[UPDATE] Microsoft Devastates Autistic Child By Labeling Him a Cheater

[MC K-Mac]

What I would really like to know is how exactly Microsoft determines someone has cheated. What criteria does Microsoft use to determine someone has cheated? How foolproof is it? Like most news stories, this one leaves the really useful information out.

I'm all for having some sort of punishment for raising your gamerscore by sneaky or underhanded means - otherwise it completely devalues the score for those who achieve it legitimately - but hopefully Microsoft acknowledges that the system they use, like any other, is fallible. Their actions seem a little drastic for a first-time offence (if this was a first-time offence - again, the useful information is left out). How about a warning or two before taking away a person's hard-won achievements and publicly insulting them?

 

[Mrsoupcup]

He probably used Modio, still feel bad for him though my brother got reset for the same thing. He had no clue what he was getting into when he cheated, I wish Xbox had like a three strike system or something. Plenty of kids get reset for moding, all it takes is a usb and a computer. (And some naive people)

 

[Joepow]

Double post due to rebellious connection

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I think a flag got raised with how quickly he was getting achievements.

I mean, look at your standard game, usually has between 30-50 achievements totaling 1000 gamer score, about half of them are usually for hard as hell achievements like "beat the game only using your knife, without saving, on insanity difficulty, with your TV turned off".


the kid said he got them in 200 days.

I dont know what his score was before they reset his score, but given that most games have over 20+ hours worth of game play [adding in the more difficult achievements, possibly one or two more hours per one] he would have to be playing several games concurrently.


this of course depends on how high his score was to begin with.

Yeah I pondered that thought too.

However I am a huge achievement whore.

I wasn't using my current tracking sites (Trueachievements/360voice) but there were times when I'd polish off 20 achievements a day and 100G a game in less than a week.

I never got banned... and I'd think for cheating Microsoft would probably do a little more digging into it (check achievements for date stamps, check online usage, check average time between achievements compared to other averages).

But either way I still hope they give them him back...

 

[CaptainKoala]

With a case like this, you bet your ass that Microsoft would make damn sure it was tampered with before they decided to not give him his achievements back. I'll have to side with MS on this one.

 

[TheDoctor455]

See, that he's autistic makes me more likely to believe he wasn't cheating. Getting obsessed over things is something autistic people do, and videogames, with their clearly defined rules and ways in which to get achievements, are a pretty good outlet for autistic children in particular.

So I believe that it's entirely possible it looked like he was cheating, with a high score over a short amount of time or something, but in reality it was only possible because as an autistic he was so obsessed with getting achievements he played it too much.

Yeah...
And since Microsoft doesn't seem willing to investigate further... as far as I can tell from the article...
It seems clear that Microsoft isn't handicap accessible.
Of course... I think if the kid can get that many achievements again in a similar amount of time... I think that would prove the kid's case.
Either way... Microsoft should apologize.

 

[Pilkingtube]

I feel a bit stupid asking this.. but why do people care so much about achievement points? I thought the point in a game was to have fun, not rack up an arbitrary number? :S

 

[charlest92]

If Your gamerscore did somthing it would be worth mentioning like for every 20,000 points you accumulate you get 1600 ms points then I would care but the gamerscore does fuck all. The kid is autistic and my neighbor has a relative that is autistic, when they play a game they do not stop untill they get the 100% complete bars for the games acheivements/score. I had an iquery for my gamerscore going up 3000 in the span of about 18-20 hours because I had purchased 2 new games that were pretty short and I played one of them on hard from the start and got 120-150 Gs per chapter for 8 chapters thats 960 on its own for beating the game and with a total score of 1650 it was easy to discover what the rest of them were and get them.

 

[theonlyblaze2]

I'm fairly sure Microsoft know when someones cheating or hacking. They're saying someone tampered with it, maybe they're right?

But it still sucks for that kid ._. I hope he gets his achievements back and can go on doing what he loves.

I honestly believe they don't. I bought my 360 about two years after it came out. I got about three thousand gamerscore before ever plugging into live, only to have it taken away for being a cheater. I honestly didn't even know what gamerscore was or how to cheat on it.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Microsoft says it's confident that someone (probably named Jackson) tampered with Jackson's account to boost his score in an illegitimate manner, and doesn't currently plan to give him his achievements back.

"Fuck you, kid. We know you didn't do wrong, but we're not gonna do anything about it."

Many years ago, this would have shocked and angered me. These days, par for the Microshaft course.

When they say someone they don't mean someone other than him.

The word "tampered" implies it though. But sure, if you honestly believe that he cheated on his score, then he should have all of his trophies taken away, his score reset and be labelled a cheater across the whole of XBox Live.

Perhaps a bell around his neck as well? Or would that be going too far? I mean, as it's obviously so important, how would people measure their worth without it?

Unless they're autistic, of course, where someone incapable of understanding emotion is suddenly the focus of a a large amount of emotional recoil from having a label splashed onto the screen. Yeah, that actually could severely hurt someone whose self-worth is linked to arbitrary numbers. It's a good thing that never happens, isn't it?

 

[Ekit]

It seems a bit too much to put "Cheater" by his name.

You don't tattoo "Murderer" in murderer's foreheads.

 

[Baldr]

Before I made my judgment, I wanted to know how easy is it to realistically change a gamerscore. After a 10 sec search and watching the first video on youtube. It is really easy to do, and after understanding what they did, how easy it is for Microsoft to detect(Because the programs actually change the gamer profile file.)

Just after learning how easy it is, I going to side with Microsoft on this one, but think they should change their profile system security so it is harder to edit.

 

[DEAD34345]

See, that he's autistic makes me more likely to believe he wasn't cheating. Getting obsessed over things is something autistic people do, and videogames, with their clearly defined rules and ways in which to get achievements, are a pretty good outlet for autistic children in particular.

So I believe that it's entirely possible it looked like he was cheating, with a high score over a short amount of time or something, but in reality it was only possible because as an autistic he was so obsessed with getting achievements he played it too much.

Yeah...
And since Microsoft doesn't seem willing to investigate further... as far as I can tell from the article...
It seems clear that Microsoft isn't handicap accessible.
Of course... I think if the kid can get that many achievements again in a similar amount of time... I think that would prove the kid's case.
Either way... Microsoft should apologize.

That's a very specific form of autism, and you shouldn't just assume the kid is like that.

Besides which cheaters should be labeled cheaters, and i think that autistic people and other mentally (Or otherwise) handicapped people in general mostly just want to be treated the same as everyone else, as much as possible at least.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I'm fairly sure Microsoft know when someones cheating or hacking. They're saying someone tampered with it, maybe they're right?

But it still sucks for that kid ._. I hope he gets his achievements back and can go on doing what he loves.

Every detection system has it's false positives, and I'm sure this isn't an isolated case, but unless you are autistic noone will care or believe you, or even make a news story out of it.

 

[Joepow]

It's annoying how many people assume the kid is innocent just because he is autistic.
Which, of course, is the whole point.

 

[kickyourass]

I'd need more information on the circumstances before I can really say anything. Like how did they conclude that he was cheating? That's kind of an important thing to know. If he really was cheating then go ahead and do whatever you do to cheaters. If he wasn't and someone tampered with his acount or something then stop being douche bags and give hime back his gamerscore.

 

[TheDoctor455]

See, that he's autistic makes me more likely to believe he wasn't cheating. Getting obsessed over things is something autistic people do, and videogames, with their clearly defined rules and ways in which to get achievements, are a pretty good outlet for autistic children in particular.

So I believe that it's entirely possible it looked like he was cheating, with a high score over a short amount of time or something, but in reality it was only possible because as an autistic he was so obsessed with getting achievements he played it too much.

Yeah...
And since Microsoft doesn't seem willing to investigate further... as far as I can tell from the article...
It seems clear that Microsoft isn't handicap accessible.
Of course... I think if the kid can get that many achievements again in a similar amount of time... I think that would prove the kid's case.
Either way... Microsoft should apologize.

That's a very specific form of autism, and you shouldn't just assume the kid is like that.

Besides which cheaters should be labeled cheaters, and i think that autistic people and other mentally (Or otherwise) handicapped people in general mostly just want to be treated the same as everyone else, as much as possible at least.

True...
the "handicap accessible" thing was a bitter joke. I've got a pretty serious case of ADD myself... not the same as autism of course, but it does have its really annoying moments.

Anyway...
The point I was getting at is that Microsoft should have gotten some solid evidence of cheating before labeling him or anyone else a cheater.