There glimmered the embroidered letter, with comfort in its unearthly ray. Elsewhere the token of sin, it was the taper of the sick-chamber. It had even thrown its gleam, in the sufferer's hard extremity, across the verge of time. It had shown him where to set his foot, while the light of earth was fast becoming dim, and ere the light of futurity could reach him.
--from "The Scarlet Letter," by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Yesterday, Microsoft announced a new form of rough justice for those who would dare to cheat its system of Achievement Points and Gamerscores. Offenders would have their gamerscore--a mark of their progression through various Xbox 360 games--reset to zero; their specifically forfeited achievement points permanently removed, never to again be regained; and their gamercard emblazoned a tag indicating that "They've been caught cheating." Intrigued by the frontier mentality behind such public shaming of scofflaws, we reached out to Microsoft with some questions that hadn't fully been answered by their FAQ. Here's what Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten told us via email.
When did you decide to take the steps that were publicly outlined today to punish people who are determined to be tampering with their game saves?
We have always invested in upholding the Live Terms of Use through penalizing violations with user and or console bans. The method of having the individual's gamerscore reset is a more measured approach that addresses this particular form of behavior.
What percentage of Xbox Live users have you determined to have tampered with their game saves?
More than 1 billion Achievements have been unlocked since Xbox 360 launched in November, 2005 and only a small percentage of Xbox Live members have cheated to gain more gamerscore. While we cannot release the number of gamers who will be affected by this, we can tell you that the number is very small.
What steps, if any, had you been taking in the past to address this problem? If so, why did you determine them to be insufficient?
As mentioned, we have always invested in upholding the Live Terms of Use through penalizing violations with user and or console bans. In these instances we felt having the individual's gamerscore reset is a more measured approach that appropriately addresses this form of behavior.
How granular are your tools for determine whether someone, as your FAQ page states, "has earned achievements by using tools that circumvent the game or avoid game play entirely"?
We look for abnormal Achievement and gamerscore activity using criteria that identifies members who have used external means to earn Achievements without really playing the game.
Can you determine which Achievement Points were achieved fairly and which were not? If so, why not remove those points that were unfairly accumulated and leave the rest intact?
Players do not “accidentally” fall into this type of behavior, they need to take numerous and specific actions using their console. These actions are in direct violation of the Live Terms of Use and therefore would typically qualify the user for a ban. We are committed to keeping the service free of this type of behavior and feel the gamerscore reset is a fair approach. While players who have been identified by these criteria will start from a zero gamerscore, they will still be able to gain Achievements for future games. In other words, we give them another chance to earn future Achievements by earning them fairly, like the majority of the Xbox Live community does.
Why did you decide to not only reset a player's Gamerscore, but also publicly label him or her a cheater? Is there any way for someone who has been so punished to have the scarlet "C" removed in the future?
We want to make sure all Xbox Live members know there are consequences to violating the use of terms by cheating on the service. This label is primarily for verification to the user that yes, your gamerscore was reset due to cheating and can be observed on Xbox.com, and through the player's view of their gamercard on a console or PC connected to Xbox Live. Gamers who are labeled as 'cheaters' are still allowed to legitimately gain future Achievements and the player's experience doesn't change in any other way. Over time, we intend to remove the label – although the original achievements will remain reset. It is up to the individual player to prove that they won't do it again.
Because college sports games cannot license the names and likenesses of college athletes, they generally use a position or player number in its place. Numerous gamers resort to painstakingly creating a saved game file in which they've entered the real names of all of the players, which they then share with others. If a gamer has downloaded and is using a saved game file for a college sports game with the full names of the players instead of position or player numbers, do you consider that to be a tampered game save, and will they be punished as you have outlined today?
Working together with other players and playing inside the actual game to get achievements does not fall into the category we are taking action on. The players in this case are using a variety of means outside the actual playing of the game as well as the use of external tools to increase their gamerscore, which again, is in violation of the Terms of Use.
Your adjudication process is secret, and you provide no means whatsoever for appeal, making it something of a star chamber. Aren't you concerned that in your zeal to punish the guilty, you may also ensnare the innocent?
We only correct gamerscores for players who meet the criteria 100 percent. Like the vast majority of Xbox Live members, if you earn Achievements by playing through games like any other player, then you have nothing to worry about. Gamerscore correction only applies to players who use external means or avoid game play to earn Achievements.
