Valve Now Allowing Banned Players Access to Games

[Guest]

Apparently, Valve had quietly implemented an account policy to allow banned players to access their games months ago.

Valve Now Allowing Banned Players Access to Games : Read more

 

[hoofhearted]

Why not just ban them from multiplayer (assuming they were banned for cheating)?

 

[hoofhearted]

Or create a virtual prison where they can only play with other banned players.

 

[ndiancobra]

I think it is a reasonable thing to do. You purchased a license for the game and should be given access to it. However, I think most gamers these days are only interested in the online multiplayer. The bottom line is that online multiplayer cheating is rampant and the vast majority of those steam bans were deserved.

 

[godfather666]

Why were they banned?

 

[zeppelin101]

hoofhearted: this is not a VAC (valve anti cheating) ban they're talking about. This is the type of ban Valve used to institute on people who did something like a chargeback on their credit card. Essentially, they would disable people's accounts.

 

[zeppelin101]

This is me making an assumption - I did not read the thread on the forums. The thing is - Valve had never banned people from playing the games they were banned from - just their multiplayer component. This usually would go 'per-engine'. So if you got banned in Counter-Strike: Source, you would not be able to play DoD: Source, and probably TF2 (even though it uses a way newer version of the engine), but you could play on non-VAC servers, as well as a single player Source game like HL2.

 

[MxM]

[citation][nom]ndiancobra[/nom]I think it is a reasonable thing to do. You purchased a license for the game and should be given access to it. However, I think most gamers these days are only interested in the online multiplayer. The bottom line is that online multiplayer cheating is rampant and the vast majority of those steam bans were deserved.[/citation]

You have not seen statistics then. Huge majority of the gamers are single player with only occasional multiplayer experience.

 

[vittau]

[citation][nom]zeppelin101[/nom]This is me making an assumption - I did not read the thread on the forums. The thing is - Valve had never banned people from playing the games they were banned from - just their multiplayer component. This usually would go 'per-engine'. So if you got banned in Counter-Strike: Source, you would not be able to play DoD: Source, and probably TF2 (even though it uses a way newer version of the engine), but you could play on non-VAC servers, as well as a single player Source game like HL2.[/citation]Yeah that's how I think it goes, at least for accounts banned due to cheating.

Maybe this policy change is related to other kinds of bans, such as those caused by fraudulent payment, sharing/buying/selling accounts, using the account for phishing, etc...

 

[gm0n3y]

[citation][nom]hoofhearted[/nom]Why not just ban them from multiplayer (assuming they were banned for cheating)?[/citation]
This.

The whole point is to stop people from cheating. Why restrict their access to single player games? It must be more complicated than we think.

 

[zeppelin101]

[citation][nom]gm0n3y[/nom]This.The whole point is to stop people from cheating. Why restrict their access to single player games? It must be more complicated than we think.[/citation]

Ehh, it's not always fraudulent. I don't know all the specifics, but there have been times when something unforeseen happens regarding payment and people's accounts have been disabled - with no recourse for appeal.

 

[ubercake]

Allowing the banned players in multiplayer will eventually turn off many people to the games and they just won't buy them any longer. This is the only response the non-cheating non-banned player has in their bag of tricks.

Stop buying/using Valve products and let the cheaters have at it.

 

[slicedtoad]

This article is lacking one serious piece of info; what type of banning are they talking about? I'll assume it's banning for fraudulent practices as it wouldn't make sense to loose access to your games for cheating in mp.

But really, this article was not written right.

 

[Darkerson]

Should have been this way from the start. Unless you were stealing or doing other fraudulent things, having your whole account disabled and losing access to all the games you bought was extremely harsh. (not talking about VAC bans, if you cheat, then you shouldnt have any access to multi-player)

I cant believe Im saying this, but something positive came about from Origin implementing this several months back.

 

[Wamphryi]

Maybe this will help shed some light on the question of why.


http://www.tomshardware.com/news/modern-warfare-2-cheating-steam,9173.html

 

[jcurry23]

WTF, they were banned for a reason. I might as well give them my ss and bank account information and save them the trouble.

 

[jcurry23]

oh they probably already have!!

 

[WOLF359]

[citation][nom]ndiancobra[/nom]I think it is a reasonable thing to do. You purchased a license for the game and should be given access to it. However, I think most gamers these days are only interested in the online multiplayer. The bottom line is that online multiplayer cheating is rampant and the vast majority of those steam bans were deserved.[/citation]
lol, like a penal colony?

 

[Christopher1]

[citation][nom]hoofhearted[/nom]Why not just ban them from multiplayer (assuming they were banned for cheating)?[/citation]

Good question, to be blunt. Frankly, I believe there should be two sets of servers: one where cheating is allowed specifically and one where it is specifically banned.

 

[the_crippler]

[citation][nom]MxM[/nom]You have not seen statistics then. Huge majority of the gamers are single player with only occasional multiplayer experience.[/citation]

Yeah - MP types are really just a vocal minority.

 

[Guest]

See what happens when you "rent" your games? You have to rely on some other company to play your games. You gave up certain rights when you opted for convienance. Quit complaining now.

 

[Christopher1]

[citation][nom]bobs your uncle[/nom]See what happens when you "rent" your games? You have to rely on some other company to play your games. You gave up certain rights when you opted for convienance. Quit complaining now.[/citation]

Rent? No, BOUGHT! The law is very clear on this subject. I'm betting Valve did this because they were told that they were open to lawsuits.

Banning people from playing online multiplayer is fine. Banning people because you 'don't like their CD key' and think it is stolen is not, most times those people are innocents who have been taken in by an unscrupulous retailer.

 

[JOSHSKORN]

[citation][nom]hoofhearted[/nom]Or create a virtual prison where they can only play with other banned players.[/citation]
That's the best idea, yet.

 

[maigo]

You guys are on the wrong topic. This isn't about Multiplayer bans for cheating, it's about STEAM bans for things like trolling or messing with their servers.

 

[lmn8r_16]

Accounts are only disabled for fraud, such as credit card fraud (stolen CC's, chargebacks) or steam account hacking. It was wrong from the get go because lots of people had their accounts hijacked/stolen and eventually disabled, no fault of their own. The recourse for this was hit-and-miss.