I was thinking more along the lines of the new Tomb Raider game.

You can't really just block the user who is harassing them... because if they did, they'd likely have to block a new person every few minutes.

If you ever play in a server with a female with a mike it's just... well a pretty terrible thing to see.   It's why a LOT of women players actually go out of their way to have gender nuetral or masculine usernames... and never use mics.

Which really, the shouldn't have to do.

I think it's a big deal, and I would hate to be a female gamer just trying to play games like everyone else and having to go through so much sh**. Unless you've ever been sexually harassed, you have no idea what those ladies go through. If you think it's a big deal being made out of nothing, you need to do some more research.

Damn. I was going to write this off as another matter of online-assholes (who, in the aggregate, tend to be equal-opportunity jackasses), but yikes at that first anecdote. What's that guy's problem?

Yeah, freaked me out a while back when somebody sent a friend request to every single girl on my Xbox Live friends list (including my daughter who was 10, my sisters, and my fiance) and didn't even send one to me. There's some questionable behavior out there.

Sexist pigs should be exposed, ridiculed, and ostracized due to societies disgust for them.

wow... ego must be playing a lot in their testosterone sack

I pretty much gave up online gaming a long time ago because of the crap being spouted constantly and I'm not even female.
It didn't used to be like this. I had a great time online with Everquest for years. What made it work was strict moderation and a permanent user ID tied to your character, which could easily get banned if you crossed the line. All communication in text made moderation easy too of course.

I only play GT5 online now and then, and sure there are idiots there too and no female players to be heard. Play with people you know is the only solution atm. No wonder my wife and all her friends only play facebook games nowadays. Tired of every game starting with ASL prompts from every male player.

In general, I don't like playing games mic'd because people are generally obnoxious online. I don't need to hear about what a fag I am everytime I hit an air combo or nail a headshot. Unless I'm playing with friends, I see no reason to use a headset.

Dunno if it's worse out there for women, but they do need to find some better way to police these things.

Do companies like Microsoft keep audio chat logs, though? A reporting system isn't going to work if you just have someone who's saying something unpopular but not necessarily bad, or people who will just report everyone for no reason other than to troll.