Time to think

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Its been 4 days since I reported a very abusive player for racial, homophobic, and threating comments. He threatened to kill my family, specifically my children. Ive heard nothing back so I'm going to start campaigning for a higher ESRB rating, a minimum of 17+ in open chat and a call to Rare to inform parents what the ESRB means. This is generally seen as a children's game even though it is rating Teen. I think Rare doesn't care that some parents let their young players play in chat and yet these children are subject to an unregulated free for all full of racists, bigots and potential molesters. Shame on you Rare. If there is no way to get rid of these players then I view this game as dangerous to children and Ill do what I can to change this.

    JW

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  • WolfManbush
    Legend

    People don't want to see kids or adults subjected to extreme and targeted mistreatment around here, not at rare, not on the forums, not by a large majority of participants

    There are many many cases that are going through the process daily, one case that has not yet met your expectations doesn't negatively mark the entire community or the company.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    I agree but this was an extreme case of personal bodily harm....I sent a lot of evidence and I am just trying to understand why there is nothing in place to quickly respond. If I were to threaten you on this forum now I would be willing to bet it would be less than 20 minutes before it is cut off and I would not be able to speak anymore until the case is investigated.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    If I were to say the the things he said to me but replace everything between the first letter and the last with and Asterix do you think it would last 4 days?

  • WolfManbush
    Legend

    @simo-hayha-46 said in Time to think:

    I agree but this was an extreme case of personal bodily harm....I sent a lot of evidence and I am just trying to understand why there is nothing in place to quickly respond. If I were to threaten you on this forum now I would be willing to bet it would be less than 20 minutes before it is cut off and I would not be able to speak anymore until the case is investigated.

    Did your video evidence have the accused saying it while their name was visible with their speaking bubble?

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    There was not video evidence because I wasn't steaming on twitch. I only had evidence of what he said on Xbox live. But their name is visible on live. I understand that its not strong evidence compared to audio recording, but should it be dismissed when a person makes threats over audio?

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    That is my whole point of my post like you just said. If there is not repercussion for what is said on audio than they need to regulate the age of people allowed in open chat.

  • Unleet1
    Commander
    Insider

    @simo-hayha-46 You can edit/disable chat messages and VC settings in Xbox privacy settings. It is very simple to do. I played for like 6-8 months with no voice/comms for the reasons you mentioned in 2021. It's actually quite peaceful ;)

  • Ghostpaw
    Legend

    Since this occurred on Xbox live you might be better served by contacting Microsoft and reporting the player. But campaigning to make SoT a 17+ game based on this seems unnecessary and a bit silly. Based on your logic, any game that uses Xbox live communications would need to be 17+ because this could happen on any game. Just report the player, mute them, block them, and move on. I’ve been console gaming since the late 1970’s, playing online sine the 90’s, and on Xbox Live since 2003. I’ve seen a lot of stuff. Do your part by reporting and then move on. Rare and Xbox live have to be careful about taking action against people who did nothing wrong. The cost of avoiding false positives is that some guilty people do not get caught every time. If you didn’t provide enough evidence for Rare to take action then that’s okay. If what you saw the perpetrator do was an enduring pattern of behavior then they will get caught. Someone will produce evidence. In the meantime, if you are a concerned parent, use the Xbox Live settings to block communications from anyone outside your friends list. You are not going to start a movement here. Look at how much real estate this person has taken up in your mind and they probably don’t even remember you. Move on. Seriously.

  • Kalgert
    Castaway
    Insider

    @unleet1 said in Time to think:

    @simo-hayha-46 You can edit/disable chat messages and VC settings in Xbox privacy settings. It is very simple to do. I played for like 6-8 months with no voice/comms for the reasons you mentioned in 2021. It's actually quite peaceful ;)

    Man, how am I going to ask how your day is or communicate my intentions of you have communication off?

    Assuming I were to meet you of course.

  • MaximusArael020
    Master
    Insider

    Online interactions are NOT rated by the ESRB. The ESRB is the rating given due to the content of the game. Your petition would be completely pointless.

    Secondly, you have given Rare what, 4 days? 4 days to go through thousands of different submissions of toxic players, glitches, etc? Wow. I would at least have given them a full work week before I went to the forums to say "Shame on you, Rare!"

    I'm very sorry that this happened to you and your children. It is never pleasant when dealing with toxic players. However, blaming Rare in any capacity is misplaced and unfair. Rare does everything they can to punish toxic players and gives plenty of tools to keep someone from encountering such things.

    There is an option with Microsoft to set an account to a "Child Account". If you are worried about your kids playing, simply give them a "Child Account" and you can limit what games they play based on age, time spent playing, as well as who can interact with them and how. I believe this would stop other players from communicating with your children, if you are concerned about that.

    Xbox - Parental Controls | ESRB Ratings

    Xbox - Parental Controls | ESRB Ratings

    Learn how to set up parental controls on Xbox One to control your children's spending, limit time spent, and restrict communication.

    Another step you can take is to mute other crews. This way they won't be able to talk to you if you don't want to hear such things.

    If you have not taken such steps and have not taken the time to educate yourself on how the ESRB actually works, as well as not giving a company more than 4 days to communicate back to you about something like this (also doesn't mean they haven't done anything about it, just means they haven't told you about it) then shame on you.

  • MaximusArael020
    Master
    Insider

    @simo-hayha-46 said in Time to think:

    This is generally seen as a children's game even though it is rating Teen. I think Rare doesn't care that some parents let their young players play in chat and yet these children are subject to an unregulated free for all full of racists, bigots and potential molesters.

    Also, WHAT?!? So it is Rare's fault that parents ignore the ESRB and let their younger children play anyway? Yet somehow it is "Shame on you, Rare!" and not "Shame on those parents for allowing their children to play a game that is rated for above their age!"?? Seriously? If you could somehow get the rating changed to 17+ even though ESRB does NOT rate online interactions, would it matter? Parents are apparently already ignoring the ESRB according to you, so do you want Rare to go to all of their houses and give them a PowerPoint presentation of the dangers of interacting with strangers on the internet? Jeeze.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Oh man Ghost, I of course owned Pong and a couple of Coleco setups...what was your setup of choice back then? When you went off of console, what did you go to? My first actual computer was a protype HP 85 that my father brought home in 1978 because he worked at Hewlett Packard and was developing it. It had 3 games. Hunt the Wumpus, Star Trek, and Biorhythm. I remember when the internet first came when I was in the Army and I was on CompuServe. We had to pay an hourly rate to be on line which really sucked. My girlfriend at the time chatted a lot and my CompuServe bill was over 300 bucks in a month. Ultima online sucked because it was just gangs of people that ran around killing new players. I made the mistake playing Asheron's Call before Everquest, but Asheron's Call Call quickly died. I became a guide in Everquest which payed for my monthly subscription and helped keep people playing nicely...and oh by the way a player in Sea of Thieves threated to kill my children (they didn't know I have grandchildren), called me the n word and homophobic f word in open chat when there were very obviously children under 12 in chat. What if I chose to protect them and not move on?

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Listen I understand when people say just ignore them and go to a different server but ignoring a problem does absolutely nothing to solve a problem. I'm interested in solving and not ignoring because there are always going to be very young players that sign on and are going to be exposed to these people if we allow them to stay on. If there is nothing in place to get rid of these people maybe its time to at least enforce the ESRB to keep the children who may not understand the consequences of logging to open chat....off the open chat.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Oh, Shoot, Im sorry Maximus. This all happened in open chat within Sea of Thieves. Is SoT not responsible for their own open chat?

  • PithyRumble
    Sailor
    Insider

    I second the suggestion of reporting to M$ as well. Rare cam ban them from the game, but M$ can shutdown their entire account potentially block their hardware.

    Steam players I dunno, but if you can't find them on M$ that might be another option.

    You could also contact local law enforcement since it was a death threat.

    I always look at it like this: Report, Block, Fuggedaboutit.

    On a side note, I don't think it's a good idea to tell the reporting party what happens with a report because of frustrations like this.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    I also understand your point Maximus and I would agree with that until someone threatens to kill my family. I don't know this person and I don't know their capabilities. I don't know if you are a parent or not and of course this what said over open chat but how many days do you wait until someone from Rare reassures you by just saying "we are looking into it". I understand that is was over voice and there is no proof which is why I'm saying keep the kids off open voice in Sot because it is unmitigated. If Sot uses the Xbox client to drive their in game voice chat then it still fall on Sot because there is no warning that I have seen.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    By the way Maximus you make very valid points, and I understand what you are saying.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    But how long do I wait to for a person who threatens my family? Case in point, let me tell you what he said.

  • WolfManbush
    Legend

    @simo-hayha-46 said in Time to think:

    I also understand your point Maximus and I would agree with that until someone threatens to kill my family. I don't know this person and I don't know their capabilities. I don't know if you are a parent or not and of course this what said over open chat but how many days do you wait until someone from Rare reassures you by just saying "we are looking into it". I understand that is was over voice and there is no proof which is why I'm saying keep the kids off open voice in Sot because it is unmitigated. If Sot uses the Xbox client to drive their in game voice chat then it still fall on Sot because there is no warning that I have seen.

    Whenever you have a sincere concern for safety that is handled locally.

    People make a lot of threats and say a lot of things on the internet, it's been that way since the beginning.

    Random internet rage typically dies out after it happens and people separate.

    If it turns into harassment that is when it becomes something serious beyond just reporting an xbox name.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Im using *** between every letter other than the first and last.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    He said among may other thinks "[mod edit]"

  • WolfManbush
    Legend

    @simo-hayha-46 said in Time to think:

    He said among may other thinks

    Nobody here condones that type of communication and threat. Everyone is on the same page with that.

    All we can do is report the evidence we have and move on. You did what you can do, you reported it with the evidence you had.

    All that is left is moving on in a way that allows you to put it behind you so that you can continue to find adventure on the game.

  • Simo Hayha 46
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Wolf, I understand and respect what you are saying. Your advice is very good. Its hard to calm down when its your family, but I'm trying to do that and your words are probably going to set me on that path. Ill probably leave it at that. Thank you for your wisdom my friend.

  • WolfManbush
    Legend

    @simo-hayha-46 said in Time to think:

    Wolf, I understand and respect what you are saying. Your advice is very good. Its hard to calm down when its your family, but I'm trying to do that and your words are probably going to set me on that path. Ill probably leave it at that. Thank you for your wisdom my friend.

    I've been there. How I try to be isn't how I once was. It's an honor if I was able to help in some way.

    This is going to work out in end, this part is just a frustrating part of the process but you're going to get through it just fine, that seems clear to me.

  • twodozenrats
    Master

    @simo-hayha-46
    Pretty sure death threats are illegal in most states. This complicates the reporting process and requires undeniable evidence.

  • Look Behind You
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Moderator
    Founder
    Deckhand

    @simo-hayha-46 Your post has been edited as it goes against the Forum Rules and Pirate Code.

    If you believe a player has been toxic in the game, you can report them to Xbox Live here. You can also submit a support ticket via Rare Player Support.

    The Forums are not the place to discuss these matters as Support are the only people that have the tools to deal with it.

    Support do their utmost to ensure that such people are dealt with in a timely manner, however, any information regarding any actions taken that is shared with people reporting will be limited.

    Dropping anchor here.

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