New ban wave?

[Sikh]

Some people are saying it's because of playing games early? I managed to get mirrors edge yesterday from my boy who works @ game

Hope they don't think it's pirated

If you mean gamestop how does that work?

We arent allowed to take street dated games home that we alreayd have or we get fired. Thats BS that you have the game and arent gonna get banned.

[rajputwarrior]

If you mean gamestop how does that work?

We arent allowed to take street dated games home that we alreayd have or we get fired. Thats BS that you have the game and arent gonna get banned.

game is a video game reseller in europe...

[rajputwarrior]

No you'll be fine, people were playing review copies on live and of course MS would pick up on that. There is no ban wave. Only morons who deserved to get banned.

smartest post in this entire thread

[spenser.d]

If you mean gamestop how does that work?

We arent allowed to take street dated games home that we alreayd have or we get fired. Thats BS that you have the game and arent gonna get banned.

Microsoft doesn't ban people who paid for a legitimate copy of a game, even if they got it early. Why the hell would they? Microsoft is out to ban people who pirate games, not those who pay for legit copies.

-Spenser

[Smigit]

Yeah good for MS IMHO. If they pirate and get caught it's their own problem.

These guys can complain all they like and make excuses like they were just "trialing" the game or they "would have gotten it later", but it still remains they broke the rules and in most countries, the law. Really, banning uses is on the very low end of the scale in regards to punishments MS could deliver with adequate proof which in these cases I'm sure it has. If they were the RIAA there'd probably be an untold number of lawsuits being handed out.

So yeah, not too fussed if people pirate games themselves, my friend does with his console infact. But at the same time I'm happy to see MS take action too. The consoles cheap enough that these guys can own two, hell the $300 or so price tag here for an arcade is roughly 3 - 3.5 games which I'm sure the guys who need this second console have more saved from the games they have downloaded as opposed to buying.

[Rudy]

Microsoft doesn't ban people who paid for a legitimate copy of a game, even if they got it early. Why the hell would they? Microsoft is out to ban people who pirate games, not those who pay for legit copies.

-Spenser

the problem is that sometimes they can't tell the difference ;)

[rajputwarrior]

so yeah.. its definitely happening.

I’ve gotten a few messages and seen some forum threads pop up on console bannings so I thought I’d post and let folks know what’s up. In our our continued effort to keep gameplay safe and secure for our community of more than 14 million members, Microsoft has taken action against a small percentage of Xbox 360 consoles that have been illegally modified in order to play pirated games. You should know that modifying your Xbox 360 console is also a violation of the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void your warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE. The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive, both from manufacturers and the local companies that support them. We will continue to employ and bolster anti-piracy security measures to counter piracy in the gaming industry and improve security in the Xbox LIVE community.

http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/11/11/...le-banning.aspx

[MightyJordan]

I think I'm glad now that my first console got banned from Live during the first ban wave! :D

I'm all legal on that front, and have been for over a year! :p

[Berserk87]

awesome.

the thing that bugs me the most about playing games online, is knowing that theres a bunch of people playing and enjoying the same experience as me without paying for it.

[rajputwarrior]

^ that actually bothers you? so you sit there, while killing people or playing NHL (presume NHL cause you from BC) thinking "man this sucks cause people got this for free, its ruining my entire experience".

[Berserk87]

^ that actually bothers you? so you sit there, while killing people or playing NHL (presume NHL cause you from BC) thinking "man this sucks cause people got this for free, its ruining my entire experience".

halo 3 is the only game i play online.

and it dosnt ruin the experience it just 'urks' me thinking that other people im playing against havnt paid for s***.

[spenser.d]

the problem is that sometimes they can't tell the difference ;)

Yes they can.

-Spenser

[magik]

Bwahahaha! :devil: :p

[spenser.d]

Also:

I?ve gotten a few messages and seen some forum threads pop up on console bannings so I thought I?d post and let folks know what?s up. In our our continued effort to keep gameplay safe and secure for our community of more than 14 million memMicrosoft has taken action against a small percentage of Xbox 360 consoles that have been illegally modified in order to play pirated games.s. You should know that modifying your Xbox 360 console is also a violation of the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void your warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE. The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive, both from manufacturers and the local companies that support them. We will continue to employ and bolster anti-piracy security measures to counter piracy in the gaming industry and improve security in the Xbox LIVE community.

Please don't get that confused with getting the NXE early or playing a legit copy of a game early.

http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/11/11/...le-banning.aspx

-Spenser

[seethru]

Yes they can.

-Spenser

If they can tell the difference, whats stopping them from banning every single console, as opposed to a handful?

Don't get my wrong, I'm glad that Microsoft is doing this, but don't make claims you can't back up. I'm with everyone else on this and that the only people being banned are ones who played the review copies online, or used poor rips.

[spenser.d]

If they can tell the difference, whats stopping them from banning every single console, as opposed to a handful?

Don't get my wrong, I'm glad that Microsoft is doing this, but don't make claims you can't back up. I'm with everyone else on this and that the only people being banned are ones who played the review copies online, or used poor rips.

I just backed it the hell up with a post from Major Nelson. I figure he knows more about it than you or I do. I don't know how you figure that just because only a handful of people are getting banned means that they can't tell the difference between a modded console and a regular console playing a review copy. That's bogus. It just means that perhaps they can't tell that some consoles are modded while others they can.

-Spenser

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Major Nelson gave away absolutely no method to the banning.

Only said it was for piracy.

I wish people would stop acting like they know exactly what MS check for banning, no one really knows.

Every time ban waves come, lots of pirates run around saying they aren't banned, while others are.

I mean, you could say faulty rips are pretty much 99.9% guaranteed to get you done, but even then, some people claim they've played bad rips/review copies/etc, and still aren't banned.

[Richard Hammond]

That doesnt make any sense, if they had a way of finding out how some were modded they would be able to tell all that were modded...?

[spenser.d]

Major Nelson gave away absolutely no method to the banning.

Only said it was for piracy.

First of all, I'm not acting like I know how they do it. Second, right there is the point I was trying to get across. Some people are arguing that people are getting banned for playing legit copies of games early (whether they purchased them early or are review copies) on legit (unmodded) Xbox 360's. That's just not true.

It's no surprise at all that MN doesn't say anything as to the method - that would ruin everything for them.

-Spenser

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

For what it's worth Richard Hammond, after I've just said to everyone else it's pointless trying to guess, detection seems to be done through software, not hardware.

Else anyone with modified firmware, regardless of if they had even played a copy, would've been stung.

First of all, I'm not acting like I know how they do it. Second, right there is the point I was trying to get across. Some people are arguing that people are getting banned for playing legit copies of games early (whether they purchased them early or are review copies) on legit (unmodded) Xbox 360's. That's just not true.

-Spenser

No that's not true, that's a load of bollocks.

[Kushan]

That doesnt make any sense, if they had a way of finding out how some were modded they would be able to tell all that were modded...?

Not necessarily. For a start, there's actually about 4 different DVD drives the 360 can have and they're flashed in a slightly different way. What's more, the vast majority of people are certain that it's not the modification itself that Microsoft can detect, but rather it's the disk you put in the drive. So-called "bad" rips are ISOs that have been improperly backed up and leave telltale signs that Microsoft can detect. The whole "don't play games long before they're released" thing is a bit of a farce, it's not so much the fact that you're playing GoW2 weeks before it's out that Microsoft gets ****y with, it's the fact that you can't actually verify the copy you're using until someone has a couple of retail copies to check it against. Chances are a lot of those early leaks are the "bad" rips and people are just too eager and impatient to wait, so they risk it.

If you've got a modded console and you only play online with rips that you've tested and verified yourself (i.e. YOU backed them up and YOU scanned the ISO against your backup to be sure it's exact), you technically should be fine and bar a select few who say they do this, generally around the ban waves, these people are ok.

[rajputwarrior]

Not necessarily. For a start, there's actually about 4 different DVD drives the 360 can have and they're flashed in a slightly different way. What's more, the vast majority of people are certain that it's not the modification itself that Microsoft can detect, but rather it's the disk you put in the drive. So-called "bad" rips are ISOs that have been improperly backed up and leave telltale signs that Microsoft can detect. The whole "don't play games long before they're released" thing is a bit of a farce, it's not so much the fact that you're playing GoW2 weeks before it's out that Microsoft gets ****y with, it's the fact that you can't actually verify the copy you're using until someone has a couple of retail copies to check it against. Chances are a lot of those early leaks are the "bad" rips and people are just too eager and impatient to wait, so they risk it.

If you've got a modded console and you only play online with rips that you've tested and verified yourself (i.e. YOU backed them up and YOU scanned the ISO against your backup to be sure it's exact), you technically should be fine and bar a select few who say they do this, generally around the ban waves, these people are ok.

yeah you are right, its all in the way you burn the files. You just got to make sure they are burned properly. Their are people on the internet (and lots of them) who have had their consoles modded for a very very long time and nothing has happened to them because they know what they are doing.

[Kushan]

yeah you are right, its all in the way you burn the files. You just got to make sure they are burned properly. Their are people on the internet (and lots of them) who have had their consoles modded for a very very long time and nothing has happened to them because they know what they are doing.

That's only partially true, yeah it matters what way you burn them, but it also makes a big difference WHAT you burn.

[Hungarian Salami]

For people who claim that they pay for all their games, you sound very educated about how the things work with modding consoles, bans, burning pirated DVDs. Or maybe you have too much time on your hands, hmmm?

[what]

For people who claim that they pay for all their games, you sound very educated about how the things work with modding consoles, bans, burning pirated DVDs. Or maybe you have too much time on your hands, hmmm?

Reading a couple of articles on how it all works does not mean you have too much time on your hands.