XBOX gamers can soon be sneaky snitches and record in-game voice chats. In a recent blog post, XBOX’s CVP of Player Services, Dave McCarthy, announced the rollout of a new feature designed to combat online harassment.
Instead of simply reporting a player and hoping others do the same so a problematic person gets banned, XBOX will allow users to capture the offender’s voice chat and send it along. This new feedback option will be available on the Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
It works the same way as sharing gameplay footage. If you encounter abuse, hit the share button on the XBOX controller. The significant difference is that the captured media cannot be downloaded, modified, or stored for more than 24 hours. This window gives the user time to choose whether to report the incident or not:
- Xbox’s latest safety feature allows players to capture and report inappropriate voice activity on any multiplayer game with in-game voice chat on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
- Players who experience or witness inappropriate verbal behavior can “capture now, report later” minimizing impact to their gameplay.
- Xbox’s player reporting and evidence capabilities now cover all content including text, image, video, and voice, further supporting player safety.
- The voice reporting feature will be available first to Xbox Insiders to gather feedback from the community.
The recording will be limited to 60-second clips that capture both video and audio. This week, the new tool will kick off for XBOX Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead XBOX Insiders.
It’s unclear when the broader user base will be able to take advantage of the snitching tool. Would you use it? You may need a new memory card to store all that potential video evidence.
At least Microsoft isn’t trying to offer something as pathetic as Bullyhunters. Remember that? It was a giant trainwreck of a service that was alleged to be a way for Steel Series to sell branded headphones.
Imagine if this had been around during the old Live and 360 days. Phew. Call of Duty matchmaking would have been impossible because nearly everyone would have been banned.
Come to think of it … who still uses in-game voice chat? I’ve been using party chat for many years, so we didn’t have to deal with bad actors or people who didn’t understand how to mute their mics.
What are your worst experiences with public voice chat in XBOX games? Let us know below.
[Source: XBOX]
The lack of a guide or any sort of bibliography that marks things readers can go to makes this a book that only the most dedicated Star Wars fan can get the most of. And even for them, they could find themselves lost if they come across something they’ve never read or seen beforehand that appears to be important in the markings of the book’s timelines. A lot of this can be an issue for those who haven’t been able to see everything within the High Republic era that the book focuses on greatly, but can also be applied to nearly every era the book covers within its timeline.
But that’s not the only major issue with Star Wars Timelines that sticks out. The book can be wildly inconsistent with how it chooses to include certain events as important enough for its timelines, while other arguably more important instances are left out entirely. This is made complicated because of the issue with what is considered canon and what is not for the Star Wars franchise. The biggest omission here is The Old Republic, which for many is arguably one of the most popular eras within Star Wars, but is now considered Legends. The book mentions the time period when things such as Knights of the Old Republic take place but limits its relevance to very limited mentions of it. It is a huge gap left open that is confusing when considering Star Wars Timelines was a book released after the rerelease of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, as well as the official announcement of Knights of the Old Republic Remake.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only problem Star Wars Timelines reveals within each section. Many of the shows and game series that were going on right up to when the book was published are left incomplete. This includes games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, The Mandalorian, and even The Bad Batch. While things like this will inevitably happen with books that cover ongoing series, it can still stick out pretty badly.
Star Wars Timelines does have a lot of great insight into many aspects of the galaxy that were influential to key events. Pages of the book are dedicated to specific ships, characters, battles, and other relevant subjects like Order 66. There are multiple timelines laid out and marked with important events as they happened chronologically, as well as how they specifically came into play during their era. This is good and helps smooth out parts of the Star Wars timeline, but their placements in the book can make things feel jumbled.
For all of its flaws and inconsistencies, Star Wars Timelines is a detailed book that covers a wide range of the franchise’s lore and history. It might not be the best resource for every Star Wars fan that hasn’t familiarized themselves with most of the stories out there, especially if you’ve missed a lot. There will most likely be a revised version of this at some point from Lucasfilm, most likely after more Star Wars projects are released and others are given a definitive conclusion. At that point, a book like this will feel much more complete than how it is now. If you still enjoy collectible Star Wars hardcover books, then you can still get a lot of enjoyment skimming through this one. It has enough within it to still justify picking it up sometime.
