Xbox to Curb Toxic Player Behavior; New Warning System
Xbox has introduced a new warning system. It is somewhat reminiscent of the highway code - players will be penalized with points for each offense, which translate into different lengths of punishment.
The Xbox brand's managers have taken further steps to provide gamers with a safe space to play - a place online where they can be themselves. Their result is a new warning system designed to curb bad behavior among the community.
In a way, it resembles the penalty point system for drivers who break traffic laws. Different types of harmful behavior are assigned a different number of points (called strikes):
- for swearing and cheating we will be penalized 1 point;
- for sexually inappropriate behavior, harassment or intimidation - 2 points;
- for using hate speech - 3 points.
Each number of points carries a specific penalty, i.e. preventing the player in question from using the social features of the Xbox network, such as sending messages, participating in group events and chats, participating in multiplayer games, etc. Penalties for each number of points are as follows:
- 1 strike - 1 day suspension;
- 2 strikes - 1 day suspension;
- 3 strikes - 3 days of suspension;
- 4 strikes - 7 days of suspension;
- 5 strikes - 14 days of suspension;
- 6 strikes - 21 days of suspension;
- 7 strikes - 60 days of suspension;
- 8 strikes - 365 days of suspension (one year).
Importantly, all members of the Xbox community get a clean slate today - past offenses are not taken into account under the new system. In addition, each warning received is valid for six months. If we do not receive another one for six months, our score will be reset to zero.
As suggested by Xbox's chief operating officer, Dave McCarthy, higher penalties should not be applied at all. In 2022, only 1% of Xbox users received a temporary suspension, with only a third of this small percentage of people getting subsequent ones.
Source: Xbox.
The implementation of the new warning system is intended to provide players with greater transparency - to show them who has what status in the community. The normalization of the rules made by Xbox executives seems very detailed, but without it, McCarthy explains, users would be confused as to why one warning could result in different penalties.
It is worth noting that the latter do not provide for permanently blocking a malicious user's account or depriving them of access to purchased content. Nevertheless, this type of suspension can be applied in cases of the most serious violations of the rules or even the law.
The system is based on Xbox community standards, which you can check out here. You can check your history of punishments (if you have any) at here - after logging into your Microsoft account.
To make the system work as well as possible, players are encouraged to report any instance of bad behavior - whether it affected them or someone else. Xbox moderation is expected to give detailed consideration to each notice received.
As a reminder, back in 2019, Xbox adopted a strategy to make the community more inclusive and safe for its members. Initially, only new rules for acceptable behavior were defined. In turn, last year, the first report was published, illustrating the effects of earlier measures. A few months ago, meanwhile, it was made possible for users to submit recordings to Xbox moderation as evidence of rule violations.
