Kotaku: Banhammer

Infinity Ward Bans 1,600 Modern Warfare 3 Cheaters, Asks What You're Lookin' At

Owen Good — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST

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Robert Bowling done tole you now son, so don't sit there and act all surprised-like. Yesterday Bowling, the Infinity Ward creative strategist, tweeted that another 1,600 cheaters have been banned since Four Zero Two promised them a ass-busting back on release day. More »

EA Smashes Battlefield's Banhammer With Relish

Owen Good — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST

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Possibly in response to the XP exploit discovered last week, Electronic Arts has touted the hundreds of summary bannings it has handed out in Battlefield 3 and said it has nooooo problem handing out more. You want to boost for XP repairing an EOD robot, you little shits? I've got your ass for the rest of your natural born life if you don't watch your step. More »

New Commenting Tools Add Scolding, Teleporter, Dunce Cap to Banhammer

Brian Crecente — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:40:00 EDT

We've always said that the community and their inciteful and insightful comments are one of the best things about Kotaku, and we mean it. That's why our wonderful tech folks are always working to improve how comments work. More »

Beware The Commenter Foreign Legion

Brian Crecente — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:40:00 EDT

Are you up on your commenting etiquette? I sure hope you are, because we just brought in an army of ban hammers. More »

A Compendium of Lame Excuses from the Banned

Owen Good — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:00:00 EDT

There's only so many ways you can blame your Xbox Live profile saying nasty or verboten things on someone else. The truly creative are able to depict it as something beneficial to society. Like breast cancer awareness. More »

Aion Banhammer: Behind the Rabbit? It IS The Rabbit

AJ Glasser — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST

Wielding the banhammer on Xbox Live and other static virtual communities (like this little blog here) can be a strangely disconnected experience. One second you're here, the next you've vanished. Not so in Aion: Tower of Eternity. More »

Exploiting MW2's 'Javelin Glitch' Will Get You Banned, Says XBL

Owen Good — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST

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While Infinity Ward works up a fix for the infamous suicide-bombing "javelin glitch" in Modern Warfare 2, Xbox Live's chief lawman vows that anyone caught doing it in his jurisdiction can expect a daylong banhammer, minimum. More »

Microsoft Responds to Class Action Claim Against Xbox Live Bannings

Owen Good — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

Microsoft's response to a law firm's attempt to round up Xbox Live users smashed by the recent mass-banning reminds everyone that the service's TOS allow it to hammer pirates, anytime, anywhere, so STFU. More »

Valve Bans Gray-Market Modern Warfare 2 Keys

Owen Good — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST

Some who bought CD keys for Modern Warfare 2 - no physicial media in other words - from import resellers have seen their access to the game vanish, as Activision has apparently asked Valve to ban such keys. More »

Major Nelson Weighs In On 360 Console Bans

Mike Fahey — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:20:00 EST

Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb discusses the recent string of Xbox Live piracy console bannings, delivering an important caveat to those purchasing used machines in the process. More »

Xbox Live Smashes Mass Banhammer on Pirates

Owen Good — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:30:00 EDT

"A small percentage" of Xbox Live users with modded consoles that allowed pirated games to play woke up to find an early treat in their Halloween bag: a banhammer. More »

EA: Getting Banned In Forums Does Not Get You Banned In Our Games

Brian Crecente — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Sounds like someone made quite a mistake when they told all of Electronic Arts gamers that if they got banned in the EA forums they'd be banned from playing their games as well. More »

Backtalk in EA's Forums, Get Banned From Your Games?

Stuart Houghton — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:20:00 EDT

Maybe the Internet really is serious business - being banned from Electronic Arts' support forums may carry more serious consequences than previously thought. According to a post in the Red Alert 3 forum by 'eeapoc' (Apparently, C&C Community Manager Aaron Kaufman) EA is implementing a new policy that will tie your forum login to your Master EA Account. If you get hit with the ban hammer for misbehaving in a forum, you could find that you are locked out of your purchased games as well.

"Your forum account will be directly tied to your Master EA Account, so if we ban you on the forums, you would be banned from the game as well since the login process is the same. And you'd actually be banned from your other EA games as well since its all tied to your account. So if you have SPORE and Red Alert 3 and you get yourself banned on our forums or in-game, well, your SPORE account would be banned to. It's all one in the same, so I strongly recommend people play nice and act mature."

Kotaku's New Tool: The Straight Razor of Disemvoweling

Brian Crecente — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT

I think it's fair to assume that everyone on Kotaku is very familiar with the Banhammer, wielded now with force by Shiraz. But I've never been totally happy that our only options for comment management is to either do nothing or ban someone. In fact for months, maybe years, I've been asking tech to whip something up that would allow us to warn users that they are tip-toeing into banhammer country, traipsing into the cave of the angry comment moderator. More »

Bungie Promises Uber-Banhammer for Porn Filesharers

Owen Good — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Destructoid found some pr0n in a user's shared photos on the Halo 3 file sharing system back in July. Now Bungie is laying down THA LAW. They've got some draconian punishments for "authoring modified content in a file share" and "uploading modified content to your file share," where "modified content" means "teh boobie." Authoring gets your account permanently banned from Matchmaking, permanently stripped of file share functionality, and a hardware ban that keeps you from playing Halo 3 for a month. Uploading just strips you of file share permanently. More »

A Call to Ban

Brian Crecente — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT

I woke this morning to find Kotaku at a crossroads, one peopled with a mob. It seems there's a decision to be made: Do we want Kotaku to be represented by the chatter of a thousand voices, people trying to be heard over one another, many not stopping to think before they talk. Or do we want to cull the crowd, reduce the noise so our many intelligent readers can still be heard over the roar and those who speak take the time to think, to read before doing so. More »

Be Prepared, The Blood Letting Is Coming

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:00:15 EST

Yes, yes. It's that time again. Time to ruthlessly ban people! That's right, next Monday (Feb. 25th) is everyone's favorite Kotakuday, Ban Monday. While we adore the commenters who add something to the comment section, we abhor the ones who detract from it and spam it with their drivel. We ban here at Kotaku. Ban like crazy. So please do not confuse our comment sections with your run-of-the-mill forum, boards, blah blah. We're not your buddies! We're very bitter and mean!! For those who don't know, here's how it's gonna go down: Send us the commenter page for anyone that should get the axe. If we agree (even slightly), we'll swing. And swing hard. Though! No ban gloating. Gloating leads to Ban Hammer backfire, which could cause you to get the boot. Tuesday we'll be back better, lighter, strong and faster. Onward! More »

Send Your Ban Requests Here

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:00:38 EST

Found an unruly commenter? Want to nominate him/her/it for a piping fresh order of hot Ban Hammer? Having a problem with your account? Need help? Send comment related issues to commentsATkotaku.com for comment moderator Witzbold to handle. Remember, he's here to help and ban your ass proper. More »

Become the King of Komments at Kotaku

Brian Crecente — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:00:11 EST

I told you the next contest wouldn't involve any counting, at least not on your part. More »

Next Monday Is...

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 05:00:08 EST

It's coming. Yes, it is. Next Monday is everyone's favorite Kotakuday, Ban Monday! Our recent contest brought hoards of new commenters. While we do welcome the new folks, we also want to warn them. We ban here at Kotaku. Ban like crazy. So please do not confuse our comment sections with your run-of-the-mill forum, boards, blah blah. We are always open to ban submissions, but next Monday the ban sensitivity on the Hammer will be turned up max. Keep a watchful eye and get those submissions ready to send out next Monday. Stop, Ban Hammer time! More »

There's a bug in the Ban Hammer! Seems that...

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:00:00 EDT

There's a bug in the Ban Hammer! Seems that our recent redesign made our Hammer more sensitive to just about anyone, leading to random bannings. While bannings are generally a good thing (and make us happy), these bannings lack discretion and are giving good commenters the boot. So! Please check your commenter page. If there is a giant "X," you've been banned. Read through your comments and check to see if you wrote anything assholish or stupid or stupidly assholish. If not, then you might be one of the innocents. Send your commenter page URL to tipsATkotaku.com so we can get you back in the commenting fold. More »

Surprise Ban Monday!

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 02:00:25 EDT

Heads up, today is our favorite Kotakuday, Ban Monday. We LOVE Ban Mondays! While our hot line is open to ban recommendations at all times, we turn up the ban sensitivity on the Ban Hammer for this special monday. Here's how it works: Send us the commenter page for anyone that should get the boot. If we agree (even slightly), we'll swing. And swing hard. Though! No ban gloating. Gloating leads to Ban Hammer backfire, which could cause you to get the boot. Tuesday we'll be back better, lighter, strong and faster. Know that today is a Surprise Ban Monday, so shhhhhhh. Don't tell the other commenters — especially, those you want gone. More »

How to Get Banned: A Primer

Brian Crecente — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:00:47 EDT

It's been awhile since I've posted about our commenting policies here on Kotaku. They are, I believe, different than with most other sites. More »

Today is So Ban Monday

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:00:43 EDT

Don't forget! Here's how it works: Send us the commenter page for anyone that should get the axe. If we agree (even slightly), we'll swing. And swing hard. Though! No ban gloating. Gloating leads to Ban Hammer backfire, which could cause you to get the boot. Tuesday we'll be back better, lighter, strong and faster. Hope to see you on the other side! More »

Ban Monday is Coming

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:00:39 EDT

Whew! It's been a rough couple of weeks. And after every big event, a new flood of commenters appear. While we do welcome the new folks, we also want to warn them. We ban here at Kotaku. Ban like crazy. So please do not confuse our comment sections with your run-of-the-mill forum, boards, blah blah. Next Monday (October 1st) is our favorite Kotakaday, Ban Monday. We are always open to ban submissions, but next Monday the ban sensitivity on the Hammer will be turned up max. Here's how it works: Send us the commenter page for anyone that should get the axe. If we agree (even slightly), we'll swing. And swing hard. Though! No ban gloating. Gloating leads to Ban Hammer backfire, which could cause you to get the boot. Tuesday we'll be back better, lighter, strong and faster. Onward! More »

Sony Bans PSP Homebrew Talk on Forums

Mark Wilson — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:40:24 EDT

SCEA has said no more posting about PSP homebrew on their forums.

Homebrew applications void the warranty of the PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) system, and an official area to discuss such activities cannot be provided by SCEA. Any postings that are clearly homebrew-related, such as those providing instructions on downgrading firmware updates, will be removed from this board.

But is it really any surprise? More »

Ban Monday Begins

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:00:36 EDT

Let the blood letting officially begin. As you may or may not know, today is a Ban Monday, our favorite Kotakaday! Our willingness to ban increases ten-fold as we clean up and clean out. We want to keep the comments section readable (AKA thin the herd), and we want you to help. Here's how it works: Send tipsATkotaku.com commenter pages for anyone you think should get the boot. Our ban threshold is going to be way lower (hello fanboy trolls!). Nothing is definite, but ban requests from longtime commenters will be given great authority with the hammer. So be sure to include your own commenting profile! Ban Monday ends in exactly 24 hours. Tuesday's comment section will be lighter, faster, better. Onwards! More »

Ban Monday RETURNS!!

Brian Ashcraft — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:00:49 EDT

Ah, yes. Good ol' Ban Monday. The best day of the week! Regular readers know and love Ban Monday. Our willingness to ban increases ten-fold as we're game to clean up and clean out. We want to keep the comments section readable (AKA thin the herd), and we want you to help. Here's how it works: Send us commenter pages for anyone you think should get the boot. Our ban threshold is going to be way lower (hello fanboy trolls!). Nothing is definite, but ban requests from longtime commenters will be given great authority with the hammer. So be sure to include your own commenting profile! When does Ban Monday start? Not today, NOT TODAY. Today is not Monday, it's Friday. So don't send us banning requests until next Monday, August 27th. Until then, feel free to start making those lists and checking 'em twice. More »

A Last Week In Comments (Late Edition)

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 04:00:37 EDT

Gay Gamer Target of Hate Crime More »

A Week In Comments (With Ban Info)

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 08:00:00 EDT

Lay-Offs Hit SCEA HQ Today More »

A Week In Comments (With Ban Info)

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:40:14 EDT

Don't Worry About Halo 3's Graphics More »

A Week In Comments (With Ban Info)

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 18 May 2007 09:00:46 EDT

PS3: 10 More Years! More »

Multi-Tap: A Week In Comments

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:40:18 EDT

Dissecting Jack's Lies More »

Night Note: Why Is Always Dark When I Write These?

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 09:40:33 EST

To: Crecente More »

Multi-Tap: A Week In Comments

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 13:22:29 EST

Developers Protest Slamdance Game Festival More »

Multi-Tap: A Week In Comments

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 15:22:42 EDT

Castle Crashers... HORRIFICALLY RACIST! More »

Multi-Tap: A Week In Comments

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:22:26 EDT

Wall Stud FTW More »

Multi-Tap: A Week In Comments

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 14:23:30 EDT

Here It Is, The PS3 Remote More »

Blizzard bans 30,000 World of Warcraft accounts

egauger — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:20:20 EDT

Gameblog Aeropause reports (along with everyone else) that Blizzard has banned 30,000 accounts during May alone for the heinous crime of goldfarming: More »