Autistic kid cheats to get achievements, MS removes them.

[Flodder450]

I dont see autism as a handicap either,you have it and thats it,

I used to know a guy with very severe autism. He could not speak or bathe himself, and occasionally he wet his pants. I know he is an exteme case, but I would definitely consider him to be handicapped.

yeah i agree

[ZeroAX]

Yet another example of people living their lives without anticipating any consequences. And why should they? The majority of our decision makers (or Microsoft in this case) keep pardoning stupid things...err slap on the wrist as others have mentioned. I think criminals are encouraged to visit the state pen for the very same reasons. If I rob this convenient store, blow the shopkeeper's head off and, and rape his wife I can plead insanity and enjoy the luxuries of 4 squares, a warm bed, and a roof over my head

These seemingly harmless acts of rebellion are what is destroying our sweet nation.

So you are comparing cheating in a game (which as I said could be said of all people who use guides to gain the achievements in the easiest way possible) with all that????

Also pleading insanity can do very little if you can't prove it. Now if the state hired doctors can't tell the difference between a real insane person and someone faking it is another thing.

[YoshiEgg25]

The kid cheated. Why is he getting handouts?

If I had an Xbox and I cheated, I'd be banned outright. I couldn't go try to peddle the fact that I have depression to get it overturned. Why should he?

[ZeroAX]

If I had an Xbox and I cheated, I'd be banned outright. I couldn't go try to peddle the fact that I have depression to get it overturned. Why should he?

Have you ever thought that getting banned for cheating might be what is wrong? I can understand a 3 strike rule, with an increasing short term ban each time you cheat online (until the 3rd time when it's a permanent ban), cause people want to be able to enjoy their game as it's meant to be played, but cheating for achievements is basically like you cheating in Monopoly while you are playing with friends and Hasbro taking your game away.

[s1mplehumar]

If I had an Xbox and I cheated, I'd be banned outright. I couldn't go try to peddle the fact that I have depression to get it overturned. Why should he?

Have you ever thought that getting banned for cheating might be what is wrong? I can understand a 3 strike rule, with an increasing short term ban each time you cheat online (until the 3rd time when it's a permanent ban), cause people want to be able to enjoy their game as it's meant to be played, but cheating for achievements is basically like you cheating in Monopoly while you are playing with friends and Hasbro taking your game away.

Stealing gum is wrong, yes? The kid most likely knew the most basic rules of LIVE's tos. He violated them. Busted! What you're arguing is precisely the problem...too many second chances. Again, why should people care if they anticipate getting a slap on the wrist.

[ZeroAX]

Stealing gum is wrong, yes? The kid most likely knew the most basic rules of LIVE's tos. He violated them. Busted! What you're arguing is precisely the problem...too many second chances. Again, why should people care if they anticipate getting a slap on the wrist.

When stealing gum, the problem isn't the value of the stolen item, it's the act of stealing that is wrong. And since when is a second chance a wrong thing?

[J T]

He's autistic not retarded.

Many people with autism are mentally retarded. It's not the most cleanly defined disorder and there is a wide spectrum of people from low functioning to high that are all labeled as autistic (though many of the high functioning people should really be classified as having Asperger's Disorder). Even if he is mentally retarded though, I think enforcement of rules is still important because these kids need to learn rules. It sounds like Microsoft has made some adjustments to their plan after hearing complaints from the mother and people on the internet, but I also think some enforcement of consequences is in order. Microsoft's response seems pretty reasonable to me.

I think it is reasonable to cut the kid some slack too. If he is a low functioning autistic person, chances are that he doesn't really understand the consequences of his actions nor would he have the ability to alter his behavior based on predictions of what those consequenes are. I don't know how severe his autism is though. Microsoft has to run a large scale service though. They can't be expected to evaluate the mental capacity of every single banning case to make sure they really understand the rules and their consequences. They just ban.

What Microsoft might want to consider doing though is creating a specialty XBox live account for mentally handicapped kids. Enforcement of rules could be a little different here based on an understanding of the limited cognitive skills of these players. If they had a branch that catered to special needs individuals, they might even find themselves tapping into a new market that they weren't reaching before. If seen some articles online about games for blind people and deaf people. There is a small market for special needs gamers that have various handicaps. I don't see why there couldn't be at least a few games and services created for them.

[Limewater]

When stealing gum, the problem isn't the value of the stolen item, it's the act of stealing that is wrong.

[DaGamingMonkey]

I Knew it
I had first heard this story before she admitted he had cheated. They were making MS to be this bad guy and I just kept on thinking. He had to of really cheated.

Glad they stuck with the GS wipe but to them giving him a free month.
Him getting disciplined for cheating to get Recon Armor might seem stupid to some people but for the people that legitimately got the armor I'm sure they like that MS is enforcing the ToS

[BurningDoom]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/vi ... He-Cheated

On one hand, the kid did cheat. On the other hand, he's autistic and they are just fucking achievements. You know things that have 0 real value. Your thoughts on the matter?



Personally, just let the kid fucking have them. His life is hard enough already. Achievements have no real value, and if any morons complain cause their e-penis has just been devalued cause some kid had them gifted to him, then what can I say? How about going to the special Olympics and telling the people taking part, that their efforts don't matter cause it's not the regular Olympics while you're at it?

I have a handicapped brother, and I work with the developmentally delayed for a living. So I couldn't be any closer to this subject. But I feel this mentality is completely wrong. Just because they are disabled doesn't mean they don't have to play by the rules. They need to be treated just like everyone else. And if you ask them, I guarantee about 90% of them will say the biggest thing they want is for people to accept them and treat them just like normal people.

So basically, yeah, I feel he should have his achievements taken away. Just because he's handicapped doesn't mean he gets to get away with cheating. And it's not like he has a mental retardation, he's autistic.