Halo 4 Pirates Face Perma-Ban

[Karloff]

Halo 4 Pirates Face Perma-Ban

A Halo 4 walkthrough appears and disappears on YouTube, as pirates torrent the game.

Last week Halo 4 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120105-Halo-4-Leaked] leaked, and YouTube walkthroughs popped up as the game became available through torrent sites. Now those YouTube videos are down, and Microsoft has issued permanent bans to those who pirated the game.

Microsoft's letter to affected users confirms that their accounts will not be reinstated. "This is why you don't take your modded console online," was a sentiment echoed several times by Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/11gjnw/why_you_dont_pirate_halo_4/] users. The Xbox Live enforcement letter was posted to Reddit by user Storm360, who claimed it hadn't been his account that was banned.

Halo 4 developers 343 Industries remain unfazed by the piracy. Franchise director Frank O'Connor said piracy of high-profile games was inevitable, adding that Microsoft would address the walkthrough videos a case at a time. "It just takes a little while to handle," O'Connor said.

Halo 4 is scheduled for legitimate release on November 6th.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-15-microsoft-swings-banhammer-at-halo-4-pirates]


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[Erttheking]

Yeah well, if they went on Xbox live with a game that wasn't due for three more weeks, then they were being really freaking stupid. Frankly they deserve it.

 

[1337mokro]

Stupid people deserve to be caught.

Allot of people work VERY hard to do illegal things the right way. Then these chumps go in and say "Oh Halo 4 three weeks early? Daw... let's play it online!"

 

[Trivun]

Yeah well, if they went on Xbox live with a game that wasn't due for three more weeks, then they were being really freaking stupid. Frankly they deserve it.

Anyone who pirates the game, regardless of taking it online or stupidity, deserves to be banned. Simple as. Some of us have been waiting years for this game, and have been hanging on to every bit of info and news in anticipation, looking forward to it so much, and then it gets leaked and selfish twats who can't wait a few more weeks not only pirate it but start posting spoilers and screenshots all over the internet, ruining it for the honest consumers. Not to mention that (and I'm aware that opinions may differ here, so this is just mine) every Halo game has been pretty amazing, to a higher or lesser extent, and even if it is Microsoft the developers and publishers deserve to be rewarded for their efforts with financial recompense. Piracy isn't necessarily always (though certainly most of the time) bad (like the whole 'abandonware' thing), but to steal a game that's been leaked just for the sake of playing it early is downright offensive.

Just my two pence. (I'm British, none of your foreign 'cents' here!)

 

[Erttheking]

Yeah well, if they went on Xbox live with a game that wasn't due for three more weeks, then they were being really freaking stupid. Frankly they deserve it.

Anyone who pirates the game, regardless of taking it online or stupidity, deserves to be banned. Simple as. Some of us have been waiting years for this game, and have been hanging on to every bit of info and news in anticipation, looking forward to it so much, and then it gets leaked and selfish twats who can't wait a few more weeks not only pirate it but start posting spoilers and screenshots all over the internet, ruining it for the honest consumers. Not to mention that (and I'm aware that opinions may differ here, so this is just mine) every Halo game has been pretty amazing, to a higher or lesser extent, and even if it is Microsoft the developers and publishers deserve to be rewarded for their efforts with financial recompense. Piracy isn't necessarily always (though certainly most of the time) bad (like the whole 'abandonware' thing), but to steal a game that's been leaked just for the sake of playing it early is downright offensive.

Just my two pence. (I'm British, none of your foreign 'cents' here!)

Oh I agree with you. It's just that these people were so freaking stupid about it it's like they were dancing naked in front of Microsoft HQ with "LOL I HAZ HALO 4" spray painted on their chest. I mean really, what did they THINK was going to happen?

 

[Vegosiux]

The stupid is strong today, if the news are any indication. Seriously, I could go with "they just didn't give a fuck", but they gave enough of one to go spoil it in the first place. Ban well deserved, I say.

 

[natster43]

Good On Microsoft. If you pirate the game you should be banned forever, especially if you are one of those jackasses who tries to go online or decides to post spoilers up before the game comes out.

 

[getoffmycloud]

So, where are the folk crying about how rampant Piracy is on the PC again?

I am pretty certain a game being pirated on console doesn't mean there isn't piracy on PC

 

[Baresark]

I'm sure the pirates don't care one bit. Had that been me, I would not have cared at all. Pirates want to play games, they don't give a shit about their Live account. But, if that is the worst thing you can do to them, let them have it.

...but to steal a game that's been leaked just for the sake of playing it early is downright offensive.

)

I don't disagree with your sentiment, but that is what ALL pre-release piracy is about, playing the game. I'm sure there is some in there who will add that they would never pay for it. But aren't we all here to play games.

 

[Baresark]

So, where are the folk crying about how rampant Piracy is on the PC again?

I am pretty certain a game being pirated on console doesn't mean there isn't piracy on PC

It definitely does not mean that. But the issue he is talking about, I think anyway, is when people act like piracy on consoles doesn't exist. Which seems to be the default position with a lot of publishers, developers, and gamers alike.

 

[gabycms]

What I wanna know is the game any good? Its probably the same as all the others, just a dead horse being beaten to death running on nostalgia steam. I liked the first Halo (on the PC), i literally could not play the second one, it was just so clunky the damn guns took way to much of your screen.

Side note, how can you people play shooters with controllers? Not technically how, but how can you stand it? All shooters are WAY WAY WAAAY better with a mouse and a keyboard (or specialized keyed peripheral).

 

[Halceon]

The way you do this is record the whole walkthrough, upload it as private and then you make it public the day Halo 4 hits the stores. Allow time to pass for at least as much as your vids are long.

 

[Erttheking]

What I wanna know is the game any good? Its probably the same as all the others, just a dead horse being beaten to death running on nostalgia steam. I liked the first Halo (on the PC), i literally could not play the second one, it was just so clunky the damn guns took way to much of your screen.

Side note, how can you people play shooters with controllers? Not technically how, but how can you stand it? All shooters are WAY WAY WAAAY better with a mouse and a keyboard (or specialized keyed peripheral).

Uh...it works just fine. Frankly I got TF2 a month ago and I find aiming with the mouse and keyboard to be rather clunky. Really it's probably just a matter of what you're used to.

 

[blackrave]

That is why I won't spend my money on consoles
Because if I buy something I want to own it, not just rent from some big corporation.
Nobody can ban my PC.

 

[Atmos Duality]

So, where are the folk crying about how rampant Piracy is on the PC again?

I am pretty certain a game being pirated on console doesn't mean there isn't piracy on PC

It definitely does not mean that. But the issue he is talking about, I think anyway, is when people act like piracy on consoles doesn't exist. Which seems to be the default position with a lot of publishers, developers, and gamers alike.

Piracy is less common on consoles due to the greater amount of effort and risk involved.

 

[WashAran]

i would like to know how many got banned.

 

[RJ 17]

Side note, how can you people play shooters with controllers? Not technically how, but how can you stand it? All shooters are WAY WAY WAAAY better with a mouse and a keyboard (or specialized keyed peripheral).

I can almost promise you that there's plenty of console FPS players who say the same thing about PC's: they just don't see how you can possibly stand playing with a keyboard and mouse.

Oh, wait:

What I wanna know is the game any good? Its probably the same as all the others, just a dead horse being beaten to death running on nostalgia steam. I liked the first Halo (on the PC), i literally could not play the second one, it was just so clunky the damn guns took way to much of your screen.

Side note, how can you people play shooters with controllers? Not technically how, but how can you stand it? All shooters are WAY WAY WAAAY better with a mouse and a keyboard (or specialized keyed peripheral).

Uh...it works just fine. Frankly I got TF2 a month ago and I find aiming with the mouse and keyboard to be rather clunky. Really it's probably just a matter of what you're used to.

Case in point, there you go.