Microsoft upgrading Xbox Live to punish or reward player conduct

Microsoft published a blog post today that clarifies how it plans to update Xbox Live's Reputation system to better reward/punish players for their behavior. In brief, an Xbox Live player's reputation level -- which is calculated algorithmically based on a number of factors and is currently denoted as either "Good" (green), "Needs Work" (yellow) or "Avoid Me" (red) -- will begin to generate feedback from the Xbox Live system itself. Starting this month, players who have let their rep slip to "Needs Work" will begin receiving warnings from Xbox Live that their reputation is dropping, as well as reminders about how to improve it -- seemingly, by playing games on the Xbox Live service for a while without garnering negative feedback from other users. If a player's reputation slips down to "Avoid Me" they will begin to experience penalties -- Microsoft has not committed to anything yet, but suggests that in the future said players might be barred from broadcasting on Xbox One via Twitch or have their matchmaking privileges limited to other players with commensurate reputations. Conversely, Microsoft is working on ways to reward "Good" players for maintaining their reputation, though the company has not offered more details on what forms those rewards might take. The viability of this system remains to be seen, but it's nice to see Microsoft making a show of its efforts to cut down on the sort of endemic Internet toxicity that developers like Adam Orth and Riot Games are currently wrestling with.