Looks like its happened as expected

Yep thats the error people are reporting.

I posted on another forum around xmas time that i had inside MS info that there would be live banning with the halo 3 release.

Yup - its mostly with the hitachi drives as far as Im reading, but theres 1 or 2 people saying that even with there 5.3 'jitter' firmware have got banned too!

Everyone knew that MS would catch up with the naughty blighters eventually, and there was loads of murmers it would be around the Halo 3 beta too!

I forsee lots of PS3 sales on the back of this.

Public relations is not one of M$'s strong points.

Unlucky to those who have been caught out.

I think theyve seen that PS3 isnt posing the kind of challenge they threatened and they're now protecting their profits.

yeah just put mine on and got the same (dam) ! hehe so am give them a week and they will have a fix for it !

There will be no fix id imagine. Your console ID and live ID will be banned for breach of conditions.

So what kind of profit do they make on copied games?

Am I missing something? Why would a thief who is restricted in practise, go and buy a ps3? Are the games copyable? Will they go and steal on that platform instead?? Good.
Again, don't see the connection here... why is this a bad pr move for MS? Should they be being nice to pirates???
Unlucky? Yeah, too bad you only got away with stealing software for quite a while as opposed to forever...

Look,I'm not one that is against modding per-se, but let's be honest, there's only ONE reason to mod a 360 right now, and it ain't to cure cancer.

Sympathy? well, no.....

Your gamertag will still be active - or so Ive read, you will need a new console.

Or like with the original xbox, you would need a new mobo, unless anyone comes up with a 'work around'.

I can imagine hackers around the world will be spurned into action with a new challenge from M$.

Seems this maybe another Ms cock up as people with non modded boxes are complaining that they've been banned too.

It hasnt though

Ive got both and the wii so im not a fanboy. If anything in a bit of a sony freak with a bravia, vaio and SE phone.

Whilst I don't doubt there may be a few that have been caught up, I'd imagine that the vast majority of these 'non-modded' ones, are in fact modded. Ask all the people in the dock if they are guilty

I've heard loads of stories of people getting modded consoles back from MS after they sent their legit one back after the ring of death. Even heard of consoles coming back with copied disks in the drives

Whats to stop people reflashing back to original firmware then sending back to MS? they could say well your console has been opened so we wont replace it but replacement cases are quite common, especially the black ones.

No matter what people say this isn't a good move for MS

So, a replacement case, and a unlucky ban? Gonna be a VERY small number isn't it?

See the other thing is this is not consistent with Microsoft policy.

Do PC owners have their machines scuttled for installing a dodgy version of Windows? Noooo, they are given the opportunity to fix it via an update on the Microsoft website - or carry on using the dodgy copy with a warning which you can close! M$ know that if they did scuttle dodgy version of Windows it would be a complete PR disaster for the company.

Microsoft should have patched modded consoles so they could not play pirated games.

And letting piracy run rampany would be a good move???
How the hell do you work that out? If the games are getting stolen, publishers abandon the platform... fact. It's what killed the amiga, the DC and nearly killed the pc as a gamin platform. The only thing that has stopped that happening is the sheer snumber of potential customers out there.

Yeah i suppose it is, as i said though... it's not good for MS either way and its not really gonna make that much difference. Pirates that want to use live will more than likely buy a new console (MS dont make much on them anyway) and continue to download games but just purchase the odd one every now and again for live.

It's not consistent with Windows policy....
Windows is an OS, not a console. MS sell the OS at a profit, the 360 at a loss, which they make back on purchases...

so which ones have been banned then? Is it just certain drives that have been taken off and if so, how come just some and not all?

Nope its seems all drives, even with the latest firmware

I think you'll find it was Commodore going bust that killed the Amiga. The Amiga was WELL supported in terms of software right up to its demise.

The Dreamcast was a marketing disaster and had too few games to begin with! It could not compete with the Playstation 1 in terms of sales and the release of the PS2 buried it. Both of those format also had piracy issues, but seemed to survive!

The PC gaming industry has been killed by the consoles, it used to be the case that the PC was always techincally ahead of the console industry, but that has now reversed. There is no reason to spend ?1k+ on a gaming PC when you can get a console that does a better jon for a fraction of the price.

[quote]
One of the great things about LIVE and the unified community is that we work hard to create a level playing field for all gamers and have a no tolerance policy towards inappropriate behavior like hacking or cheating. As part of our commitment to our members, we do not allow people that we have detected to have modified their console to connect to LIVE. This is an important part of our efforts to try and maintain a fair gaming environment for the large majority of gamers that play by the rules. This topic is more important than ever given the recent release of the Halo 3 beta. As a result, some consumers that try to login to LIVE who we detect have illegally modified their console will get an error code (Status Code: Z: 8015 - 190D) when trying to connect to the service. These users will not have their account automatically banned from LIVE, but they will no longer be able to access the service from the console they modified.

We have stated in the past that customers can only enjoy access to the Xbox LIVE community through the use of a genuine, unmodified, Xbox console and we will continue to enforce this rule to ensure the integrity of our service, the protection of our partners and the benefits of our users.
chrismya

Not true that all drives have been banned as I know people that are still going with flashed consoles on live that I've seen tonight but I just wonder which have been taken off. If its true at all and not just started up as a thread to get people talking about piracy that is.

sorry I thought I was dealing with someone who could give a reasoned argument, not a fan boy.

Loss, I don't think so. You have really been taken in by the M$ publicity machine.

There is a delay with the bans and what i meant by all drives was all versions are being banned, not that ALL modded drives have already been banned

I'm sorry but i don't sypathise which thiose who got banned. If they modded their console and were using pirate copies of games then it's their fault they got banned

It's about time MS did something about this, I'm sick of buying games and knowing there's people who just download them for free.

All these people claiming innocence on Major Nelsons blog just make me laugh. I'm in no dought there will be a few innocent users banned (hope you get things sorted out) but 99.9% of the people claiming innocence are talking BS, wouldn't you if you just lost £250 lol

Wonder if they will get a refund on their live subscription? cant see it really as they were in breach of contract not Microsoft.

gj MS! Down with the pirates!!

M$ are just shooting themselves in the foot with this cos so many people have been spending on ms points / marketplace

LOL!
Honestly, you spend that much on MS points, then steal the proper stuff????

I don't agree with Piracy and haven't possessed a pirated game since I was in shorts swapping Commodore 64 games in the playground.

However common sense tells me that this move by Microsoft will be ultimately bad for its image and in some respects its business. It's using heavy handed tactics and for a company to employ that against its own customers is tantamount to suicide.

I suspect there are hundreds of thousands of xbox owners who now can't access live, do you really think they will go out and buy another 360 - I doubt it.

No doubt there will be fireworks to come over this, especially if legit users are caught up in it.

M$ have been planning this for some time though, and have had ample chance to collect all the data they need.

Remember this - Big Brother is always watching...

P.S google 'new world order' (cue twilight zone music) dododooodoodododoo

You really think that because they have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar they are going to throw thier toys out of the pram completely, abandon all their accumulated games, and accessories, and then go and buy a ps3, start to again pirate software, and one day in all likelyhood one day gat banned again.

What, you think MS will be sad to see a pirate leave the 360 scene?

What make you think the ps3 will be any different? Do Sony like pirates?

Please lets not have another 360 vs PS3 debate and while we're at it, lets not turn it into a moralistic argument either...

The amount of money MS will lose on live marketplace content will be quite significant i think.

I'd get a ban for answering this post honestly.

Why would people who play downloaded pirated games go to a platform where they can't burn the discs and thus cannot pirate the games?

How is stopping people playing downloaded pirated games bad PR?

But is it as significant as the amount of money they and other publishers lose through the theft of their games

But the amount they will gain on legit games, that people can't live without (who flash back to original firmware before they go on live next) will be much more methinks!

I dont think the amount of money lost on retail games is as much as people think. Most pirates that download say 50 games might actually only buy 5 of them anyway... 5 games plus downloadable content or dowloadable content from 50 pirated games. They will also loose money from arcade games as well.

Ummm well like I said, I have never owned a pirated 360 game, however this incident is causing me to have concerns about the way M$ are handling the situation and I won't be the only one. Would it not be more productive to come up with a fix to scuttle pirated games rather than consoles, because if Microsofts track record is anything to go by, I wouldn't mind a bet there are a fair few legit consoles that get banned.

And if legit consoles ARE banned, then they get replaced by MS.

Simple really, although I suspect that the number of machines that DO get incorrectly banned will be far fewer than people reckon...

Pirates or not, these people bought a Microsoft console and therefore are Microsoft customers! M$ are effectively pooping in their own backyard.

Simple really.

Wouldn't happen if people didn't mod the frakkin console in the first place.

Aside from that, the only consoles I heard of being banned were modded ones - collateral damage is just a myth.

Have you been banned yet Turb?

Also are there any people on here with unmodded machines banned?

1000 brownie points for you m8

Time to stop the bickering before this thread outlives its usefulness.

Should of been more to the point. What I mean is that people who only get copies won't change to a format the you have to buy games for.

Take it easy mate

I for one ain't fussed if someone gets a game before me as long as I get it i'm happy.

I don't. The only use of the modded firmware was to play copied games. Currently, you cannot play copied games on the PS3, and so the pirates won't turn to the PS3.

Ive been banned and must admit i was expecting one day! just thought id enjoy it whilst it lasted.
My old xbox got banned after i stupidly left the chip turned on when going on live. And it didnt need a new motherboard i got it unbanned by flashing a new epprom onto it which i got emailed from a guy in americe for $5

One thing that this has exposed is how many people on the AV Forum have modded 360's

Fair play

yeah all modded for backing up expensive games we buy

I don't know why they didn't ban the live accounts as well and forward the users home address details to the rozzers.

I'd imagine a large percentage of people who modded their consoles have pirated games.

The cops could do a tour round their area stopping off to do a quick house search, confiscate the offending gear (and anything else they came across), strip search all the household members as well as handing out an on the spot fine. If they do come across someone who has since sold the console or never had any dodgy games they could do what they always do in such situations and just plant some copied disks and nick them anyway.

ABOVE IS TONGUE IN CHEEK FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH ANY DOUBTS!

I've got a modded console but havn't used any copied games on it yet, and I'm still on live. Does playing a copied game trigger a ban or something. The only reason i modded my console is because I'm a poor student who can't afford to splash out £30-40 a pop

It appears (although don't take this as gospel) that downloading the halo 3 beta is what can cause the ban. Lots of people on the net say this is true, some people say its not linked. If in doubt, probably better to not download it. It appears that some drives are absolutely fine and others arent, apparently the hitachi drive is the only one that has currently been banned. Not all flashed consoles have been banned as I have several on my friends list with flashed consoles that are still working perfectly well. For how long is anyones guess.

Early days yet,

Loads of reports of different setups and firmwares, ppl saying they have never used a back up and still banned, ppl saying they aren't even modded.

Ppl saying they've rung Ms support as they have a non-modded box and the reply they say they've go from support is the server will be reset am Saturday tomorrow as there has been a problem (BS if you ask me)

reorts of H3 causing the ban is false as too many reported inceidents say they never used H3 or crackdown.

Word is they have been collecting data for months and implimented the banhammer due to H3 being released!

Ms say if you have modded you 360 don't use live, it's the rules.

Up 2 U.

Burn all the modders!! Burn them i say

just got a phone call from a friend whos had his machine banned but strangely his lad has a modded360 and his hdd works on his lads x box no problem????

I held off doing anything to the console as I could not believe ms would just sit back and allow it.

Maybe people who have upgraded the firmware could downgrade and then, err damage their console and send their it off for repair so they get a replacement. Whilst not morally correct, I'd be very tempted...seeing that I bought the 3 year warranty too...

I may well wait, i'll just make sure i get a new one before September 26th.. would be nice if we could pick up an Elite by then, although i do find that unlikely

I don't hate you for doing it (I don't even know you), it's not a personal thing aimed just at you - I just despise pirating. Do you refuse to pay to go anywhere, because you may not like it? You can try and justify it to yourself anyway you like but Bill Gates and the 360 itself doesn't really have much to do with people ripping off software developers by pirating their games. That's like justifying illegal cable or Sky because you have a faulty TV.

The cruz of the matter is that some people will steal stuff if they can get away with it and not have to pay, others won't - it's just human nature. I research the games I buy, I chat with people on here who's views I respect and I play demo's to make my mind up which games I spend my hard earned cash on. I shop about for the best prices (usually sub £40) and 95% of the time I am rewarded by a game that either meets or exceeds my expectations . Personally I feel that games are good value for money and i'm glad that there's an industry producing them.

I just rarely buy crap. Yay for me.

copied game =no money to microsoft or developers!
buying a second hand original of ebay etc=no money to microsoft or developers!

lol the results are the same,so if your buy your games second hand your just as bad ,ive bought second hand games so that makes me a baD AS a so called dirty modder judging by the comments by some members on this thread.

For those who said you can't cheat with a modded XBOX 360 check this out look at the guys points at the top right



Now thats what you can do with an ISO and abit of hex editting knowledge. Its simple its been done on Pro evo on the pc fro years to get the correct strips.
i'm glad MS released the Hammer of Ban

People who pirate games will eventually force the price of games up for other gamers. Justifying piracy by saying I can't afford (or am not willing to spend) ?40 on a game so I pirate, is like me saying I can't afford a Porsche so it's OK to go and steal one.

If you can't afford to buy new games for ?40 wait a few months and get them 2nd hand.

Well done to Microsoft for taking steps to stop what is ultimately theft.

You should always steal a Porsche instead of buying one as what if you don't like it? A test drive is never representational of the real thing.

Infact let's steal everything - why buy the weekly shop? What if you don't like it?? Best bet is just to steal all our food just to be on the safe side.

You're right. Also, I'm going to evict the family up the road from their house and live there as I'm not sure I will like living there and can't afford my own house. Next pint I buy I'm not paying for as it might be a bit warm or flat (my local is crap).

But at least the money went to the devloper first time round. With a pirated game maybe one copy was used to make 100s of piurates, so only one lot of money went to the devloper.

But the online part will keep me playing for months.

You guys do think your funny dont you but in reality shouldn't it be me laughing at you lot when you spend ?40 on something thats a load of crap? Basically I look after number 1 just like the developers do so if i can have a free test run on the game i will, if its worth ?40 of my money i'll go pick it up.

All games should be free in case they're no good and then we rely on goodwill donations to pay devs?

Haven't we all been here before a thousand times? I think the point of the thread has been fulfilled and we're just going in circles now.

I'm inclined to agree, been following a large part of this thread an the same arguments seem to be going around in circles.

I don't really see microsoft being too concerned about losing the ?40 a year subs by banning modded consoles, I'm guessing a high percentage of those modders will go out and buy a second unit to play over Live. Let's face it we all know that most of us manage to pick up our subs for less than ?40 anyway.

I can see the point of parents wanting to protect their original games, but although there are some people who will go out & buy the original, then back it up to keep a spare, I would bet they are in the minority. I just can't see that many people going to the trouble of having their consoles modded, only to carry on paying for original games. Not saying there aren't people that do this but I think the majority would be going all out for copies apart from the odd gaming bargain.

Personally I would think it has always been on the cards that microsoft would at some point attempt to ban modded consoles, it was the same with the first Xbox so was surely just a matter of time.

And where did Apple steal the whole concept from?
Rank Xerox, another well known FACT

LOLage@the angrymodders

Maybe I'm too clean cut but none of my friends have been banned, so the mod community is a teeny percentage as far as I'm aware.

Sums it up for me too. If you want to play the game (myself included), you gotta be prepared to lose.

Yep, I'd agree. Any further wandering off topic (ie. discussing the morality of piracy) will result in this being locked.

What he said

I expect Microsoft have done the maths ..they have probably been gathering stats on modded boxes for sometime so I guess they will know how much of their subscription base they have just cut off.

I would'nt like to guess but out of my 10 friends online 5 have modded boxes. I hope its not 50% :-)

this topic has really turned into an awful lot of drivel and someone should probably lock it... nothing constructive is being said - its the same points over and over.

The fact is who cares if people mod their consoles, not me. But please those that have just accept you are banned, all these sour grapes at MS for catching them is immature. You've had your free ride their is really nothgin else to say on the morales of the situation - it doesnt apply to this debate.

i wonder how many people have had theres done,i bet it is very high and if get banned can you see how much MS is going to lose out on in money for live.

I don't condone piracy full stop..lets get that right from the start.

But the people on here whose **** dont stink, have you ever brought or watched a pirate film (no matter how good/bad the quality is)?

I have and out of nessesity and I think you should look at the reason why people do buy copy material.

In my circumstance I have a 2 year old daughter and unable to get a reliable (who we know and can trust baby sitter), my wife works full time also,so the only way I can watch a new 'blockbuster' film is by buying a copy of it and watching it at home, I dont do this all the time but for me its the only way I get to see if before 6 months down the line it comes on DVD.

Some people (moms and dads) might mod a console and buy copies as thats the only way there children can play games as they cant afford the ?50 a shot, children have a very short attention span, play things for 5 minutes and then onto another game , it obvioulsy can be expensive.

As long as there is an appetite for people to play/buy copied games, someone will always sell them and with MS banning live accounts with modded firmware that wont stop the pirates, they will just play games offline.

The only real people losing out on this is MS (loss of points and subscriptions), I realise they have to do something for developers but this is only deflecting the problem rather than solving it.

The modders (as everyone has pointed out) can go and buy a core and switch the hard drive between the 2 360's, they will be a lot more selective over which games they buy to play on live and with most of the rubbish that has come out on the 360 as of late I cant see it being more than 3 or 4 a year.

True, as M$, $ony etc, don't make a single penny on any re-sales.

Classic

You might need to read the posts in this thread again, as, as far as I can see, the majority are not in fact slagging off 'pirates', more: they are attacking those that are moaning about having their consoles banned. I'm pretty sure most if not all here have had some shade of illegal recoding or something similar at one stage or another, but this thread isn't about 'dirty rotten naughty pirates', it's about the modded consoles getting barred, and the complaining about it.

I myself have at one time or another been in those 'grey' areas, but as I said earlier, I wouldn't be moaning at MS for barring my console if I was doing it now.

MS is very diplomatic about calling anyone thieves or pirates, because Microsoft are Thieves themselves. They stole their whole concept from Apple. This is a well known fact.

How are we mugging the developers? If it sells for say $300 in the US and i pay $300 for it i am paying the price that the developers have set. Just because some of us dont like getting ripped off by UK prices does not mean we are muggin the developers. As for Global warming, in the words of Jeremy Clarkson ""What's wrong with global warming? We might lose Holland but there are other places to go on holiday"

Has anyone not noticed the marketing scam here ?

MS release 360 announcing its the most secure console ever ..will never be hacked..

modders come up with simple hack not even soldering skills required

LOAD's of people mod there xbox

All modded boxes get banned

most owners of banned boxes buy replacement core therefore increasing MS's sales of xbox e 32E8 ven further and blurring the lines of consoles sales record worldwide.

I would'nt be surprised if it was MS who showed the hackers the way to mod in the first place.

and they call us thieves

got home from work and indeed i have been banned so it's bye bye 2 the 14 year old yanks screaming down the headset on GOW , knew it would happen but sometimes u pay the price

and i have bought games i have downloaded (graw2 ) , but then again i have also bought dvd's after i have downloaded the torrent most pirates like havin there proper collection on the side


off to watch a dark camcorder version of shrek 3 on my pc then a bit of motostorm

Anyone using a core system been banned?

Look like the current banned ones are all premium consoles for some reason.

Whatever mate, You did this and did that, You got busted, Good

I dont see why its really a problem for many, i will simply buy a core machine and if i think the games are worth buying for live i will. The reason i modded my console is because i was sick of spending ?40 on games only to find that they are utter crap!!! and lets face it... there are a hell of a lot of those just lately.
For example....I like a good platform game but can you imagine spending ?40 on turtles??? 4 hours and it was complete with 1000 gamer points. ?40 for a 4 hour game with no online play, its ****in disgusting that some games developers think its ok to release crap like that and then accuse pirates of stealing it they are the ones robbin gamers of ?40

Thats what i like to see ..... valid input !!!!

The holier that thou attitude of some people is wearing thin now .... people who made the choice to mod are paying the price ..... it was their decision.

Have you ever considered renting the games you're not 100% sure about?
That's what most do and it may even end up slightly cheaper.

No because i refuse to pay for something thats utter ***** and i'm not paying to rent and then paying again to buy.

But doesn't a pirated game cost you about a fiver anyway? If you're complaint is that you're not getting value for money from the short/lousy games then renting is the ideal solution. When you find a game worthy of ?40 you reward the developers with your hard earned money so that they can repeat their performance. Everybody wins

Nope, 80p for a disc and then if its any good i'll pick it up on release and add to my collection

Off topic and i know we're not really supposed to discuss piracy, but how on earth does anyone make a profit at 80p a disc?

im also banned, but i have been expecting it for some time, so im not to bothered, i mean when i weighed up how much time i really play online i kind of dont mind, but on the other hand i will be goging down the same route as many others by buying a core system and keeping both that way everyone is a winner, i can still get backups and if i like it enough to wnat to play it online ill just get the real disk.

all in all i think anyone in the same situation as me (banned) should really think "we chose to take a risk". plus the cash ive saved in the last 12months though games pays for a core system

I dont buy them from someone else, i do them myself. If i couldn't do them myself i wouldn't go to the trouble of buying backups elsewhere

Live is like a ghost town now, lol, thing is there is still alot not banned also