The problems with cheating on services like Xbox Live are myriad, but our biggest problem is that, if we lose – which, of course, is almost statistically impossible and would likely cause a chrono-rift in the space-time continuum – we assume the other party was cheating ... especially if the other party's gamertag is an illegible gaggle of letters and numbers, flanked by various capitalizations of 'x'.
Well, now there's a far simpler way: Microsoft will label them "cheater." The Xbox Live Sheriff has begun targeting players who "gain achievements through avoiding game play and the use of external tools" and, as a punishment, resetting their gamerscores to zero, making them "unable to regain all previously earned achievements," and lastly (though, most deliciously), permanently labeling them "as a 'cheater' for the community to view." And, since the "gamerscore correction will remain permanent without any way to appeal" there's a good chance we'll have yet another easy way of identifying cheaters on Xbox Live: the tinny static of their whimpering sobs.
PS - Anyone know of any real accounts flagged "cheater" (besides CheaterMcCheat)? If so, point 'em out in the comments so we can all point and laugh.
Reader Comments (119)
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 2:07PM aceattorney said
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 2:24PM CB said
Kudos to MS!!
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 2:46PM PoisonedAl said
They could have made this better. Every time to the 360 starts up, it should scream: "CHEATER! CHEATER! DOG SHIT EATER!"
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 2:49PM Chrono951 said
Thats just saying, I want the achievements, but I don't want to play a crappy game that long!
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 2:57PM CBXweb said
So if I use codes in something like Saints Row, I will lose my gamescore? I games without codes, but somtimes, I'll play a game like the mentioned on another save with codes.
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 6:25PM falcomadol said
Straight up built in cheat codes will not mark you cheater. Typically games turn off achievements when you're playing with cheat codes on anyway.
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Posted: Mar 25th 2008 3:13PM (Unverified) said
What's with the lemon?
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 5:03PM (Unverified) said
I use game saves to open achievements and I hope they reset my score. I could honestly care less because the whole achievement craze has bored me by now.
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 5:30PM Badmojo2074 said
They're probably more fun if you actually, you know, earn them.
Reply
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 7:09PM (Unverified) said
Na. It's still funnier to hear people tell me that I should goto hell and be murdered like a rapist when I tell them I game saved my "Seriously.." achievement.
Reply
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 4:03PM pkpk523 said
this. is. awesome!
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 5:32PM (Unverified) said
Im telling you, they arent going to follow through with it much anymore.
Why would such a greedy company like M$ follow through with it when like 10,000 people go out and buy shit games like Vampire Rain just so they can Gamesave it.
That means more Money for MS.
So I highly doubt they'll keep going.
Why would such a greedy company like M$ follow through with it when like 10,000 people go out and buy shit games like Vampire Rain just so they can Gamesave it.
That means more Money for MS.
So I highly doubt they'll keep going.
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 6:29PM aceattorney said
Most people have responded positively to these new policies from what I've been reading. I'm definitely going to be staying on top of the Cheaters with my Watch List: http://xboxcheaterwatch.wordpress.com/
Reply
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 5:37PM (Unverified) said
What qualifies as cheating? Whats an example? They never explicitly say. "Use of external sources," doesn't quite answer it for me. Not that I'm concerned, just curious.
Posted: Mar 25th 2008 6:01PM (Unverified) said
By using a second profile glitch, gamesaving by inserting someone elses gamesaves into your profile, or plain hacking them.
Reply
Posted: Mar 26th 2008 1:10AM ThornedVenom said
Microsoft, you win an internet for this one.
Posted: Mar 27th 2008 4:39PM Mr Khan said
Nope, I don't like it, unless its limited to achievements gathered through competitive multiplayer modes (where they should come down hard on hacking and modding), but single-player hax should be left free
It's a good idea, people just using bots to get achievements should have those points taken away, but not all of them and not forever
See, this is what is bad about these technological advances, now that all the consoles are connected to the internet all the time, they can always see what we're doing if they wanted to
It's a good idea, people just using bots to get achievements should have those points taken away, but not all of them and not forever
See, this is what is bad about these technological advances, now that all the consoles are connected to the internet all the time, they can always see what we're doing if they wanted to
Posted: Mar 28th 2008 8:15PM RyanLN said
I'm all in favor of Microsoft coming down hard on the cheaters, but i am in total agreement with the desire of the majority of the Joystiq community that stresses the importance of crushing the idiots who don't shut up. You know, the racist idiots, the 14-year-old who's real brave sitting in his basement in Connecticut, the loser who won't stop singing... My solution: an icon next to a name or in their profiles that indicate how many times they've been muted- a Mute Score, if you will. If you're playing with some asshat and he's got a mute score of 80, it means that 80% of the people he played with muted him- which probably means he's a douchebag. But the score can increase or decreae with good behaviour; if he plays more and no one mutes him then his score goes down. There is no reason this should not be done.
Posted: Jun 9th 2008 6:23AM (Unverified) said
can someone please tell me when they say cheat do they mean if you hack. or do they mean buton codes?
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