Frequency of Profanity in Halo 2
Thanks for visiting, please realize that I’m not writing this to advocate censoring or that I’m surprised by swearing or don’t like it, I was just curious to see what the frequency was.
When you logon to Xbox live more often then not you will be greeted by a 14 year old that learned a new word on the playground that day, or maybe it’s the drunken 24 year old who hates black people, gays and anyone who isn’t in his frat. individuals afflicted with IAS (Internet A-hole Syndrome). No matter who you are if you have played on live you have run into cursing and lewdness. If you look at the rating for the game you can see that it is intended for ages 17+ but parents don’t care/understand/listen so lots of underage kids have this game. Another important thing to note is that the rating includes a warning that the game experience changes with use of online features. Please do not confuse this with a plea for the government to crack down and tighten control on the gaming industry. If anything this information should be used by parents to educate themselves about what their child is involved with and then make an educated decision to let them play or not.
Last December I started recording the frequency of profanity that I was able to hear while playing Halo 2. The results of the study which lasted 33.9 hours were surprising.
Disclaimers:
1. The curse words were those which I could hear, more may have occurred and other players in a given game may not have heard the same number of curse words I did. The ability to hear other players depends on your proximity to them.
2. The times recorded are the times I was signed into Xbox live and either engaged in a game or in the process of joining a game or viewing the results and listening to the discourse of other players. The times do not reflect solely “in game” time. You can view my games at bungie.net with the gamertag Ca1vin. note the ONE in the gamertag.
3. Do not proceed if you do not want to view words which may offend some.
More after the Jump
The Results….
The Words and categories used are as follows.
Fuck: All forms, ing, ed, er
Ass: hole, bag, hat, etc
Shit: Self Explanatory
Racial: any derogatory term which focused on a player’s race
Sexual: Sexual phrases which were not homosexual. Fuck was not included in this unless it was directed at a person i.e. your mom.
Homosexual: Comments which called someone gay or any slang term with the same meaning or referred to two people of the same gender performing sexual acts on each other.
Damn: Self Explanatory
Bitch: Self Explanatory
Overall percentage use of curse words or lewd comments
Hourly breakdown of Curse words or lewd comments in Halo 2
Overall Usage of Profanity
You can download the Excel spreadsheet with my data in it here (right click, Save As) FIXED
If you have any questions about the study please leave a comment.
!UPDATE!
If you are unclear of the intent of this study or think I am a prude who wants the government to regulate our lives please read the update. Link
UPDATE 2
Cleaned up some broad generalizing in my intro.
Josh Smith is a blogger, database manager and adjunct professor of business and technology. 
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.
Rape was included in sexual.
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.
perhaps they were all yelling at you for not moving or shooting while you were recording all these data?
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
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.
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..
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..
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
Where does cunt fit into your statistical analysis?
Inquiring minds want to know.
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!
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…
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.
And by the way… You’ve been Slashdotted!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
Oh, btw one thing I would like to see is a breakdown of different racial epithets along ethnic lines. That would be interesting information.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
For future version:
have the programmer add a new patch/optional in the game to disable the player audio voice… IE disable most annoying (cussing) player in your game.
This may not going to work if every player does the same things.. This is just the idea of solution for a personal option on the game, control the other player won’t do a things, but to control your personal file does the work… Audio is hard to filiter.. Unless you can match up the most same “voice” to get that mute/beep sound..
Physical disable the speaker is just plain dumb, you want to listen to the background ie gunshot, someone walk behind you…
I think it would be good idea to leave this to whatever popular game programmer for xbox or whatever system that make games to have the ‘optional object disable sound’ in a new menu.. I am not making myself clearly.. help me out to make this sense
People have their choice of phrases. Nobody has a choice to filter free speech. Just because someone finds something objectionable does not mean they can stop someone else from doing it. I don’t smoke, but I don’t think stopping people from smoking fits in that category too.
Online gaming is ruined by griefers, not by swearing folks. It’s just a given in todays culture that words like fuck do not have the significance they used to. They’re not as big of a deal. Thats how all words are with cultures over time.
Beyond that, how come your “selective” study didnt show the amount of time that WASNT involving swearing as a percentage instead of just which swear was the most proficient?
Also, you were clearly on a few servers. Not all are that way.
i think i would be more interested in what context swearing occured in. althoughth hte lines do blur but i would see 3 main categories,
+ quick out bursts when killed “shit, sniper on north cliff”
+ less offensive more humerous well natured insults like “bitch, i swaer i had you then well done”
+ then theres the type of bad mouthing u get in post game lobbies about what my mom does in her spare time
etc
makes me glad WoW has the leave general chat option. I get sick of 13 year old boys going on about “fucking gay n00bs” and whatnot. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’ve got a bit of a sailor’s mouth myself, but my vulgarity is limited to private messages with my party or whispers to friends. No one needs to hear me cussing out murlocs, and I don’t need to hear them.
This is a neat study, stats like that are good to know =)
Matt:
As for the servers its on Live so it matches you based on your connection and other player’s connections.
I’m not sure how to
“show the amount of time that WASNT involving swearing as a percentage” -Matt
but the data is there in an excel spreadsheet so have at.
Dean: Good ideas will keep them in mind if I undertake a similar task in the future.
The Dude: Damn that is a good idea wish I had done it.
Anybody else think that the stats for the words per hour are a WAY TOO LOW I know I hear the same amount of words per game that he did per hour. Guess it depends what playlist you play on and what their levels are.
I think this has gotten way too much press. It’s been known that people swear in games for a long time (and not just on Xbox Live). The only reason this is interesting is because, for the sake of “research”, you wrote the frequency of what everyone said. There is a reason for that stupid ESRB disclaimer for online games: ‘Your game experience may be different online’.
This study was extremely limited to just Halo 2 (yet, in all of the stories linking here, it unjustly gives all of Xbox Live a bad name). The first iteration of Xbox Live had an ignore/mute list, report feedback, and file complaints. The new one has take reporting feedback to the next level with detailed breakdowns when reporting negative feedback and filing complaints. This shows up as “Rep”. If someone has offended you, you should give them negative feedback so others will know to stay away from them and so your chances of every playing them again will be decreased. The feedback does stay on your record and you can see what people have given you (though it is completely anonymous). If your rep gets bad enough (or if a complaint was filed, they will be banned.
Also, you should pick the right zone for you, if you are offended at profanity, pick the Family or Recreation zones. I think the framework is put in place and it’s up to the community to police itself (the way it should be, right?).
i hav a bunch of friends who swear and get in chatting fights but no one cares about this swearing thing everyone swears
Nice collection and organization of data.
I personally find it more distracting when someone on the other side is spouting clean, witty, hilarious banter. I guess that’s too much trouble for some people to go through to try and gain that upper hand.
Do you guys act like this because Josh isn’t the government presenting this data? If Microsoft or the ESRB had conducted this experiment, it probably would have turned out the same. 33 and a half hours is a long time, and for someone to take the time to point out that the use of profanity is extraordinarily high in the Halo 2 environment, people assume he is a pansy, fag, or Hilary Clinton. Do you look at those stats and think they are low? You probably also play more custom game types, where your friends and peers are on, so of course its not going to bother you. If you think the stats are high, you don’t play enough online games. Josh is NOT suggesting we become a bunch of grammatically correct outstanding citizens, he is merely showing parents that their kids WILL experience this kind of atmosphere with this certain game. Those of you who got offended, maybe you misunderstood the information.
Allow me to explain how this chart SHOULD be read(at least according to what I understand)
First, to those who haven’t played, or are pretty new to the whole Halo 2 XBL experience. If someone says something, anything at all, and you hear it; they are relativly close, because of a proximity section of coding. As the talking player gets farther, the volume level decreases(I believe it decreases, not entirely sure on that). Therefore, if you are playing on a large level (Coagulation) and you are in Blue base, and the offending player is in Red base, you won’t hear them. Team games are different, because you can always hear your teammates(you wouldn’t go to war without any way to keep in touch with YOUR squad, would you?) no matter the proximity.
The Information described above, is just the information that Josh himself has been in the proximity of hearing, not every expletive ever uttered in a 6 player match on a large map.
To the people who complain about age brackets and genders and races…If you have ever even logged on to the internet for ANYTHING at all, you’d know that there is no way to tell if a person is a 9 year old black christian male, or a 56 year old chinese jewish lady, unless you are a hacker, but then people would make fun of you for spending your time finding all this information out about all the people you play online against.
The only thing that I can see that would render this data invalid is if he played a mixture of team matches and free-for-all matches, because of the proximity information I stated above.
Another nugget of Information:
No matter what you do to restrict online profanity, if you play online, you will hear it. Now if, in the near future, one of you concerned parents decides to write some software that would identify the spoken words, the order of the words, how it would come out, and cross-check that with a HUGE database of already KNOWN stuff, then by all means, go ahead, and more power to you. But then you have to update it every couple hours, because of the new insults that would become of this.
Language is man-made, therefore, there is always going to be new insults and ways of using old words. Who knows, someday tubular may be the next big swear word…
THIS SUCKS
Good job, Josh, it’s a shame that our country is turning to violent play and foul mouths. I pity the generations to come, it’ll be like living in “Road Warrior” times. Rent the DVD, it’s pretty scary.
As for Walter Sobchek, he’s got to be the biggest dork I’ve run across online so far……..comes here to make uncalled for negative remarks, then RETURNS 2 times more! Ha Ha Ha! Must have nothing better to do than put other down. Too bad, that’s another shame our country seems to be dealing with, low self-esteem in people. Looking to put others down for what they do, so you can somehow feel good about yourself……right. That’s SO very mature.
To be honest i can’t stand people being racist / sexist ..and whatever other people do online. I’ll admit i swear from time to time (i’m sure we’ll all guilty of that) On the 360 live however, you can set your ‘zone’ and because i can handle swearing and i do it myself i choose ‘underground’…the only thing that really gets my goat is that if i swear in the ‘underground’ zone people report me for bad language whihc results in gamertag being tarnished….yet Microsoft state that the underground is full of so called ‘trash’ talk…why are people able to report me for swearing when i’m in this zone….to be fair..i donrt report people for it when their in the underground……if you do report someone for swearing please check your zone. I understand this is microsofts problem, but some people really dont help it
…fuking noobs…
Dear god you people are stupid…are you PROUD of your ability to swear? I mean really, how many times has the guy who did the study (if you could call it that) said he doesn’t actually care if you do, he just counted? At least 3 now. How many times has he been ignored? At least 3 times now. Its not like he sat there saying “please don’t swear, it offends me” every time it happened is it? It’s not like he’s Jack Thompson and he’s going “OMG! BAN HALO CAUSE OF SWEARING”
Incidentally, most of you reinforce negative game stereotyping as the “Arrogant Ignorant X-box user” really well..
good post. i think those people swear to just get attention. its retarded.