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

[Formica Archonis]

No, he should get away with it because achievements and gamerscores are not important. Protecting and shielding the weakest in our societies is important.

"Protecting the weak" and letting someone violate social norms are NOT the same thing. If the kid's broken enough to not understand cheating is wrong AT ALL, then why is he playing games against people? Good lord, I've helped the mentally disabled in the past but I wouldn't want one of them following me home so I could feed him supper too (and some of them tried). Sometimes I just don't wanna deal with people I can't deal with on an even level.

Hasn't the universe already punished him enough by making him autistic?

Name any chronic disease. Slot it into that sentence. It still means as much. I have a friend who will die young because of his chronic problems. Is it fair? No. But he's still gotta work 40 hours a week even though each hour is relatively more precious to him than his coworkers. What about him? Is THAT fair? No. But that's the way it is. We can't make everyone equal.

It's sad, but life just sucks sometimes. While we should do things to accommodate, we can't completely yield. The other side has to hold up their end of being a regular person as much as they can because some people won't improve unless there's pressure on them to improve. They will use disability as an excuse when they're tired, or angry, or any of the other reasons that WE can't get away with. In other words: Some people cheat!

Besides, why do you care if some moron on the internet lies about being autistic to get his achievements back?

Microsoft does because it's a selling point of their service. As annoying and pathetic and Pavlovian as cheevo-hunters are, it's important to them, and that's why some cheat to get more. Some sort of social standing that's trivial to anyone outside the group, like post count or specific badges are in some others (ahem).

They can't bow to everyone. They can't take right-clicking out of Windows because a guy with mobility problems can't do it.

 

[jmarquiso]

I would also add that this might be a call for Microsoft to look at their cheating policy and find a less severe way to handle it based on a gamers' age.

 

[Therumancer]

So....isn't writing "cheater!!!!" all over a persons face kinda...bullying?
Isn't that a bit much from a company that should stay neutral?
screw the autistic child, but that seems to be a good reason why I don't want to get assiciated with Microsoft.

Not really bullying, Microsoft is neutral in that it enforces the policies on everyone. It needs to be strict enough where the penelty is a deterrant, which this is for someone to whom gamerscore and their online reputation matters. What's more the cheater label servers as a warning to other people who run into the player, given that people view their gamerscores and such competitively, not to take him seriously.

 

[Pearwood]

I'm really glad Microsoft aren't backing down here, the last thing the world needs is people playing the autistic card. People who have both autism and self-respect never do that unless they really have to. Better he learns from an early age that special treatment should only be given to him in the areas of life autism affects.

In case it's not obvious I really doubt the kid is being honest, if Microsoft didn't have solid proof they'd have restored his account just because they wouldn't want the bad publicity.

 

[KaiusCormere]

I applaud Microsoft. Don't let a cheater off the hook just because they have a disability.

 

[murphy7801]

I'm really glad Microsoft aren't backing down here, the last thing the world needs is people playing the autistic card. People who have both autism and self-respect never do that unless they really have to. Better he learns from an early age that special treatment should only be given to him in the areas of life autism affects.

In case it's not obvious I really doubt the kid is being honest, if Microsoft didn't have solid proof they'd have restored his account just because they wouldn't want the bad publicity.

You do realize that Autism pretty much effect all social interaction which is large portion of human life so wouldn't really bring the condition into this. In this case Microsoft shouldn't perhaps call people cheaters on there profiles since bit juvenile of a mega corp. And the real issue fox making claims for news with no hard evidence again is the bigger issue.

 

[theonlyblaze2]

So he did cheat! Now I am glad they took his gamerscore away! I don't care if you are autistic, it doesn't give you a right to cheat at something a huge number of people work really hard at!

 

[CosmicCommander]

Why has this article appeared on The Escapist? I thought the Escapist reported genuine gaming news, not worthless plush articles.

This sort of thing happens all the time- XBL players are branded Cheaters because they cheat, and they face the consequences. What gives this one the importance to appear on this site? That he's autistic?

What difference does it make that he's autistic? It has no effect on the story or the events that occurred; it's patronising to aspies, more than anything.

This is not news.

 

[theultimateend]

I would also add that this might be a call for Microsoft to look at their cheating policy and find a less severe way to handle it based on a gamers' age.

It's not kids that are getting softer it's parents.

None of us were as paper thing emotionally as we now expect our kids to be.

 

[WhatIsThisIDontEven]

On one hand, this could be Microsoft being dickheads again.

On the other, this could be the situation where the kid knows he's autistic and thinks he can get away with anything because of it and accuses everyone of prejudice when he doesn't.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

Also once again, self as a barometer

The problem is, and I mean this not as a personal attack, you're pretty useless as a barometer. For one we don't have any indication of what kind of autism the kid has. Secondly even if he does also have Asperger syndrome, the only thing comparable between the two of you are the known symptoms. You may hate lying and cheating, but you are not him - hell this may even be a good lesson as to why lying and cheating is bad for the kid.

Just because your symptoms may have affected your world view in a certain way (which is what I assume you're implying since you're linking the fact you hate lying to the fact that you have Asperger syndrome), doesn't mean its affected his in a similar way - in fact considering that this an 11 year-old chances are he's still in the midst of figuring out that whole 'morality' issue.

Next, I very seriously doubt that Microsoft is going around just randomly picking accounts with really high Gamerscores and saying "This guy must be cheating" - there has to be some kind of evidence for them to take this approach.

And really what do you people expect Microsoft to do? Show the evidence to everyone on the internet? Assuming that they do have damning evidence - do you really think that would be in the kid's best interest?

Really the situation is a Catch-22 for Microsoft. If they let it slide through the cracks then they have to deal with everyone else who should be let off "Because they're young" or "Because they have such-and-such a disability", if they let the ruling stand they look like a bunch of bastards.

I'm going to have to side with Microsoft on this one, if they have the evidence they say they do, then really letting their judgment stand is the best choice. Though permanently being labeled 'Cheater' does seem a little harsh, I'd argue that maybe the label should only hang around for a few months or something for first time offenders.

The issue here has nothing to do with whether or not the kid has autism. Throwing that fact around in some attempt to raise sympathy is missing the point. Someone with Asperger syndrome should understand more than anyone - I mean just read your post - it pretty much screams "I just want to be treated like everyone else", well that means no special exceptions when you break the rules.

As said. What if he did really good on an online game and a bunch of butt hurt morons( think a 100) or so reported him of cheating when he was simply better than them?

The article says that he's being labeled for illegitimately boosting his Gamerscore, that doesn't sound like a bunch of people reporting him for hacking an online match. Even if it were the case, I seriously doubt Microsoft would do this to someone without investigating the incident. I doubt anyone would be left playing on Xbox live if MS just started banning everyone that got reported.

 

[MatsVS]

snip

The thing is, on a technical level, I completely understand and agree. All the rationalizations and arguments, I understand. But, while we're here, complaining about people playing the "autism card" (seriously, fuck off(EDIT: just to clarify, not you, Mr. Archonis)), there's a young boy sitting at home, staring forlornly at his x-box, the object around which his entire life has probably been revolving, devastated. And anyone who has any experience with autistic kids know how attached they get. And I think to myself, how does loosely held principles stack against that? It's not like I am condoning murder, rape or anything even remotely as serious.

So yeah... Maybe I'm just a fucking softy, but hey, someone's gotta be, right?

I am sorry about your friend. You're right, of course, the universe isn't fair. It's meaningless and full of pain, at the risk of sounding somewhat Hobbesesque. Sometimes we can make it suck a little less, though.

 

[walsfeo]

So something happened through the account that raise "cheat" flags to the 360 enforcement department. I don't know any of those guys personally, but I've listened to the Major Nelson podcast quite a bit and the enforcement guidelines and policies discussed on that show have lead me to trust them until they do something to betray that trust.

That being said it'd be a shame if they have to walk away from this without explaining what happened. Was the kid warned about cheating? Was it in-game behavior or did they do something to the console?

In any case, if they want to continue to pretend achievements have any value they can't just return points to a known cheater.

 

[mjc0961]

See, the kid did cheat. In which case the gamerscore wipe and cheater label should stand. The kid can either learn from this, or if he doesn't want to do that, he can do what I said before and get a PS3 where trophy cheaters are allowed to run free.

 

[Kashrlyyk]

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.

I completely agree.

 

[jmarquiso]

I would also add that this might be a call for Microsoft to look at their cheating policy and find a less severe way to handle it based on a gamers' age.

It's not kids that are getting softer it's parents.

None of us were as paper thing emotionally as we now expect our kids to be.

1) This specific kid is autistic. He has reason to feel this way (although I'd like to have seen an expert on autism on the subject, it'd be an interesting "positive" video game story)

2) Kids can change. A permanent brand is permanent.

3) Other online services seem to handle it better and foster a good community. Steam, specifically.

 

[jmarquiso]

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.

I completely agree.

Same here. It would be nice to be able to be sure, and if customer service would be able to respond more quickly.

 

[ecoho]

ok i dont suport cheating but this is kinda just BS if you dont want people exploting your achivments then make them cheat proof to begen with. Oh and i do beleave this lableing as a cheater basicly is slander but i may be wrong on that.

 

[Gunner 51]

I am of the opinion that if he cheated, that's his tough luck. Having Autism is a lousy plea for lenience - if anything, Autists are sticklers for obeying rules. So that excuse doesn't wash with me. (As someone on the Autistic Spectrum, myself.)

However, if he didn't cheat - and did get the 'cheevos through hard graft - they should be restored. Unfortunately for him, he actually got investigated and was not only found out to be a cheat, but a liar, as well.

Long story short: just because you have Autism doesn't give you a right to be a douche.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

So we have to ask whether we find it plausible that all it took to fool MS cheat-seekers was a obsessed autistic kid playing for hours on end.

Ding-ding-ding! We have a winnah!

A lot of people here are making huge assumptions about what MS can and cannot know about activity on Xbox Live... many of which are certainly dead wrong. Of course those who know the details aren't going to divulge them, because telling might make it easier for cheaters to spoof the detectors; but it's certainly a heckuva lot more than counting complaints up to a threshold or a "hey, this looks funny" from an admin.

You have to ask yourself, before rather than after working yourself into a froth over the unfairness of it all, whether it's reasonable to assume that experts know less about how a system works than you do as an amateur.

-- Steve