Cheaters NAMED AND SHAMED

Firstly, Thanks to majornelson.com for the text, I'm sure he won't mind us stealing it!

Alright, Xbox Live™ members. It's time for a refresher course on online cheating, banning, and feedback. Make sure you know what's expected of you online … and what's at stake if you don't abide by the rules.

Just what is considered cheating?
In a nutshell, we consider cheating to be the act of manipulating or interfering with aspects of the game or networking to give yourself or your team an unfair advantage.

The variety of modem/bandwidth cheats that are taking place online are absolutely considered cheating. All of these are done with the sole intention of exploiting bugs in the game code or taking advantage of basic elements of networking in order to screw your opponents. We have different ways of identifying people who practice certain types of cheats, and depending on what it is you do, you will be punished in a variety of ways.

How do players actually get banned from XboxLive?
Players who find their Gamertags banned from Xbox Livehave wound up in that situation due to violations of the XboxLive Terms of Use. The Xbox Live team monitors players for not just cheating, but also for things like threats, racism, profanity, and just being an all around poor sport and ruining the game for others.

When a Gamertag comes up as violating our policies for online behavior, the person who owns that Gamertag is punished by being banned from the service. Keep in mind, this isn't just a ban on a particular game. This is a ban on the Xbox Live service as a whole, so you won't be able to go online at all during your ban. Initially, you may be banned for a day, a week, or depending on severity, permanently! Kiss that $50 goodbye.

What kind of stuff would get me suspended?
A good rule of thumb is to follow the Xbox Live Code of Conduct. This is a list of dos and don'ts for the XboxLive community, and it will give you a good idea of what is acceptable on the service.

Please keep in mind that it's not just cheaters that get banned from Xbox Live. Jerks that spew racial slurs, shout profanity, threaten other players, and generally create an unpleasant environment on Xbox Live are all subject to potential bans.

How much evidence and data does Xbox Live need to support a ban or suspension?
It's important to point out that just one piece of negative feedback from that ticked off person you just owned on Lockout won't get you banned from Xbox Live. While I won't say how much feedback it takes to get banned, remember that the XboxLive in-game feedback system has been successfully used for more than two years across hundreds of titles. Using a variety of tools and reports, we are able to confidently stand behind the actions we take to create a stronger Xbox Livecommunity.

"It wasn't me!" What if someone was cheating using my account?
How many times have we heard that? Maybe people should not let their "little brother" or "friend" on their Xbox Liveaccount. You should protect your Xbox Live account with the same level of security that you protect your e-mail account with. You would be pretty ticked off if someone sent e-mail from your account, wouldn't you?

A lot of people don't know this, but you can protect your XboxLive account with a pass code that's triggered when you go to sign into Xbox Live. All you need to do is turn on your Xbox without a game, go to Account Management, and choose Pass Code.

Now you've got me scared. How can I avoid being suspended or banned?
Just follow the rules. Some people throw all social graces out the window when playing, but they need to realize that there are consequences for bad actions. If you and your team play fair, then you'll have uninterrupted gaming pleasure on Xbox Live.

"It wasn't me!" part 2: What if my Clan cheats but I don't?
Clans that cheat are subject to the same punishments as individual players; however, we won't necessarily be banning every player in a Clan. First piece of advice: If you're in a Clan that cheats, get out of it. No sense being dragged down and potentially banned because you're in a game where they start cheating.

Players who repeatedly cheat while playing for a Clan are subject to all the various penalties listed above. The Clan itself can also be removed from the score boards. And, don't think you can just create a new Clan. We look at the Gamertags within the Clan itself and act accordingly.

What should I do if I've been the victim of a cheater?
First off, please make sure your opponent actually cheated. As much as it may suck to be beaten, just because you lost doesn't mean the person cheated.

The more important thing you should do is leave in-game feedback for the player(s) you caught cheating. To do this, simply go to your Recent Players tab, select the player, and choose Leave Feedback. This also applies to anyone who has threatened you, spewed racial slurs, etc. The Xbox Live team monitors this feedback, and it will lead to offenders being banned.

Why don't game publishers just "fix" the game to stop the madness?
Hey, great idea! Publishers do work on potential solutions to some of the issues being encountered online. But, please keep in mind that the very nature of the Internet makes it impossible to ever completely stop someone who knows what they're doing from creating a poor game experience for others. Between potential game updates and stricter punishments, we will continue to work to alleviate the problem of cheating and help improve the Xbox Live community.

Cheaters suck, but racists are worse. How do I deal with them?
Use the Xbox Live in-game feedback to report them! This behavior is not tolerated on Xbox Liveand is a violation of the Terms of Use.

Now, play nice. Major Nelson