While we love a good online multiplayer match, either with friends or dropping in to a game to see how long we can survive against unknown opponents, an unfortunate side effect of playing online against strangers is that sometimes you get matched up against people who don't seem to want to play by the rules. Whether it's people exploiting cheats and tricks in a game putting others at an unfair disadvantage, free-flying insults and swearing or, more seriously, people actively harassing other players, it can make for a generally disappointing and unpleasant experience. Microsoft's Xbox Live service for Xbox 360 currently allows players to rate others out of five (only after meeting them in a game though) and choose to 'avoid' them if they don't want to run into them the next time they play. Players are then assigned a percentage based 'Reputation' score, giving some indication of the kind of player they are. But things are about to change.
The upcoming Xbox One is taking this idea to the next level. News has emerged that Xbox Live's Reputation system for the One will be much more automatic, and more proactive in its efforts to keep everyone playing nice. If players are regularly blocked by others, and are given poor feedback then a 'bad' reputation will be assigned, meaning that person will in theory only be matched up against players with the same reputation in the future, effectively segregating players by the way they choose to behave while playing online with others. This would result in all the less desirable members of Xbox Live fighting it out amongst themselves in some kind of Xbox Netherworld while those who, as Microsoft's Mike Lavin puts it 'just play their games and are good participants' will be free to enjoy their online experience without being subjected to bad language or other harassment.
It seems as though there will be some kind of benefits or rewards for 'good' players too, and Microsoft has said that 'very good things' will happen to those whose Reputation score is high - although just what those things may be isn't clear as yet. It's hinted though that Microsoft will provide events designed to help players increase their Reputation, and as your Reputation score will be a part of your online profile for others to see, they must be hoping that players will wear a good score with pride and stay on the light side of the Force while playing over Xbox Live.
Playing happy families with Xbox Live.
Hopefully all this means that the Xbox Live experience will improve for those who want to enjoy playing, and it will get worse for those who want to cause trouble which seems like a great idea. If successful, it should mean that new players, or those who have never tried playing online (possibly not wanting to run in to that more negative part of the online population) might be tempted to give it a go. We reckon this has to be a good move from a family perspective too. The system should be less open to abuse and it will actively reward players who have no intention of spoiling others' enjoyment. Nobody wants their children to encounter bad online behaviour from other players, and it's good to see Microsoft making a considerable effort in this area.
Xbox One, hopefully free of spoilsports, is still scheduled to be released in November.
