The Wild, Wild Xbox Live

Sep 3, 2010

By DJLowder

Edited by PMA

As a global gaming community, we think we are so civilized with our laptops and Blackberries and ESRB ratings and parental controls. But we’re about as primitive as they come. The truth is that we’re living in a virtual wild, Wild West society where shootouts seem like a common occurrence and gangs of outlaws ravage the land chased by Texas Rangers and posses of angry towns folk.  People may not realize the many ways that Xbox Live is like the Old West frontier. Both started with small groups of pioneers who established their own rough-and-tumble culture on the new frontier. Both featured large “gold rushes” where millions of people followed those initial pioneers. And both featured a large culture clash when “old” and “new” societies came into conflict.  Right now, we’re in the culture clash phase of the Live frontier. Millions of people are finding out that law enforcement doesn’t work the same way online, that online norms of behavior bear very little resemblance to offline norms.  So Microsoft has created the Policy Enforcement Team, just like the Pinkerton Men of the Old West, these virtual lawmen and contract muscle monitor and punish the online gangs and criminals who terrorize the general masses on Live.  But it is a big place and for every one person who is banned, another pops up and so it continues.  Members fed up by the nonsense have taken to blogging, reporting and even vid capping these outlaws to assist Microsoft in identifying and persecuting them.  Conversely, online gangs have websites devoted to hacking, glitching and modding.  This darker side of the community has many varied reasons for promoting mayhem and misconduct, some do it because they can while others turn a profit by lifting credit card information or charging unsuspecting members for services.  So this battle between the law and the criminal plays out like a Clint Eastwood movie, lobbies become vacant at the mention of hacking or Microsoft enforcement, people go offline to play for fear of retribution or attack. Those lucky enough to belong to clans or communities of fellow gamers have a “safety in numbers” mentality and will not venture out unless they are in a group.  Those who do game alone are often without a mic, mostly so they are not dragged into conflicts with other gamers.

So we are at that culture clash phase that the old west found itself in. The question however then becomes one of divergent pathways. The direction this new frontier will take will not be determined by the Policy Enforcement Team but by us, the community, the citizenry of this new frontier. In the old west they had traveling judges and lawmen, and these were few and far between. The distances a person had to travel and modes of transportation could take days, weeks or months. In those days a crime could be committed, the criminal identified, the crime reported thru telegraph and it could still take an eternity for justice to be served. The same is true today.  I know most of you, as do I,  report cheaters and modders every chance we get even though sometimes it may feel pointless and that justice never comes to those who deserve it. This is one reason why so many websites like whywasibanned.com or even looking at the Xbox Live suspension forums have become so popular – we like to see some justice being metered out to those who richly deserve it. Currently there are over 20 million people on XBL and there is no way Microsoft or any company could ever hire enough people to police that many individuals. To give you some perspective if just 1 percent of the users filed complaints each day, that would be over 200,000 complaints.  Each complaint must be reviewed and verified by the P.E.T. team before action can be taken.  So if there are 100 Microsoft employees reviewing these complaints, that means they each must look at 2000 cases in an 8 hour work day which equals 250 per hour…can you say impossible!  Some of this I hope will be resolved thru the use of software and server upgrades designed to look for and negate cheaters much like advances in weaponry and law enforcement techniques helped in the Wild West. But then just as it is now, as soon as the good guys do something to stop the bad guys it isn’t long before the bad guys figure out how to counter that.

So where does that leave us? What’s a poor gamer to do? Shall we throw up our hands in disgust and walk away leaving this new frontier to founder and fail?  Or do we stand and fight the good fight despite the odds being stacked against us? Well I’ve come to know a lot of you through gaming and in the forums and I think I speak for all proud porkers when I say it’s time to put the reins in our teeth, a Winchester in each hand and CHARGE. The Wild West was not won because they suddenly hired a bunch of lawmen, the Wild West was won because the people in those lawless towns refused to be pushed out by the criminals. Because they determined that their towns and communities would be better off without these people. I know at times it seems like we are outnumbered and all hope is lost, but it’s just not so, we are the majority!  If we allow ourselves to believe we are outgunned and grow despondent we’ve surrendered what little advantage we have. When we get frustrated that lobby after lobby seems to have some new cheat or mod, whether it’s the super cool custom gamer tag or the spinning gold tenth prestige symbol, we must fight back! Or in a game with modded controllers or aimbots, we must fight back! Whatever it is we have two choices – we can file the complaint and trust that the P.E.T will take care of it, or give in and turn off the Xbox and walk away in disgust at them and ourselves.

In the long term, it is we the people of this new frontier that will determine its direction. I have seen others out there, those that win or lose do so graciously and with a smile. This is the example we need to show, and yes I need to take my own advise there sometimes too. I’ve seen PMA show patience with a kid that was in a game with us that I at first thought “you are wasting your time” but by the end the kid was playing as part of the team. I’ve heard Wipsy called more things for telling the other team “good game” than I can remember. This is what will determine the path of this new frontier.  Will we ever be free of the cheaters, modders and glitchers, no. But thru setting a good example by doing the right things and helping those trying to enforce the rules we can win this fight. We outnumber them, I have faith in this new frontier and so should you. I know it’s not easy, fighting the good fight never is. But by God this is my home, these are my brothers and sisters and we shall not let some small minority of delinquent malcontent Timmy’s throw us out!  If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight we’ll give them.  As our motto states – Vos Addo Estus, Nos Addo Carro – you bring the heat, we’ll bring the meat,  so “saddle up pilgrim” or maybe it should be “saddle up porkers” and lets ride!