Thursday, May 22nd 2008

Microsoft Bashes British Gamer from Xbox Live for Registering with his Real Name

This story comes to prove what can happen if your name does not fit the standards. Last night, a British gamer was banned from the Xbox Live network, for registering with the RichardGaywood gamertag. From Microsoft's point of view nick names that violate the XBL policies are being removed immediately. You can't have a sexual term in you name. Yes, but what if the guy's last name is indeed Gaywood. His real full name is Richard Michael Gaywood. Do we have to change our real names so we can register and get permitted to access what we have paid for.
Source: Kotaku
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72 Comments on Microsoft Bashes British Gamer from Xbox Live for Registering with his Real Name

#1
Triprift
Booo to conservatism ya cant even register with ya own surname these days pretty sad M$ :shadedshu
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#2
UnkAsn93
Maybe the RichardGaywood would throw people off?
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#3
PVTCaboose1337
Graphical Hacker
You should be able to register with whatever name you want. You pay for a service, you get the service done for you.
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#4
Animalpak
I think people dont have fantasy, dude just open your mind and find a nickname, why you put your real name ???

Oh c mon xbox live is a place for having fun !
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#5
Beertintedgoggles
I don't hold this against microsoft at all.... if there didn't exist the need to censor the dumb shits that think OMG19inCoCk would be the perfect name (however if it does apply to you then display it proudly, the name that is) then this wouldn't happen. Additionally, if they didn't have to worry about people getting offended too easily this wouldn't have happened either. It all comes down to people and society and how much everyone but me sucks!!!
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#6
malware
AnimalpakI think people dont have fantasy, dude just open your mind and find a nickname, why you put your real name ???

Oh c mon xbox live is a place for having fun !
Why not use his real name? I also use my real name in games, I hate nick names like [CLAN, Team]CaP5 NiCkNaMe - ThE B3sT PlAyA etc.
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#7
Bjorn_Of_Iceland
an honest mistake. All he needs is to talk to support. who wants a stroll on Gay woods?
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#8
Unregistered
lol, they might have to allow people to include the word gay now.
#9
Octavean
I bet if his last name were "Heterowood" they would allow it, actually I would bet money on it. Maybe someone should try it,.... ;)

Seriously, its wrong IMO not to allow real names but it really isn't that big of a deal either. Although, I shudder to think what names would be used if Microsoft didn't filter in any way.

Richard Gaywood is lucky his first name isn't Gaylord, they probably would have banned him twice as fast :)
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#10
Ravenas
Hmmm weird...

I have a friend in college and his gamertag is his full name (minus his middle name)...I wouldn't be surprised if they banned the name because it had the word gay in it. :laugh:
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#11
DrPepper
The Doctor is in the house
:laugh: I think they should unban him since its his name but I understand the content filters because some people think they have to put thier beliefs into their gamer tag which I think is really stupid.
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#12
Mediocre
Exact same thing happened to my college buddy. Although he had his tag for a good two months, right in the middle of a Halo round he got booted with a message saying his gamer tag was inappropriate. At least they let him change it for free (they actually CHARGE you to change your tag).
Jonathan Coon and his tag was Coon1979... Boy do we have stories of people walking into bars in Baltimore yellin out his last name (he had to pull out his ID to prevent an all out brawl :laugh:)
It's sad really. Trying to make everyone happy all the time is a complete waste of effort...
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#13
Ravenas
Well, while I don't think it is smart to actually make your gamer tag your full name...I don't think they should actually take away the privilege from you...

Really wouldn't be so bad if they didn't charge you for changing your gamertag...
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#14
ArkanHell
Everybody should use the name they want!!!
Like some of my friends:

- James Buymaiaz
- Carl Shualowed
- Bill Koksoccer
- Jhony Fortbahaint
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#15
echo75
ArkanHellEverybody should use the name they want!!!
Like some of my friends:

- James Buymaiaz
- Carl Shualowed
- Bill Koksoccer
- Jhony Fortbahaint
orc its coz he has the word "Gay" in his name.
Posted on Reply
#16
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
It shows that the people who banned that user are pervert, not the user. They could've contacted the user by email or changed the handle for him, it's not that they're doing him a favour, but that they're fn paid for.

Assuming he didn't use the service at all, will he get a refund?
Posted on Reply
#17
spacejunky
XBOX live is for homos anyway. I still don't understand why people pay to play. If I want to play online, I play on my PC. I just wish we could have a cross platform game so the PCs could whoop consoles and their slow controls.

Anyone who argues that consolers are better than a mouse kb combo has probably never played on a PC and has no idea what they are missing OR they are overwhelmed by all the key possibilities. llamas!

here's a thought. Don't pay to play and give microsoft the power to control your gaming experience.
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#18
Steevo
Someone still has to pay for a server. Hosting off fast internet connection is still only for a few people to play.
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#19
EarlZ
Register with your real name, and use a different gametag how hard is that ?
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#20
Dangle
TripriftBooo to conservatism ya cant even register with ya own surname these days pretty sad M$ :shadedshu
The only reason MS bans names with words like GAY and COON in them is because they are afraid of being sued. Liberals in this country have given lawyers and judges tooooo much power. You can sue anybody for anything here. Thanks to liberalism, censorship is quite necessary.


He was not banned from XBL, just forced to change his name for free. Not the end of the world.
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#21
WarEagleAU
Bird of Prey
This whole ordeal is retarded if you ask me. What is the world coming too?
Posted on Reply
#22
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
malwareThis story comes to prove nothing but what can happen if your name does not fit the standards. Last night, a British gamer was banned from the Xbox Live network, for registering with the RichardGaywood gamertag. From Microsoft's point of view nick names that violate the XBL policies are being removed immediately. You can't have a sexual term in you name. Yes, but what if the guy's last name is indeed Gaywood. His real full name is Richard Michael Gaywood. Do we have to change our real names so we can register and get permited to access what we have paid for.
I hate when the media over exagerate situations to make certain companies or indviduals look bad.

He wasn't banned from XBL, saying he was is a lie. He was simply told to change his gamer tag because his old one was no longer allowed due to new rules. Yes, it is his real name, but he real name includes a term that could be considered offensive to some, so he can't use it. It really isn't a big deal. People playing against him have no idea that is his real name, so saying it is ok just because it is his real name doesn't hold any ground. His gamer tag has to conform to the XBL rules, regardless of how he came up with it.

He doesn't have to change his name, his registered name has nothing to do with his gamertag. So the answer to your last question(it is a question, I don't see a question mark?) is a resounding NO, he doesn't have to change his real name to register with XBL, he just has to change his gamertag. There is a very big difference there.
Posted on Reply
#23
1c3d0g
If I had a ridiculous last name like that I would've legally changed it along time ago... :o

I know of someone who had a last name called "Poepjes", which literally translated means something along the lines of "small pieces of shit". She legally changed it and hasn't had a problem since. Some surnames are just problematic no matter how you look at it. :shadedshu
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#24
HTC
1c3d0gIf I had a ridiculous last name like that I would've legally changed it along time ago... :o
Do you know what the word "gay" meant before being linked with homosexuality?

There are many names with the word "gay" in them: Marcia Gay Harden, Lisa Gay Hamilton, John Gay, ... i could go on ...

In Portuguese, the word "bicha" started to be linked to homosexuality as well and now another word is used instead but, actually, means something else:

"Esperar na bicha" means "To wait in line" in Portuguese!
Posted on Reply
#25
Thermopylae_480
It isn't like some person at Microsoft went and hunted down this guy. They undoubtedly designed a program that looked for certain letter combinations and automatically disabled their account in order to prevent people from having names such as gaybuttsexx. He is simply the unfortunate victim of an automatic program. People don't want to manually search through millions of user names looking for ones which violate TOS. This was not a personal attack by Microsoft on this individual, as it seems so many want to believe.
Posted on Reply
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