A YouTube video that hit the web a week or so ago essays a conflict between a user of Xbox Live and a moderator. It kicked off a minor internet controversy, because in it, moderator The Pro seems to ban a player's console for no reason. Soon,an unedited version of the video hit the web that tells a different story. It seems the banning went down after profuse and colorful profanity was hurled, and modding activity was clearly evident. Here's the totally NOT SAFE FOR WORK, unedited video
I spoke to Stephen Toulouse, the Director of Xbox Live Policy and Enforcement at Microsoft, to get the inside word about moderation from the guy at the top of the mod heap, to discuss this situation and moderating in general. Here's what Toulouse said about the Xbox Live complaint system.
"When you make a complaint, it basically uploads a set of information to the system, like who you are what game you’re playing, who you’re playing with, who you’re complaining against, and what you’re complaining against them about. That info is pulled by my team twice a day and we review everything. For instance, a bad profile. Say I’m gaming with you, and I see you have something really bad in your bio field. Something really offensive. I’m pretty sure it’s against the terms of use to have that, so I file a complaint against you. What that does is make an entry in a database, upload the relevant information about the complaint, and my team goes through all those profile and gamertag complaints by hand to determine whether the complaint is accurate. The reason we do that is, as I’m sure you can imagine, occasionally, our audience can be a little vindictive..."
If you've ever been curious about how the Xbox Live moderation system works, read the entire interview, right here.
