I just read on the X-S main page about the closing of certain game hacking forums regarding a very popular Bungie game .
You guys here on X-S deserve serious prop for taking this step. These cheaters made my live experience quite unpleasant, despite all of the Mod's warnings and diligent work to prevent these guys from being quite lame and f-ing up live for honest, respectable sorts.
You guys work very hard to keep the scene respectable and legit, and with this newest and drastic step, I feel Bungie owes you guys a little more respect than they have offered in the past.

Anyway, thanks to you guys for keeping the scene legit, and keeping the few bastards from bringing the BANHAMMER down on all of us.

damn it took long enough, glad you people finally decided to action. "we need to respect the cheaters, after all it is a cheating forum." so thats why we did this? come on bullshit. we needed mods in there that made it clear that halo 2 cheating is not permitted. instead, we let it get out of hand and had to close it temporarily/permanently. gay ass cheaters, that was my favorite forum out of all the forums i visit.

yep, that forum needed cleaning anyway. it was turning into a pirate like area, kids posting links to maps, blah blah blah. i think cheating should not be allowed in there agian. i dont care if its a hacking forum.

i think they should close down all the forums because people can stil post links to hacked files and patches to cheat on MM. i bet soon the halo1 forum will turn into a halo2 hacking forum

Good decision, needed good cleaning, the mod's just couldn't keep up I think with the 24/7 links to warez and map files. Hopefuly when/if they bring it back they can put alot of mods on the section so they can have it covered 24/7 but they really shouldn't have to do that I'm sure we didn't see alot of the worst stuff as some of the mods probably pounced on it right away.

What a great 4th of July present! Celebration!

I think closing all the forums are is a little extreme. There is way to much help to be offered here for modding problems, etc. If we, the respectable members of the scene, simply report links to mods ASAP, then it will be limited.
I sure understand the sentiment, though. And, it is a great idea to watch the Halo forum.

i tihnk its unfair.i tihnk halo 2 fourms should open back up and if any1 even uses the words live and mod in the same sentence they should be banned..
this is not fair for the rest of us who do not cheat, and who mod for themselves for fun and not to play on xbl

as a mod of the halo2 hacking forum, i can only applaud this step... the place wasnt about exploring what can be done with the game anymore: it was a place for losers to brag about what they can do(cheat, pirate), a place for the supposedly more matrue to call them names, and a place for people to rant about both previous groups... there were a few good people that frequented said forum, but they could be counted on one hand...

one member that comes to mind is X_Destruction, I think he REALLY tried to turn the halo 2 hacking forum around at the last minute so you gotta give him credit for trying
(for those who don't remember its the pinned topic, guide to real modding)

Yes sir. This was a very unfortunate but neccessary step. And, once Bungie gets its crap together and handles up on those cheaters, the Halo 2 hacking forums will be back up. I just got off LIVE and got modded in EVERY team preview game I played. It was disgusting and not fun at all.

In the next 24 ours.. the entire staff will be given instructions, very detailed instructions, to either directly ban, or req bans, for anyone posting in ANY forum on XS and try to turn other forums into a shithole for halo 2 hacking, moddng, and cheats. Links and urls to files will be shitlisted, and IP bans will be processed where necessary.

In some cases, full idents/ip of posters will be published, and IP's submitted to services such as LIVE etc. In the cases of piracy links, similar info will be forward to their home ISP's where prosecution will be encouraged (we done this efore.. and have watched it work and be successful)

Cheaters and Pirates have ruined something that was once enjoyable for all.

This is the thing I hated the most.. we actually got very few REPORT's using the report button for the HALO 2 nonsense. So.. instead.. staff had to methodicially read each and every theread to ferrit out stuff.. and given the size of XS.. that is a daunting task. The Halo @ Hacking forum was quickly becoming a hotbed on xs.. and it was becoming unmanageable. I couldn't keep diverting staff and resources for just that forum.

If more people.. would use the REPORT button.. and less people would whine in bitch in the offending threads.. those threads would have been looked at sooner by staff.. and possibly dealt with where needed. Instead.. the average xs member goes and posts flames and "don't cheat" or "don't pirate" posts. Useless.. all they have done is bump a bad thread. Sometimes.. those well meaning members.. are WORSE than the assholes. They effectively keep topics hot, and bumped to the top.

We had some good members in that forum.. who had some great ideas,, and shared some great mods. The shit doesn't fall on them.. but.. it did hurt them. It's the assholes in this scene.. who can't play a game without unfairly leveling up. They can't seem to play without high jumping and sniping you from the top of maps. They can't seem to play without firing 8 rockets in 2 seconds. What's funny.. is that they think they are good at Halo..

If that's what it takes to be good at a game.. I'll gladly sit at level 3, 5, or 12.

Another drastic yet neccessary step that the mods here @ the X-S forums have been forced into by these loser p****ies.

CEERS to you HSDEMONZ and the rest of you guys working to keep the forums respectable.

It may not take long for this to all be cleared up with diligent members and you mods handling things.

Thanks man, but I just couldn't help that shithole as much as anyone else could. I converted a couple people, and drove some people into modding, and released some good mods myself. The one thing I couldn't do was save that forum. 80%+ of all posts there were of some n00b trying to get cheats for live. Yeah, some people were drastic by trying to get cheaters to screw up their xboxs with a sledgehammer or magnets, but they'd still keep asking. It was too bad. That forum once was great for finding the next great way to do something awesome to Halo 2 by adding features, content or skins, not to send LIVE play in Halo 2 into the crapper. X-S is known as the top xbox modding site on the planet, so every cheating n00b will be directed here to mod their xbox. Then they'd come to the Halo 2 Hacking forum asking how to cheat.

Those cheats are like the flood, but worse. Thing is, the admins/mods at X-S are the spartans, and they're cleaning up this mess by banning, shitlisting and temp locking the Halo 2 Hacking forum.

At first I didn't approve of locking the forum, and got banned from the IRC chat at X-S in the process. But now I see, that forum was way beyond recovery. I definitely like where you guys are going with your policy though, give the cheaters all the hell they truly deserve, and it could even mean getting cut off by their ISP if it comes to that step. I applaud you for taking this step man, hopefully when the patch comes, the halo 2 hacking forum will be back up and will actually prosper again... hopefully.

lol i light off some bottle rockets in the general direction of cheaters

hey i wanted some mods for halo 2, like the never play warlock thing (it worked, haha i am modder free).

I am glad XS took this step without bill gates makin em do it. I still think that asians for hire thing should have been shutdown and sued to a point never seen before except in a micheal jackson case.

Now I have no were to get any new mods . geuss i have to start work on my warthog one were when i jump it it makes the dukes of hazard sound.

well, now I know where they came from.

Amen to that HSDEMONZ, amen to that.

But I suppose having been told that, they'll just argue that hindsight is 20-20 (when in fact an ounce of prevention is always worth a pound of cure).

New XS Rules: I suggest everyone reads them regarding Halo2 chat. http://pictures.xbox-scene.com/hsdemonz/rules/Rules.htm

The entire staff have been sent the updates policy.

--- Addition to XS rules.. ---
XS Policy.. as of now.. in regards to Halo 2:
•No discussion threads/topics/posts about how to Hack Halo 2
•No discussion threads/topics/posts about how to Mod Halo 2
•No discussion threads/topics/posts about how to PPF Halo 2 or How to Cheat on Halo 2
•No discussion threads/topics/posts about how to Use or Find downloaded Halo 2 Map Packs
•Absolutely NO LINKS, direct, indirect, or otherwise to files or other sites hosting Halo 2 Maps, Map Packs, Halo 2 PPF’s, Hacks, Mods, Instructions or scripts etc.

XS Staff will be expected to close any new or active threads in any forums on XS that cover topics related to Halo 2 Hacking. For people posting links.. Request a ban for these users.
---

It's also included in the the standard RULES link in every forum.

Xbox scene:::: You guys are doing the right thing by closing the Halo 2 mod topics. Not many people will say this but you are doing the gaming community a favor. I know if im playing on xbl i would much rather be killed by an 6 year old who has more skill then me than a 24 year old inexpierenced cheater who mods his game and ends up having 6 or 8 times the frags as anyone else. It really just frustrates me... but you guys are doing the right thing!

On the other note I was on Xlink this weekend playing Call of Duty online for the first time and i must say great multiplayer game!! i wish more people would play it. But it does get kinda old after about an hour.

ive been sick of all the damn cheaters on XBL... and ive notified bungie each time someone tries to cheat on me... if you want to have a high level next to your gamertag - learn to play

Im tired of the cheaters that brag how good they are after the game. They need to learn that IF YOU CHEAT YOU ARE NOT GOOD!!! because thats just annoying.
*I hate loosing levels to cheaters, cheating is just gay.

guess theres always halomods but still....

Sorry, all their forums are closed . I checked last night.

yeah but they re-open when the auto-update is released, but it sounds like XS's subforum won't re-open at all (or at least for actual halo 2 mods.)

When will the next auto-update be available? I haven't heard yet.

We all still need to report/leave feedback on these guys through LIVE and bungie.com, too, because most modders are aware of "the usual places", and I'm sure cheats are available there.

As far as the X-S forum, I can't blame them if they don't reopen. They are always under great scrutiny here on X-S by the legal dept. @ M$, and if they keep that forum closed that adds a little more legitimacy to all of us here.

well lets all just standbye like the good old days

I heard the update will be when the new maps are in the playlists.

If you didn't know that than july the 11th.

Maps were added to the playlist in team and rumble preview, but no auto update. Apparently there was a problem-conflict with gamesaves or something.

Hi, if the new AU on XBL truly fixes modding on XBL, will the forum be reopened?

isn't that what HSD said? That after the AU the forums would re-open.

Alright then, what's the official word on it?

Sorry I just re-read the editorial and it was a re-evalution of the forums once they see if the update works or not.

.. and from what I've been seeing today when I was online, and hearing third hand.. Bungie.. dropped the ball.. again.

HALO 2 Modding forum.. will not be re-opened this summer from the looks of it.

Really? I think by the end of the month the modding will have stopped, what I believe they're doing is:

Making a database of all the usernames that are cheating, when games are submitted, if someone cheats they get added to it. Then once a week... Once every two days (or whatever they choose) they simply click 'ban users in database' and it bans all the people in the database.

Well I know that's what I'd do if I were in bungies shoes.

It looks like Bungie DIDN'T drop the ball.

http://www.bungie.net/News/Story.aspx?link...98-895C686B48C2

It looks like an automated tool looks for modders, and within the day, they're banned. 2,550 cheaters have been hit with the banhammer so far. Impressive.

not really.. as that is a drop in the bucket of cheaters. they are still woefully inept at dealing with the issue.

Anyways.. let's put this issue to rest. Halo 2 Hacking is gone from XS. Next time I'll even consider looking at the issue of re-opening it... you'll all be finding new and wonderful ways to mod your 360 consoles.