Josh Smith Online

218 responses so far ↓

• 1 Dylan Withers // Feb 9, 2006 at 4:43 pm

  I got the link from Joystiq and this is very true. Much of the time, I just mute everyone because I get sick of all the cursing.

• 2 josh // Feb 9, 2006 at 5:14 pm

  i give you a lot of credit because in order to do this you needed to stop playing everytime someone said it and wrtie it down!

  no, but seriously awesome job. this looks very professional and well-planned. kudos.

• 3 Christian // Feb 9, 2006 at 5:20 pm

  I love playing Halo 2 online, but I must admit that all the foul language and immature trash talking really turns me off.

  Perhaps Nintendo has the right idea by using Friend Codes to allow who you want to play with. Does Bungie ever do anything with the user feedback?

• 4 sanjuro // Feb 9, 2006 at 5:37 pm

  Nice study. Now it would be interesting to know if the swearing is as intense with other games as it is with Halo.

• 5 Gaming 360 » Blog Archive » Profanity in Halo 2 // Feb 9, 2006 at 5:45 pm

  [...] Frequency of Profanity in Halo 2 [Josh Smith Online] [...]

• 6 Nick // Feb 9, 2006 at 6:33 pm

  when i played xbox live i didn’t hear it that much…

• 7 Nathan B // Feb 9, 2006 at 6:41 pm

  This is awesome! LUL. Fag shouldve gotten its own category.

• 8 vladimir cole // Feb 9, 2006 at 6:55 pm

  Very, very nice post!!

• 9 Ingvar Schnilt // Feb 9, 2006 at 6:58 pm

  Interesting. It’s discouraging that there is three racial epithets over every two hours. My nephews are hooked on Xbox online. They can easily total five six hours over a weekend. Perhaps Microsoft could add the disclaimer, “You’ll hear some mouthbreather yell nigger/chink/wop every hour or so.” I’d like to see more material about what people spew to strangers.

• 10 Emile // Feb 9, 2006 at 7:06 pm

  Thanks for the post. This is impressive yet at the same time just scary…

• 11 Bob // Feb 9, 2006 at 7:19 pm

  Unfortunately, the sample size in this study, which can only be attributed to the game of Halo in the hours that the writer actually logged on to play, is not big enough. Unfortunately, the results, by statistical standards, are insignificant.

• 12 Travis // Feb 9, 2006 at 7:24 pm

  I applaud your courage in undertaking such an ear battering, for the sake of research. I only hope that you efforts were not in vain, and that the powers that be in Microsoft/Xbox, PC gaming world, and other up and coming online gaming services will not only take note, but also, take action to encourage a positive gaming experience for all ages. I just hope the anti gaming political squad doesn’t skew the results. Yet, they wouldn’t be politicians if they didn’t try.

• 13 Josh // Feb 9, 2006 at 7:31 pm

  Good point Bob,

  Ideally I would have liked to run the study longer and with other people playing in seperate games, and I would have probally done so if I was still a student. Thanks for the input.

• 14 Mike // Feb 9, 2006 at 8:22 pm

  Props Josh…

  I’m not a huge Halo player and to be honest, I don’t even own an Xbox. I am, however, a big PC gamer and can say that this issue is not a new one. I’ve been playing games online for years and this issue is one that has been around (and steadily getting worse) since people began gaming online. It has gotten to the point now that it is a part of pretty much EVERY game that has any type of chat functionality (Counter-Strike and Unreal being a couple of the worst).

  I’ve often wondered why it is that people suddenly degrade into mindless filth fountains as soon as they log on. The only thing I’ve been able to come up with is that the anonimity of being online allows people to show who they are deep-down without fear of societal judgement. Unfortunately, if this is the case it doesn’t provide a very pretty picture of the true state of our society (or at least the portion that plays online games).

  I don’t pretend to have a suggestion about how to correct this issue, but it seems that this is a big enough problem that something needs to be done. There are still some of us out there that have more than 5 words in our vocabulary and are actually able to form a complete sentence that doesn’t include the F-bomb. And although I’m personally able to shrug off the vulgarity, there’s no way I’d want my kids exposed to that kind of language. At least not until they start hearing it in 2nd or 3rd grade =).

  Sorry about the soapbox rant, but I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who’s noticed this and I’m glad to see that it’s getting some attention.

• 15 kioshi // Feb 9, 2006 at 8:22 pm

  Excellent post, congratulations man!

• 16 hiredgoon // Feb 9, 2006 at 9:43 pm

  so what if people are using cuss language. that’s what happens when mates get together and talk trash - it’s the competitive spirit to knock your friends with disparaging remarks. no-one takes them seriously, and if you do, then set up a guild or clan that doesn’t use colourful language. can you imagine online gaming without the profanities?

  lmox: “gosh darn, you hit me. don’t get too cocky for i forsee a time when i may be able to return the favour and remove a life from your score”

  meethed: “why are you talking this way foul nave? methinks your sexuality is of questionable heritage!”

  n00b: “hello, i am new here. would anyone care to show me how to play this game?”

  xcelsior: “welcome to our friendly arms simulator mr noob. follow me and i will show you everything you need to know to become the best at this game. please feel free to use my personal tactics for your own advantage. lets go”

  noob: “gracious me, i do believe a rife accidentally discharged into the back of my head. how uncouth!”

  xcelsior: “oops, i have been hit too. i feel like a big piece of excrement - curses to you LMOX. why don’t you go and kiss my flowerbed!”

  n00b: “it’s such a happy place in here - people throwing fireworks at each other - so wonderful - almost gay! hooray for everything!!!”

  lmox: “so what is up meethed. i’d like to throw a colourful coloquialism at you but i fear that using a slang word migh incur the wrath of the other players. do you think they would mind if i just refferred to you as my brother?”

• 17 Josh // Feb 9, 2006 at 10:02 pm

  Apparently I wasn’t clear. I don’t care that people cuss, you can say whatever you want I cuss when I play halo. I was curious about how often it happens and so i tracked it. After the study was done I figured at the least it will help make parents aware about what can happen on Xbox live. And I would hate the what if presented in your scenario, so please cuss all you want i don’t want to feel like I am playing Halo trapped in a Care bears environment.

• 18 hiredgoon // Feb 9, 2006 at 10:17 pm

  you raised some great points.
  i’ve heard that the PS3’s online service is likely to inlcude a “parental safe” option for their kiddies to go online with. don’t know how that would be maintained though…

• 19 Josh // Feb 9, 2006 at 10:20 pm

  I don’t see how the parental mode would work unless it took the voice function, i guess props for trying.

• 20 Daishalish // Feb 9, 2006 at 11:08 pm

  For any of you looking for a kind of sanctuary for “mature gamers” that come together to play Halo 2 and other online games without children’s antics check out http://www.seasonedgamers.com!

  Great info by the way, I’m definately going to be telling some of my psychology grad students about this potential subject of research!

  ~Dai

• 21 Game Press Live » Halo swears? no way… // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:11 am

  [...] But wait, Mr. Smith did not just tally every word deemed offensive: he categorized every usage in excruciating detail (which may or may not be safe for work, so we will just direct you to the article if you want to know). [...]

• 22 brad // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:10 am

  I’ve been recording xbox live jerks for a while. I’ve posted links to some of them.

  ** Big warning ** this is extreme stuff
  http://forum.ebaumsworld.com/showthread.php?t=79083

  I have over 100 more I am editing down that will be released.

• 23 Luke Daly // Feb 10, 2006 at 8:36 am

  obviously you havn’t played CS, the word “fag” gets said after every kill.

  Interesting article tho! good work!

• 24 j-cums // Feb 10, 2006 at 9:07 am

  FFS, try recording a warcraft teamspeak session….that will really go off the charts

• 25 Sonic Nonsense » Blog Archive » Shock horror! People swear on XBox Live! // Feb 10, 2006 at 9:08 am

  [...] Shock horror! Some loser recorded statistics about it! [...]

• 26 Elise // Feb 10, 2006 at 9:31 am

  I’d like to see a study where you find out what age people are who curse most often. I get the impression that it’s the high school/middle school kids who want to rebel…

• 27 Fish // Feb 10, 2006 at 9:31 am

  I really feel this number is very low.

  Atleast from LAN parites I have been at.

  The better the party, the more the swearing. Thats my 3 second study.

• 28 Scuba // Feb 10, 2006 at 9:36 am

  The people that comment on this site make me laugh. They might as well post “Let me suck your ass, Josh”. Use of ass 100%, 1 per hour, and used 1 time overall.

• 29 Broken Toys » Blog Archive » The Three Reblogs Of Palmer Eldritch // Feb 10, 2006 at 9:55 am

  [...] 1) Someone went to the trouble of analyzing profanity usage online in Halo 2. Sure, you knew it was there, but did you know there were 0.23 more racial epithets than averrals of sexual preference per hour? 0.23. Hm. That would be, like “ga” but you know, that could really go either way so I’m thinking the stats may need work. [...]

• 30 Visitor // Feb 10, 2006 at 9:58 am

  I have no problem with foul language. I stopped playing Halo 2 because I got sick of adolescents talking trash. There are too many kids who have put in 60 hour weeks mastering the game, and get off on trouncing those of us who stop by for an hour or two every once in awhile. There’s only so much taunting one can take at the hands of fat 12-year-olds who don’t get out in the sun much.

  Battlefront II is much more enjoyable. The game is fun and competitive even when playing with fat weenie kids with no social lives.

• 31 Pville // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:00 am

  That’s the same with any online game… not really news to anyone who’s ever played online. Kids can get away with saying anything without any recourse. I think it’s more shocking that parents don’t know what their children are into.

• 32 Winston // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:02 am

  I actually like the swearing. It gets really fun when people start getting creative. It’s better than the military.

• 33 Walter Sobchek // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:03 am

  Congrats. You are now the biggest loser I’ve come across on the Internet. As if 30+ hours of xbox didn’t make you a big enough nerd, you sat there and counted curse words.

  Go play in traffic

• 34 Achilles1986 // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:03 am

  All these immature little kids out there think they’re so tough that they can talk trash over a video game. Hiredgoon, you take it too far. People aren’t going to talk so formal over XBL, but why can’t someone just say “Yea, he caught me while I wasn’t looking” instead of using an excuse like “You stupid b**** you’re host powers suck”. It’s only the insecure players that think they have to prove themselves to everyone else that talk smack when it is unwarranted. In real life, the majority of Halo 2 players are thin little stay-at-home kids who wouldn’t be able to talk smack fact to face with someone and get away with it. It’s a video game. Little immature people, stop trying to prove yourselves over XBL because in the end you’ll be married to your Xbox instead of a wife.

• 35 gj-bizz // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:07 am

  If you take a 30 hour sampling of the average conversation at a bar you will find similar results. This is how people talk! It’s nothing new, and this should neither surprise nor offend anyone. When was the last time you hung out at a fraternity house? or at a bar in Boston, or at a Steelers game?

  Well done, but you spent alot of time to state the obvious and well-known. Time wasted in my opinion….you could’ve been playing Civ IV this whole time, or fapping to Leisure Suit Larry games.

• 36 Gamer // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:08 am

  You F*cking Homo’s, I’ll kick you@ss any day n00bs

  “Fag” - LOL. Haven’t heard that in a long time due to the pc nation we are now.

• 37 Ace // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:13 am

  People are swearing while playing an online game, are you SERIOUS? That’d be like using the internet for porn or sex chats, what’s next, catholic priests molesting alter boys…..does this really come as a surprise to anyone. Lighten up, it’s more then drunk frat boys and adolescent trouble makers. These are normal kids and this is how they talk today, wake up. Parents today don’t care except when it comes to sex. Supress sex but let them listen to 50 Cent talk about shooting someone while smoking crack and you get abunch of fowl mouthed kids.. I know when I supress my sexual energy I swear a lot more, personally I think there are worse things then kids swearing while playing a violent video game, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Would you be happier hearing something like “I say, nice shot old chap. When I respawn I’ll try my dandiest to return the favor.” I’d be very scared if this study showed restuls like that.

• 38 Pat Kohler // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:18 am

  There should not be a 24 year old frat boy unless he was working on his Masters degree.

  On another note, the game is Halo2. It is a war game. I imagine that when you are ready to run out to take the enemy you would be thinking/saying explicitives and other phrases that makes you feel larger/greater/superior than your enemies.

• 39 Jidar // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:19 am

  Only 7% were people being called faggots? Clearly I’m a trendsetter here.
  In all seriousness, since we can’t control what people say I guess we should just stop being offended by it, or does that make too much sense?

• 40 Josh // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:22 am

  Jidar,

  Excellent suggestion, though I’m afriad your right it makes too much sense to get picked up mainstream.

• 41 El Jefe // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:26 am

  I have found that using the headphones with XBOX live is a distraction. Unless you are playing in a Team game, it really provides no function except to let opponents get your attention with the above mentioned profanity and stupidity.

• 42 Walter Sobchek // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:33 am

  Kiss my ass you treehuggers

• 43 Foo Mo Jive // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:33 am

  What I don’t understand is why sites are implying that your numbers are way off because you didn’t record frequency for 100+ hours. Why would they act like this doesn’t exist? Granted sometimes it’s worse than others, but it’s a problem in my opinion, and anyone that plays Halo 2 can’t deny that this is pretty much spot on. Cussing is crude but sometimes crude is the only way to emphasize something enough to get your point across. In that respect I have no problem with cussing. But when it’s used in every other word, that’s annoying and offensive because it’s making improper use of the language and it’s just being crude for the sake of crudeness and reaction.

  Of course, that’s a minor issue compared to racism, homosexual comments, and other sexual comments made in game. Sometimes these get to the point where I want to throw up. You think you’ve heard mean comments about your mom? Play some halo 2, your face will turn purple with rage at some pimple-faced 13-year old. I get tired of the homosexual joking too, especially when it gets graphic. That’s just sick. The other sexual comments are just as bad, I don’t need to hear that while I’m playing an online FPS. But the worst is the racism. Before I joined the Halo 2 community, it had been a long time since I had run into a racist. I was shocked and disgusted to find kids whose parents pay for their live accounts putting down a whole class of people just because of the color of their skin. I can almost say I hate racists. But I try to pity them instead. It’s really hard sometimes.

• 44 Scragger // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:56 am

  What is the f0cking point of this?

• 45 digitalbohn // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:59 am

  The worst part is that most of this comes from kids under the age of 15.

• 46 Cora // Feb 10, 2006 at 11:02 am

  So, you went into a game atmosphere based solely on killing, violence, war, domination, and you expected flawless english and complete sentences? You seem to be missing a point here. For example, people with tourette syndrome swear profusely because those words require the least amount of thought and are the easiest to trigger. Maybe you’re confusing a simple brain function with The Downfall of Society. In the midst of shooting sprees and adrenaline rushes, most people would not come out with sophisticated and articulate expressions.

• 47 KevMack // Feb 10, 2006 at 11:07 am

  This shows us nothing, but parents can’t watch their kids. School yard trash talking has been around for years. I can rember as early as 1st grade ttalking junk, but now this is in a public forum. This game and games a like are for mature audieces only for obivous reasons, blood, violence, use of language. Young kids should not be playing games of this type, but lets face it they do. So, stop tring to sissify the world and act like this is ground breaking because it not. Use of language or being verbal is one of our freedoms, please refrain from takin that away from me you COMMIE!

• 48 Josh // Feb 10, 2006 at 11:10 am

  KevMack , can you read, I am arguing for parents to take some responsibility not the government.

  http://www.imjosh.com/?p245 for more info

• 49 itsassassin // Feb 10, 2006 at 11:12 am

  wow. there is alot of cussing over live. I knew that there was a lot of cussing, but dang. seriously.

• 50 cappy // Feb 10, 2006 at 11:18 am

  “There should not be a 24 year old frat boy unless he was working on his Masters degree.”

  Uh… when was the last time you attended college? From what I’ve always seen, frat boys are ALWAYS older, because their way through college is usually being paid for by their parents and they’ve failed their way through about 7 years of classes. How (or why) they remain in college is anyone’s guess.

  Though I agree that it was unlikely that the author heard a Frat boy cursing on XBL — they usually don’t have the necessary sobriety or motor control to hold onto a controller for more than 4 or 5 minutes at a time.

• 51 Walter Sobchek // Feb 10, 2006 at 11:18 am

  Josh, please. What an exciting life you must lead to be able to count curse words for 30+ hours on the Xbox.

  Go get some sunlight

• 52 Tom Lawyer // Feb 10, 2006 at 11:21 am

  Thats the problem when you put a microphone in front of someone, they’ll use it.

  I hate playing Halo2 on live, so I quit. It sucks.

• 53 Krazy Kool Krap » &%$*# Online gaming // Feb 10, 2006 at 11:21 am

  [...] My son, who is turning 10 on April 2nd, is totally addicted to video games.  He plays everything from Halo to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with his new found addiction of Lego Star Wars. Luckily I don’t allow him to play on-line.   Josh Smith has done a study on how often profanity was used while playing Halo2 for 33 1/2 hours. [...]

• 54 The Bandit // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:03 pm

  Beh. I understand the point, but the “14 year old” remark was a little farfetched. Most fourteen year olds that I know are pretty mature, and the fact they’re in highschool usually cuts out the “playground” business. Usually, it’s the nine year olds that play too much XBox Live and pick up on the words. Other than that, good job.

• 55 The Bandit // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:08 pm

  And for the record, parents shouldn’t be too concerned about their children cussing in their teen years. It’s not like they don’t hear it at school. Too many damned soccer moms…

• 56 Whiny10YearOld // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:10 pm

  MOOOOOOM!

  GIMME MY GOD DAMN MOTHERF*CKIN CHOCOLATE MILK!!! >:-(

• 57 rm // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:33 pm

  Funny thing your in a game which is to KILL the other person and your worried bout a lil off color language How funny is that ???

• 58 Max // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:48 pm

  freedom of speach. No one is forcing you to listen to these people. Cuss words are a lot less worse than the shit these kids are being force fed on television. Although I do agree its somewhat ehh for a 10 year old to be calling someone a nigger. The thing you guys are forgetting is that, they didnt learn these words on HALO, and they are using them in everyday language anyway. This is in no way scary, anyone whos like OMG over this needs to stop watching so much news.

• 59 CrappyGuy // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:48 pm

  Only 8 fucks an hour? man, you must have been playing on some friendly servers.

  Honestly, people on xBox Live (and other PC based online games) have to grow up.

• 60 James // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:55 pm

  This is more than likely the reason that voice chat in games generally turns me off. Personally, I play to enjoy and joke around, not to hear disrespect from someone ten years younger than me. In comparison, my online play in other countries has been a lot more enjoyable.

• 61 JWC, Esq. // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:58 pm

  Actually, the correct terminology is ‘Fraternity’, not ‘Frat’.

  You don’t call you ‘Country’ a ‘Cunt’ do you?

  :p

• 62 KevMack // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:02 pm

  Your study is not valid. You state that what profanity is used, but by whom? Nice spreadsheet and chart, but it still proves nothing other than there is profanity used. It doen’t state ages of people using it, the only thing it show is you wasted 30+ hours recording language and counting words used. Also, leudness is an personal opinion and not anything to base any sort of study on Good job on watsing my time.

• 63 Pooty Tang // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:05 pm

  Congratulations on your PhD thesis documenting the issue of swearing on video games, you #*&@sucking piece of %^$@. I should kick your $@# for being such a $*&%ing $@&%head. Holy #$^#@.

  I don’t think there is any Xbox swearing problem, dumb$#&. You should be doing my homework instead of $^@#ing around with this kind of %&#$.

  $%#@ !!!!

• 64 Most Hated // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:12 pm

  ok lol….i been gamming for a really long time starting out with UO (Ultima Online) and from what i recall there was nothing but cursing and racial stuff…..and people thinking they own someone in a game wich in all real if it was in real life they would get there ass whooped so they come to a game to talk shit because they cant do it at home or school or whatever they come from… its cool that you did this study for parents and such but i got a option for you older people who dont like to listen to it … why dont you just unlplug your mic and put your voice output on mic only and BAM you have no problems and for parents who are concerned you should do the same !!!! in all said gamming online is a social outlet for alot of people and i find it very funny when a 14 year comes in the rom sounds like a little girl cursing … sometimes i just get on halo2 to get a good laugh at the trash talk and laugh how mad someone can get about a game that makes them curse and punch there walls in real life hahaha what a bunch of bitches anyways thought i would put my two sence in so have fun play the game and watch your mouths young ones!!!!!!

• 65 SpecialNewb // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:12 pm

  I swear on Xbox live it’s true, most often with the “Fuck” but it’s actually never directed at people. For instance if I die stupidly I just exclaim “Fuck!” instead of blaming someone.

  As for KevMack, curse words may not offend everyone but we agree that they are ALL CURSE WORDS. Whether you’re offended or not, those words are classed in a special category.

• 66 animated // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:24 pm

  Props Josh for sticking with a thought, and doing this much extra work to back up your intentions.

  One conclusions can actually be drawn from this sort of study. The frequency of the type of curse, for example: Those cursed out of frustration, or Those cursed to offend.

  It would be interesting to see this study on a wider scale with more games to see what overall numbers would be, and what aspect of online society is progressing from racism, and other hate related offenses, in comparison to studies done in the past in a non-virtual environment. Or are we regressing?

• 67 Gangstas & Hugs // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:34 pm

  Happenings in the Blog World - 2.10.2006

  Thought I'd chime in with a few interesting happenings in the blogosphere.

  The Perfect Valentine's Day is posted at Beauty vs. the Beast. Have a read, it's not too shabby if I do say so myself.
  Some cleaning ladies stole JJ's …

• 68 Gangstas & Hugs » Happenings in the Blog World - 2.10.2006 // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:37 pm

  [...] Josh Smith actually did the research on how often searing is done online in Halo 2. My brother sent me this, and since he claims "I use all his best material", he can kiss my ass. I found this hilarious mainly because I've already written about it, but just never felt the need to actually count how many times someone is saying he'll "own my fuckin' noob ass". Thanks Josh! [...]

• 69 Chuck // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:42 pm

  I came here thinking it was a real study.

• 70 AC // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:48 pm

  Good information. Thanks for taking the time to record this.

• 71 wow // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:51 pm

  Man, THATS FUCKING BULLSHIT. BITCH. DAMN.

• 72 Sudden // Feb 10, 2006 at 1:52 pm

  My favorite part was the pie chart. We need to have more pie charts that have a “bitch” flyout on them.

• 73 chobo // Feb 10, 2006 at 2:04 pm

  KevMack:
  How would he know their ages, genius? Here’s a better question: Why would age have any bearing on this study? OMG NO AGE UR STUDY IS NOT VALID. God DAMN, you really are a moron, aren’t you?

  “Leudness” may be “an” personal opinion, but grammar and spelling aren’t. You might want to check out punctuation while you’re at it.

  rm:
  Here, let me just translate the article into “Live-Speak” so you can understand it: “LOL FAG N00B LOL B00m H#@dSH0t UR MOMZ A C00N FAGFAGFAGFAGFAG LOL”. How funny is that???

  Cora:
  You seem intelligent. I want to think that if you had read more carefully you would have refrained from posting. However, you just typed a very logical, well thought-out, reasonable response to an issue that exists only in your mind. Josh isn’t writing social commentary here; he’s simply stating facts.

  Everyone:
  So many of you confuse the right to do something with the need to do it. Just because you CAN act like a raging jackass online (which, btw, is actually a violation of the Terms of Service) doesn’t mean you should. Eh, I don’t know what I expected, but the comments here have certainly been disappointing. Stay in school, don’t do drugs, peace and hair grease - ciao.

• 74 Symbionese // Feb 10, 2006 at 2:07 pm

  swearing? fine by me. trash talking? ok. faggot, gay (derogatorily), or “ghey” (which is just idiotic anyway and still means and sounds the same as “gay”, racial epithets? definitely not ok. would you call someone a chink faggot to their face? you can argue about freedom of speech all you want, but all these little boys and homophobic, racist men (i’ve yet to hear homophoic or racist comments from a female gamer) are cowering behind the relative annonymity of xbox live. In real life, I’d kick your ass. this stuff isn’t limited to Halo 2, i hear it on Hardwood Hearts! The problem is the perception of “heterosexual white male as normal” that popular culture has historically projected. Everything and everyone else is considered “other” and foreign. Gay gamers exist, non-white, non-fratboy gamers exist. Female Gamers exist. We deserve respect.

• 75 Drew // Feb 10, 2006 at 2:23 pm

  f@rk pwnd j00!!!!!!!1

• 76 Alan O. // Feb 10, 2006 at 2:24 pm

  Yes I admit that there is a lot of cursing in the game. Its all part of the fun you know, trash talking, getting in there head. Like you said earlier the game is rated M for as we all know this means “mature”. Why is it that someone of mature status can’t curse in a mature game? If you have a problem with the cursing don’t blame the players and gamers blame yourselve for not being the parent and stopping your child for being subjected to the language. ( I of course am not directing this at you for you only collected data and made a totally true and valid point.) I direct this at the parents that complain to the companies while they are the ones that put the game into the kids hands. I have put many hours into Xbox Live and enjoy the experience, even the cursing. Like when a Player stands hidden in a dark spot with a sniper rifle and talks about how good he is, I’ll sneak behind him assassinate him (melee from behind) then T-bag him ( crounch on his head so in theory my ball would be on his face) and then proceed to tell him how I’m gonna F**k his Mom. It’s all part of psyching the other players out so the slip up, It’s fun and a great way to relieve stress from a day at work and school. Since I believe in freedom of speech and a fair debate If you agree with me, or disagree let me know. you can reach me at Email: amish_renegade@yahoo.com

• 77 Alan O. // Feb 10, 2006 at 2:35 pm

  Sorry but I was reading a little more and about the use of the term gay. Well I know the reason I call players it is cuz a lot of the people playing are homophobic and by calling them gay they freak out and slip up. So then I just go in and collect my double or triple kill.

• 78 Terry // Feb 10, 2006 at 2:37 pm

  I recently stopped playing Halo 2 online because of the treatment I recieve and the crap I take when playing online. It seems that kicking people doesn’t solve the problem either I think the CRTC and FCC should take action on this problem because some of us are hard working people who earn a living and we should be able to have fun without these unsupervised kids who don’t care about anything other than themselves. It’s time we stood up and took some action for once.

• 79 The Dude // Feb 10, 2006 at 3:05 pm

  Do it for Counterstrike on pc. Bet you’d get monumentally higher numbers. Its unreal. I’m part of a clan which is in posession of the #187 most popular game server in the world. Which doesnt sound like much, but theres a few hundred thousand servers in the world at any given time. Anyway, we get on average, during peak hours, I’d say theres someone swearing every five seconds, minumum. Some people make an entire story out of curse words.

• 80 Kevin // Feb 10, 2006 at 3:09 pm

  I think terry has a vagina and people like him should’nt be allowed to play video games. Terry I hate you and I hope that you get raped by a large black man in the near future. Once again I’d just like to point out the fact that Terry, the person who posted above me, probably has a vagina and I think it has a large amount of sand in it. By that I mean Terry is a male, but he has female reproductive organs and somehow, the sand has made him cranky. Pls die.

• 81 Kevin // Feb 10, 2006 at 3:13 pm

  And also after reading KevMac’s comments, I think he is a dirty homosexual. That is all.

  One more thing…..KevMac

• 82 zipDog // Feb 10, 2006 at 3:20 pm

  I have avoided buying XBL for years now because of this issue. Before you get the wrong idea, I have 4 xboxes in my house and play LAN’d several times each month in large groups. We trash-talk. We even come up with some stunningly creative profanity and phrases so colorfully metaphoric they make the above catergories sound polite. BUT (you *knew* that was coming…) there is a crucial difference between what is said among friends and what you hear on XBL: intention.

  There are a lot of different places one could point the finger; the younger players, the parents, the television, etc. but I think we’ve all agreed on one thing in this comment list, no matter what else people have disagreed upon- pointing the finger is totally, well, pointless.

  Instead, I’ll just point something out that every gamer knows. The best games, the truly fun, exciting, involving and in all ways rewarding games are 1) cooperative play, and 2) involve skilled players who use tactics in place of game glitches. When you are working together with your team, and being effective in competition, it’s a whole different experience. If you want that experience, find experienced gamers. I’m not saying there won’t be trash talk, I’m saying you won’t find yourself offended because it won’t be the verbal equivalent of Columbine.

  And I have to agree with Symbionese: it is significant that 99% of this trash leaks from the mouth of males. That above all else shows the truth behind this behavior on XBL: XBL is the reflector, not the director.

  It IS sad that in order to play the coolest part of Xbox technology, you essentially have to subject yourself to a middle school locker room atmosphere and it’s perpetual stink of insecurity.

• 83 Zerolives.org » Blog Archive » links for 2006-02-10 // Feb 10, 2006 at 3:20 pm

  [...] Josh Smith Online » Frequency of Profanity in Halo 2 Guy breaks down word usage of Halo 2 XBox Live players. (tags: language gaming) [...]

• 84 KyanWan // Feb 10, 2006 at 3:30 pm

  Know, I’m sick of all these “Ye art not as holy as I” playing FPS - then saying “what, how dare you swear on my server! I shalt smite thee with mine power of administratorcus, and ban ye from mine server!” - What the ( swear ) is that?

  If you’re so high-and-mighty with all your honor and properness, then WHY IN GODS NAME ARE YOU PLAYING A GAME WHERE YOU GO AROUND KILLING PEOPLE?!?! Hmm? Can that be answered?

  Bleh, there is no answer - you’re just als LEWD as the rest of us.

  So strap on your “I love swearing” hat, and grow some hair - let the F-bombs FLY!

  And if anyone thinks Censorship is the answer, get out of the USA and go to Europe. That’s where … … [really bad word] … … belong

• 85 Foo Mo Jive // Feb 10, 2006 at 4:05 pm

  I can handle excessive cussing for the most part. I can constant gay and sexual remarks, although a little less. What I absolutely do not tolerate is racism. I run a Halo community where we have 11 clans. Anyone making racist remarks is shown the door. “But they’re kids. They’re just joking around. They don’t know any different. They talk like this at school. They’re just repeating what they heard.” I don’t care. There’s no excuse for racism.

• 86 Foo Mo Jive // Feb 10, 2006 at 4:06 pm

  correction: I can stand constant… (above)

• 87 KoniaX // Feb 10, 2006 at 4:07 pm

  wow u guys are all idiots if u think cussing is anything new….. jesus christ, take a walk through the halls of a high school someday… this is how kids talk, deal with it.

• 88 XboxFan // Feb 10, 2006 at 4:26 pm

  What a @*%$’n wase of time………

• 89 T Bagwell // Feb 10, 2006 at 5:51 pm

  I don’t care about the foul language. I care about the schmucks using it. They never shut up! They just need to play the game and stop talking unless they are talking strategy with their team mates. They are the main reason I play with my headphones off and all voices muted.

• 90 groyce // Feb 10, 2006 at 6:08 pm

  suck it up pusses. if you dont like it leave it, wear ear plugs or something….

• 91 Rotational » Blog Archive » links for 2006-02-10 // Feb 10, 2006 at 6:23 pm

  [...] Josh Smith Online: Frequency of Profanity in Halo 2 A study of “curse words and lewd comments” in Live Halo 2 play over 33.9 hours. “Fuck” took 43% of the swearies. Fine, but 7% of it was related to homosexuality and 9% was racially related. That seems a lot and it makes me very reluctant to join in. (tags: videogames society web xbox) [...]

• 92 Sailor // Feb 10, 2006 at 6:40 pm

  I think all the swearing adds flavor to the game play.

• 93 ispankedjane // Feb 10, 2006 at 8:13 pm

  Josh, Bob’s comment was idiotic.

  There’s nothing wrong with your sample size, and statistical significance has nothing to do with these measurements. You did not set out to demonstrate causation or correlation, for which statistical significance is a measure. You simply described your observations, for which statistical significance bears no relation.

  p.s. Everyone is ghey.

• 94 animated // Feb 10, 2006 at 9:06 pm

  You can’t make an idiot think, let alone read.

  Thank the dev’s there’s a mute button.

• 95 Amber // Feb 10, 2006 at 9:13 pm

  Walter Sobcheck, ok first of all there is no need to call Josh a loser. Scondly, your name is Walter … uh incase you don’t realize that is a pretty freakin’ nerdy name! Don’t put someone down for trying something creative. And he was just doing something that he was interested in and it is a controversial topic! People on the news are saying how these games affects kids! He never clamied that this study was perfect or absolutely correct with the stats! So why don’t you shut up! You can chose to read this or not, but don’t put him down for doing something like this! So here is a thought for you Walt, how about you go play in trafic then go play a game called hide and go f*#& yourself!

• 96 My Own Thoughts » Cursing on Halo2 // Feb 10, 2006 at 10:44 pm

  [...] Josh did a self-directed study of the number of curse words that he could hear in 33.9 hours of playing Halo2, divided them by word/category, and gives graphs, pie charts, etc. on them. [...]

• 97 Equinox // Feb 11, 2006 at 1:36 am

  Buncha queer ass pussies if you ask me. Listen to counter strike some time. Make your ass think you have Torrets Syndrome!

• 98 Justins Journal » Frequency // Feb 11, 2006 at 4:26 am

  [...] Play Halo 2 often? I did. Haven’t been into it lately. WoW has been sucking up my game time lately. But I found this link on the frequency of words used while playing Halo 2. The pie chart at the bottom is neat, and pretty much how I figured it would slice. [...]

• 99 Justin // Feb 11, 2006 at 4:31 am

  Nice site, looks like a wp temp;

  anywayz good job on the study, I thought homo and bitch comments would be a little higher up. I appreciate the effort you put into this, since my cousins (10, & 8 ) want to start playing on Live and I think they have their parents almost convinced, despite my hollerin’. Maybe I can show em your pie chart and keep them off of XBL for a few more years.

• 100 Xbox360Welt.com - Das inoffizielle Xbox 360 Magazin » Blog Archive » Xbox Live Studie: Die meistbenutzten Fluchwörter // Feb 11, 2006 at 6:14 am

  [...] Josh Smith hat eine kleine Studie auf Xbox Live! gemacht. Und zwar hat er während 33.9 Stunden gezählt, wie oft in Halo 2 geflucht wird und welche Wörter dabei am meisten benutzt werden. Überraschenderweise liegt die Zahl mit 641 Flüchen noch ziemlich tief (kommt vielleicht auch noch aufs Spiel an?). Mit 43 % liegt “Fuck!” ganz klar auf der Pole Position, gefolgt von “Shit” mit 19%. Weitere wunderschöne Auswertungen (sogar in Excel) gibts auf imjosh.com. [...]

• 101 H3xagram // Feb 11, 2006 at 8:12 am

  wow, that’s sweet. Good job with all this man.

  If you’re up for a game sometime drop me a fr.

  ( H3xagram )

• 102 sanpablo1972 // Feb 11, 2006 at 10:05 am

  Is goddammit no longer a swear?

  muthafucker?

• 103 The Bandit // Feb 11, 2006 at 3:25 pm

  Any of the idiots that said “get over it thats how ppl talk” fucking read. Josh even said, “I cuss when I play halo, I was just curious how much people DO cuss.” At the top, he said this wasn’t trying to get cussing on games banned, or video games banned. It. Was. Just. A. Study.

• 104 Darren // Feb 11, 2006 at 4:33 pm

  The excel document didn’t work for me. 404 errors and all that

• 105 Yep I Recycle // Feb 11, 2006 at 8:53 pm

  aha…hahahhaa

• 106 Josh Smith Online » Servers, Fark, and Me // Feb 12, 2006 at 8:07 pm

  [...] The reason for such a high influx was my study about the Frequency of Profanity in Halo 2. [...]

• 107 Roy // Feb 13, 2006 at 7:08 am

  Well done, is there also some information about which players are the worst? Any difference between european and US players?

• 108 Josh // Feb 13, 2006 at 8:26 am

  Sorry I do not have info about age, nationality, or other identifying information. Though being from Ohio in the US, most of the matches I was in were played against other US players, This being due to connection issues and host, in my understanding of Live. I could be wrong though.

• 109 me // Feb 13, 2006 at 10:41 am

  You forgot ” LOL” and “Noob” or “Lol, stfu noob !” in your impressive Harvardish study. Some people starts considering it as profanity too.

• 110 not me // Feb 13, 2006 at 2:40 pm

  Too bad no one says “LOL” on xbox live, or your comment might actually apply.

• 111 Big B // Feb 13, 2006 at 4:21 pm

  I think the context in which these words were used would be more beneficial. I mean I might curse when I take a smack in the back of the head when I did not see it coming but there are those that curse you out regardless….

• 112 Bass // Feb 13, 2006 at 7:28 pm

  I do not agree age has anything to do with it. However, I do not see the purpose of swearing. my brother and I share a gamertag, and when I play, I hardly ever curse, or talk for that matter. I let actions speak for themselves. There was a funny movie about this at Big Boys. I do not play Halo 2 that much anymore, cheaters, immature people (of any age) and I now have DoA 4 and NG Black. My 2 cents, take it or leave it, agree to disagree chaps and chapettes.

• 113 Game Press Live » Halo swears? no way… // Feb 14, 2006 at 1:52 am

  [...] Posted on Monday 13 February 2006 Josh Smith recorded the amount of profanity he heard over 33.9 hours of online Halo 2 action.But wait, Mr. Smith did not just tally every word deemed offensive: he categorized every usage in excruciating detail (which may or may not be safe for work, so we will just direct you to the article if you want to know). [...]

• 114 theory.isthereason » Today’s Links: thumblicio.us - visualize del.icio.us bookmarks // Feb 14, 2006 at 11:29 am

  [...] Frequency of Profanity in Halo 2 Josh Smith charts out the popularity of certain profanities heard on HALO 2 in Xbox Live. Being an online gamer myself, I’m used to hearing little kids spit out profanities for breakfast. Keywords: gaming, metrics, social, trends, xbox [...]

• 115 Person // Feb 15, 2006 at 6:10 pm

  Did you include “Rape” in this study? If so where did you include it? I find that the word “Rape” is being used a lot more lately.

• 116 Uncompressed » Blog Archive » Uncompressed Episode 14 // Feb 16, 2006 at 12:53 am

  [...] Frequency of Profanity in Halo 2 [...]

• 117 GMACS at tellnotales.org // Feb 16, 2006 at 2:36 am

  [...] Nacho Libre Frequency of Profanity in Halo 2 F1 Japs (NSFW) Pluck and Buy at 7-Eleven/Japan The Beastles New Pics of DS Lite Compared Cracked Open Bomberman Act: Zero familyguymusic The New Lara Croft Curling calendar creating stir [...]

• 118 Tyler (Roggie) // Feb 16, 2006 at 5:43 pm

  I feel that this is a lot worse than this shows. Unless you count each person as saying one word ten times as one, as it is one person, then it looks right. But, you hear one person say fuck about 7 times in one sentence, and multiply that by about 5 times in a game, it is a LOT.fuck 8.11 times in one hour seems so extremely low to me, that it is crazy. I give you props though for actually doing this.

• 119 Josh // Feb 16, 2006 at 11:10 pm

  Rape was included in sexual.

• 120 Paul Robinson // Feb 17, 2006 at 4:54 pm

  Fuck me! I was goddam shocked by this study. These sons-a-bitches are cursing in on-line games? Bastards. We need to do something about these cocksuckers. We can’t have these assholes ruining on-line experiences with cursing and profanity. This shit has got to stop.

• 121 NOBS // Feb 17, 2006 at 4:55 pm

  [...] Click here for more of John’s report. No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> [...]

• 122 ggg // Feb 17, 2006 at 5:00 pm

  perhaps they were all yelling at you for not moving or shooting while you were recording all these data?

• 123 Josh // Feb 17, 2006 at 5:02 pm

  Paul, doubt anyone was shocked and if you read the post insted of just looking at pretty pictures you would notice the cursing doesn’t bother me.

  ggg, believe it or not I can multitask

  thanks for dropping in

• 124 Dan // Feb 17, 2006 at 6:03 pm

  Halo, like most video games, is about escapism. People don a false identity and then run around killing each other. I can’t think of a more appropriate time to curse then when you are blowing somebody’s brains out. If you accept that the murders are virtual, then the cursing, in a way, is virtual, too. The words are being hurled at a character, not you. Personally, and as noted by someone noted in a previous post, when I do cuss it’s usually at myself for doing something stupid.

  Anyway, it’s amusing that someone who has no problem engaging in the very adult activity of blowing other folks to bits would be surprised or upset when adult language accompanies that activity. I fully agree with Josh that parents should be better informed about what takes place in online games and applaud him for taking the time to do so constructively.

• 125 Jonathan Wage // Feb 17, 2006 at 6:04 pm

  I don’t play halo 2 to be competitive online( i am just naturally good), so I have plenty of time to do my shit talking. Half of my game is getting all you up-tight assholes so pissed off by talking about your momma..

• 126 THIS CHART IS BS!! (Ryan) // Feb 17, 2006 at 6:49 pm

  Your missing some words in there, like Jusus Christ, God Danm it!, Jusus Fucking Christ! i here that alot, SO consider puting a Gods Name in Vien % up there… because its used alot during live..

• 127 Jeff // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:18 pm

  Cool study.
  Thanks for sharing!

  I think you need a disclaimer in bright flashing red letters that says, “I am not against swearing in online games”. Too many people with opinions about this article that aren’t even relevant.

  Jeff

• 128 Deckchair // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:20 pm

  Where does cunt fit into your statistical analysis?
  Inquiring minds want to know.

• 129 Race Bannon // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:21 pm

  Well, the game is ranked “M” for mature. It is simulated futuristic war, and we all know that war is “heck”. I could understand being upset if this was a kiddie game where this was happening, but it is an adult game intended for adult audiences. I mean I wouldn’t go to see a war movie like “Saving Private Ryan” and not expect some swearing and graphic violence. You would have to be a complete moron to think that they are going to forego the elements of realism to appeaze people who object to violence and swearing. George Carlin said it best “the TV has two knobs on it, one changes the channel and one turns it off, of course anyone needing this advice probably isn’t very comfortable with anything with two knobs on it!”

  Bottom line, don’t like war and the gritty elements associated with it, then don’t buy and play the games! Simple really! And to the parents upset out there some news for you, the xbox nor the TV are babysitters and should only be used under your supervision by younger children! Watch your own kids, and quit enlisting the government to raise your DARN kids!
  Be A PARENT!

• 130 ShornYeti // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:25 pm

  You know, I’m equally shocked by the anti-German language in Call of Duty 2. British soldiers make use of the word “wanker”, not something you’d use in polite conversation in the UK

  As the bulk of 360 gamers are 18-35 I don’t see the issue though. Swearing never killed anyone…

• 131 Geof` // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:25 pm

  Josh…good job on your study. You did what you wanted to do and that is your right. Those of you that bad mouthed him for what he did…get off the couch, say goodnight to mommy, retreat to your room and jerk off to your dad’s copy of Playboy.
  Josh never said that he was against profanity in Halo2 nor did he say that he was a saint.
  To those of you who relate the comments during game play to high school…I dare you to walk up to a black person and call him nigger to his face. You’ll find out what it feels like to get shot for real.
  I think the real point in all the comments posted here is that parent’s have no clue how their children speak when they are not around and they would be shocked with what was coming out of the little one’s mouths. Years ago you would receive an ass whooping by your parents for some of the things that are said online. As a player though you have a choice. If you don’t like it…don’t play it. You’re not going to stop it so get over it.
  Josh…unfortunately some people don’t read an entire post and jump to rage instead of reading and understanding.

• 132 Collab blog » Blog Archive » Quanto spesso e come imprechi quando giochi ad Halo 2 online? // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:26 pm

  [...] ’sto tizio qua ha registrato circa quaranta ore di gioco online ad Halo 2, e poi ha trascritto la frequenza di imprecazioni. In inglese, ovviamente, e, abbastanza scontato, stravince Fuck, col 43%.Podio per Shit (19%) e Bitch (7%).Soprende invece la scarsa varietà, confrontata soprattutto alla nostra abbondanza di parolacce… [...]

• 133 Slackmaster K // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:32 pm

  And by the way… You’ve been Slashdotted!

• 134 Race Bannon // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:34 pm

  While I understand that the author of the study is not against swearing in online play, his study will be used by those critical of the practice in order to further their causes! So it is important that people voice their individual opinions on the topic as I am sure many parent groups will be pointing out this study in the near future to illustrate their point on the topic.

  1) Games are entertainment, and comes in all flavors including that aimed at an adult demograpic!

  2) We should nor more restrict games than we do movies!

  3) Parents need to buck up and be responsible for their own children, and what they are doing/playing/watching.

  4) Game rating systems are already in place for a reason, and they would work if only THE PARENTS paid attention to ratings when purchasing games for their children!

  That is all!

• 135 logicnazi // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:35 pm

  While it is certainly an interesting statistic I’m troubled by your statement which says something to the effect of “if anything this information should be used by parents to make an educated deciscion whether or not their child should play.” You might claim neutrality all you want but implicitly this suggests that it is reasonable that a parent try to keep their child away from swear words.

  I mean imagine if someone said, “I gathered data on the frequency of black people at school X. But I’m not suggesting black people should be kept out. If anything parents should use this information to determine if they want their kids home schooled.” This would clearly be a way of saying, “I think it is reasonable to try and keep your kids away from black people.” Similarly this comment here says it is reasonable to keep your kids away from swears.

• 136 Smelly // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:42 pm

  I question the categorization of “bag”
  Ass: hole, bag, hat, etc

  Ass-bag? T-bag man. Balls on your chin. That goes under COCKLES.

  I was at the barber and the barber lady was talking about how her ass-hole ex-husband lets their 5 year old play Halo 2. The conversation was completely f’d. I work in the industry and hearing about impressionable kids like that playing games like Halo 2 is really disturbing. I was down about it for a couple days. THEY ARE IMPRESSIONABLE at this age. So many “mature” people enjoy the game. It’s such a shame that parents let kids who shouldn’t play have access.

  I’m 26. The only times I really get uncomfortable is with the racism. That’s when the voice mute gets turned on. I also voice mute for pre-pubescent diarhhea of the mouth latch-key kids who just won’t shut up because they have no one else to talk to and they like the sound of their own voice. They definitely get the voice mute.

  I do get hot under the collar when someone gets an easy kill on me and starts trash talking using curses. It’s a valid strategy because it gets under my skin. No doubt other people feel that way when I do it to them.

• 137 Mike // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:49 pm

  Many of us older gamers understand trash talking is a part of what makes online play so fun, but many younger gamers (but not all) and immature older gamers lack any kind of sportsmanship. This leads to a lot of unnecessary profanity and racial or sexual comments. Beat them in whatever game you may be playing and they will run off like the socially inept cowards they are to find an easier victim. If you’re not a very good player then you should find others around your skill level and play with them.
  2old2play.com is a great site for finding other gamers to team up with.

• 138 Crack // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:54 pm

  I don’t understand the frat boy and 14 year old kid comments. I learned most curse words by the age of 9. I do believe that most of my school mates were learning the same fould words at that time. As for frat boys, yes we drank, and cursed, but no more then what I heard when living in the dorms. In fact, I saw more kegs in dorms then I did the fraternity houses. In fact, I graduated with a lot of people in their mid 20’s who were not in a fraternity. Maybe it was because I did not attend a state school, however I would have to say such a generalization is just as bad as sterotyping a particular race or sexual preference. One could say all gay people talk like women or all black people steal. I could certainly find Gay people that talk in a higher register or I could find black people who have stole cars, however I could find straight and white people who do the same thing.

• 139 Kyle Pointer // Feb 17, 2006 at 7:56 pm

  A lot of video games are played by pubescent boys. Many pubescent boys play video games because when they lose, the defeat is private.
  My theory is that two major things happen at this point:
  1. They realize that they aren’t going to be punished for their actions.
  2. They realize that they *are* playing against real people, and that is hard for them to deal with any way besides their swearing, cursing, insulting, etc.

  They simply aren’t mature enough to realize that they cannot win by insulting people, and that in the end they lose, because it makes them look stupid.

  Let me make a note however, that not all teenage[ish] guys are like this. I never was, but then again, I was raised on star trek… so I held myself to a higher standard.

• 140 meep // Feb 17, 2006 at 8:25 pm

  What about cunt? Was that under sexual too? Were there not any cunts out there? I seem to have no problem finding them.

  It’s under SEXUAL - Josh

• 141 Kirk McGravelson // Feb 17, 2006 at 8:25 pm

  Personally I like to throw out ‘cracker’, ‘cracker-ass-cracker’, ‘white devil’, etc. when I’m cursing online. It lends balance to the other racial slurs and strikes fear into the heart of my opponents.

  Also keep in mind that in FPS games, there’s a great deal of adrenalin pumping, run and gun situations, and when you’ve got an objective to complete, and someone kills you, you get frustrated. That’s usually when ‘white devil!’ gets shouted. It’s nothing personal, and kids have been doing this playing basketball, street hockey, and football for decades. I honestly don’t see what the big deal is.

  For those of you who can’t believe your dear sweet Timmy would ever say ’shit’ or ‘fuck’ online, you’d be surprised at what kids say now and have always said. Things that are taboo are always attractive to youth.

• 142 natural causes // Feb 17, 2006 at 8:32 pm

  I hate when you play with 7 year olds who, not only lose, but have to swear like a sailor the whole time. Especially when you have a guest, and the talking comes through the tv speakers unless you disable sound all together.

• 143 BobTheAmazing // Feb 17, 2006 at 9:15 pm

  I think that it really has more to do with gaming culture. I challange you to compare an average LAN party, and I think you will find VERY similar results. Cuss words, smack talk, it is imbedded as part of the culture… Not honestly sure why, but it is…

• 144 nojok3 // Feb 17, 2006 at 10:21 pm

  Wow, swearing in an online game? NEVER.

  It was interesting to see the frequency of the words. From the links I saw about your study, it seemed like it was something new, and they kind of described the study differently.

  This study would be really cool if you could check for sports games/fighting games/racing games/other shooters. Maybe some games leave players more calm or others every single action is that person spitting off profanity.

• 145 Matt // Feb 17, 2006 at 10:33 pm

  What are you peoople talking about?

  I don’t understand why you make such a big deal out of this happening in Halo, or any other videogames, when these kids have to learn it from somewhere.

  I know at my high school people are throwing out so much bad language you can’t understand the strings of profanity they combine together. This goes back to pretty much the 6th grade when everyone started smoking and drinking. Gaming has gone about as mainstream as I see it going. Those jocks and idiots that used to critize me for spending thousands on my rig back in the old days to play some old school Quake are now picking up the 360 and playing Call Of Duty, having Halo 2 lan-parties, poker parties, etc.

  I’m trying to make a point that I don’t think the gaming community should be sectioned off anymore, like Hillary Clinton trying to take on Rockstar. What kind of parent would think twice about buying a game rated (A) if they jumped into purchasing the original (M) rated version. Granted, there are that group there is a mainstream group, and people like myself that spend our lives online at friendly community forums and getting into the more technical and political aspects of gaming.

  We should pioneer a new government that has representatives for the teenagers, not just what the “adults” think should be done to solve a problem. That would, in my opinon, solve alot of the problems that we are today critized in “society” for.

• 146 Josh // Feb 17, 2006 at 10:48 pm

  logicnazi: Good point it was poorly phrased, it was the first of many unsucessful attempts to basically say It is a Parent who should raise a child not a group of 20 people complaining to the government and asking for the government to basically parent thier kid. I merely meant that this info would be useful for parents to make an educated decision, this could be to let thier kid play or to let them play.

  Kirk: They were under racial as well

  Bob: I agree I see this at Lan parties and other events

  nojok: It would be intersting we’ll see what time opens up in the next several months.

• 147 Dave // Feb 17, 2006 at 11:27 pm

  Whatever some people are saying about this being a waste of time, and you needing to get sunlight and such, there are some of us who do actually find this sort of information interesting. Even though, as you admit, the sample is relatively small, this kind of information is of some academic value, and is at least a more valuable use of time than playing video games without analysis.

  In any case, it’s clear to me from my experiences that there are a lot of “adult” gamers who don’t like all of the “adult” content they’re exposed to in online gaming, because it’s just really immature and annoying. I rarely go online because I only enjoy playing games with mature, reasonable people. I’m not saying that mature people don’t swear, but the manner in which they swear is noticeably different (usually more self-referential than accusative). I’ve stopped playing a number of online games precisedly because they are full of what I perceive to be teenagers and immature adults.

• 148 Dave // Feb 17, 2006 at 11:28 pm

  Oh, btw one thing I would like to see is a breakdown of different racial epithets along ethnic lines. That would be interesting information.

• 149 Scott H // Feb 18, 2006 at 12:27 am

  Does this really mean anything? Online gaming is a social activity, you would hear pretty much the same kind of language if you put mic’s in the helmets of high school football players during a game. A group of friend throwing darts or playing pool in a bar will do the same, though that involves less stress so perhaps a bit less.

  The perceived anonymity is probably increasing the frequency, but this is how these kids _and_ adults talk in private….why are people surprised when they hear them on voice networks?

• 150 Jim // Feb 18, 2006 at 2:18 am

  Today is my son’s birthday and my wife and I were going to get him a wireless setup for his Xbox to play online. He’s 11, and while I knew that there’s some language online (when I played Halo a year or two ago), I’m afraid that this is simply reinforcing my fear that I don’t want my kid being exposed to this kind of language in the privacy of his room while playing online hour after hour after his homework. (He doesn’t at this time - no online connection for him)

  I appreciate the effort the author has made in this behalf. We choose not to watch R rated movies, and our home is the better for it. We also don’t allow a lot of PG-13 movies either. We get enough crap brought in the house by the kids now, we don’t need to invite it in through our television or gaming console.

• 151 The Dude // Feb 18, 2006 at 3:03 am

  Awesome, I’ve always wanted to do some kind of study like this.

  Honestly the % numbers look like about how I’d expect them to look. Fuck is the most versatile word. There’s usually not much racism.

  Ass is just too hard to say when you can just say fucker. I mean, come on, asshole, or fucker! what are you gonna say when you just got shot?

  Damn just never has been very popular.

  You should have kept track of how many people said newbie comments, like how often people were calling others newbs.

• 152 Scott // Feb 18, 2006 at 3:30 am

  Swearing and hostility are the number one reason I hate Xbox live. It’s a waste of my time. It’s not fun to hear some jerk yelling at you the entire time you’re playing. It’s the reason I canceled my subscription. I don’t need to pay 50 bucks a year of whatever it is now to get sworn at. Players with that attitude have ruined online gaming.

• 153 anus // Feb 18, 2006 at 7:28 am

  Im used to the swearing. I just dont like people who swear just to swear. Some people swear naturally and with style.

  Well, you know what i mean.
  Its just ok for some people to swear. Like The old grumpy guy. his cuss is fine, but a 13 year old with a bitch voice is just plain annoying.