Xbox 360 Ban Wave (Marketplace hack related)

[Devin]

There was an exploit that surfaced a little while ago that allowed you to get free games from Xbox Live by creating an XBL account for certain regions. Many games and DLC items were then shown as free on the Marketplace. If you downloaded said games/DLC you're at risk for being banned. What type of banned?

People are reporting console, and profile bannings. (Not only the new account you made but the account you are playing the games on.)

tl;dr If you exploited the marketplace you're possibly going to get banned so wait for it.

 

[Foxi4]

tl;dr If you exploited the marketplace you're possibly going to get banned so wait for it.

Wow. I didn't know that'd require explaining.

 

[DaRk_ViVi]

LOL I don't think you can get banned if you create an account from a different country and download free games without any real exploit.

 

[Celice]

I dunno. When something like this happens on Steam (Skyrim's Dawnguard DLC was free a few days ago, for a couple hours), Steam only removes it from the profiles of everyone who took advantage of it.

It's Steam's fuckup, and they acknowledge it. I could see how an extremist fanboy could lobby this as one of those political cartoons, showing Microsoft slapping its users for its own mistake.

 

[BORTZ]

I dont understand why people would go to the risk of getting themselves console banned.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

you can't exploit digital games...even Nintendo will catch you

http://gbatemp.net/threads/oh-so-nintendo-can-remotely-delete-your-games.354768/

 

[Joe88]

it seems its targeting people who made a Bosnian store account

There is no Bosnian store. If a Bosnian somewhere else in the world signed up as being from Bosnia, they would not be able to download these games. If a non-Bosnian somewhere else in the world signed up as being from Bosnia, they would not be able to download these games. The essence of this glitch is not someone taking advantage of regional pricing errors. There is no Bosnian store.

Here are the steps involved in this glitch:
- You have an account in a country with an Xbox Live marketplace. You can browse the marketplace just fine and buy games at whatever your region's prices are.
- You create an account in another country. "Glitch" 1: Lying abut your address to sign up for an account. Bannable? No.
- This other country is a country without an Xbox Live marketplace. If you try to browse the marketplace it won't work because there is no marketplace in the country the new account is in. Is this bannable? No. It's not a glitch. This is intended behaviour.
- Because your console has cached search results from a region with a marketplace, you are able to use the search function to access marketplace entries on an account that is supposed to be in a region with no marketplace. Glitch 2: Cached data marketplace. Bannable? No.
- Because those items have no pricing information, they will show up with an insane price. -98295793498734298 microsoft points (integer overflow). Of course the console will not let you buy this, problem solved. Uh oh! Microsoft switched all their pricing to dollars, not points. Problem being that because MS Point prices were signed integers and cash prices are unsigned, some items show up as being free. Glitch 3: No price point data to real cash price conversion glitch.

This is the source of what people are being banned for. Is it justified? Is it a good business move? Should MS be doing this? I have no input on any of these issues.

But what I can tell you is that:
- This is not about people abusing regional pricing
- This is not about banning people from buying outside their region
- All the examples about people wanting to import games or moving to another country have nothing to do with this
- This is not something that impacts actual customers in Oman, Bosnia, or other affected regions.

 

[FAST6191]

Afraid I had to edit your title a bit. I wandered in here thinking there might have been an actual banwave going on again (it is about that time) but this is more of an exploit(ish) related one.

Still thanks for the news, I shall have to remember to add this to the list of once happened hacks when we get asked for simple "I have a USB flash drive and the willingness to use it" softmods for the 360.

 

[DinohScene]

Yay RGH!

Either go completely legit or do it right the first time.

 

[GameWinner]

Microsoft does this? Sony didn't ban me when they accidently made the GoW collection and the Jak and Daxtar Ps3/Vita collection free in other regions. Got some free games!

 

[Snailface]

LOL I don't think you can get banned if you create an account from a different country and download free games without any real exploit.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=683505

And yes, neogaf mods changed that topic title from something like, "why did MS delete my legitimately purchased games?", to what you see now.

 

[Arras]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=683505

And yes, neogaf mods changed that topic title from something like, "why did MS delete my legitimately purchased games?", to what you see now.

Apparently that guy was just a pirate who tried to hide it though.

 

[Joe88]

I created a chinese account to get ac3 free and have not been banned

 

[Qtis]

I created a chinese account to get ac3 free and have not been banned

But that didn't actually require any sort of exploitation of the system. As mentioned in your previous post, the method used by some people is questionable. Not necessarily a bannable offence (MS' fault mainly), but still not something that could be seen as 100% legit. Having an account in another country is still legit

 

[FireEmblemGuy]

I'm actually kind of surprised they did this. I mean, yeah, it's against the ToS, but this'd be a very bad time to start driving away customers for exploiting mistakes that Microsoft made. Quite frankly I don't care one way or the other what happens to my Xbox at this point, it's just another excuse to upgrade to a slim or ditch it for good.

 

[BORTZ]

you can't exploit digital games...even Nintendo will catch you

http://gbatemp.net/threads/oh-so-nintendo-can-remotely-delete-your-games.354768/

Dude they didnt "delete" his games, they just revoked the license. read the thread.

 

[tbgtbg]

Instead of banning people, they should fire their shitty coders that allowed such a glitch to happen in the first place.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

So... basically Microsoft screws up, and the customers get the punishment?

Classy.

 

[FireEmblemGuy]

While a good deal of the fault does fall on Microsoft for screwing up the marketplace so badly in the first place, they're well within their rights to issue bans - anyone who downloaded those games intentionally exploited the glitch, unless you seriously believe someone would create an account for a region with no Marketplace, load up the Marketplace anyways, and try 'buying' every game they searched. Bonus points for the people who signed out of that account, switched their Xbox region to Austria, loaded up the product page for Injustice or Arcania, signed in on that page, and 'bought' the game, signed out, loaded up the other one, and did the same thing.

All that said, though, I'm only surprised that MS issued bans for this because it's a crucial period for them to try and stop hemorrhaging customers instead of purposely driving them away, but then again they don't seem to acknowledge that Windows 8 or the Xbox One have issues either so it's pretty clear they don't think much of their customers in the first place.

 

[VashTS]

exploiting a businesses loop hole is not ok...if you do it beware the backlash.

let's say you buy gas for your car and use a credit card...if the company doesn't charge it at that time but then charge you later that is entirely fair and proper. you don't get the product for free just because they messed up.

its all about intent. this guy knowingly used an exploit, he intended to steal a product (not buying something that costs money but taking anyway is stealing btw) and M$ banned him. rightfully so. I love loop holes very much but i don't think im innocent if i use them.