Tweaks to Xbox Live's reputation system make it easier to spot the bad apples

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

Some tweaks have rolled out to Xbox Live's player reputation system that should make discerning the bad apples in the online multiplayer scene both clearer and more effective. Mentioned in an explainer from Xbox's Major Nelson of how the reputation system works, the highlighted changes include a move away from the "gas gauge" style meter for showing a player's reputation and more.

Here's a brief rundown:

  • We no longer incorporate getting blocked into your reputation. We know that some players block others to avoid playing with them again versus for abusive behavior, particularly in competitive environments.
  • Members of our Policy & Enforcement Team are empowered to undo any feedback that they deem inaccurate; they can flag players as inaccurate feedback submitters; and If a player is being particularly abusive, they can issue suspensions.
  • We've updated how reputation appears on the console and in the Xbox app. We've heard that our reputation "gas gauge" is confusing, so we're moving away from this in favor of displaying a warning bar on the community-facing profiles of those with bad reputations.

If you're unfamiliar with Xbox Live's reputation system, it's a way to foster a better online community by giving each player a visible rating based on their online interactions with others. Through the system, griefers who are reported enough times will receive a warning label on their profile to inform others that they have a history of causing problems with other players.

For much more, be sure to check out the full, detailed explainer at the Major Nelson blog.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

10 Comments
  • Lol at least we know to avoid StormYeti :p
  • What's the point though? It's not like having a low rating stops them from being able to play. I play a lot of Forza 6 online and whenever I see someone being an idiot, more often than not, they already have a bad reputation. But they're still in the game anyway ruining things for everyone else.
  • I would think a "gas gauge" would be a better indicator of just "how much" of a jagoff someone is.  At what point do they decide to hand out this warning to someone's tag?  And even then, how do you find out?  Do they show anything beside the names of all players during matchmaking or something?  Unless they do, it's pointless. Funny side note: Years ago, my brother got his account suspended for a week.  He was playing alot of Halo 3.  He would use matchmaking for versus battles, then kill a bunch of his own teamates with headshots as soon as they spawned.  I laughed at him (cause it is a little funny, it's just a game, afterall), then smacked him in the back of the head.  Luckily, he's gotten a little wiser since then, doesn't do that anymore.
  • Never ever saw a gas meter that was different to the norm. But met many bad players.
  • I've never seen that either. They should really improve this more. I was playing with someone that was insulting my child when I got the controller and headphones, a freaking adult. I reported him a apparently he wasn't able to play for almost a week, so he reported me back just cause and the system allowed it without me doing anything.
  • Honestly every time I see someone quit mid match in Halo 5 I report them for unsportsman like behavior > quitting early. Usually its someone who is getting beaten badly. My KDA is going to suffer with more guys versus my team? Nope.
  • 343i needs to implement a better solution to address the mid-match dropouts that have plagued the game. The problem with their current system of punitatively trying to punish dropouts is two-fold: 1. it clearly does not work (the people who quit don't care, and those who do care end up getting doubly punished by having to stay in lopsided, 1-v-4 slaughterfests because they're so scared of getting banned for quitting); 2. it's unethical because 343i is not able to distinguish intentional quitting (i.e. the player's fault) from network hiccups (i.e. their fault). JiP (join in progress) is probably the only realistic solution (one the use for Warzone and BTB, and which most other FPS games use), but a vocal chunk of the Halo community vehemently opposes it because they "don't want to be placed in losing matches" (never mind that matches with dropouts are already lopsided and not any fun for either team). If they're not going to do JiP, they should do something else--like a mercy rule that automatically ends unbalanced matches (say, once it hits 2-v-4), or at the very least an option to re-join a match in progress if you quit or get disconnected from it.
  • Agreed. The disconnected issues are difficult for sure. Would a balance thing ( similar to Diablo where monster difficulty is linked to the amount of players there are) like higher health, shield, magazine capacities, special medals if you prevail over more players for the undermanned team as a handicap be something that could make it more fair?
  • Does anyone even use this feature anymore? Someone has to be a real idiot for me to waste my time and actually go to their profile and rate them. As the other posters have said, most of the time they are not avoided anyway, especially if the game has limited players.
  • lol