A troubling issue regarding the potential loss of Xbox Live Gamertags and their Achievements has recently made rounds, and while the root cause has been determined by Microsoft, it exposes a rather glaring design oversight for the online gaming service. In short, Gamertags tied to certain webmail addresses close to being, well, closed as a result of "inactivity" are in danger of being shuttered themselves. Particularly troubling is how these Gamertags are currently not easily recoverable, and any Achievements tied to them are also lost as a result.

In this case, Windows Live Hotmail deactivates addresses which are inactive (haven't been logged into) after 120 days, requiring users to "reactivate" them should they need to access their webmail accounts again. Unfortunately, any deactivated Live service has an effect on Xbox Live Gamertags as well.  Gamertags affected by this will display a "'8015d080" error code when their holders are trying to renew Gold level subscriptions.  Indeed, these Gamertags are shut out of exclusive Gold level services altogether as a result, though they may still access Silver level services and make Marketplace downloads.

The real doozy is that users are unable to tie the "deactivated" Gamertag to a new Windows Live ID featuring a new email address afterwards. As a result, affected gamers currently have no choice but to create a new Gamertag with a new Windows Live ID; any current achievement points tied to an existing Gamertag are non-transferable, so don't expect to see them back until further notice from Microsoft. Speaking of which, Microsoft has officially acknowledged this problem:

"We are investigating this issue and don't have any further comment to make right now. Any consumer with any issues regarding their Xbox 360 or Xbox Live account should visit xbox.com/support or call their country's customer support number."