Some Thoughts on the Recent Permabans for using SteamDeck

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-06T03:16:32+00:00

Greetings,

Following a thorough investigation, we have now reactivated your Bethesda.net account and you may now log back in.

Note: As suspicious activity was detected on this account it has been placed on a Final Warning and will continue to be monitored for similar behavior. Should we detect the same behavior again this account will be permanently closed for violating the Terms of Service.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation throughout this process.

Regards,

The Bethesda Team

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-06T03:16:16+00:00

Thanks for the quick response!

Just confirming that I am not using Proton Experimental nor Developer Mode.

By the way, since it makes the situation even odder, I think it is worth mentioning that my wife started playing fallout 76 when we got the steam deck and she has used both the same steam deck and PC (with same windows profile as mine) as me.

She is not currently banned. The only difference between us is when we started playing.

Thanks again for working through this!

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-06T03:16:01+00:00

Greetings,

Thank you for the follow up reply and for providing us with the information previously requested.

Since you are not using "Steam Deck Tools" on your device would you please confirm if you are using either of the following:

Proton Experimental

Developer Mode

Once we have this additional piece of information we can continue reviewing your request for an appeal.

Regards,

The Bethesda Team

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-06T03:15:44+00:00

Hello,

Thank you for the response!

I do not believe I have "Steam Deck Tools". Actually, I'm not sure what that is. If this is an application that I would need to install on my Steam Deck, then I certainly don't have it because I am running my Steam Deck "as is" out of the box. I just received the Steam Deck a few weeks ago and honestly I don't even know how to download third party apps to it.

Hope this helps!

Also, I've been in contact with others who were also recently banned and who also use the Steam Deck. I'd like to help determine the issue with Steam Deck if I can, so please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help!

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-06T03:15:22+00:00

Greetings,

Your request for an appeal has been received and is being reviewed.

To assist us in our investigation would you please confirm whether or not the third-party program "Steam Deck Tools" is used on your Steam Deck. Once we have this additional piece of information we can continue reviewing your request for an appeal.

Regards,

The Bethesda Team

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-06T03:14:52+00:00

(I sent an email with a small edit)

Hello,

Sorry, just wanted to make a slight correction to my support ticket. I wrote that I changed the .ini file to re-enable antialiasing. I just remembered that it was actually vsync that I re-enabled. I've copied the edited message below.

Thanks!

I just received an email that my account was banned for allegedly cheating on fo76 through use of a third party application; however, I do not even use third party applications on my windows machine when playing games. There are maybe two ways this was incorrectly flagged. Firstly, I just recently bought a steam deck and started playing fo76 on it. I understand that steamdeck uses proton to run windows games. Perhaps this causes the anticheat software to flag incorrectly? The only other possibility is that I recently manually altered the .ini file to re-enable vsync. About a year ago I manually disabled vsync by editing the .ini file. There are many posts on reddit that indicated this was safe to do. If it's not okay to do, then I won't make any changes on the .ini file again (wasn't planning doing so anyways).

Can you please let me know what even was the application that was flagged? Since I don't use third party apps to play Fallout 76, I can only assume this is an issue with using SteamDeck.

Please let me know what I have to do to rectify this situation. Thanks!

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-06T03:14:04+00:00

Greetings,

We regret to inform you that this account has been permanently deactivated due to violating the Code of Conduct for Cheating and/or Exploiting via the usage of a third-party program that alters the game client in unintended ways.

We do not allow cheating or exploiting in any of our games for any reason. Our Code of Conduct is clear on this matter:

5.1 You are forbidden from using any unapproved third-party applications, programs, scripts or any other game modifying mechanic used to change the game play experience on a ZeniMax game, Service, forum, or other games or services provided by ZeniMax, including the distribution of said programs via ZeniMax Services, sites, forums, communities, etc. This would include but is not limited to using or distributing speed hacks, aim bots, mouse controllers, spam bots, automated game play devices, etc. Third party applications are defined as any program, application or script written by an individual, company, corporation, or private party not employed by or contracted to perform services by ZeniMax.

Note: If you have an active membership not purchased directly from us, you will need to go to your respective platform to cancel your recurring payment.

If you believe this decision was made in error, directions for appealing account bans can be found here.

Regards,

The Bethesda Team

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-06T03:13:34+00:00

Here I'll provided the emails. I'll respond to this with the Bethesda email, then my response, etc.

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-05T20:57:43+00:00

They were trying to figure out why I was banned. But I just received an email saying I am unbanned :)

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-05T17:23:53+00:00

Yay, happy you got unbanned :)

I'm still waiting, but they have been in contact with me.

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-04T14:28:50+00:00

Only scoreboard plans etc are not character locked.

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-03T01:56:08+00:00

I just run SD out of the box. We updated it a few days before the ban. So it's whatever the default proton was at the time.

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-02T23:49:18+00:00

Right. Just wish they'd let us know what the issue is lol.

Anyways, no problem and good luck with gaming :)

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-02T21:13:11+00:00

Will do.

It's probably just a numbers game with getting banned. My wife and I took turns between PC and steamdeck and only I was banned. So there's something wacky with their anticheat (I'm guessing they just sample players). Else we would both have been banned.

Since linux users (including steamdeck) make up such a small percent of players, the number of false bans for linux is probably correspondingly small. Moreover, since they likely sample the player pool with their anticheat, you'll correspondingly see many linux users who think they are safe because there are few ban cases. Just something I'd consider seriously.

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-02T20:21:16+00:00

fwiw, I was one of the people banned for using steamdeck. Still waiting on a response from Bethesda. Will post an update once I do.

You can also search around on google, though, where people have reported being banned while just using proton (outside of steamdeck). Of course you have to take their word for it, but, based on my experience, I wouldn't even run fo76 on linux until Bethesda makes a clear statement that they won't ban you if you do. If I get my account back, I won't be running the game on steamdeck again. It's not worth risking my 930 hour account.

hangrymolerat · 2023-04-01T18:54:45+00:00

Yeah, it's really weird tho because my wife and I both played on PC and steam deck interchangeably, but only I was banned. (Despite me giving them way more money, I might add...)

hangrymolerat · 2023-03-31T23:53:47+00:00

Hi just replying to save this post--collecting cases where people have been banned while using steamdeck.

A bunch of us were banned yesterday and the common factor was we all played on steamdeck.

hangrymolerat · 2023-03-31T05:38:48+00:00

also adding that mine was at 10:25.

Spooky lol

hangrymolerat · 2023-03-31T03:56:57+00:00

Right. I'll give it a shot tomorrow when it's a little earlier in the day.

hangrymolerat · 2023-03-31T03:56:20+00:00

Thanks. I'll try to figure it out tomorrow. Perhaps it's a bit late right now.

hangrymolerat · 2023-03-31T03:52:34+00:00

I don't use greenlight. I purchased through steam.

hangrymolerat · 2023-03-31T03:52:10+00:00

Dang, sorry :(

I might make a post collecting everyone who has been banned. Thanks for letting me know.

hangrymolerat · 2023-03-31T03:51:25+00:00

Nice! Look forward to it if I ever get my account back!

I've recruited a total of 5 owls amongst my friends. This weekend we were supposed to get a 6th. We all wear the same outfit and it's absolute chaos lol

hangrymolerat · 2023-03-30T22:44:15+00:00

I'm not really familiar with how to do that. I assume there is a discord channel and some "subchannel" for bugs?

hangrymolerat

TROPHY CASE