Gamer pays to get away from Xbox Live death threat
Surprise of the day: Xbox Live is an encyclopedic wonderland of foul-mouth debauchery. Blogger David Zatz says one Call of Duty: World at War soldier took trash-talking to the new heights when he threatened, "I'll kill you in real life with a real gun." Zatz admits he was also talking trash during the online session but the threat took competitive speech too far, no matter how "unlikely" the threat was.
After the incident Zatz decided to change his gamertag and requested Microsoft waive its required cost to change an online identity. Not only did Microsoft deny his request but Zatz claims the support agent was very "dismissive" of the situation in general. "Death threats must come in regularly, because the support staff didn't seem concerned." Eventually, Zatz paid to change his gamertag.
Should Microsoft be more vigilant about specific chatter on Xbox Live? Maybe, but with nothing in place to prove what's said it would be next to impossible -- it's your word against another person. We'd suggest players not egg each other along and then be surprised when someone takes things too far, utilize the reporting system on Xbox Live and play with the people you know.
[via What They Play]
