X Box Live

[Cindy's Mom]

We are new to the X Box gaming world and I am completely clueless on how to get my son "out there". I've read just about all I could and I still don't get it.

He is still gathering all his buddies "gamertags", but in the meantime he would like to play someone.

Is there somewhere he can go and just play a "stranger". That is what I imagined x-box live to be. I could be wrong.....very wrong

Can anyone lend some guidance on this? TIA

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes, you just sign in and join a game in progress.

I recently got LIVE and oh boy did not realize it is PER PERSON.

Anyway my dd was playing my account as I have not done it yet and since she is a pretty good gamer, she was flooded with random people requests to join their teams or whatever.

This was on "Left For Dead".

Has he tried signing in and playing? I am newbie so not sure how all of the games work.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

where do you find a game in progress? He is signed in, but they I get lost on where to go next.

He has to use my account because he is too young for some games. I am not a gamer, he is an awesome gamer.

 

[jen0610]

I am not the gamer of the family, but I do know that when DH first got Live, he forgot that then DS13 would be wanting to play games on-line that would be blocked if DH used DS actual birth date. DH actually had to go in and create a new user id for DS so that he can play these games without using DH id.

Believe me this was for the best. DS has well over a 100 "friends" that he plays various games with. DH got tired very quickly of the pop ups asking him to join a party or game. The bonus now is, with 2 Xboxes in the house, with Live on both of them and a memory stick that travels with DS games info stored on it, there are times when DH and DS are playing the same game on line against each other. It can be quite funny to stand half way between the family room and the bedrooms and listen to the two of them yell at each other over who shot who or took what prize from the other.

On thing I can advise on - if your son is using a mic, please be aware that some players - both older aged players as well as very young kids - will cuss you out if you do something they don't like in the game. Then you have older players who don't use the cheat codes, that get tired of younger kids who do and run their mouths making comments about how so and so sucks. There are some games, that you can play on Live that really benefit having the mic - seems like DS does better on the COD games when they can talk to each other. DS knows the day we hear him talking smack to anyone, he loses the headset. We know of about 6 guys he plays the Nazi zombies (can't remember which game it is actually part of) maps with that they all talk smack to each other in a party, but in a general game, there is ZERO smack talking done.

 

[Hannathy]

I don't know but I just let my DS set it up and go on his own. I don't even try to figure it out. The kids seem to naturally know what to do or talk with friends I guess but he just did it without any help. Maybe ask your son?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

where do you find a game in progress? He is signed in, but they I get lost on where to go next.

He has to use my account because he is too young for some games. I am not a gamer, he is an awesome gamer.

What game is he trying to play?

 

[sparklynails23]

My 10 year old set his up last night. He said it took awhile to set up the Xbox Live, but then you just click on Join Game, and it puts you into a game in progress.

Most of the kids around here play Call Of Duty, which requires an 18 year old birthdate.

 

[danielephant]

I just read that your son is 8...i dont want to sound like an over worried mother, but my hubby plays xbox live and even the younger kids cuss HORRIBLY. I don't know if that matters to you or not, but i would make sure i was always in the room when he is playing. But as for playing with strangers, once you log in to your online account you should be able to put in whatever game you want to play and it will give you the option of going online with that game. Then you should be able to pick from a few different formats of the game and then you go into matchmaking which will pair you with people that have the same experiance you do at that game, and as he plays and gets better online then he will go up the ranks and play people that are harder to play against

 

[sparklynails23]

True. Sometimes they cuss in Spanish, too. Sometimes they yell at people in the background. My 10 year old usually turns the sound off when he's playing with strangers.

 

[Momvic5]

On thing I can advise on - if your son is using a mic, please be aware that some players - both older aged players as well as very young kids - will cuss you out if you do something they don't like in the game. Then you have older players who don't use the cheat codes, that get tired of younger kids who do and run their mouths making comments about how so and so sucks. There are some games, that you can play on Live that really benefit having the mic - seems like DS does better on the COD games when they can talk to each other. DS knows the day we hear him talking smack to anyone, he loses the headset. We know of about 6 guys he plays the Nazi zombies (can't remember which game it is actually part of) maps with that they all talk smack to each other in a party, but in a general game, there is ZERO smack talking done.

I second this! They will hear all kinds of things! I had a rude awakening with my ds9. One day, my ds9 made an "off" comment during a family conversation. The kind of comment that made me stop in middle of my sentence to address what he said. It was a slur against a particular religion and group of people. He had no idea of the meaning...he just thought he was being funny. For days, I was bothered by the comment and tried to figure out where he would hear such language....then like an answer to prayers, an article was sitting right in front of me on my Yahoo News page one morning. It was an article warning parents about particular slurs that were being passed around on xbox. One of the slurs that was mentioned was the exact one that my ds9 repeated. It can be very hard to monitor...you can hear what your children are saying, but you are not always aware of what they are listening to. Just be warned.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

What game is he trying to play?

Call of Duty Black Ops, Madden 11, NHL 11, NBA (EA Sports....its in the game) I hear that a lot

 

[shortbun]

Ok, lets say he wants to play Call of Duty(there are lots of them). He signs in and then puts the disc in. Then it will power up the game and say press start. It will then give you campaign, multi player and options. He needs to select 'multi player', then choose 'xbox live'. On multiplayer, go to 'player match' and select the kind of game he wants to play. He might want to go to several of these games and try them before he decides which ones he likes to play. All he has to do is 'click' one to get in there and be able to play.

How old is he? Doesn't he have any friends who can come over and show him? Once he's in there, you will never see him again, lol! I recommend you set some boundaries knowing that he'll need longer times at first while he's trying all the games but once he's settled on a few he'll sit right down and play. Also- he needs to have the same games that his friends have at first so he can go in and play with them. Does he have headphones and a mic? Once in a while, I hear my son laughing and talking with all his friends -who are in their homes- while they play. In general, I prefer he has face to face relationships but this is a good thing on a school night where people drop in AFTER homework is done and we parents have agreed on a 10pm curfew on gaming. No one has to travel, homework gets done, boys have fun with each other and the games are done at a decent time-reward for hardwork.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Yes, you just sign in and join a game in progress.

I recently got LIVE and oh boy did not realize it is PER PERSON.

Anyway my dd was playing my account as I have not done it yet and since she is a pretty good gamer, she was flooded with random people requests to join their teams or whatever.

This was on "Left For Dead".

Has he tried signing in and playing? I am newbie so not sure how all of the games work.

There is a family plan, $99 for 4 memberships.

Also look on amazon or ebay for cheaper cards. I have paid $27-$36 per year vs. the $60 retail.

Yes they can talk to strangers. You can set up controls and block it but if you don't, just about anyone can talk to you. There is a lot of trash talking and IMO jerks on there so I have to be careful with the controls. I can't believe the stuff I have heard come through that mic before I realized how bad some people are on there.

 

[shortbun]

There is a family plan, $99 for 4 memberships.

Also look on amazon or ebay for cheaper cards. I have paid $27-$36 per year vs. the $60 retail.

Yes they can talk to strangers. You can set up controls and block it but if you don't, just about anyone can talk to you. There is a lot of trash talking and IMO jerks on there so I have to be careful with the controls. I can't believe the stuff I have heard come through that mic before I realized how bad some people are on there.

Yeah, some people mock the lesser experienced players AND because lots of the games are rated M, you must expect some salty language. I sat nearby when DS started playing so I could move him out of a game if the others there were 'bad.' I only had to actually instruct him to move once and he leaves if he doesn't like the mood of a game. He really prefers to play with his friends so they all decided last year which games they were going to work toward and all play together. this has been great as it's his freshman year and his middle school gang got splintered to many high schools. Last night, I heard him playing with a great friend he has not seen since fall as they have horrible schedules and the other family travelled for winter break.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

There is a family plan, $99 for 4 memberships.

Also look on amazon or ebay for cheaper cards. I have paid $27-$36 per year vs. the $60 retail.

Yes they can talk to strangers. You can set up controls and block it but if you don't, just about anyone can talk to you. There is a lot of trash talking and IMO jerks on there so I have to be careful with the controls. I can't believe the stuff I have heard come through that mic before I realized how bad some people are on there.

Well I did not know that as I am a newbie.

I did buy the membership through Costco so it was 40 bucks as opposed to 60.

Thanks for that info!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Ok, lets say he wants to play Call of Duty(there are lots of them). He signs in and then puts the disc in. Then it will power up the game and say press start. It will then give you campaign, multi player and options. He needs to select 'multi player', then choose 'xbox live'. On multiplayer, go to 'player match' and select the kind of game he wants to play. He might want to go to several of these games and try them before he decides which ones he likes to play. All he has to do is 'click' one to get in there and be able to play.

How old is he? Doesn't he have any friends who can come over and show him? Once he's in there, you will never see him again, lol! I recommend you set some boundaries knowing that he'll need longer times at first while he's trying all the games but once he's settled on a few he'll sit right down and play. Also- he needs to have the same games that his friends have at first so he can go in and play with them. Does he have headphones and a mic? Once in a while, I hear my son laughing and talking with all his friends -who are in their homes- while they play. In general, I prefer he has face to face relationships but this is a good thing on a school night where people drop in AFTER homework is done and we parents have agreed on a 10pm curfew on gaming. No one has to travel, homework gets done, boys have fun with each other and the games are done at a decent time-reward for hardwork.

THANK YOU!!!!!! I'm printing this and bringing it home.

We just hooked him up yesterday and we haven't had a chance to explore. I told him that he needs to get his friend's tags. He's got one so far, but at their young age, its hard to get these boys on at the same time.

 

[mrodgers]

If anyone is worried about the language of other players playing online with a gaming console, then they should pull their kids from school as well. I hear more profanity coming from the open door of the bus when my kids are getting off than would take to make a trucker blush. They certainly wouldn't be hearing it for the first time going online with a gaming system....

 

[Scurvy]

If you are worried about him talking to (or listening to) strangers on there, you can actually set it so he can only communicate with friends. You can even control who he gets messages from. I find the language to be worse than that used in schools, personally. Maybe the individual words are used both places, but people on Live seem to be much more creative in the way they string them together. Plus, there are more slurs being used. People do occasionally get banned for that, but not often.

 

[jking6]

I am shocked that an 8 yr old is playing call of duty. My grandson is 11 and not allowed. My youngest son is a college student and plays all night long and the language and the graphics are way to much for kids. When the grandkids are here and my sons playing they can not go in his room. He usually gets off and plays something that is ok or at least better for kids. I am over 50 and was proofed when I bought the last game for him. Watch with caution please. Kids already grow up to fast these days.

 

[Hannathy]

My DS was playing COD when he was younger and other games. He knows they are just games and the graphics are just graphics. It is a game not real life I never got the "magic" age to allow them to play. A 5 yr old can understand pretend and differentiate real from made up. It is like watching a movie. They are "cartoon" figures not real people.