, and they go away angry, maybe they'll think twice about doing it again

FriendlyUncle's response. He's not Asshamed.

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You see, this is where I think MS made a HUGE mistake in marketing LIVE in terms of the ability to communicate...Trashtalk... with other players.

Yeah. When you're gay, or appear 'gay' to other people, you're asking for name calling.

When you're "black", or appear "black" to other people, you're asking for name calling. Works with everything.


definition*

And yes, to be gay, or to APPEAR 'gay' is trollish by nature.

E

This is my thought as well. I'm not gay either, but i am a minority, and me and my friends joke around quite often across a wide spectrum of crude humor. It's not really intended to be mean spirited, but just one of those things that found it's way into common lingo.

Of course, a kid that is using those words for no reason other then to be a dick is annoying as hell. Even my friend's use of some terms bug me, just because of the frequency of it.

I agree with what you're saying... Friends teasing friends, talking trash for fun.

And it's not so much the words that offend me. It's the idea that these clowns are doing it not because they're talking trash, but because they are intentionally trying to get a rise out of and annoy people. You blow someone away a few times in Call of Duty 4 and shout out 'i fucked you in the ass good!' or whatever is different than repeating 'you love sucking cocks, don't you faggot?' and calling someone a 'gay ass faggot nagger' just to piss off people.

Kevin Smith said it well. "There's no such thing as bad words, just bad intentions."

Mmmm... yeah, I suppose. But the choice of "friendly" insult also does indicate something about what society deems okay to belittle. Most of the time it's not conscious so I don't take offense to stupid shit like "I fucked you in the ass" or "I raped you" because it's usually pretty easy to tell when someone is doing it with conscious intent or not but it does say something interesting about the person.

That's the problem, I think. You can make these jokes to your friends, because they know you, and know you are not a racist or a bigot. You make the same jokes to complete strangers on the internet, and people will assume the worst (because that's generally the best rule of thumb on the internet... never give people the benefit of the doubt, because they will ALWAYS disappoint you).

Take solace in the fact that many people find those derogatory words to be offensive. The words that actually offend me have become acceptable to be said by 5 year olds.