Making racists look stupid, one idiot at a time.
I apologize for some of the racist slurs that will be used in this post. Note that I'm not using them myself, but quoting idiots that I've come across online.
So... I'm still playing Phantasy Star Universe quite a bit. I'm still playing online with a character whose name I entered in Japanese (katakana). Most people are pretty cool when I join a party in the game and we all head out to thwack the monsters. Most people. There are some real idiots out there.
Sometimes the group leader boots me from the room instantly and without a word, I assume because they don't want to play with an Asian person (I'm not Asian, but that's hard to tell when my character's name is ロバート）. In that case, I go to the Xbox dashboard and give the player a negative review, marking them as an "avoided player" so I'll probably never see then again.
Other times, when I join a group, I hear someone say "F*** this chink sh**," following which I get the boot. These people get formal complaints filed against them for using racist language, which is against the membership policies of Xbox Live, as well as being marked as avoided players. It would probably take a lot of complaints for any disciplinary action to be taken on the part of Microsoft, but I want to make my contribution.
And then there are the times I join a room, hear the same "F this" followed by some racist garbage, but I have a chance to say something before the kick comes out. Over time, I've worked up a general routine with this sort of person. It usually goes something like this:
Redneck: F* this chink sh*t. Get the yellow bastard out of here...
Me: This character's name is in Japanese, not Chinese. "Chink" is an insult for a Chinese person, so your racial insults really don't apply.
Redneck: Doesn't matter. You're all f-ing chinks.
Me: Ah, so now you're displaying stupidity along with your ignorance. You can't even make racial insults correctly.
Redneck: Stupid Jap.
Me: Actually, I'm not even Japanese. I'm just living in Japan right now.
Redneck: F off chink.
Me: There you go again. Your pitiful attempt at a racial insult falls pretty far short of the mark. You're trying to insult a white guy living in Japan by using terms intended to degrade Chinese people.
Redneck: (screaming into the microphone which really doesn't come through too well)
Me: I couldn't really hear most of that, the mic doesn't pick up your temper tantrums very well. I think you have some anger management issues to go along with your ignorance and stupidity.
Redneck: (on the verge of screaming) Go eat your F-ing rice bowl.
At this point I'm sometimes tempted to say "Actually, that's quite a bit healthier than those Big Macs you've been gulping down. Couple your obesity and cholesterol levels with your anger management issues and you're probably heading for an early coronary" but that's actually starting to play their insult based on racial/national stereotypes game. Besides, this is where the talkers usually get around to booting my character. Once again, these people get the formal complaint filed with Xbox Live as well as the negative player review which marks them as avoided players. A couple of times I've seen other people leave the group and meet me outside the lobby, saying they didn't want to play with racist bastards like that.
A couple of times, I've had much the same conversation in the lobby areas when I've seen idiots making racist comments to other players with Japanese names. Those idiots also get the formal complaints. I've had Japanese people thank me for stepping in- often enough they don't know enough English to understand what the idiot is saying anyway.