PAX 2010: Stepto's Law of Xbox Live ban protests

by David Hinkle on Sep 7th 2010 8:00PM

During the Xbox Live Enforcement panel at PAX this past weekend, director of policy and enforcement on Xbox Live, Stephen Toulouse (a.k.a. Stepto), recited "Stepto's Law" for the audience. The complex formula is used to determine the validity of a complaint issued by a banned Xbox Live user. The law goes like this:

"The more convoluted, overwrought and lengthy the protest of innocence, the probability of it being bullshit approaches one."

Toulouse feels that his law "tends to be almost 100 percent accurate of Xbox Live," but of course there can be exceptions to the rule -- er, law, in this case.

Tags: microsoft, pax, pax-2010, pax-prime-2010, stephen-toulouse, xbox, xbox-live, xbox-live-enforcement

Reader Comments (57)

i don't agree with this 100%, but it holds truth.

I remember i was banned from a bfbc2 server for "maphacking" (then again, that's a dedicated server, not xbox live), there was nothing i could do to prove i wasn't hacking lol.

so i could have kept on trying to petition, but i still would have had the ban.

@BrianH
I don't get it? Were you hacking? Or did you just piss off the admins?

@Themoreyouknow

i wasn't hacking, but i was going 22/1 with the GOL, so yes, i was pissing them off.

@BrianH

or they really really thought i was aimbotting.

@alicestel

o thanks, i currently am single, i'll che-

wait a minute!

is there a point to this story? you didn't even post that the panel is available in podcast form. What is this Kotaku? What's next "Major Nelson eats cheeseburger, news at 11"?

@psyXcho

This just in: Commenter sees post he's uninterested in, fails to deal with it.

@psyXcho God damnit. No one cares what you think. Stop your whining.

@psyXcho why you mad though?

@psyXcho

oh noes I'm getting downvoted and having the same joke used against me on the interwebs!!!!

@psyXcho

Why so serious?

@psyXcho You feigning that you don't care only shows that you do.

@psyXcho

http://cdn1.knowyourmeme.com/i/30403/original/YouMad.jpg?1260647699

@Velocirock I seriously have never seen this site. Thank you sir you have given me many future lol's!

@psyXcho

It seems as though you're going a long way towards proving Stepto's law here...

@Acosta02

I dunno, he mentioned Kotaku so that explains a lot...

...there is a LOT of unhappy people that frequent that site...

.....and before you say it, YES!, worse than here.

If the argument is something other then "the admin was a butt-hurt, goose-stepping dick-head," then it probably is BS.

Treyarch wiped my profile after getting to around level 50 on WaW because they thought I cheated. It was very disheartening.

@wunwunx That sucks. I don't understand why they don't ban people that have obviously cheated or hacked stats. In my friends' leaderboards, there are ridiculous, mathematically impossible numbers, and they are still allowed to play online. For example, some of them have over a billion kills and a negative number for deaths. What did they do to get negative deaths? Like save their teammates by going prone on a live grenade? Lol.

@FlashJS
I know, it completely destroys any purpose of the global leaderboard. In MW2 I got hit with some sort of virus that destroyed my stats. Didn't wipe them, but set them to some ridiculously low negative number. That was never fixed either. I don't mind this too much though because I had plenty of time to realize MW2 multi is garbage.

@wunwunx

I don't even bother trying with leaderboards anymore, I've gotten 1st of a few stat crunches for RDR, Bayonetta etc., and decent KD ratios for a handful of FPS games....

Then a few weeks into post release, here comes the insane numbers that are physically impossible to do popping in OVERNIGHT..and even if it *was* a update delay, completely impossible for 20k kills, 999999999$ bounties, finishing a worldwide time trial challenge in 3 seconds (when sometimes the level in question doesn't even LOAD that fast) etc. etc. 2 to 3 weeks post worldwide release.

Sad part is, when the guys' hexedit, aimbot, whatever....... trick hits the street...next thing you know, the first 40 or worse spots in the rankings have the exact same score or similar... and by that point, it completely defeats the purpose entirely.

I agree with Psycho...this story is bland and doesn't go anywhere. Is there a point?

can't stop laughing at that banner pic. kudos joystiq photo selecting team!

@logicplay

He's talking about a group of trolls that got console banned and whined there way to the bank.

Easy Translation

If you roll over and accept the ban you were guilty
If you don't roll over and you protest the ban ..... you were guilty

the moral of the story being ..... don't bother appealing bans because if you appeal the ban you (for which you were obviously guilty in the first place) it just means you were guilty to begin with.

cool beans!

@Scuffles

Easier Translation,

" I don't want to wait for our lives to be over, I want to know right now what will it be"

@Scuffles It's more like "If you try to debate the morality and offensiveness of making your motto 'LOL DICKS BLACK PEOPLE' as a way out of your ban you were probably guilty".

@TheDarkWayne

Why is "BLACK PEOPLE" offensive?

@Aguiluz
They charge people for no reason and have millions of subscribers. You think they care? How would you like your TV company to decide to charge you another $50 a year for the ability to cut on your TV?

Do they still have that forum where people can ask why they were banned? That was always fun.

"Yo, why was I banned? The email something about my personal profile?"

"You wrote in your profile: 'I hope there is a second Hitler soon, only this time he will kill all the n******.'"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

If your gonna do the crime you gotta do the time..Off xbox live..

The picture needs a CAPTION...

WELCOME TO XBOX LIVE

I think if you try to appeal the ban in a logical manner by explaining the situation - without using all caps - they'll listen to you. What he's referring to are the appeals that are a nonsensical, almost drunken rant about how they shouldn't be banned because X, where X equals some long, boring, and ultimately irrelevant story.

Stepto's panels are always hilarious. I enjoy listening to them.

Is there a limit to how many times you can be banned? Because ive been banned like 3 times, lol.

@xbashingx
I guess when they stop banning you, let us know?

Great picture.

Like all the 10th prestige guys on mw2 that got to that level on day one. It seems like it is easier for them to ignore cheaters than deal with them. I play private matches on most games so I can avoid them.

I'm just going to stop trying to reply to people from the iPhone app. My comments never seem to go where I want them when I use it.

All games should have dedicated servers just for the hacking cheaters. This way they can just ruin the game for themselves.

I didnt whine to him when we were there we got him to sign it, as well as Major Nelson, Laura Lollipop and "e" all signed my banned box for sale soon on eBay...

@computer thats awesome

@Themoreyouknow They do do that dip-shit.

@logicplay heyyy i was just replying to the troll wtf? meanies!!!

@logicplay thanks J.S

@PoisonedAl
I meant to physically cut your TV on whether you have TV service or not. Dip-shit

This concept is hardly exclusive to Xbox Live. The guilty feel a much stronger compulsion to defend themselves than the not guilty.

I will fly high you can't stop me

Spy sappin' mah sentry! ... too much?

I thought everybody was quitting Live because of the price hike?

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PAX 2010: Stepto's Law of Xbox Live ban protests

Reader Comments (57)

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:04PM BrianH said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:49PM Themoreyouknow said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:35PM BrianH said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:36PM BrianH said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:55PM BrianH said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:10PM psyXcho said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:12PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:14PM omgJOHN said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:15PM Arsenic13 said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:21PM psyXcho said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:26PM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:27PM omgJOHN said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:27PM Velocirock said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:29PM psyXcho said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 1:51AM Courtney said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 2:11AM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:17PM PoisonedAl said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:27PM wunwunx said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:35PM FlashJS said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 11:00PM wunwunx said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 2:25AM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:28PM Razorlution said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:42PM shard765 said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:44PM Cryo said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:46PM Scuffles said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:02PM deaftly said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:31PM TheDarkWayne said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 8:29AM Jenks said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:51PM Themoreyouknow said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:54PM Ample Salty said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 8:56PM oggsy92 said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:02PM Juice said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:09PM Faren22 said

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Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:21PM xbashingx said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 1:36AM Solar Jetman said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:30PM Frostblade10 said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 10:00PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 10:43PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:36PM EffExt said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:39PM computer said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 10:41AM AntiClockClock said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 9:57PM PoisonedAl said

Posted: Sep 7th 2010 10:45PM logicplay said

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Posted: Sep 7th 2010 11:40PM Themoreyouknow said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 12:03AM fischju said

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