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Just got my console (and I assume my account) banned from Live for playing Halo 4.

Notice how not one single poster here has said "I'm outraged I'm selling my 360!" Or something similar? Yeah there is a reason, its pretty common sense that playing a game early online gets you banned. Also 140k views is probably 14k people viewing it over and over. I know I've viewed this thread at least 15 times.

I am sure someone who has heavily invested in the Xbox ecosphere won't suddenly sell his Xbox over that, but I also think this thread isn't helping Microsoft's image in the eye of potential new customers who are reading this, especially now that a new generation is coming up.
 

n64coder

Member
The OP could file a suit in small claims court to recover the cost of his console and purchased games if he wanted to, right? It seems that it would be pretty easy to prove his case if he has his receipt.
 

lexi

Banned
If this is just a simple misunderstanding, I don't understand why the store needs to be protected.

From my perspective, this is 100% why there has been a problem. Skelington's desire to protect the store is greater than his want for his account / console to be unbanned.
 
I would be shocked if this thread costs ms even 1 sale of 1 game let alone a console. Maybe pirates that read it will wait till launch day to play but that's it (not insinuating in any way OP is a pirate).

I would have bought Halo 4 in the $40 sale this week if not for how Stinkles treated the OP in this thread and my live is running out in a couple months. Won't be renewing.
 
Just fyi, I haven't been disappointed by your ability to quickly pop in here and discredit me at every opportunity ;p

It's all good, man. We just don't see eye-to-eye; which is fine. If we did, message boards wouldn't be nearly as fun. It's been a good ride, OldJadedGamer.

That said - I was specifically told that a receipt dated on launch would be sufficient; and I provided a crystal-clear one, once I was promised no action would be taken against the store and I had expressed my concern with the questions it would rise.

... waiting for your rebuttal ;p

I'm not discrediting you. I just don't like it when someone complains and yet hides information. I would have no problem had you just been honest in the OP.

I don't want to take explicit sides here, but yes, he did.

An unaltered receipt showing where the game was purchased?
 
I'm not discrediting you. I just don't like it when someone complains and yet hides information. I would have no problem had you just been honest in the OP.



An unaltered receipt showing where the game was purchased?

Where did he lie? He said he gave a clear receipt so why are you still arguing that he didn't?
 
Where did he lie? He said he gave a clear receipt so why are you still arguing that he didn't?

According to Lexi the receipt was altered that was shown. Not sure how good of a source he is. Also Stinkles said others were banned for playing early and were reversed. Why is OP different? He has been witholding vital information from the very first post.
 

Yagharek

Member
Notice how not one single poster here has said "I'm outraged I'm selling my 360!" Or something similar?

Ive quit buying MS products off all sorts thanks in part to their disgusting customer service for xbox rrods, fifa hacks, general policies like this one and vista. Last thing I bought from them was 2 years ago and I'm much better off for it.
 

gatti-man

Member
I would have bought Halo 4 in the $40 sale this week if not for how Stinkles treated the OP in this thread and my live is running out in a couple months. Won't be renewing.

So stinkles not being able to get him unbanned makes you not but his game? Lesson learned stinkles next time don't try and help gaffers lol.


Ive quit buying MS products off all sorts thanks in part to their disgusting customer service for xbox rrods, fifa hacks, general policies like this one and vista. Last thing I bought from them was 2 years ago and I'm much better off for it.
Cool dude. That has zero to do with my comment though.
 

lexi

Banned
According to Lexi the receipt was altered that was shown. Not sure how good of a source he is. Also Stinkles said others were banned for playing early and were reversed. Why is OP different? He has been witholding vital information from the very first post.

Not according to me, this is according to Microsoft.

I'm a she btw! :)
 
According to Lexi the receipt was altered that was shown. Not sure how good of a source he is. Also Stinkles said others were banned for playing early and were reversed. Why is OP different? He has been witholding vital information from the very first post.

So in other words you have no proof you just want to call him a liar regardless. Cool.
 

JCizzle

Member
Gemüsepizza;45294308 said:
I am sure someone who has heavily invested in the Xbox ecosphere won't suddenly sell his Xbox over that, but I also think this thread isn't helping Microsoft's image in the eye of potential new customers who are reading this, especially now that a new generation is coming up.

Yep. Have a PS3 this gen, but am keeping an open mind going into the next gen. This is pretty off-putting, as is paying a subscription to access... more paid gated content. They can still blow me away if they come out with a clearly superior piece of hardware, but no way ill go Microsoft otherwise.
 

Yagharek

Member
Have we established that the OP doesn't work for the store where he acquired the game?

How many other accusations without base are you willing to throw out there? It's up to Microsoft to prove he pirated the game or stole it - that's the only way his copy is illegitimate. If he bought that game early, that's not a crime nor grounds for getting his account nuked.
 
skelington, mind posting the receipt picture you sent here?

Internet duress campaigns are rarely effective. What makes you think that this one would buck the trend?

Microsoft can and do whitelist people playing H4 online, yet they prefer to lure pirates and users alike, stripping them from their purchases, gamertag and console online functions.

Sounds pretty juicy to me.
 

Yagharek

Member
Regardless of your opinion, there is no denying that the OP is witholding vital information.

Why isn't this a case of innocent til proven guilty? MS have banned him on first instance and asked questions second.

It shouldn't BE up to the OP to prove he did something wrong. It should be up to MS to prove he DID.
 

DenogginizerOS

BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
How many other accusations without base are you willing to throw out there? It's up to Microsoft to prove he pirated the game or stole it - that's the only way his copy is illegitimate. If he bought that game early, that's not a crime nor grounds for getting his account nuked.
I made no accusation. I am trying to understand why a customer would spend their own money to protect a store from Microsoft.
 

kneePat

Member
I got ~$150 for my banned console and a few games I won't ever play again. It cost me a relatively small amount of cash to get a new console to enjoy my 60+ 360 titles; and I already had Gold cards laying around from last year's BF sales.

Just wondering because this is not clear...
Did you let the person you sold it to know that it was a banned console?
Also,
Did you sell it back to the store you got halo from? If not, why not?
 

Dunlop

Member
It's up to Microsoft to prove he pirated the game. If he bought that game early, that's not a crime nor grounds for getting his account nuked.

Microsoft doesn't have to prove anything, it's their service. Why is this hard to comprehend?

Normally it is not in their best interest as it is bad PR, but in this case there is just too much "grey".

Obviously I don't think the OP did anything wrong by buying the game, but the whole not providing a receipt for the day it was purchased put the onus on him.

It's awesome to "protect" the store but they were at fault for selling the game. His beef should be with the store after the banning and recoup the loss there
 

bananas

Banned
Why isn't this a case of innocent til proven guilty? MS have banned him on first instance and asked questions second.

It shouldn't BE up to the OP to prove he did something wrong. It should be up to MS to prove he DID.

I don't want to sound like I'm giving Microsoft a pass or anything, I think OP is in the right, but that being said, this isn't a court of law. They don't have to do anything.
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
skelington, mind posting the receipt picture you sent here?



Microsoft can and do whitelist people playing H4 online, yet they prefer to lure pirates and users alike, stripping them from their purchases, gamertag and console online functions.

Sounds pretty juicy to me.

The only reason I shared the picture with Stinkles is because I was assured it would take care of the issue and nothing would happen in regards to the store.

I'm waiting to see if Stinkles can shoot me a PM. Like I mentioned earlier, I want to give him the benefit of the doubt; surely, there must be a piece of the puzzle I'm not getting.

But I can tell you there's no way he can honestly say I didn't provide a legible receipt like MS claims. While I like to keep PMs private - as they're intended - it wouldn't be hard to grab a screen capture of the picture in my PM sent folder on 11/6. That said, I don't want to do that, as I'm not willing to disclose the store.
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
The amount of people justifying what Microsoft has done is absolutely gross.

No receipt = obviously he stole the game
Guilty until proven innocent = totally okay
 

Valnen

Member
So if they dont have to prove anything, why should anyone trust their service at all if they can be banned without recourse at any time.

Any game service ever can ban you without recourse for any or no reason.

Technically you shouldn't be playing on ANY console...or online PC game if that bothers you that much.
 

lexi

Banned
if he already sent it there's no such secret anymore. Those who can harm it already have it?

He sent it to Frankie with the stipulation that no action would be taken against the store. Perhaps Frankie tried to resolve this but his Microsoft bosses wanted to take action against the store. Perhaps Frankie knowing the stipulation Skelington made, didn't proceed.
 

Resilient

Member
OP, don't post the receipt. Could be your biggest mistake of the thread. You have nothing to prove to these people who are too far invested into your situation. You should only provide that info to those who need it.
 
Hey I didn't mean he should post it, I just meant that if it already entered MS hands it's not a secret anymore... so he could post it.

Of course I don't need the picture.
 

Z_Y

Member
Well, I'm aware of at least two individuals who bought Borderlands 2 on PS3 instead of 360, solely because of this thread. They're pretty casual and doesn't care for a specific console but this kind of customer hostility did worry them quite a bit.

Regarding the ban itself I'm pretty confident that most pirates are well aware of the risk of playing games before release whereas the casual audience is not. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the amount of banned accounts/consoles mostly persists of legitimate customers (that is to say, who paid for the game).


Add me to the list. I was going to drop 4000 msp on some AssCreed Games on Demand but I think I'll just hunt around for some used versions.
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
He sent it to Frankie with the stipulation that no action would be taken against the store. Perhaps Frankie tried to resolve this but his Microsoft bosses wanted to take action against the store. Perhaps Frankie knowing the stipulation Skelington made, didn't proceed.

Yes, this is why I'm giving Stinkles the benefit of the doubt. If he witheld the information at my request, then good on him; I appreciate it! It's fine, and I have no beef with him.

That said, I'd appreciate it if he told me that was the reason, so that we could settle this and determine MS is holding my account ransom in hopes I'll snitch for them like a rat.
 

dallow_bg

nods at old men
He sent it to Frankie with the stipulation that no action would be taken against the store. Perhaps Frankie tried to resolve this but his Microsoft bosses wanted to take action against the store. Perhaps Frankie knowing the stipulation Skelington made, didn't proceed.
Mmmm, more speculation.
Sounds like like a huge lack of communication from Microsoft and stinkles to their customer.
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
OP, don't post the receipt. Could be your biggest mistake of the thread. You have nothing to prove to these people who are too far invested into your situation. You should only provide that info to those who need it.

Agreed - the only way I'd probably disclose it is if Stinkles actually publicly said I was lying. I don't believe that will happen, though. See my post just a few seconds ago.
 

DenogginizerOS

BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Yes, this is why I'm giving Stinkles the benefit of the doubt. If he witheld the information at my request, then good on him; I appreciate it! It's fine, and I have no beef with him.

That said, I'd appreciate it if he told me that was the reason, so that we could settle this and determine MS is holding my account ransom in hopes I'll snitch for them like a rat.
What did the people at the store you bought the game from say when you told them about the ban?
 

Z_Y

Member
According to Lexi the receipt was altered that was shown. Not sure how good of a source he is. Also Stinkles said others were banned for playing early and were reversed. Why is OP different? He has been witholding vital information from the very first post.

Show me one person who has had their ban overturned.
 

jayb

Member
First off, thank you for looking into this, and at the very least giving me a REASON for what the issue is. That said, if this is really their stance; they're a bunch of lying assholes.

I have not ONCE been contacted. I have in no way been "uncooperative" because I haven't even had a chance to be!

Stinkles - prior to launch day - asked for a receipt; he said that a receipt dated on launch day WOULD be sufficient, and I was ASSURED that no retribution would be taken against the store on the receipt. I questioned the ability for such a thing to prove anything; but was told not to worry about it and that is all that was needed. Basically, it seemed, they just needed a "yes, $60 was dropped on this title" kind of proof. I provided a CRISP, CLEAR, LARGE, and LEGIBLE receipt on launch day, mid-afternoon. Nothing on the receipt is blurred. Nothing on the receipt is blocked out. And the receipt is in front of the open copy of the game. To say I Photoshopped it is laughable - what a bunch of shit.

So if they're claiming a picture of an "unaltered receipt is all that is needed for an unban", and that is all, they are LYING. Period.




Since I haven't received a PM, can you please contact me and let me know what, specifically, in this case prevented me from being subsequently unbanned? I feel like there's a larger issue at play here that I am not being informed of.


Also - for the upteenth time - believe what you want, but the game is not stolen. Period. Believe if you want - but it's BS to claim otherwise. Sorry I won't play MS's snitch. And yeah, I bought a new console - not cause I'm guilty and not cause I'm a "moron." I got ~$150 for my banned console and a few games I won't ever play again. It cost me a relatively small amount of cash to get a new console to enjoy my 60+ 360 titles; and I already had Gold cards laying around from last year's BF sales.

So you gave them an unaltered receipt, but won't play MS's snitch.

OK, does the unaltered receipt not include the name of the store? That's a rare occurrence, if so.
 
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