Watching out for our children

We all know what the general online gaming community can be like, especially with aggressive games like First Person Shooters, and I'm sure that has been a significant motivating factor for joining this community. What drove me here was a recent disappointing situation I experienced with my son's own R6V clan. Well, he had only just joined the clan. I decided to play against them to listen into their conversations in the game lobby. Per my instructions my son didn't tell them who I was. My son is twelve years old and the clan leader is 37 with children and he knew my son was only twelve. After immediately engaging in one round of Team Sharpshooter on Streets, in which I repeatedly 'killed' the clan leader, things got very ugly in the lobby. The clan leader lead his clan in a chorus of some of the rudest language and insults volleyed against me and members of my family. I walked over to where my son was at his 360 and told him to exit the game lobby and remove the clan members from his friends list. I then went back to my 360 and told them they had just lost their new clan member and who I was. Their reaction was annoyance that I hadn't told them who I was beforehand. I told them what mattered wasn't what they said to me, since there's nothing that people like that could do to get me riled, but that they said it in front of at least one kid, knowing he was there. The clan leader eventually apologized, but couldn't get through it without his usual intermittent profanity. He wasn't being hostile, it's just apparently the only way he knows how to communicate.

So now I monitor the people my son plays with as does he and I'm no longer tolerant of the of the quality of people you unfortunately find out there online.  I'm not adverse to swearing or taunting other players as long as everyone understands it's being done in fun and doesn't cross the line. Now I'm here, hoping for better experiences.

Posted by Eighteen_Zulu @ 5:58 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments