[UPDATE] Microsoft Devastates Autistic Child By Labeling Him a Cheater
- Thread starter Tom Goldman
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I'm personally more concerned that Microsoft is aware enough of how we play that they can label us cheaters for tampering with something as basically harmless and meaningless as a gamerscore. And that they have the power to cause those of us who are already outcast to be even further alienated, and are unafraid to use it.
I mean, it'd be fair enough to be so harsh if this were a competition where money is involved, but really, it would've been more prudent to do something a little less publicly and personally humiliating than change every cheater's name to "cheat". Even banning them at least doesn't lead to social alienation and the like from others in the hardcore community.
Banning, most likely, wouldn't end up published in the media either, because the attitude would be "move on and play something else, you little brat." Instead, it's become a public dignity issue and I understand why I'd be angry in the mother's position too. We all used to cheat in games all the time in the times before internet gaming made games massively multiplayer. Why do we suddenly think it's okay to victimise people who've bent the rules in a freaking simulation? The bland, "oh that's just fine, he got what was coming to him" reaction I see from some here is, to be frank, ridiculous.
We should really ask ourselves if it's worth humiliating someone who may or may not have a mental issue (and may or may not get unhinged or sent into a breakdown by the stigmas attached to "cheating" and the like, depending on the extremity of his autism) just to please a few die-hard fans of Live who want their names in the Hall of Fame or whatever without cheating for it. And yeah, when creating a social system, you need to consider what will happen to the lowest social denominator - the mentally ill and other minorities - because they will use it too. This PR issue is causing Microsoft trouble and rightly so, they could have done more to prevent it from ever happening.
My view is that Microsoft should deal with cheaters in a more mature manner, and give the poor kid his account back. The games should be updated and patched against the power of exploits anyway, rather than having quick socialising fixes like humiliation. The fact that people are humiliated in such a way is a pathetic showing off of the cutting-corners philosophy that is the ugliest face of Microsoft's corporate personality. That, or a show of exactly how much more growing up the gaming industry has to do. Seriously guys, get it together.
I mean, it'd be fair enough to be so harsh if this were a competition where money is involved, but really, it would've been more prudent to do something a little less publicly and personally humiliating than change every cheater's name to "cheat". Even banning them at least doesn't lead to social alienation and the like from others in the hardcore community.
Banning, most likely, wouldn't end up published in the media either, because the attitude would be "move on and play something else, you little brat." Instead, it's become a public dignity issue and I understand why I'd be angry in the mother's position too. We all used to cheat in games all the time in the times before internet gaming made games massively multiplayer. Why do we suddenly think it's okay to victimise people who've bent the rules in a freaking simulation? The bland, "oh that's just fine, he got what was coming to him" reaction I see from some here is, to be frank, ridiculous.
We should really ask ourselves if it's worth humiliating someone who may or may not have a mental issue (and may or may not get unhinged or sent into a breakdown by the stigmas attached to "cheating" and the like, depending on the extremity of his autism) just to please a few die-hard fans of Live who want their names in the Hall of Fame or whatever without cheating for it. And yeah, when creating a social system, you need to consider what will happen to the lowest social denominator - the mentally ill and other minorities - because they will use it too. This PR issue is causing Microsoft trouble and rightly so, they could have done more to prevent it from ever happening.
My view is that Microsoft should deal with cheaters in a more mature manner, and give the poor kid his account back. The games should be updated and patched against the power of exploits anyway, rather than having quick socialising fixes like humiliation. The fact that people are humiliated in such a way is a pathetic showing off of the cutting-corners philosophy that is the ugliest face of Microsoft's corporate personality. That, or a show of exactly how much more growing up the gaming industry has to do. Seriously guys, get it together.
He cheated and now he payed the price, serves him right. Besides, at least they didn't freeze his account, so he can still play.
Sort of the gaming equivalent of a scarlet letter, and I'm totally okay with that. If only "ragequitter" and "griefer" were also things that could be added to a gamertag.chinangel said:
Inbe4 flaming: I'm autistic too.
This is what you get for cheating; you lose your score. No one cares if you have a crippling addiction to gaming or serious social inhibitions. You earn your score fair and square.
This is what you get for cheating; you lose your score. No one cares if you have a crippling addiction to gaming or serious social inhibitions. You earn your score fair and square.
I don't agree with 'scarlet letter' type punishments. It's hard enough starting over without having that hanging over your head as well. Besides what's it going to prove? If you earn the rest of your score properly will they get rid of the 'cheater' thing? nope, so it's kind of a 'branded for life' thing, unless you abandon that gamertag and start over, which seems to be what they are going for.Icehearted said:
There're so many foolish and naive statements in this post I don't know where to begin...Silva said:
How about the fact that, much like DRM, it's pretty damn impossible stop people hacking into your games; the fact the kid cheated and the rules must be upheld and the fact that the reason people cheat to earn gamerscore is to earn respect in the first place; this is by far the best solution to stopping them doing so again in the future. [That and you do realize nobody else on Xbox Live can see the cheater tag, right?]
Sigh. Recon claims another victim, dammit. That was one heckuva failed attempt to acknowledge folks helping the community.D_987 said:
-- Steve
No reason to hate whoever did this, you can bet he or she feels it.
On the other hand i wouldn't mind testing out my new boots on him/her.
On the other hand i wouldn't mind testing out my new boots on him/her.
Who cares about achievements? I play a game to enjoy it, i'm not grinding through it like it's a chore to get the highest rank and make me feel like i'm better than you and eventually not be playing for fun altogether.
Not that i'm implying YOU guys are like that, it's just bizarre to me how there are actually people who stopped playing games for fun, and now just play because of a zombie-like urge for the highest level or achievement or whatever.
My friends play wow, I asked one of my former-wow players why the others enjoy it so much and he said that it's definitely not for the fun anymore.
Not that i'm implying YOU guys are like that, it's just bizarre to me how there are actually people who stopped playing games for fun, and now just play because of a zombie-like urge for the highest level or achievement or whatever.
My friends play wow, I asked one of my former-wow players why the others enjoy it so much and he said that it's definitely not for the fun anymore.
Ok. Here's another angle to look at. We are not sure what games this kid played. Is there a possibility that this child participated in an action that would be considered cheating, without realizing that his actions would be considered as such? When a child is autistic, he/she has little to no comprehension of the social ramifications of their actions. In other words, the child is able to understand facts and figures well above most, but is either socially awkward or simply cannot relate to social concepts that are quite basic to the rest of us.
That being said, there is a possibility that this kid found a way to "artificially" raise his score in order to unlock achievements. If we go into the type mind frame that I described above then we can see that he may have seen this merely as a more efficient way to achieve his goal (ie. raising his score to unlock an achievement). He would not see this as cheating necessarily since he was able to do all of this within the confines of the system that was already in place.
Another possibility is that he simply found a way to achieve such a score. If he expresses the same characteristic that are common in autism then he would see a level in a different way than we would. It is probable that he would be able to break a level down, so to speak, and find the most efficient combination of actions in order to rake up the highest possible score that he can figure. A level in a videogame is essentially a problem solving exercise if you break away any emotional attachments you have, and look at the structure of the level/map itself.
Microsoft should probably drop the label they placed on this kid, and give the child a firm warning. There are many factors that could be in play in this isolated incident.
That being said, there is a possibility that this kid found a way to "artificially" raise his score in order to unlock achievements. If we go into the type mind frame that I described above then we can see that he may have seen this merely as a more efficient way to achieve his goal (ie. raising his score to unlock an achievement). He would not see this as cheating necessarily since he was able to do all of this within the confines of the system that was already in place.
Another possibility is that he simply found a way to achieve such a score. If he expresses the same characteristic that are common in autism then he would see a level in a different way than we would. It is probable that he would be able to break a level down, so to speak, and find the most efficient combination of actions in order to rake up the highest possible score that he can figure. A level in a videogame is essentially a problem solving exercise if you break away any emotional attachments you have, and look at the structure of the level/map itself.
Microsoft should probably drop the label they placed on this kid, and give the child a firm warning. There are many factors that could be in play in this isolated incident.
See post 556 - it's pretty damn clear cut considering she knew he was cheating all along, there's no way you can possibly argue they didn't know what they were doing could get him in trouble...Jeffro Tull said:
To be honest I don't think that's even the whole story, that's just one example of a clear cut case - others have reported the kid had suspicious achievement unlock times in a number of games.
He has 40 played games on his profile so I doubt that's true, more like 1,500 achievements [not gamerscore].Talcon said:
You really beleive anything the women states regarding this case? After she admitted to completely lying and having no understanding of what had occurred...really? She's a moron - end of; I can't beleive anyone would still trust her comments after all that has been revealed...
Ugh... Fox. We need to slam that liberal network before we loose more face over ridiculous shit that no one that age they claim play should play it. Also, Arnold Schwarzenegger has lost all of my respect for him. Butt out, retardo speech.squid5580 said: