Rule 4: You can't invite someone to play your game if they're already playing one - This one sets me off bad. There's nothing more frustrating to me than having an invite pop up while I'm playing Left 4 Dead (sensing a pattern yet?), especially if it's one for a game I a) Am not playing right now, and b) Don't own. I'll grant you that the other person has no method of knowing my games, it's really impossible to tell what I have sitting in my CD case next to me, but I can be annoyed by the frustrating idea of having to back out of the game, change disks, re-load the invite, and then try to join a game that is no longer open because it took so fracking long to switch to another game! Really guys, this hearkens back to Rule #1, ALWAYS check what your intended message recipient is doing before you send! If they aren't playing the game you want to play, send a message. Ask if they own the game you'd like to play, and if they mind changing to it. This will make life so much easier (and less frustrating for certain columnists).
Rule 5: Random “I’m losing” quitting, don't do it - We all do it. Don't bother pretending you don't, I certainly won't pretend I haven't. Rage-quitting, as defined by the rest of the XBL community, it's something we are all guilty of. Be it for personal reasons, like having to leave right then and there, or for more unpleasant reasons, like when you're getting super owned by some kid with no life who plays the game more often than most people breathe in a day; we all have had to quit a game mid-stream before. Don't let your emotions control you, however. It's very easy in most games to take a deep breath, hit the mute button on your microphone, and just step back. Before you just quit out, streaming out all kinds of obscenities at the top of your lungs, remind yourself as my fiancée often does: "It's just a game honey, take a deep breath and go back to fragging those little geeks."
So there you have my 5 Simple Rules for making your life just a little bit easier on Xbox LIVE and improving the overall online etiquette, thus removing the bad image that XBL currently has to deal with. I realize that some of these rules may seem like they're aimed specifically at you, and it's possible that I may be thinking of that one time we played Team Fortress 2 and you made me realize these rules were a good idea, but don't take it personally. We're all guilty of having a bad day, acting like a douche, and being just plain rude on XBL during a game. It's just a good idea now, more than ever before, to clean up our act on XBL and in game, and present a friendlier environment to play in. After all, it's not just 12 to 24 year olds playing these games anymore, it's all kinds of kids, playing with their parents, friends, grandparents, extended family, and who knows else. I believe that we all need to improve our playing standards, so that we can all just have a better time. Remember my fiancée’s words: "It's just a game."
