Trash talk in online games

To some (probably young, hard-core players), the trash talk and profanity of game chat are no doubt part of the online multiplayer game experience. To others (probably a lot of parents), it's shocking and inappropriate. Mary, a reader in Missouri, heard what game opponents were saying to her 15-year-old Xbox player, then - to her credit - got into the game herself to see what it was all about. Here's what she emailed me, saying she felt other parents might like to know about the chatter surrounding these multiplayer games. Please click to this week's issue of my newsletter for more of Mary's story and the latest news on massively multiplayer online games (MMOG - catchy, huh?! - how 'bout massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or MMORPG, an acroynym used in a recent Washington Post piece about 18-year-old gamer Rocco's amazing game development success story). [Profanity at school.... I'm adding this April '05 Washington Post retroactively because of its relevance: "More and More, Kids Say the Foulest Things: Anti-Swearing Efforts Falling on Deaf Ears."]