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[polyh3dron]

Microsoft is fully aware of all the circumstances in this case. It was fully and properly investigated and reinvestigated. I am not going to comment on this specific case again. However for context, several people who bought legitimate copies of the game very early were temporarily banned, investigated and then subsequently unbanned, appropriately.

That's my last word on this particular case, period.

I wish we knew what it was that got these others unbanned which didn't apply in this case. Did they produce receipts? And why should the burden of proof be on them when they played a perfectly fine retail copy? They should only have to prove that they had an actual retail copy, which is exactly what the OP did. MS has no way of knowing how said copy was obtained, no kind of technology on their end would be capable of such a thing.

 

[mephixto]

I don't know much about how MS handle their games, but since OP got early copy from maybe a friend on a game store. Prob the manager of the game store found out that a copy of Halo 4 was missing or stolen and informed MS or 343. Microsoft flagged the copy and iligitimate and banned the whoever gain acces to the game with it. Again I don't know if this is possible I'm just guessing.

 

[EatinOlives]

I wish we knew what it was that got these others unbanned which didn't apply in this case. Did they produce receipts? And why should the burden of proof be on them when they played a perfectly fine retail copy?

Because somebody played a video game before Microsoft's favorite time, which is a HEINOUS CRIME.

 

[onlyindreams]

I don't know much about how MS handle their games, but since OP got early his code from maybe a friend on a game store. Prob the manager of the game store found out that a copy of Halo 4 was missing or stolen and informed MS or 343. Microsoft flagged the copy and iligitimate and banned the whoever gain acces to the game with it. Again I don't know if this is possible I'm just guessing.

maybe you shouldn't be posting bullshit, uninformed guesses that require giant leaps in logic then ;P

 

[polyh3dron]

I don't know much about how MS handle their games, but since OP got early his code from maybe a friend on a game store.

What does this sentence even mean?

 

[mephixto]

maybe you shouldn't be posting bullshit, uninformed guesses that require giant leaps in logic then ;P

Jez, I should stay away of console threads.

What does this sentence even mean?

Sorry used code instead of copy

 

[Metalmurphy]

this.

no matter how he got the game, it is a retail copy, not pirated. the receipt is fucking irrelevant here. he never should've been banned for playing a copy that was manufactured by microsoft.

Well that's a load of crap. If the OP obtained it illegally then yes he should be banned.

 

[Z_Y]

This thread makes me so angry. I need to stay out of it but it keeps pulling me back in.

The story should have stopped and the ban lifted once it was determined that the OP had a retail copy. I don't care if that copy fell off the back of a dead hooker's ass. MS is not the cops. If the game is not a pirated ISO than nothing else matters.

I'm usually not a slippery slope type of guy but if MS can do this and get away with it...why wouldn't they think about the possibility of banning people playing used/rented/borrowed games? I mean...they even made money off of this game transaction and they still banned the guy. Holy shit.

I die a little inside thinking about all the XBLM stuff this guy probably purchased just going *poof* gone because he played a retail game a few days early. Wow.

 

[robotzombie]

Jez, I should stay away of console threads.

I think the better option would be to just not pop into a topic and make up a random, specific scenario that does nothing for the discussion.

 

[Metalmurphy]

This thread makes me so angry. I need to stay out of it but it keeps pulling me back in.

The story should have stopped and the ban lifted once it was determined that the OP had a retail copy. I don't care if that copy fell off the back of a dead hooker's ass. MS is not the cops. If the game is not a pirated ISO than nothing else matters.

I'm usually not a slippery slope type of guy but if MS can do this and get away with it...why wouldn't they think about the possibility of banning people playing used/rented/borrowed games? I mean...they even made money off of this game transaction and they still banned the guy. Holy shit.

I die a little inside thinking about all the XBLM stuff this guy probably purchased just going *poof* gone because he played a retail game a few days early. Wow.

They are the cops of their own system/network.

 

[onlyindreams]

Well that's a load of crap. If the OP obtained it illegally then yes he should be banned.

That's not the case but even so, no he shouldn't be banned. MS is not the police.

 

[Z_Y]

Well that's a load of crap. If the OP obtained it illegally then yes he should be banned.

Holy shit. How are you going to determine that?

 

[BearPawB]

Well that's a load of crap. If the OP obtained it illegally then yes he should be banned.

I agree. It's not like the guy walked innocently into a store, bought the game, and went out. He colluded with his buddies who worked at the store to steal him a copy early that he would pay for when the game came out (which is why his receipt has the day of release, there was no receipt because he didn't actually buy the game).

If he had walked into a gamestop, they wrongly sold the game early, he would have a real receipt.

Now hes trying to protect his friend/the friends store from being fined for breaking a street date. Which again, they are totally allowed to punish stores for.

 

[Metalmurphy]

That's not the case but even so, no he shouldn't be banned. MS is not the police.

How can you tell? We got OP story (and not that it matters but to me, everything about it is shady) and then we got MS story. Why do you believe one over the other

Holy shit. How are you going to determine that?

Microsoft is fully aware of all the circumstances in this case. It was fully and properly investigated and reinvestigated. I am not going to comment on this specific case again. However for context, several people who bought legitimate copies of the game very early were temporarily banned, investigated and then subsequently unbanned, appropriately.

That's my last word on this particular case, period.

I think Stinkles made it pretty clear, and I have no reason to doubt MS on this, unless you guys think they take a liking to vendettas against specific users.

 

[Z_Y]

They are the cops of their own system/network.

Well they are not doing a very good job then because I bet they haven't banned one person for playing a stolen game on their network.

But how many people have been banned for playing a game early that they purchased?

 

[robotzombie]

I agree. It's not like the guy walked innocently into a store, bought the game, and went out. He colluded with his buddies who worked at the store to steal him a copy early that he would pay for when the game came out (which is why his receipt has the day of release, there was no receipt because he didn't actually buy the game).

If he had walked into a gamestop, they wrongly sold the game early, he would have a real receipt.

Now hes trying to protect his friend/the friends store from being fined for breaking a street date. Which again, they are totally allowed to punish stores for.

None of what you said gives a single reason why an end customer should be banned for anything to do with a street date. Release/street dates have absolutely nothing to do with consumers and no one has yet been able to explain why a consumer should be held accountable for following them, yet still just yell about how the guy should be banned for playing a legitimate retail copy of the game.

 

[Mikor]

I think Stinkles made it pretty clear, and I have no reason to doubt MS on this, unless you guys think they take a liking to vendettas against specific users.

It's PR speak for "he didn't rat out his friend/relative at the game store, so we're not going to help this guy out". Come on Murphy.

 

[onlyindreams]

I agree. It's not like the guy walked innocently into a store, bought the game, and went out. He colluded with his buddies who worked at the store to steal him a copy early that he would pay for when the game came out (which is why his receipt has the day of release, there was no receipt because he didn't actually buy the game).

If he had walked into a gamestop, they wrongly sold the game early, he would have a real receipt.

Now hes trying to protect his friend/the friends store from being fined for breaking a street date. Which again, they are totally allowed to punish stores for.

Here's someone else making up a scenario to justify their insane argument!

he said he DID buy the game. the STORE was just going to ring out the transaction in their books on release day, which is why they couldn't give him the receipt yet.

but again, none of that matters.

 

[BearPawB]

None of what you said gives a single reason why an end customer should be banned for anything to do with a street date. Release/street dates have absolutely nothing to do with consumers and no one has yet been able to explain why a consumer should be held accountable for following them, yet still just yell about how the guy should be banned for playing a legitimate retail copy of the game.

Because hes not a guy who bought it in a store on accident. He stole it. Early.
Again, if he just wandered into the store, they were selling it, and he got a copy. He would have been unbanned.
That is not what happened, it's not that simple. It has nothing to do with the customer breaking the streetdate.

Plenty of people got unbanned when it was found they legit bought a retail copy.

 

[Orca]

Well they are not doing a very good job then because I bet they haven't banned one person for playing a stolen game on their network.

But how many people have been banned for playing a game early that they purchased?

You should check out the ban appeals forum. They've clearly become pretty good at banning people with modded 360s, though the people never seem to understand why they're banned.

Here's someone else making up a scenario to justify their insane argument!

he said he DID buy the game. the STORE was just going to ring out the transaction in their books on release day, which is why they couldn't give him the receipt yet.

but again, none of that matters.

To be fair, people say a lot of things - as I pointed out in the original reply.

 

[polyh3dron]

I agree. It's not like the guy walked innocently into a store, bought the game, and went out. He colluded with his buddies who worked at the store to steal him a copy early that he would pay for when the game came out (which is why his receipt has the day of release, there was no receipt because he didn't actually buy the game).

If he had walked into a gamestop, they wrongly sold the game early, he would have a real receipt.

Now hes trying to protect his friend/the friends store from being fined for breaking a street date. Which again, they are totally allowed to punish stores for.

How can MS tell the difference? It's a retail disc, manufactured by MS, played in an unmodded console. No grounds for a ban there IMO.

 

[BearPawB]

Here's someone else making up a scenario to justify their insane argument!

he said he DID buy the game. the STORE was just going to ring out the transaction in their books on release day, which is why they couldn't give him the receipt yet.

but again, none of that matters.

you put your faith that the OP is telling the truth. I don't.
People lie ALL OF THE TIME on the internet. Especially in cases where there account is banned.

How can MS tell the difference? It's a retail disc, manufactured by MS, played in an unmodded console. No grounds for a ban there IMO.

They can't, they knew who had press copies and banned anyone who played that didn't have a press copy.
Then, they unbanned people who could provide proof that they bought a retail product. This guy can't provide proof, he stays banned.

We are treating this guy as a martyr but he has no proof besides his word. Everyone in this thread is too trusting of what the OP is saying.

 

[polyh3dron]

Because hes not a guy who bought it in a store on accident. He stole it. Early.
Again, if he just wandered into the store, they were selling it, and he got a copy. He would have been unbanned.
That is not what happened, it's not that simple. It has nothing to do with the customer breaking the streetdate.

Plenty of people got unbanned when it was found they legit bought a retail copy.

if I was to steal a legit copy right now and play it, nothing would happen to me, you know why? MS can't tell the difference between a stolen disc and a properly purchased disc.

The issue here is that the OP was banned for playing a genuine Xbox disc manufactured by MS. This shouldn't happen.

If it was pirated then fuck it, make the damn console explode for all I care.

 

[polyh3dron]

you put your faith that the OP is telling the truth. I don't.
People lie ALL OF THE TIME on the internet. Especially in cases where there account is banned.

OP posted a pic of his disc prior to the release of the game with a piece of paper that had his user name next to it. That's all the proof he should've needed.

 

[mephixto]

I think the better option would be to just not pop into a topic and make up a random, specific scenario that does nothing for the discussion.

Since the OP is not telling so many details, I was trying to explain why he got banned. This kind of bans cause stolen copies are no random or uncommon, a while ago a cargo containing copies of a PC game got stolen and the keys ended on a web that sold them and a lot of people got banned cause of it. That why mods banned all talk about key retailers.

Like I said I don't know if that possible on console games.

 

[Uno Venova]

Because hes not a guy who bought it in a store on accident. He stole it. Early.
Again, if he just wandered into the store, they were selling it, and he got a copy. He would have been unbanned.
That is not what happened, it's not that simple. It has nothing to do with the customer breaking the streetdate.

Plenty of people got unbanned when it was found they legit bought a retail copy.

Who's the plenty of people who got unbanned? There are two people in this thread that haven't been.

 

[onlyindreams]

I'm starting to feel like I'm arguing with fucking evangelical christians in here with all these ridiculous, delusional leaps in logic and common sense people keep taking to make the OP seem like a villain.

 

[polyh3dron]

Since the OP is not telling so many details, I was trying to explain why he got banned. This kind of bans cause stolen copies are no random or uncommon, a while ago a cargo containing copies of a PC game got stolen and the keys ended on a web that sold them and a lot of people got banned cause of it. That why mods banned all talk about key retailers.

Like I said I don't know if that possible on console games.

If you read the OP (or knew anything about Xbox 360 games) you'd know that he had a disc copy of the game and that does not require any type of code.

 

[Metalmurphy]

It's PR speak for "he didn't rat out his friend/relative at the game store, so we're not going to help this guy out". Come on Murphy.

If it was a friend, then the OP knowingly got an early copy when he shouldn't. Ban justified.
If it was a store mistake, why does the OP care?
What if it was neither of those?

 

[PaulLFC]

Because hes not a guy who bought it in a store on accident. He stole it. Early.

Do you have proof of this? Serious question. Theft is a pretty serious accusation to be leveling at someone.

 

[Metalmurphy]

Here's someone else making up a scenario to justify their insane argument!

he said he DID buy the game. the STORE was just going to ring out the transaction in their books on release day, which is why they couldn't give him the receipt yet.

but again, none of that matters.

Case closed. He said it!

 

[onlyindreams]

If it was a friend, then the OP knowingly got an early copy when he shouldn't. Ban justified.
If it was a store mistake, why does the OP care?
What if it was neither of those?

.....how is it justified. holy fuck. street dates are the most arbitrary bullshit in the world and only matter to marketing teams.

HE HAD A RETAIL COPY OF THE GAME HE PAID FOR

 

[Mackenzie 92]

OP posted a pic of his disc prior to the release of the game with a piece of paper that had his user name next to it. That's all the proof he should've needed.

That doesn't prove he obtained it legally though or that it was paid for, why is that so hard to understand?

This dude also went and traded in his banned console, so now some unsuspecting poor bastard is gonna end up with his banned console. OP is far from an angel.

My guess is he probably works at a gamestop or something and does this type of stuff regularly, his GT has a history of it, and that's why he's so determined to keep the retailer out of it.

 

[Chinner]

has anyone reported the OP to the police for theft? it's disgusting that he's wasting precious Microsoft time and ruining Frankie's holiday just to damage control stealing his copy of H4.

 

[Z_Y]

You should check out the ban appeals forum. They've clearly become pretty good at banning people with modded 360s, though the people never seem to understand why they're banned.

And?

My point was that they've never banned one person for playing a stolen retail game. Yet they've banned plenty for playing a purchased retail game early. Thus they are not very good police on their own network.

 

[Metalmurphy]

.....how is it justified. holy fuck. street dates are the most arbitrary bullshit in the world and only matter to marketing teams.

HE HAD A LEGITIMATE COPY OF THE GAME HE PAID FOR

It wasn't a legitimate copy, period. Whether the responsibility lies on him or the store that's what MS was trying to find out. Stinkles wording made me think they did find out.

 

[robotzombie]

.....how is it justified. holy fuck. street dates are the most arbitrary bullshit in the world and only matter to marketing teams.

HE HAD A RETAIL COPY OF THE GAME HE PAID FOR

Oh man, I feel your pain, haha, we both gotta just stop engaging these people (i know I still won't...)

 

[polyh3dron]

That doesn't prove he obtained it legally though or that it was paid for, why is that so hard to understand?

This shouldn't have had any bearing on him getting banned, why is that so hard to understand? MS had no way of knowing how he obtained the disc when they banned him.

It wasn't a legitimate copy, period. Whether the responsibility lies on him or the store that's what MS was trying to find out. Stinkles wording made me think they did find out.

It was a legit copy as far as being an actual disc manufactured by MS and that's all that should matter.

 

[Metalmurphy]

This shouldn't have had any bearing on him getting banned, why is that so hard to understand? MS had no way of knowing how he obtained the disc when they banned him.

You keep saying that like you know for sure.

 

[onlyindreams]

Oh man, I feel your pain, haha, we both gotta just stop engaging these people (i know I still won't...)

I keep telling myself I'm gonna stop coming in here and then I do anyway ;_;

 

[Kusagari]

It wasn't a legitimate copy, period. Either the responsibility lies on him or the store that's what MS was trying to find out. Stinkles wording made me think they did find out.

No.

Stinkles wording combined with what lexi's friend said makes it quite obvious they want the full receipt with the name of the store. They want him to rat them out or they're not doing it.

 

[robotzombie]

I keep telling myself I'm gonna stop coming in here and then I do anyway ;_;

It's so enraging and fun at the same time

 

[PaulLFC]

Case closed. He said it!

Do you have proof he stole it or whatever your accusation that makes it a "not legitimate" copy is?

If it was a friend, then the OP knowingly got an early copy when he shouldn't. Ban justified.

And if it's a legitimate disc, so what? Expecting every single customer to know you're "not allowed" to play legitimate copies of the game early or you get banned is ridiculous. I don't know word for word what happened in the OP's case, obviously, but this seems like a reasonable scenario to me: OP goes into shop, friend lets it slip that they just got Halo 4 copies delivered, OP asks if friend can sell him one, friend agrees. The store shouldn't do it, but they did. The OP should not be banned for playing a legitimate disc, end of.

 

[polyh3dron]

You keep saying that like you know for sure.

they don't ask for my receipts of my game discs when I play them and they don't ban me for not providing them.

Hell, I don't have receipts for most of my games that I bought. MS better ban my console.

 

[Metalmurphy]

Do you have proof he stole it or whatever your accusation that makes it a "not legitimate" copy is?

I don't have any proof that he did and hence I'm not taking sides. I'm just saying that people here claiming this is all on MS have no idea if it really is or not.

And if it's a legitimate disc, so what? Expecting every single customer to know you're "not allowed" to play legitimate copies of the game early or you get banned is ridiculous. I don't know what happened in the OP's case, but this seems like a reasonable scenario to me: OP goes into shop, friend lets it slip that they just got Halo 4 copies delivered, OP asks if friend can sell him one, friend agrees. The store shouldn't do it, but they did. The OP should not be banned for playing a legitimate disc, end of.

Their network, their rules.

they don't ask for my receipts of my game discs when I play them and they don't ban me for not providing them.

I fail to see your point here.

 

[PaulLFC]

I don't have any proof that he did and hence I'm not taking sides. I'm just saying that people here claiming this is all on MS have no idea if it really is or not.

Certainly reads like you're taking sides to me. You seem intent on arguing every post that says the OP shouldn't have been banned, it reads like you've made your mind up that he should be.

Their network, their rules.

Really? That's the only argument? Bullshit. "Their rules" might be true, but it's still a bullshit reason to ban somebody. What rules did he break exactly? Not everyone knows street dates, if the disc is a real Halo 4 disc and not a pirated copy then there are no grounds to ban the OP and he should be unbanned.

 

[Uno Venova]

I don't have any proof that he did and hence I'm not taking sides. I'm just saying that people here claiming this is all on MS have no idea if it really is or not.

If you have no proof why did you say it's not legitimate, period?

 

[Metalmurphy]

If you have no proof why did you say it's not legitimate, period?

Because he got it early. Either he broke a rule, or the store did. Either way it's not a legitimate copy.

Certainly reads like you're taking sides to me. You seem intent on arguing every post that says the OP shouldn't have been banned, it reads like you've made your mind up that he should be.

Well then, you're reading that on your own. I have an opinion on the matter, I haven't said what should or shouldn't be done in this specific case, because you know, I don't have all the facts.

Really? That's the only argument? Bullshit. "Their rules" might be true, but it's still a bullshit reason to ban somebody. What rules did he break exactly? Not everyone knows street dates, if the disc is a real Halo 4 disc and not a pirated copy then there are no grounds to ban the OP and he should be unbanned.

Ugh... we're going in circles and I don't want to keep rolling on it.

 

[Mackenzie 92]

This shouldn't have had any bearing on him getting banned, why is that so hard to understand? MS had no way of knowing how he obtained the disc when they banned him.

Yeah, a receipt sure would have been handy for just such a problem.

I just drove a car off a lot, guess it's mine now since the police have no idea how I obtained it, so I shouldn't be charged. I could have paid for it, for all they know. Pink slip or receipt? Don't need it, it's a legitimate car right off the factory line.

 

[robotzombie]

If you have no proof why did you say it's not legitimate, period?

Remember that he isn't taking sides here either