REDMOND, Washington, March 27 — In an effort to keep gaming a social activity, Microsoft is introducing a Reputation System that helps players know who to challenge and who to avoid.

Coding players from green (good players) through to red (avoid me), Microsoft has been talking up the changes to how it polices the Xbox Live community since last July. Yesterday it officially revealed the system that will be rolling out over the coming month and the penalties that will be coming with it that the company hopes will help players change their ways.

As Micheal Dunn, Xbox Live programme manager, explains in an accompanying blog post: “Gaming has always been a social activity, and for Xbox One we redesigned the Xbox Live community-powered reputation system from Xbox 360 to help better inform players about their behaviour in the community.”

A such, if the new algorithm-powered system declares an Xbox One user a “Good Player” then you won’t be penalised within the community and, in the future, if you retain your green status, Microsoft has plans to start offering rewards.

The next step down, colour-coded orange, is for players who have received warnings from other players in the community. Starting in April, if you find yourself in this category, you will start receiving warnings about your behaviour in the hopes that you’ll change your game-playing ways.

However, if your reputation falls into the red and the “avoid me” category, it’s because you’re not only receiving negative feedback from other players but because you’re also ignoring requests to change your behaviour. And, if the behaviour goes unchecked you can expect to receive penalties such as reduced matchmaking pairings and reduced access to services such as Twitch.

“We designed the algorithm so it won’t penalise you for bad reports over a few weeks of play,” says Dunn. “The system also adjusts for false reports from people that might intentionally report someone of greater skill or for other grieving purposes.”

The new system should make choosing a potential challenger much easier as all that will be needed is a quick glance at that person’s gamecard and the colour of his or her reputation. — AFP/Relaxnews