Halo fan banned until 9999

By Tom Bramwell Published 10 September, 2007

Been naughty!

Microsoft and Bungie have reportedly banned a Halo 3 fan from Xbox Live for more than 7,000 years after he got his hands on the Halo 3 Epsilon test build.

Neither company has officially confirmed it, but we've spoken to sources close to both and they didn't refute it.

The subject of this story, as GameSpot reports, is a chap who goes by the name "Scar" - a dedicated Xbox fan who says that he was given the Epsilon build by a friend.

Having "played it for maybe six hours or so all alone", he was then booted off every time he tried to load it up. When he tried to go online the next day, he discovered he had been banned until 31st December, 9999.

Which is quite a lot of time to get banned for, and it sounds like he isn't alone, having said publicly that other people who'd experienced the mega-ban had contacted Microsoft support "and had no luck".

He says he's not going to appeal the ban.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Der_tolle_Emil #1 4 years ago

    Interesting story. Did he have a developer's machine or are the pre release versions also digitally signed so they run on regular 360s too?

  • Camburano #2 4 years ago

    Well done :)

  • 3william56 #3 4 years ago

    Microsoft is watching you...

    (Did he give it a 8/10?)

  • Cloudane #4 4 years ago

    Could he not just create a new profile or something?

  • Dizzy #5 4 years ago

    Owned!

    That will teach him.

    >Could he not just create a new profile or something?

    No they probably banned his GT, his 360 and his Visa (like they do with cheaters).
    Edited by 2 at 10/09/07 @ 10:12

  • wobbly_Bob #6 4 years ago

    9999? What a coincidence, that's the same amount of months it took to get my 360 back from the repair centre!

    Personally, I think he is lucky that they didn't send round the Microsoft Ninjas.
    Edited by 1 at 10/09/07 @ 10:12

  • Metalfish #7 4 years ago

    Impatient bastards.

  • Xerx3s #8 4 years ago

    Quite an old story but that's what you get when you use stolen goods. Especially if they can exactly finger who is using it. Not only is he in the market for theft, he is also just stupid enough to go online with it.

  • Kryon #9 4 years ago

    Seven thousand years eh? (a bit off topic) will FFXIII be out in Europe by then?

  • Willum #10 4 years ago

    Maybe he will freeze himself, Eric Cartman style, so the seven thousand year ban seems instantaneous to him.

  • Carlo #11 4 years ago

    Publicity stunt

  • Drpwnage #12 4 years ago

    Self pwned.

  • An1m4l #13 4 years ago

    its OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!!!!

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #14 4 years ago

    @wobbly_Bob

    If there the same coding ninjas that work on the backwards compatibility i think he could of taken them as they seem to be pretty lame.

  • pervertron #15 4 years ago

    Perhaps Duke Nukem Forever will be out by then... or maybe not.

  • bioreit #16 4 years ago

    He apparently has four 360s at home, not including his Dad's - he repairs 360s for a living. Nice job for a 17 year old! SO he's not that fussed even if they do ban his machine!

    Last I heard on the forums he came onto, Microsoft were going to forgive and forget as long as he maintained his silence on the game.

  • penhalion #17 4 years ago

    The Epsilon is run from an actual DVD9 though I'm a bit suprised as usually these only run on dev machines or reviewer machines.

    He would have lit up some red flags as his user profile wouldn't have the necessary developer flags on the account. His friend if anything, should have known this and giving him the Epsilon could be seen as a deliberate account killer!

    Chances are Scar got hold of the Epsilon through dodgy means as otherwise you'd need to wonder what idiot would have given it to him. His "Friend" could easily have let him play it on his account without any fear of reprisal as that account would be correctly flagged. That way Microsoft know it's an authorised person playing.

  • Xerx3s #18 4 years ago

    He apparently has four 360s at home, not including his Dad's - he repairs 360s for a living. Nice job for a 17 year old! SO he's not that fussed even if they do ban his machine!

    That won't help him much with an ultra ban. They will ban his machine, account, his credit card, all credit cards on the same address and all accounts link to them if they want it.

    Last I heard on the forums he came onto, Microsoft were going to forgive and forget as long as he maintained his silence on the game.

    I very much doubt that this is the truth. He willingly bought stolen goods and this is by all means industrial espionage. I wouldn't be surprised if ms or the justice department sued him at some point in the future.

  • The_Inquisitor #19 4 years ago

    It will pass quickly enough.

  • Genji #20 4 years ago

    "Publicity stunt"

    Yep.

  • bioreit #21 4 years ago

    @ Penhalion

    Scar said some mother at MS got the Epsilon for her son, then some guys got it off him (he doesn't say with the son's permission) using some kind of hack and made a copy of it. Apparently about 100 people got hold of it, all told - he is just one of the many to get caught with it online (which you have to be to make the Epsilon work, even in single-player).

    @ Xerx3s

    Hey, just reporting what he said. Thing is, as he's under 18, he won't have a credit card, so he won't have any real kind of personal credit history, making him a bit harder to pin down and ban permanently. I'll keep an eye on that forum and see what else he says.

    As a side-note, got the impression Scar was a UK player. Could be wrong, just didn't feel like he was an American...

  • Dizzy #22 4 years ago

    "Thing is, as he's under 18, he won't have a credit card, so he won't have any real kind of personal credit history"

    You need a credit card for Live. So if not him, his daddy is blocked.

  • Grobi #23 4 years ago

    Perhaps this is a case for cryogenics to be considered?

  • doomboom #24 4 years ago

    Not only did he get banned but he got fingered too? That seems pretty harsh

  • conkdonk #25 4 years ago

    You needed a credit card to go online with the original Xbox but you can use pre paid cards to go online with the 360. I have never used my Credit card with my 360.

  • SomaticSense #26 4 years ago

    "Could he not just create a new profile or something?"

    That's exactly why he's a complete fucking idiot.

  • Dizzy #27 4 years ago

    >but you can use pre paid cards to go online with the 360

    Ha yes oops :)

  • Nova5lag #28 4 years ago

    Im shocked MS didnt kidnap him and torture him for hours till he told them which "friend"-ly torrent site had given the build to him and then found out who uploaded the build and then killed them in cold blood paying off the cops.

  • styrvolt #29 4 years ago

    But afterwards, he'll be allowed back in. Right? RIGHT?

  • JYM60 #30 4 years ago

    Can't he just get a new console and a new xbl account? If he's that die hard and all.

  • Tiny_Tim #31 4 years ago

    "Publicity stunt"

    Yes, everything is a publicity stunt. The war on terror was actually orchestrated to push beard die. Anybody want to agree with me, to make this definitely true?

  • cathalzx #32 4 years ago

    I'd agree with the whole "publicity stunt" idea (a lot is being made of the 7,000 years when 9999 is probably just the max-date allowed). To be honest, if Scar wasn't selling the game, I don't think he should be punished - I'm sure, like the rest of us, he'll be buying the game anyway. To be honest, if I got my hands on the Epsilon build, I would play it too......

  • bioreit #33 4 years ago

    @ boabg

    As I said before, Scar said you HAD to have the 360 online to play the Epsilon, even in single-player. It would flat-out refuse to work without a net connection - no doubt a feature implemented by Microsoft/Bungie in order to catch people out in just such occurrences.

  • gremly #34 4 years ago

    Makes me laugth how he coudent wait till the 26th XD

  • JavaJawaUK #35 4 years ago

    BANHAMMER!

    Best story of the month.

  • saysomething #36 4 years ago

    "To be honest, if I got my hands on the Epsilon build, I would play it too......"

    Knowing I could be in for all sorts of trouble, I probably would as well.