Wednesday, October 25th 2017

"Not So Fast": Bungie Automatically Bans Destiny 2 PC Players With Overlays

Urgent message to all would-be Destiny 2 PC players: Bungie has enabled an extremely strict, no holds-barred permanent account-banning system with Destiny 2, which activates so long as you have any kind of application with process hooks / overlay features. This is true for Twitch, Discord, MSI Afterburner, OBS, XSplit, Skype, TeamSpeak, HWMon, AIDA, as well as some hardware vendor overlays such as ASUS Tweak and Corsair Link software, GeForce Experience's FPS counter... The message screen, "Not so Fast", indicates that players have been banned, without forewarning or any further explanation.

There's a meltdown going on in Bungie's official PC Support forums, where most of the threads have been started - and then added to - by banned users. In some cases, users are banned even before entering the character creation screen; some more fortunate ones can even get to thew first three minutes of the intro video. A post from a Bungie Forum moderator didn't do much to instill confidence: "In Destiny there are account restriction and bans,", Bungie moderator "Kellogs" writes. "Restrictions are only temporary but must be waiting out while bans are permanent. Please note that Bungie will not discuss or overturn account restrictions or bans."
It's interesting to note that the same moderator indicated that some apps that might be incompatible with Destiny 2 - read, all of the above - would result in the game not launching, but not on a ban. This seems to be in line with Bungies' terms and conditions on PC overlay support, but nevertheless, hasn't stopped many, many users from calling that claim an outright lie. Apparently, a not insignificant number of users have seen themselves banned, instead of a game application fail to run instance.

If you've bought a digital Battle.Net key for the game, and have been banned due to this inexcusable usage of blind banning, you may have some luck in requesting a refund directly from Blizzard support. Users who have bought a physical version fo the game, however, will see their refunds be much less likely.
Sources: Bungie Forums, TPU Forums user @ One Moar
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86 Comments on "Not So Fast": Bungie Automatically Bans Destiny 2 PC Players With Overlays

#76
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
lexluthermiesterAnd you know that how? What are you, psychic?
You said it yourself.
lexluthermiesterOk, maybe "banned" isn't the right word. How about "kicked off" or "unable to play" or even "unable to login after a few attempts to play".
Unlreated problem. Which you should complain about, but still.
Posted on Reply
#77
lexluthermiester
Complaining at this juncture would be a mute point, I got a refund. The reality is they have problems. A friend of mine did not, but then he's got a Radeon. Who knows what the problem is, but clearly they have one.
Posted on Reply
#78
StrayKAT
lexluthermiesterComplaining at this juncture would be a mute point, I got a refund. The reality is they have problems. A friend of mine did not, but then he's got a Radeon. Who knows what the problem is, but clearly they have one.
Well, since you were a early buyer, I imagine you were looking forward to it. Sorry about that. Good thing is, there's so many other good games out.
Posted on Reply
#79
lexluthermiester
StrayKATWell, since you were a early buyer, I imagine you were looking forward to it. Sorry about that. Good thing is, there's so many other good games out.
Yeah, it's all good. Funny enough, The Doom collection got a discount on GOG, and after recently discovering GZDoom, I decided to get and relive them. Not quite the same as the new hotness, but it will be a grand trip down memory lane and just in time for halloween!
Posted on Reply
#80
erocker
*
So, uh... 400 people affected and overlays wasn't the issue. This story got blown out of proportion real fast.
Posted on Reply
#81
Th3pwn3r
erockerSo, uh... 400 people affected and overlays wasn't the issue. This story got blown out of proportion real fast.
That's the fault of Bungie not explaining things, they could have easily but nope, they chose not to out of stupidity.
Posted on Reply
#82
lexluthermiester
erockerSo, uh... 400 people affected and overlays wasn't the issue. This story got blown out of proportion real fast.
Citation please?
Posted on Reply
#83
CounterZeus
lexluthermiesterCitation please?
Security update from Bungie. www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/46426

But it was more like:
- manually banned 400 people
- overturned 4 bans from beta
- then they updated with an 'oops', there was a group banned in error (unknown number), but nothing to do with overlays.
Posted on Reply
#84
SomeOne99h
CounterZeusSecurity update from Bungie. www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/46426

But it was more like:
- manually banned 400 people
- overturned 4 bans from beta
- then they updated with an 'oops', there was a group banned in error (unknown number), but nothing to do with overlays.
It wasn't just "oops". The project leader's response was lame and he said "That is Internet BS" in twitter.
Look: twitter.com/ShockAndShaw/status/923033887269257216

Just in case that link become nothing, This is his first reply "We do block programs from pushing their code into our game. Most overlays work like that. We don't ban for that tho. That's internet BS."
Posted on Reply
#85
lexluthermiester
CounterZeusSecurity update from Bungie. www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/46426

But it was more like:
- manually banned 400 people
- overturned 4 bans from beta
- then they updated with an 'oops', there was a group banned in error (unknown number), but nothing to do with overlays.
So basically you just confirmed, with Bungie's own updated statement, that this was not blown out of proportion and that the experiences that many have had, myself included, are in fact caused by a code problem. Thank You for that.

Dear Bungie;
Situations like this and many others[looking at you EA] are why PROPER and THROUGH beta testing is needed before releasing games and software. We, the paying public, are not your beta testers. We are tired of you treating us as such. We are tired of getting screwed over because of YOUR failures. And we are tired of being treated like criminals through sad use of garbage DRM, which has proven itself to be as effective as a screen door on a submarine.
Posted on Reply
#86
JrockTech
The statistical information I get from MSI afterburner is detrimental for me to choose my in game settings. I need to know what % usage my components are at.

I guess for now I will do it the old fashion way and record my stats for a few minutes then minimize and adjust.

Anyone willing to test if they can detect Riva's 2D vector? :D
Posted on Reply
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