Anyone who has spent considerable time in online gaming on Xbox Live can attest to the fact that not everyone onboard is necessarily of good upbringing and well-defined manners. Trash talking, including profanity and racial slurs, has reached the ears of Bungie, and the studio is taking steps to rein in the dirty mouths by enacting a new mute feature in Halo 3.
The incidents of foul-mouthed Halo 2 gamers have upset much of the Halo community, and Bungie agrees that there is a problem. Frank O’Connor of Bungie said that these verbally abusive types need to "shut up." While trash talking is, at times, done in good natured ways after an especially effective kill by the victor, the incidents of over-the-top insults and foul language have escalated to a level where Bungie believes it is time to step in. The solution is the addition of a mute feature in Halo 3, otherwise dubbed by Bungie as the "A-Hole Button."
The feature will be mapped to the Back button on the Xbox 360 controller and will allow the user to specifically censor members that consistently abuse his or her privilege of freedom of expression while on Xbox Live. The right stick will be used to highlight a player’s name who can then be muted. Although Xbox Live subscribers agree to specific behavior policies when using Xbox Live, no one can totally police every game room to haul in or report the offenders.
Bungie said, "We’re doing our best to come up with lots of smart solutions for stuff like this, but honestly, we can’t be parents to some of these poltroons."
