Microsoft Bans ‘Ben Dover’
July 3, 2008 by Will Snizek
If you currently have a variation of ‘Ben Dover’ as your name on Xbox LIVE, you will be required to change it if Microsoft hasn’t already banned your name. It seems to me like Microsoft is getting a little too “PC” and trying to eliminate any kind of creative screen names that may have adult meanings behind them. Recently, Microsoft also decided to ban any screen names with the word “gay” included.
Are they going too far with name restrictions? What do you guys think? I realize that Microsoft is worried about offending people, but perhaps they are going a little too far. How about banning the foul-mouthed punks who continually plague XBL? Screen names are really the least of my worries.
It looks like Daniel Perez of Gaming Today has fallen victim to the Microsoft ‘Ben Dover’ ban:
Bad word lists just encourage people to think up new bad names to see if they can get past the filters. They also punish people with harmless names.
Example:
Pussycat and Gaylord shouldn’t be construed as offensive but many systems would ban these names.
Names like |_ickMe can get past many filters even though they are clearly intended to offend.
Also, if someone has a particularly foul name, it serves as a warning to potential teammates that you might be dealing with a jerk.
Censors should worry about destructive/offensive behavior rather than names. I’d much rather go online with a helpful teammate named “Ben Dover” rather than a team killing voice spamming nuisance named “Angel”. Going after these sorts of names is just a way to be seen as “doing something” without actually have to do anything to create a better online experience.
I completely agree with you. Behavior is the real issue right now.
I saw someone playing with the gamertag “teabaggervance”. Got a good laugh out of that one. I agree that behavior is the problem. I can’t get through a round of COD 4 without hearing racial slurs.
the word “teabag” is also banned from names and mottos.
So, since my friends name is MrTebag, hes probably gonna get banned, or have to change it?
eventually he probably will. They are continually nabbing people and forcing them to change names. In some cases, these are people who have had the exact same screen name with Microsoft for years.