Autistic Xbox Player's Mother Admits He Cheated

[Kitteh]

no, we also have a large supply of pussies, assholes, dicks, and the occasional republican

Republicans are the cream of the crop when it comes to playing the victim...Might want to erase that bit of redundancy.

Omit parts of our past to better suit our future? Why, that's the national past time!!!

 

[D_987]

Don't hide behind such a poor defence.

That's amusing, considering the points you raised were pretty terrible...

At the end of the day rules are rules, Microsoft didn't know the kid was Autistic [how could they?] and simply went through with their standard procedure, as stated in the terms and conditions of signing up for Xbox Live and clearly visible on Xbox.com. To claim the mother in question was in the right [Note: she went to the media about the situation, and lied about the context as to what had happened, very clearly in fact - she certainly knew, from her comments that she was doing something that wouldn't be legal on that network] is ridiculous.

I'm gonna have to say you're either trolling [badly] or you're seriously disillusioned as to what actually occurred within this incident; judging from your laughable "arguments" in previous posts I'm going to go with troll...

 

[ninjajoeman]

Cheating for Recon armor? Thats so... 2007/2008.

You can unlock it normally now by getting the vidmaster achievements in Halo 3/ODST. And if he cares enough about Halo to cheat to get a piece of armor, then I'm sure he owns the games.

Kid got exactly what he deserved. He cheated, and he got punished. Moral of the story is to not cheat for silly pieces of armor that don't even look that good.

except he got a free gold month subscription and a new name. Then again the recon armor does make go great with that sniper rifle.
edit: I should probably get some sleep.

 

[ninjajoeman]

no, we also have a large supply of pussies, assholes, dicks, and the occasional republican

Republicans are the cream of the crop when it comes to playing the victim...Might want to erase that bit of redundancy.

Omit parts of our past to better suit our future? Why, that's the national past time!!!

America does look at how we screwed up and how we could make things better and leave what anyone else did out of it.

 

[anonymity88]

Actually, the last part is partially incorrect. I got a metric fuckload of the Mercenaries 2 online achievements offline due to a glitch that I did not do purposely. 35/40. No, I'm not giving them back because I've done everything to get them legit since then.

Did your game crash and then you had them all unlocked? 'Cause that happened to me!

 

[DaBozz]

God...all this hassle for a little number next to your name.

 

[Leg End]

Actually, the last part is partially incorrect. I got a metric fuckload of the Mercenaries 2 online achievements offline due to a glitch that I did not do purposely. 35/40. No, I'm not giving them back because I've done everything to get them legit since then.

Did your game crash and then you had them all unlocked? 'Cause that happened to me!

Didn't crash. 35 unlocked(some I already had). Right when I got the one for bringing the last two factions into the arena.

OT: In Raz's dad's voice...
[HEADING=1]YOU CHEATED.[/HEADING]

 

[Telris]

I'm sorry but I have to do this...
HE CANT HAS RECONZ!!!11!!1
Anyway he got a month free online because he cheated... what a strange world we live in.

 

[TheRealCJ]

Why is this in the news?

VIDJAGAYMES R BAAAAAD = Easy ratings.

MUTHA OF RETARDED KID IS A LIE-R = More easy ratings.

 

[Flare Phoenix]

It's still harsh. There are different levels of autism, and the kid might not be fully aware of whether he did anything wrong. It sounds like the other kid gave it to him out of sympathy too. Kind of a pathetic story, the mother lied, but the kid was probably really troubled about it. For a mother child's happiness >>>>> honor or truth.

The fact of the matter is the cheating did in fact occur, and the mother was well aware of what her son was doing and that it was, in fact, the wrong thing to do. Who gives a crap if the kid is austistic or not; that has less than nothing to do with this situation. You take something away from any kid, they spent a lot of time working on, they are going to be unhappy.

Also, they might have gained more sympathy from Microsoft if the mother didn't come out accusing Microsoft of been an evil corperation picking on her son for being austistic. That says to me, they knew what the kid had done was wrong, and were just trying to get out of trouble using whatever they could think of as an excuse.

*Sigh of boredom* Yes, yes, you know the objective truth of morality. Never mind that people have been debating it for thousands of years. Please, by all means preach to me. I'm sure you could school me on all the nuances of deontology vs. consequentialism. Right/wrong, good/bad. Everyone's too busy being a good moral person to have any compassion for anyone anymore. Guess it's easier if we have a black and white definition of right and wrong so we don't have to worry about it. If you're going to take pleasure in the punishment of others while you revel in your own moral superiority, at least fess up to it.

Microsoft has its rules set in place, and in order to enforce those rules they have to apply to everyone. There is no question of whether what the kid did was right or wrong; by the rules set out by Microsoft, the kid did the wrong thing and deserves the appropiate punishment for it.

While I am sure it is upsetting for the kid to lose all of his points, he broke the rules and he must suffer the consequences for his actions. You cannot possibily believe Microsoft should have let the kid off scott-free just because the kid would be upset over what happened to him.

And yes, right and wrong is quite clearly black and white in this scenario. The law quite clearly states that ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it (even though the mother quite clearly said she knew what her son was doing was the wrong thing to do). It was the mother's responsibiliy to stop her son from doing the wrong thing.

Yes, it might feel nice for the kid now if he got all his points back, but honestly what lesson is that teaching the kid? If he uses his austism, he can do whatever he wants? Tell me, if this kid had shot one of your family members and killed them, would you be saying he shouldn't be punished because the punishment might upset him?

To be honest, I have no compassion for this kid in this scenario because he cheated and got caught for it. It's as simple as that. Sure, it would be nice if we didn't have those pesky things like law and order, but personally I like society not crumbling, thanks... I do, however, have compassion towards every Xbox user who follows the rules, and do not get a free month of Xbox Live.

First off. Rules and laws are far different from right and wrong. In the 1950's it was illegal for black people to drink from certain fountains, eat in certain restaurants, and sit in certain seats on the bus. Does it mean that it was actually wrong of them to do so?

Secondly, like many other ethical scenarios this one revolves around agency. I never said the kid shouldn't be punished. I said it was still a rather pathetic scenario. Like I said, there are different levels of autism, and if the kid knew what he was doing, then yes, he should probably still be punished. But if he was so out of it that he doesn't really understand what cheating is, then there isn't much sense in punishing him.

From what you said, you'd be for the execution of the mentally retarded. If someone doesn't know what they are doing, then they aren't really an agent, and can't really be held accountable for their actions. They should definitely be restrained for the safety of the rest of society, but there's just no sense in punishing them if they don't understand what they did, except sadism of course. If the kid is really that out of it that he can't socialize with anyone and thus his entire life is his video games, then he might not understand what cheating is. In that case I'd give him back the points and things he earned legitimately in exchange for the mother's word that she will make sure he doesn't do anything equivalent again.

Check the law: ignorance of it is no excuse for breaking it. Assuming the kid didn't know what he was doing was wrong (which, as I should point out, has nothing to do with the fact the kid is austistic; any young kid probably wouldn't know what cheating is...), the mature thing to do would've been to say "Well I didn't know that was cheating but I do for next time".

Now assuming the kid was incapable of understanding what he did was cheating, it would be up to the mother to make that call for him. The article quite clearly stated the mother warned her kid against what he was doing, so your argument really holds no water.

Don't get me wrong, there are some rules I don't agree with. For example, I believe it is disgusting down here in Australia gays are not allowed to get married. However, I fully believe that breaking the law is grounds for just punishment for doing so.

I'm so tired of people like you trying to put people with disabilities on some kind of pedastal. I've seen plenty of cases where people, without any form of disability, have done something with their Xbox they weren't aware was considered cheating. Why should this austistic kid get his points back over those other people?

You cannot have one set of rules for one person, and another set of rules for everyone else. As I've said before, the fact this kid was autistic has less than nothing to do with this case; any young kid probably wouldn't understand what this kid did would be considered as cheating. It would be up to the mother to prevent her kid from doing it, and if the mother also didn't know then that sucks for the kid, but by no means does that mean he should get his points back.

*sigh* If a mentally retarded person does something wrong, I expect them to get some form of punishment. If a normal person does something wrong, I expect them to get some form of punishment. Obviously, there would be differing circumstances in some cases (what pleading insanity is for, afterall). However, no one should be allowed to do something wrong and get off scott free.

But hey, it's good to see the mother's desperate attempt for sympathy has worked on you. Any young kid would probably look at this and say "Well I don't understand what I did was cheating", but just because the kid is austistic you feel he should be given a free ride.

Hell take it even further, you punish a little kid for anything and chances are they're going to have no idea what they did was wrong (until you punish them for it enough times, they get the picture).

 

[TheRealCJ]

God...all this hassle for a little number next to your name.

Well... it's a little word now.

 

[Flare Phoenix]

I'm sorry but I have to do this...
HE CANT HAS RECONZ!!!11!!1
Anyway he got a month free online because he cheated... what a strange world we live in.

No, he got a month free of Xbox Live Gold because he is austistic. If this were a normal person, Microsoft would've gone "I'm sorry, but you cheated so you'll just have to live with the consequences" (written more formally than that, but you get the idea).

However, if they did that to this kid, people would start going "MICROSOFT HATES AUTISTIC PEOPLE!!!!!!!!" (As some people on this forum already have...)

 

[squid5580]

Uhh. Guys. It's just a game.

Yes it was silly for him to cheat. Yes, it's stupid that it got a huge media spectacle. Yes Microsoft kind of did make too much of a big deal out of this. Whether it was due to the mother or the company both, the fact is that a kid got publicly humiliated just because he faked some achievments in Halo.

No he doesn't get a free ride of sympathy just because of his condition, but you can't ignore the conditions under which someone lives either.

And at the end of the day... it's just wrong that the media has made such a big deal out of this one little case, and that some kid has to go through a great deal of publicity and shame over some stupid, worthless achievments. And no matter what you say about his mom, she probably just was trying her best to cheer her son up, and you don't know them personally and thus can't say how bleak or painless their existence is. Maybe this whole achievment thing was just another little frustration and sadness in life that they just didn't want to deal with (worthlessness of achievments aside, it meant something to him). Or maybe the mom's outrage was just the overpriveleged whinings of someone expecting special attention.

But you know what? We don't know. It's their deal, not ours. And it's over Gamerscore. Nothing that ever has or ever will matter in the grand scheme of things. Don't be so assumptious or judgmental over something that you have absolutely zero connection to and even less reason to freak out about. It's a trivial thing. Have a heart.

Case in point:

Stupid fucking *****. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on you lying scumbag wench. you smear a company because they caught your kid cheating and punished him for it? Fucks sakes you should not be allowed to have children. Lucky they didn't post his new gamertag otherwise they would really know what it means to have his only source of entertainment taken away from him. I really hope what you mean by a free month of gold and a new gamertag means he loses his old account DLC, arcade titles and all.

Is this seriously the kind of reaction people have to gamerscore?

Stay classy, Internet.

No this is the kind of reaction people have when they see other people use the media to smear a company to get their own way. This is the kind of reaction that you get when someone uses the "oh poor me I have a disability i should get special priveledges" card. I know lots of people who have disabilities and they want one thing to be treated equal. And when the media picks up on this and uses headlines like "MS devastates Autistic Child by Labeling him a Cheater" only to find out that he not only did cheat but his mother knew about it and defended it. This has just added yet one more black stain on gaming by putting a negative spotlight on gaming. And all because she is morally bankrupt. And since she painted a huge target on the kid's back by taking it to the media in the first place well if his GT ever became known he would become a victim of harrasment. And that might teach him a lesson his mother obviously can't.

 

[Easton Dark]

I'm sorry but I have to do this...
HE CANT HAS RECONZ!!!11!!1
Anyway he got a month free online because he cheated... what a strange world we live in.

No, he got a month free of Xbox Live Gold because he is austistic. If this were a normal person, Microsoft would've gone "I'm sorry, but you cheated so you'll just have to live with the consequences" (written more formally than that, but you get the idea).

However, if they did that to this kid, people would start going "MICROSOFT HATES AUTISTIC PEOPLE!!!!!!!!" (As some people on this forum already have...)

You get a free month of Live with a new account, which anyone could make, and which he made.

 

[anonymity88]

Actually, the last part is partially incorrect. I got a metric fuckload of the Mercenaries 2 online achievements offline due to a glitch that I did not do purposely. 35/40. No, I'm not giving them back because I've done everything to get them legit since then.

Did your game crash and then you had them all unlocked? 'Cause that happened to me!

Didn't crash. 35 unlocked(some I already had). Right when I got the one for bringing the last two factions into the arena.

OT: In Raz's dad's voice...
[HEADING=1]YOU CHEATED.[/HEADING]

Fair enough, it was a last act of defiance by my xbox since it red ringed about a month later. I was only left with the multiplayer race achievment and the one for unlocking all store items. Shame I traded the game. One day..

 

[Iron Mal]

And so I must repeat my mantra of 'you do something wrong, you get punished for it, what more do you expect?'.

To be honest, I am actually glad this kid got caught out and punished. People are already unwilling as it is to act civilly in regards to games, the last thing we need to be doing is giving people free passes (we should also learn from this that the big, bad, greedy corporation isn't always the bad guy).

I am somewhat reminded of the article below for some reason, another case of someone trying to use a disability or disorder as a way of getting away with misbehaving online.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93314-Agoraphobic-PS3-Owner-Sues-Sony-over-PSN-Ban

 

[hyperdrachen]

Saw this coming a mile away as soon as I saw the title to the first news article.

Honestly, people need to stop milking disabilities.

I like that she didn't think handing out his live password was a big deal. But having cheater slapped on there was somehow a problem. Isn't variable relevance fun. "Lol ya ur acnts not that big a del NEwai" "Oh my god, how can microsoft do this to my poor autistic baby. Call channel 3!"

Remember everyone. Making fun of people for thier disabilities is juvenille, cruel, and wrong. I think in light of this new news microsoft should step it up a notch and ban his account. But I guess a big dog like MS has better things to do than turn one PR mess into another.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

I sense the Trollhide a mile away...

 

[BeepBoopBrother]

Not that I really give a damn about the achievements for that game anymore, but back when Halo 3 just came out I worked me ass off to get all the achievements for that Security helmet. Reading about this left a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn't even that hard to do, really. And now with these other games and that vidmaster thing, it has to be even easier. He should have just waited.