Microsoft's reveal of Xbox One's Reputation system explained that Xbox Live will be "rewarding healthy participation while reducing troublemakers and cheaters," but it was unclear just what that meant. Xbox One players will find themselves categorized with similarly categorized players -- obnoxious, negative players will be separated from those who want nothing to do with them.

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Microsoft's Mike Lavin explains to OXM that "there'll be very good things that happen to people that just play their games and are good participants. And you'll start to see some effects if you continue to play bad or, or harass other people en masse. You'll probably end up starting to play more with other people that are more similar to you."Furthermore, everyone's Reputation "will be as fully visible as Gamerscore in your profile," so whether you're rude or a saint, everyone will know. To foster a better community, Microsoft will be hosting events that encourage players to engage in activities that will actively boost their Reputation score.Lavin clarifies that there's no way for players to torpedo your Reputation when you've done nothing wrong, too. "The way that it's built fundamentally stops that," he says. "It's very much over a period of time. If we see consistently that people, for instance, don't like playing with you, that you're consistently blocked, that you're the subject of enforcement actions because you're sending naked pictures of yourself to people that don't want naked pictures of you.... Blatant things like that have the ability to quickly reduce your Reputation score."So, you know, only trade naked pictures with someone who wants them.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor at IGN. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN