Having been preoccupied nightly with Halo 2 and some friends on XBOX Live!, I’ve neglected the site a bit. The part that everyone sees, anyway. I’m working on some other things for the gallery, but I won’t talk to that until I have something more than vapor-ware.
The Live! environment is rich with the young and old, though the young certainly out-number the rest of us. The thing you notice right-off is the language. Not that I’m without the occaisional profanity, but I feel that profanity has a use and really only needs to be spoken when the situation demands it. Most would probably agree that fuck is not the universal replacement adjective. It’s severly limiting and not very creative. But so is the gaming audience, I suppose. I’m particularly dissappointed with people that insist on insulting everyone. It’s one thing to generalize your cussing, but directed verbal assaults are just unsportsman-like. I also hate it when someone *calls* a position or weapon once you’ve already gotten it. If someone takes what you want, you just have to wait your turn. My average life in Halo 2 is about 30 seconds. I’m sure you can hold-out for that long. On the otherhand, it’s really great fun when you get in with a team that sticks together and performs like…er…A TEAM! The voice support is such that you can talk to your team at any time, but anyone else near you can hear you too. Pretty thoughtful on Bungie’s part. All in all, I love the game – even if I do suck a bit.