Here is the complete guide to some of the more obscure methods of getting your account or console banned: Use your name as your Gamertag – In 2008, Microsoft banned UK resident Richard Gaywood from Xbox Live for using his name as his Gamertag. Apparently, some dirty-minded community members felt personally offended and complained, prompting the ban. Enter your town name in your profile – Just this week, reports surfaced that a West Virginia gamer had been graced with a suspended account because of his town name, Fort ***. This time it was Microsoft, and not complaining community members who initiated the ban. I wonder how they feel about players from Intercourse, PA? Express your political views – In March of this year, a 15-year-old was banned for using mpeach obama21 as his Gamertag. Microsoft defended their actions because “This name is actually, it’s not likeable,” according to an Xbox spokesperson, who felt that the president might be hurt by it. “If you were Obama, what would you feel if you saw this?” Reference espionage – Using the name Sputnik, a Cold War Soviet spy satellite, got a player inexplicably banned back in 2008. It sounds like there may have been some hints of McCarthyism going on in the Redmond offices that day. Be a good Microsoft customer – Last year, Microsoft suspended a customer’s Xbox 360 console from Live for no good reason. Evidently, it’s enough to just sink five grand into the company’s products in order to earn a ban, with an extra-special bonus hassle from Customer Service! I’m just waiting for the day that someone decides that referencing an alcoholic beverage in my Gamertag is worthy of a ban, never mind that it’s in my name. With Microsoft’s track record illustrated here, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.
