Cheaters suck – and those who hack games and ruin the online experiences for other people deserve to have their accounts banned for all perpetuity. In the past, Valve’s been in control of banning those who play the wrong sort of silly buggers in Steam games online. It’s not a particularly efficient system.
I don’t imagine that Valve’s employees have the time to sit through complaints, checking who’s been naughty before handing out bans – so they’ve now opened the option up to game developers.
Valve’s new policy put the power right in the hands of developers, as they say in their page on game bans.
Because nobody likes playing with cheaters.
Playing games should be fun. In order to ensure the best possible online multiplayer experience, Valve allows developers to implement their own systems that detect and permanently ban any disruptive players, such as those using cheats.
Game developers inform Valve when a disruptive player has been detected in their game, and Valve applies the game ban to the account. The game developer is solely responsible for the decision to apply a game ban. Valve only enforces the game ban as instructed by the game developer.
For more information about a game ban in a specific game, please contact the developer of that game.
On the one hand, that does likely mean fewer cheating idiots in the games you love to play online. On the other, it is something that’s potentially open for abuse. Left a negative user review on a game? Enjoy that ban, buddy! Overzealous, power-hungry moderators and admins can be found anywhere – and it’s likely at least one or two people will be banned from games as a result of a power trip.
Still, there’s a simple rule in online games that I wish more people would stick to – and it’s one that easily applies to life in general: Don’t be a dick.
Last Updated: April 30, 2015
Blood Emperor Trevor
April 30, 2015 at 14:33
I WILL BE A DICK! YOU CAN’T STOP ME! FREEEEEEEEEEEDOOOMMMMMMMMMM!
Brady miaau
April 30, 2015 at 14:34
Ah, so a boxer man then
Blood Emperor Trevor
April 30, 2015 at 14:38
Dangling are not only my participles.
Brady miaau
April 30, 2015 at 14:39
A yoda man too then, I see.
Clever in words you are or something
Ranting Raptor
April 30, 2015 at 17:58
Free Willy!!!!!
Brady miaau
April 30, 2015 at 14:34
Ah, don’t be a dick. Words to live by.
I think the system of banning will be self healing. Ban me because I made a bad review? Read about the banning on reddit: have the community ask the developer to provide the reason for banning, in an open and transparent process.
It will take a lot of game popularity to allow the developer to truly act as they please.
Wyzak
May 2, 2015 at 13:05
Um yeah, they don’t care.
Admiral Chief
April 30, 2015 at 14:45
Famous SA saying:
“Don’t be a p)#%, be lekker!”
Kromas,powered by windows 10.
April 30, 2015 at 19:38
Actually it is a term used to describe Wheatons law.
Uberutang
April 30, 2015 at 14:45
They should go the DICE route and just hardware and account ban.
Cheat? You cant play on that account OR that hardware ever again./ BOOM>
Mark Treloar
April 30, 2015 at 15:01
So people should be banned from Steam entirely?
Kensei Seraph
April 30, 2015 at 15:02
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img560/833/79zk.gif
Uberutang
April 30, 2015 at 15:03
Cheaters>? yeah. Hardware and account ban those suckers.
Mark Treloar
April 30, 2015 at 15:06
So what happens when a developer bans someone who wrote a negative comment, they should get banned because the developer is lazy and incompetent? Also Steam will never ban a potential sale participant.
Uberutang
April 30, 2015 at 15:10
What they should do is issue a vac ban and then ban the account and hardware id for that game and all other games that is developed or published by that publisher/dev. I am sure there will be a way out if you get banned for a legit review. Does not have to be a permanent ban either.
Mark Treloar
April 30, 2015 at 15:12
Some developers need a ban too.
Admiral Chief
April 30, 2015 at 15:32
^This
Wyzak
May 2, 2015 at 13:06
Nope, there isn’t a way. I was banned from the Elite Dangerous forums on Steam for a factual article. And I contacted Steam to appeal the ban, they basically told me the developer runs the forum and as such they can’t/won’t do anything about it.
Wyzak
May 2, 2015 at 13:05
False positives happen as well.
Kensei Seraph
April 30, 2015 at 14:48
It’s almost the weekend.
Just a few more minutes until I can go home and sleep.
Admiral Chief
April 30, 2015 at 14:48
DENIED!!!
WE MUST GAME!
Kensei Seraph
April 30, 2015 at 14:51
Got friends coming over this evening so I’m going to be playing MtG until midnight and then going to a friends for a LAN all of tomorrow.
Admiral Chief
April 30, 2015 at 14:51
Good man
Mark Treloar
April 30, 2015 at 15:04
MtG I miss it.
Greylingad
April 30, 2015 at 14:49
*Don’t be a dickfore
Ranting Raptor
April 30, 2015 at 17:58
Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun
WOA247
May 1, 2015 at 01:21
I hate campers! Banned them!
Wyzak
May 2, 2015 at 13:05
Yeah, the abuse situation is a real threat. I was banned from the Elite Dangerous steam forum for posting about the offline mode which was cut from the game. I appealed the decision, only to be told by Steam that Frontier administer the Steam forums for their game and they (Valve) have no say/control. So if my game was on Steam, they could have just as well banned me from the game.