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[polyh3dron]

I have a few friends with unmodded consoles, some of which are refurb replacements that have not been modified in any way and have still been banned. Microsoft is at it again. I'm all for getting rid of modders, they're the people who drove me away from playing Halo 2 long ago, but if they have collateral damage like this in doing so they should not be doing things like this.

All these people say how bad Sony is with abusing their rapidly-evaporating top spot in the gaming console biz; this is a glimpse of how much worse MS will be when they really are on top.

 

[callous]

...but, but, but MS can't detect hacked firmware!

:lol
That's exactly what I thought when I read the headline.

 

[Fess]

I have a few friends with unmodded consoles, some of which are refurb replacements that have not been modified in any way and have still been banned.

My guess is that the reburb systems were modded by the former owners and MS didn't bother reflashing the the bios before sending them to your friends.

 

[Lince]

Spanish 360's are falling like crazy.

about f**ing time

 

[Haunted]

Are they banning consoles with modified DVD firmware? Or just ones with modchips???

Am I sensing PANIC!?!?! :lol

Why don't you log into Live and tell us which it is afterward?

That made me lol. :lol

 

[The Faceless Master]

I have a few friends with unmodded consoles, some of which are refurb replacements that have not been modified in any way and have still been banned. Microsoft is at it again. I'm all for getting rid of modders, they're the people who drove me away from playing Halo 2 long ago, but if they have collateral damage like this in doing so they should not be doing things like this.

All these people say how bad Sony is with abusing their rapidly-evaporating top spot in the gaming console biz; this is a glimpse of how much worse MS will be when they really are on top.

honestly... they're lying.

MS didn't get any false positives with the original Xbox, and i doubt they get any now.

 

[polyh3dron]

Why? Because MS NEVER screws up?

Just take a look around teh intarwebs. There are quite a few reports of unmodded consoles getting banned. To say that something like this happening is beneath MS is to ignore the past.

 

[AtomicShroom]

Why? Because MS NEVER screws up?

Just take a look around teh intarwebs. There are quite a few reports of unmodded consoles getting banned. To say that something like this happening is beneath MS is to ignore the past.

You or your friends are obviously lying. MS will refuse to service any console that has been tampered with. It will be returned to the owner without being touched. Therefore, it is impossible to receive a refurb console thas has been tampered with. Period.

 

[rod]

You or your friends are obviously lying. MS will refuse to service any console that has been tempered with. Therefore, it is impossible to receive as a refurb a console thas has been tampered with. Period.

thats bullshit. last time i saw on maxconsole there was a huge thread full of people sending in modded 3RROD consoles that had been hacked without even a warranty sticker on it and they sent them back a refurb unmodded 360.


as if people didnt see this coming, it wasnt a matter of if more like when. but from the sounds of it the ban-net caught a lot of innocents also.

 

[tahrikmili]

as if people didnt see this coming, it wasnt a matter of if more like when. but from the sounds of it the ban-net caught a lot of innocents also.

I refuse to believe it. Dozens of people I know, literally, got banned and not one of them was innocent. All legit users including me, are still using XBOX Live' fine. This is the exact response MS received for banning original XBOX consoles, liars everywhere. People with 'At the World's End' in their gamer profiles were crying foul and claiming innocence on xbox.com. What do you expect? If you are immoral enough to pirate games and steal effort, you're definitely immoral enough to lie about it.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Why? Because MS NEVER screws up?

Just take a look around teh intarwebs. There are quite a few reports of unmodded consoles getting banned. To say that something like this happening is beneath MS is to ignore the past.

the past says that MS doesn't do false positives on Xbox consoles, despite the numerous claims of the people.

 

[gconsole]

You know what, it's kind of shame but 98% of thai xbox360 (we dont' even have the official version) are banned

 

[Mojovonio]

ha ha, MS just lost a few markets!

poor hackers

Spoiler

lol

 

[DieH@rd]

Are they banning consoles with modified DVD firmware? Or just ones with modchips???

Why don't you log into Live and tell us which it is afterward?

I dont have ANY console. I'm a proud owner of AMD Duron @ 700mhz

 

[Awesomated]

**** cheaters and hackers.

I support this move 100%.

 

[skybaby]

Can anyone translate this: http://www.dreisechzig.net/wp/archives/887#comments
Especially what Boris Schneider-Johne said:

Ich tippe mal bei einigen Leuten, die trotz nicht modifizierter Konsole nicht mehr rein dürfen, ist folgendes passiert:
US-Account mit Fake Adresse eingesetzt
Mit deutscher Kreditkarte Points online gekauft oder Abo bezahlt
Microsoft versucht Betrag bei Kreditkartenfirma zu holen
Kreditkartenfirma sagt “Adresse stimmt nicht, das ist ein Internet-Betrüger”
Microsoft sperrt den Account wegen “Kreditkartenbetrug”.
Dann wende man sich freundlich an die Kreditkartenfirma und versuche denen zu erklären, warum der Herr mit der US-Adresse auch Umsätze tätigen darf…

 

[tahrikmili]

Can anyone translate this: http://www.dreisechzig.net/wp/archives/887#comments
Especially what Boris Schneider-Johne said:

Here's a translation in Googlish:

I type times at some people, which may not despite not modified console any longer purely, the following happened: US account with Fake address assigned With German credit card POINTs on-line bought or to Abo pays Microsoft tries to get amount at credit card company Credit card company does not say “address is correct, that is an Internet cheat” Microsoft closes the account because of “credit card fraud”. Then one contacts friendly the credit card company and tries to those to explain, why the gentleman with the US address may transact also conversions…

 

[ToiletofSadness]

the past says that MS doesn't do false positives on Xbox consoles, despite the numerous claims of the people.

I'd love to see a source for that little piece of information.

 

[8bit]

Can anyone translate this: http://www.dreisechzig.net/wp/archives/887#comments
Especially what Boris Schneider-Johne said:

I've spoken with some people who don't have modified consoles who find themselves in the following scenario:

They create a US Account with a false address, and buy German points online or via bank account. Microsoft validate the credit card address and the credit card companies say "The address is false, this is internet fraud." Microsoft close the account.

Then the user has to call the credit card company and explain why they have transactions tied to a US Address.

 

[skybaby]

That seems a bit random... They said you wouldn't get banned for that when the territorial lockout came into effect.

 

[SouthernDragon]

Oh shit, Spain! I forgot about the land of the Pirates! :lol

 

[polyh3dron]

I'd love to see a source for that little piece of information.

As would I. This would have to be a completely new method of detecting console irregularities and who's to say that it's perfect? We saw how perfect the Crackdown H3 Beta downloading system worked, is this guy saying that even though MS screwed that up royally that their modder detection schemes are 100% infallible?

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

As would I. This would have to be a completely new method of detecting console irregularities and who's to say that it's perfect? We saw how perfect the Crackdown H3 Beta downloading system worked, is this guy saying that even though MS screwed that up royally that their modder detection schemes are 100% infallible?

Their ban system is far from perfect. There are still a ton of modders who aren't banned from live.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Their ban system is far from perfect. There are still a ton of modders who aren't banned from live.

better than having false positives...

 

[Baron Doggystyle von Woof]

Does this means that xboxlive players will go down for like 40 procent? :lol

 

[McBacon]

You or your friends are obviously lying. MS will refuse to service any console that has been tampered with. It will be returned to the owner without being touched. Therefore, it is impossible to receive a refurb console thas has been tampered with. Period.

Thats all lies I'm afraid, there is a topic at MaxConsole named "sent a modded 360 to MS for repair"; full of stories of people sending in ones with no warranty sticker, obvious cuts and screw removal jobs and even some tampering to the stuff inside, and Microsoft has repaired it :lol

 

[polyh3dron]

Their ban system is far from perfect. There are still a ton of modders who aren't banned from live.

Exactly... So Faceless Master, how exactly are you SO sure that there have not been any false positives, because I have seen a false positive with my very own eyes.

 

[newsama]

I know a lotta people with modded boxes wich can still connect to live. So no, the ban system ain't perfect.

 

[FormulaOne]

ha ha, MS just lost a few markets!

Well, I wouldn't call them 'markets'

 

[DJ Sl4m]

those 6 millions Xbox Live users dropped fast...

i'm sure they'll keep all the banned accounts in future press release about Xbox Live number of players though

Of course, why wouldn't they ?
Live accounts aren't banned, the console is. Picking up another 360 and logging back in is still an option.

 

[Beer Monkey]

I know a lotta people with modded boxes wich can still connect to live. So no, the first-revision of the ban system ain't perfect.

fixed

 

[The Faceless Master]

Exactly... So Faceless Master, how exactly are you SO sure that there have not been any false positives, because I have seen a false positive with my very own eyes.

i'm not saying there are no false negatives, just that there are no false positives.

why? because they err on the side of caution.

 

[Zzoram]

One way to fix the "but I got a modded refurb" problem is

a) to enforce stricter rules about not repairing obviously tampered machines, and sending them back unrepaired
b) if they don't do that, replace the dvd-rom of refurbs with a fresh one to ensure it's clean
c) offer a 1 time only replacement of the dvd-rom to people who have received refurbs in the past

But ya, i'm glad dvd-rom flashers are getting banned. Hopefully mod chips will get banned too, but most importantly, harddrive tamperers need to get banned. That is where potential cheating in games is most threatening.

 

[pCeSlAyEr]

my buddy works at EB and he told me they dont even check to see if the seal is tampered with(although they are supposed to).

they just power it up and test it.

 

[Crypto]

my buddy works at EB and he told me they dont even check to see if the seal is tampered with(although they are supposed to).

they just power it up and test it.

I actually saw a family turned away trading in a PS2 a few years back.

 

[pCeSlAyEr]

I actually saw a family turned away trading in a PS2 a few years back.

i'm sure that depends on the sales person testing your stuff... some are quite lazy.

 

[Beer Monkey]

my buddy works at EB and he told me they dont even check to see if the seal is tampered with(although they are supposed to).

they just power it up and test it.

When I traded a 360 at Game Rush, they never removed the faceplate to check the security stickers.

They can be removed and reapplied with a hairdryer and razor blade, anyway.

 

[FirstInHell]

I just got banned as well after halo 3 beta... I am using an original store-bought retail disc of crackdown, downloaded the halo 3 beta using it, got to play for about 3 hours then banned.

I am also not using a modified dvd-drive or firmware hack at the moment. I did used to use a hacked Hitachi 47 drive with FW 2.3 before the Spring update. Admidst all the ban talk I decided to flash back to original firmware and not use back-ups for a while. I did this before the Spring update.

I now get the banned message when doing a network test (note when you do a network test you only see the banned message in "More Info" under Network Adapter or IP, not under Xbox Live).

This means that either MS have been loggin poeple playing back-ups for a while, even before the spring update, or there are indeed false bans happening as some people are reporting. I know there were a lot of false bans with GoW when that came out, and poeple were let back on after a few days. I hope that's the case this time for me!

I cannot say I feel sorry for this loser. He hacked his Xbox which is a violation of the terms of service. He should have been banned then, and it just took them this long to catch up with him. I am sure when his sorry ass drops another $400 on an Xbox 360 it will make him think twice about modding it. If he feels so slighted that he will not buy any Microsoft products again, then good riddance to him. MS does not want this leech using their products because he is essentially stealing from the company and it is people like him that raise development costs and ruins community elements from games through shady achievement whoring and leader board boosting.

It is just a shame that they cannot send a signal to the XBox that would cause it to spontaneously combust and set fire to his whole entertainment center in the process.

If anyone actually believes he hacked his box to play "his backups" then you are the most gullible human being to ever walk the face of this god forsaken planet.

 

[jmdajr]

:lol

I don't feel sorry for these folks at all.

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

Shrug , Microsoft is ****ing this up big time. They really are banning people with unmodded consoles while some people with OLD modded firmware are still playing online with bootlegs just fine.

 

[ToiletofSadness]

i'm not saying there are no false negatives, just that there are no false positives.

why? because they err on the side of caution.

I would suggest that you have no possible way of knowing that.

 

[TheRipDizz]

Nope, people are reporting that they can transfer their live accounts over to other consoles. It's just their console id that gets banned from live entirely, no matter what account attempts.

I'm actually quite curious as to how many of these people banned go with the sony/nintendo alternative, or rebuy the core/elite...what do you guys think?

I really couldn't give a shit as long as they keep their stinking, filthy, diseased, modded consoles off of Live. I'm sure Microsoft feels the same way.

 

[Manp]

Of course, why wouldn't they ?
Live accounts aren't banned, the console is. Picking up another 360 and logging back in is still an option.

yeah, 6 millions users and 3 millions non banned consoles... there's something wrong

 

[polyh3dron]

i'm not saying there are no false negatives, just that there are no false positives.

why? because they err on the side of caution.

First of all, I asked you why you were unwavering in stating your opinion as fact that there have been no false positives, I didn't say that you said there weren't any false negatives, re-read my question to you.

"because they err on the side of caution"? Are you saying that perfectly fine 360s being banned would be something unprecedented and that MS would never make a mistake like that? They just made a HUGE mistake with the delivery of the H3 beta (which the Live team has taken responsibility for, RTW and Bungie are not at fault), and their consoles are getting RRoDs left right and center due to extremely shoddy manufacturing and your evidence is that "they err on the side of caution"?

Faceless Master, that's a pretty weak, baseless argument if you ask me.

 

[Emerson]

My friend Matt's console got banned. He didn't mod it, but it is modded. He got it refurb from Microsoft. When the Crackdown scene leak happened, one of my less intelligent friends downloaded it and burned it to DVD, gave it to Matt for his birthday. I told him that it wouldn't work and he was a moron, but the next day Matt said the game worked fine. He never downloaded anything else to my knowledge, though he used the pirated Crackdown to get the Halo 3 Beta.

 

[arne]

Faceless Master, that's a pretty weak, baseless argument if you ask me.

looking at your post history, you've said a few baseless statements against microsoft that you cannot absolutely back up. if you want your opinion on this matter, you can have it of course, but don't act like you know things are some sort of total fact when you don't have the data to support it please.

 

[The Faceless Master]

obviously, if people swear their system isn't modded and yet they were still banned, it must be true.

microsoft's methods for checking are obviously not some simple idea that can create a false positive.

and for the people saying that people could unknowlingly have flashed units... that's definitely a possibility.

when i sent in my first console, it was obviously tampered with, the sticker removed from when i used a heatgun on it to fix it.

 

[ToiletofSadness]

obviously, if people swear their system isn't modded and yet they were still banned, it must be true.

Not necessarily, but...

microsoft's methods for checking are obviously not some simple idea that can create a false positive.

you have no way of supporting this other than baseless speculation. Look, all I'm (and a handful of others) asking of you is to either support this big claim here was something substantive. I think it's ridiculous to say that there is never, ever going to be a false positive without knowing (1) how the hacked drive firmware appears to the 360 and (2) how Microsoft's internal security system is collecting data on the drive.

and for the people saying that people could unknowlingly have flashed units... that's definitely a possibility.

I would say this is the most likely explanation for most of the so-called false positives. However, this is even more troubling; it means MS's QA processes for their refurb department are complete shit. The hacked firmware is something that has been well-documented for quite some time; it's something that could easily be checked for. Though, I guess this turn of events is no surprise given the number of people sending back multiple broken systems. :-/ Score another for Microsoft quality!

 

[polyh3dron]

looking at your post history, you've said a few baseless statements against microsoft that you cannot absolutely back up. if you want your opinion on this matter, you can have it of course, but don't act like you know things are some sort of total fact when you don't have the data to support it please.

Baseless statements like the updates bricking consoles that were working perfectly previous to updating? Keep towing the party line by denying it, but we know the real deal. I am merely trying to point out that this Faceless Master is saying that this new mod-detection and banning initiative from MS is completely infallible and the possiblility that it in fact may have inadvertently banned a few unmodded consoles is completely out of the picture in his mind, and the fact that he won't entertain this possibility given MS's checkered past with the 360's hardware is foolish.

My "data" is my friend's unmodded 360 that got banned. I can't post a link to a verified news site that has his unmodded 360 that got banned or anything like that, but rest assured, it exists.

 

[LJ11]

my buddy works at EB and he told me they dont even check to see if the seal is tampered with(although they are supposed to).

they just power it up and test it.

Microsoft doesn't do a good job checking the seal either. I tried opening mine up to apply a fix for 3ROD. I peeled off the seal carefully using a heatgun, but I still ****ed it up so they could easily tell it was tampered with. Sent in my 360 for repair and they sent me a refurb no questions asked.