Ethical to use a hacked account on COD Ghosts?
November 8, 2013 4:24 AM Subscribe
Me and 3 friends were matchmade (not invited) into a hacked Dominion match on COD Ghosts for x360, and now all of our quad profiles, including locked ones, are max prestige. I've reported the incident thoroughly -- is it okay to play this way, having done all that?
Me and three other friends were excited to play the new COD Ghosts game on x360 and were in a party playing Domination, when suddenly, in the middle of a match, some words weirdly flashed across the screen in peculiar colors announcing that everyone's gamertags had been changed to a website address, and according to the scores list and whenever we encountered someone, their name had been changed.
Other things of that nature occurred, as if someone was hacking the match we were playing (ordinary matchmaking Domination playlist, not by invitation). One of the things was that everyone had unlimited ammo -- I could fold the fire trigger for a long time and never need to reload. Either the party leader pulled us out or we were all booted, but the game shortly ended and we discovered that all of our squad profiles were max prestige each, even the ones that hadn't been unlocked yet, and all of the level-based unlocks (like perks) were unlocked.
I quit playing at that point in order to review the recent-played list of gamertags (and our gamertags had not changed, thankfully) and the rest went on to play another match, to discover that they began getting squad points very easily, for every kill, even for doing things like dropping an ammo crate.
I sent an e-mail describing the incident in detail including all of the gamertags in the match including mine, my party's, and all I could tell, to report@infinityward.com, banwarden@infinityward, and had a live Xbox Live chat with a tech about the incident and the tech documented under my account that if I was ever reported/investigated for cheating that I had already noted ahead of time about the problem.
It has only been a couple days since Ghosts was released, so I wouldn't mind if IW completely reset my stats in order to get me back on track to a legit profile so I could start over (I'm not particularly good anyway).
My question, however: do you think it would be okay to play as-is in the meantime, or should I wait indefinitely until the matter is resolved? I found this page in regard to Activision's side of the matter, which states they will not reset stats (or perhaps, do not even have that ability, being an Infinity Ward matter, I wonder). I've documented all I know to do (unless you have other suggestions) with the appropriate parties, but am just in limbo about when it could be resolved.
Me and three other friends were excited to play the new COD Ghosts game on x360 and were in a party playing Domination, when suddenly, in the middle of a match, some words weirdly flashed across the screen in peculiar colors announcing that everyone's gamertags had been changed to a website address, and according to the scores list and whenever we encountered someone, their name had been changed.
Other things of that nature occurred, as if someone was hacking the match we were playing (ordinary matchmaking Domination playlist, not by invitation). One of the things was that everyone had unlimited ammo -- I could fold the fire trigger for a long time and never need to reload. Either the party leader pulled us out or we were all booted, but the game shortly ended and we discovered that all of our squad profiles were max prestige each, even the ones that hadn't been unlocked yet, and all of the level-based unlocks (like perks) were unlocked.
I quit playing at that point in order to review the recent-played list of gamertags (and our gamertags had not changed, thankfully) and the rest went on to play another match, to discover that they began getting squad points very easily, for every kill, even for doing things like dropping an ammo crate.
I sent an e-mail describing the incident in detail including all of the gamertags in the match including mine, my party's, and all I could tell, to report@infinityward.com, banwarden@infinityward, and had a live Xbox Live chat with a tech about the incident and the tech documented under my account that if I was ever reported/investigated for cheating that I had already noted ahead of time about the problem.
It has only been a couple days since Ghosts was released, so I wouldn't mind if IW completely reset my stats in order to get me back on track to a legit profile so I could start over (I'm not particularly good anyway).
My question, however: do you think it would be okay to play as-is in the meantime, or should I wait indefinitely until the matter is resolved? I found this page in regard to Activision's side of the matter, which states they will not reset stats (or perhaps, do not even have that ability, being an Infinity Ward matter, I wonder). I've documented all I know to do (unless you have other suggestions) with the appropriate parties, but am just in limbo about when it could be resolved.
I wouldn't play at all. Otherwise you run the risk of being seen as benefiting from the hack (especially if the "easy squad points" thing is a hack and not a result of your account being Prestige, I'm not sure how that stuff works), and that could well lead to your entire XBL account being banned (not just the COD stats reset).
So yeah I would a) not play at all, and b) keep chasing XBL and COD support about this until it's resolved. Make sure they know you want the hack fixed/reversed ASAP so you can play again, you need to make it really obvious you're an innocent victim.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:07 AM on November 8, 2013
So yeah I would a) not play at all, and b) keep chasing XBL and COD support about this until it's resolved. Make sure they know you want the hack fixed/reversed ASAP so you can play again, you need to make it really obvious you're an innocent victim.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:07 AM on November 8, 2013
Nthing EndsOfInvention - The XBox team will definitely look kindly on you if its obvious that you were trying to get this resolved without reaping any benefits from it.
As to the question of ethics: Well, of course it's unethical to play with a hacked account. On the global scale of unethical behavior, of course, this is itty-bitty. But that's the benefit of a solid ethical framework - it guides your behavior in situations regardless of their import.
posted by DWRoelands at 6:00 AM on November 8, 2013
As to the question of ethics: Well, of course it's unethical to play with a hacked account. On the global scale of unethical behavior, of course, this is itty-bitty. But that's the benefit of a solid ethical framework - it guides your behavior in situations regardless of their import.
posted by DWRoelands at 6:00 AM on November 8, 2013
Best answer: As to the question of ethics: Well, of course it's unethical to play with a hacked account. On the global scale of unethical behavior, of course, this is itty-bitty. But that's the benefit of a solid ethical framework - it guides your behavior in situations regardless of their import.
There is no "of course" about it. The OP has been beyond diligent in reporting the hack and the next action now lies with parties other than himself. He has zero control over how long it is going to those parties to take any action, if they ever do. The idea that the OP should not have the use of his account or of the game he paid for in the indefinite interim on a purely ethical basis is ridiculous.
On a practical basis, however, XBL bans seem super-arbitrary and hard to challenge so I would probably opt to be very cautious purely as a matter of self-interest.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:25 AM on November 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
There is no "of course" about it. The OP has been beyond diligent in reporting the hack and the next action now lies with parties other than himself. He has zero control over how long it is going to those parties to take any action, if they ever do. The idea that the OP should not have the use of his account or of the game he paid for in the indefinite interim on a purely ethical basis is ridiculous.
On a practical basis, however, XBL bans seem super-arbitrary and hard to challenge so I would probably opt to be very cautious purely as a matter of self-interest.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:25 AM on November 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
The idea that the OP should not have the use of his account or of the game he paid for in the indefinite interim on a purely ethical basis is ridiculous.
Some folks prioritize their ethics more highly than their entertainment. Your mileage my vary, of course.
posted by DWRoelands at 2:00 PM on December 4, 2013
Some folks prioritize their ethics more highly than their entertainment. Your mileage my vary, of course.
posted by DWRoelands at 2:00 PM on December 4, 2013
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posted by Quarter Pincher at 4:30 AM on November 8, 2013