amerscore violators may not face prosecution, but Microsoft is giving them a little taste of persecution. As Major Nelson posts on his latest blog update, the company is taking action against players who have used game saves and other nefarious methods to boost their Gamerscores.
 What’s the punishment? Well, first, their scores on those suspect accounts are getting reset to zero. Additionally, those players will be publicly called out through an additional label on their Gamercard, saying they’ve been caught cheating. While affected players will be able to accrue Achievement points through legitimate methods, their ill-gotten awards will forever be off limits. In other words, if you cheated to get the Gears of War “Seriously…” Achievement, you won’t be able to unlock it again by killing 10,000 players in ranked matches. Consider your wrist slapped.

As Microsoft points out on its cheating FAQ, if you feel as though you’ve been unfairly targeted under the cheating crackdown, well, tough. “There is no way to appeal a gamerscore correction.  We only correct gamerscores for players who meet the criteria 100%.  Your best choice is to show the community you won’t do it again.” But they’re not complete hardasses. “We believe in players reforming themselves, which is why gamerscore correction only applies to previously earned achievements.”

So if you want to boost your score, do it the hard way—simming sports games and playing titles clearly designed for children.