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Sep. 08, 2010
Gamer Suspended Over Name Of W.Va. Town: Fort Gay
Xbox Live Rules Chief Apologizes To W.Va. Gamer Suspended For Listing Real Hometown: Fort Gay(AP) MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Microsoft Corp. and the chief rules enforcer for Xbox Live are apologizing to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer accused of violating the online gaming serviceâs code of conduct by publicly declaring heâs from Fort Gay - a name the company considered offensive.
The townâs name is real. But when Josh Moore tried to tell Seattle-based Microsoft and the enforcement team at Xbox Live, they wouldnât take his word for it. Or Google it. Or check the U.S. Postal Service website for a ZIP code.
Instead, they suspended his gaming privileges for a few days until Moore could convince them the location in his profile, âfort gay WV,â wasnât a joke or a slur: Itâs an actual community of about 800 in Wayne County, along West Virginiaâs western border with Kentucky.
âAt first I thought, âWow, somebodyâs thinking I live in the gayest town in West Virginia or something.â I was mad. ⌠It makes me feel like they hate gay people,â said Moore, an unemployed factory worker who plays Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Ghost Recon under the gamertag Joshanboo.
âIâm not even gay, and it makes me feel like they were discriminating,â said Moore, who missed a key Search and Destroy competition because of last weekâs brief suspension. His team lost.
Angry and incredulous, Moore contacted customer service.
âI figured, Iâll explain to them, âLook in my account. Fort Gay is a real place,ââ Moore said. But the employee was unreceptive, warning Moore if he put Fort Gay back in his profile, Xbox Live would cancel his account and keep his $12 monthly membership fee, which heâd paid in advance for two years.
âI told him, Google it - 25514!â Moore said, offering up the townâs ZIP code. âHe said, âI canât help you.ââ
Mayor David Thompson also tried to intervene, but with little success. He told television station WSAZ, which first reported the dispute, that he was informed the cityâs name didnât matter. The word âgay,â he was told, was inappropriate in any context.
âIt was so inappropriate for them, they wouldnât even say the word,â Thompson told the AP Wednesday. âThey said, âthat word.â Itâs beyond me. Thatâs the name of our town! Itâs appalling. Itâs a slap in our face.â
Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live blamed miscommunication.
âThat is absolutely incorrectâ and is not Xbox Live policy, he said.
Xbox Live received a complaint, which was directed to an agent for review.
âSomeone took the phrase âfort gay WVâ and believed that the individual who had that was trying to offend, or trying to use it in a pejorative manner,â Toulouse said. âUnfortunately, one of my people agreed with that. ⌠When it was brought to my attention, we did revoke the suspension.â
Complaints, he notes, come to agents with no contextual information, including who the suspected offender is or what games they play. The agent simply looks at the language and determines whether it complies with policy.
Fort Gay has been a community since 1789, when 11 people tried to establish a settlement at the junction of the Tug and Big Sandy rivers, across from what is now Louisa, Ky. It was incorporated as Cassville in 1875 but was simultaneously known as Fort Gay until 1932.
Toulouse said he will contact Moore and apologize. Staying ahead of slang and policing Xbox for offensive is a constant challenge, he said.
âIn this very, very specific case, a mistake was made,â he said, âand weâre going to make it right.â
Source: AP