Xbox One’s Reputation reveals the cheats and jerks

It only takes a few bad apples to ruin a player's online experience. I'm sure we've all encountered that one immature a**hole online that curses like a sailor, spew racist slurs, makes sexist comments, all because you're better than them in a video game. Microsoft is looking to curb that sort of player behavior with Reputation, a new "community powered system that helps filter out people you don't want to play with."

Coupled with the robust Smart Match technology, the reputation model for Xbox One will help you avoid the "cheats or jerks" that exist in the online gaming space. "Our new reputation model helps expose people that aren't fun to be around and creates real consequences for trouble-makers that harass our good players," explained Xbox LIVE program manager Michael Dunn.

According to Dunn, Microsoft is "simplifying the mechanism for Xbox One." They are moving from a survey option to more direct feedback. He provided a vague outline of how the system will work.

The new model will take all of the feedback from a player’s online flow, put it in the system with a crazy algorithm we created and validated with an MSR PhD to make sure things are fair for everyone.

Ultimately, your reputation score will determine which category you are assigned – "Green = Good Player," "Yellow = Needs Improvement" or "Red = Avoid Me." Looking at someone’s gamer card you’ll be able to quickly see their reputation. And, your reputation score is ultimately up to you. The more hours you play online without being a jerk, the better your reputation will be; similar to the more hours you drive without an accident, the better your driving record and insurance rates will be. Most players will have good reputations and be seen as a “Good Player.” The algorithm is looking to identify players that are repeatedly disruptive on Xbox Live. We’ll identify those players with a lower reputation score and in the worse cases they will earn the “Avoid Me” reputation. Before a player ends up with the “Avoid Me” reputation level we will have sent many different alerts to the “Needs Improvement” player reminding them how their social gaming conduct is affecting lots of other gamers.

Dunn explained that the "sophisticated" algorithm won't penalize you for a few bad reports. Rather, it weighs the data collected, meaning if dozens of people suddenly report a single user, the system will look at a variety of factors before tarnishing their reputation.

We’ll verify if those people actually played in an online game with the person reported – if not, all of those player’s feedback won’t matter as much as a single person who spent 15 minutes playing with the reported person. The system also looks at the reputation of the person reporting and the alleged offender, frequency of reports from a single user and a number of other factors.

Dunn reiterated that since this is a "community powered system," it will only be as good as you make it. By reporting the abusive, cheating, or mayhem-causing players, you can help ensure Xbox LIVE will remain a fun, safe, and clean online environment.

What do you think of the Xbox One's new Reputation system?

[Xbox Wire]