Falsely banned.

[yorkinheimer]

Alright i've already tried appealing to no avail. i just want to vocalise my distaste for activision at the moment and maybe some advice for where to go next.

so before this i was lowkey kinda hyped for BO6 (this has been the first time i've been genuinely interested in a COD release in forever, i usually dont care unless its got zombies. thats what i primarily play), had me in a cold war mood again and for the past few days i've been playing some games by myself or occasionally with friends. levelling up my weapons so i could eventually get that sweet dark aether camo. i've done everything at this point from the main easter eggs to upgrading every skill and i poured a LOT of time into zombies (i do not care about multiplayer, PvP isn't my scene)

on sunday night, way past midnight i hopped into a solo outbreak game, wanted to grind some levels for my hauer and given theres not much of a weapon xp fall off i went with that. its a chill gamemode anyhow, i dont mind if it returns but i wouldn't want it as a main serving. lore aside i got to world 3 (i think, could be world 2) and was doing a black chest. all of a sudden midway through my game cuts to black telling me i've been ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ banned from cold war. i check my email and the reason being was for "unauthorized software and manipulation of game data"

i had not touched the game files since i owned the game one year ago and at the time i've had
my browser open (vivaldi, thinking of switching back to librewolf though)
my password manager (keepassxc, which i partially suspect to be a culprit because of its quirky behaviour of hiding itself when its being captured. i was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about with my passwords earlier and i forgot to close it)
spotify
task manager (forgot why i had it open)
and notepad (think i just stored my password in it temporarily when i was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about with that)

i dont have anything else that should be interacting with the game in any way. i know modern cods are more volatile so i wouldn't have dared to ♥♥♥♥ about like that. so its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ crazy i've been dropped like this out of nowhere especially when im seeing people complain about actual cheaters all over the platform, its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ridiculous quite frankly.

i tried pleading my case in my appeal but wasn't left with much of an opportunity. i get why they cant share details so cheat developers dont improve their ♥♥♥♥ but, im genuinely a normal geezer who plays zombies. i've liked the gamemode for years and i have friends who enjoy playing it with me and i wouldn't throw my 16 quid away, my 150+ hours or so of progress and my almost 10 years unscathed steam account away to ♥♥♥♥ about and find out and i wouldn't make a tit of myself and complain this publicly if i was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about.

i also find it hilarious how steam FAQ states that:

"The effects of the game ban are determined by the developer, and must be consistent with a VAC ban, such as being prevented from playing online with other players and/or trading items for that game. It cannot prevent the user from launching and playing the game offline. It cannot prevent the user from using Steam."

yet, because of how always online this game is, you cant even play the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ campaign offline when you're banned. or singleplayer zombies. i know its not legal ♥♥♥♥ but its hardly consistent with the FAQ and probably should be looked into.

i really do wish i could never support activision again, i wont be with my own money thats for sure but i've got friends that want to buy me black ops 6. question is. is this ♥♥♥♥ gonna happen again? ill probably be reinstalling windows beforehand but still this whole ordeal, even in the unlikely turn it will have a happier ending (cause i've heard of cases where people randomly get unbanned) i'm never giving this company money again if they're just gonna decide to ♥♥♥♥ me for literally ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ reasons.

[Limbless_One]

I got a life ban last week 1 minute into playing Outbreak Solo .Reason "unauthorized software and manipulation of game data" , Unable to to get in contact with Support.
Only difference i had game through Blizzard.

[yorkinheimer]

Originally posted by Limbless_One:

I got a life ban last week 1 minute into playing Outbreak Solo .Reason "unauthorized software and manipulation of game data" , Unable to to get in contact with Support.
Only difference i had game through Blizzard.

man, im so sorry. that is an absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ reason to get banned. i really hope its not the anti-cheat ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up when people are playing outbreak on their own because that would be such a dumb blunder.

were you not able to make a proper appeal at all? not that it means much cause all i could really say when i made my appeal was that "i believed the ban to be made in error". they declined it and stood by their decision for some bizarre reason

[Tyler]

Maybe don't cheat next time.

[MaikElPipas]

Falsely banned womp womp.

Must be another Clara's victim.

[yorkinheimer]

Originally posted by El_pipitas:

Falsely banned womp womp.

Must be another Clara's victim.

i had to ask what this was referencing but trust me bro when i say you dont know how much i want this to be true and im pissed that it isn't. i could honestly live with it if it was valid and wouldn't need to come on here and make a complete tit of myself.

[dyingsince07]

ts happened to me last year lol i was chilling playing solo zombies and apparently i was "manipulating game data" 😭😭??? i heard the anti-cheat picks up software like steam and nvidia geforce as said unauthorized software so i don't know. if only activision helped at least a little bit lmao

[Welld1s]

Same stuff happened with me, this is my story: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1985810/discussions/0/4844273853946716921/

[yorkinheimer]

Originally posted by Vladimir:

I also don't understand why I was banned after 85 mins of in-game time. :'^) I bought the game today on Steam, launched it and was disappointed that the game is constantly loading textures, although I have a fairly powerful laptop. I researched a few posts on Reddit and watched a couple of Youtube videos on the topic of this error, and then tried to change the parameter in the configuration file responsible for loading video memory: “C:\Users\User\Documents\Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War\player\config.ini”. If this is not allowed - as I was not aware of this prohibition. I just wanted to improve my gaming experience. Got a permanent ban.

Also, maybe the fact that I started the game with a different IP address was suspicious? I did use the office VPN for work at one point and forgot to disable it.

I have never cheated in any game, never pirated COD games (otherwise what's the point of me buying them? :D) or otherwise broken the rules. I have many of games on my Steam/Blizzard/PSN accounts, and also plan to buy Black Ops 6. Now I dunno... My Steam profile reputation is ruined with the game ban plaque, I have a 16 yo account with 1k+ games - if you have any common sense you'll understand that cheating with all of these is non-sense.
_________________________________________________

To add some context: earlier I tried playing Modern Warfare II, which I also own on Steam, but I encountered that matches are not searchable and textures and UI elements are periodically missing from the menu. Later on 09/19/2024 I decided to buy Cold War to play through the story campaign and run around a bit in multiplayer. I was met with the same graphical bugs.

I spent some time changing game settings and periodically restarting the game, in the breaks I tried playing 1-2 maps and running the campaign, but the bugs were the same: https://imgur.com/a/EbPuJWo Eventually after another restart of the game I can't get into it anymore.

I think I finally figured out what the issue is: it seems that the game doesn't quite run correctly on the official Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 build that I've been using for work and gaming - after reinstalling to Windows 11 Pro I got my Modern Warfare II perfectly working! It seems to me that this OS is the reason of my lockout too. I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding, as I have a Steam account with 16 years of experience and absolutely clean reputation.
_________________________________________________

After spending some time in XDefiant (a sort of Call of Duty from Ubisoft) and watching how their anti-cheat system works, I had the following thoughts:

- The anti-cheat saw the dll-libraries from Nahimic on my computer and blocked them. Nahimic is an official utility that allows you to control the sound on your laptop and supported by Lenovo, for example. But there's also a feature in that utility (it's disabled by default) that allows you to visually track different sound sources in games, which might give some advantage. Could it be that Nahimic was the reason I got the ban? The only strange thing is why I can still play Modern Warfare II and Warzone safely;
- How wonderful it is when an anti-cheat system works transparently, reporting what's going on “under the hood” and blocking not players, but only potentially dangerous software for the duration of the game;
- Activision's behavior (even if you imagine you really are a cheater) makes you think that it is a scammer corporation that literally steals money. This is unacceptable and probably illegal. You are denied access to the product, but the exact reason is not explained. So, you are supposed to believe that you are a cheater, and that there is a perfect software and a never wrong security department performing the functions of... G.d?

P.S. Based on Steam's rules, a game lock can only prohibit a user from playing with others online and/or sharing items from the game. How many of you, after a permanent ban, can access the single-player mode of the same Black Ops Cold War? I doubt at least one.

I neglected to iterate the operating system i was on at the time & the fact i also had these texture issues. hasn't been the first time i've opened the config.ini file for cold war as i recall doing it before and it wasn't an issue for me then. in fact i saved my config.ini as i switched from one windows install to another (i reinstall windows fairly frequently, but i've got a friend in this very thread who does it 3x more than i do) and its not been a problem. would be silly if so. (PCGW, puts this up as a viable fix[www.pcgamingwiki.com] so i really really doubt again that its the reason. i trust that wiki with my life)

but i cant help but think your situation is very similar to mine. i was also on Windows 11 LTSC 2024 when it happened. yeah i've cracked cods before but this has been working a solid 9 or so months since i purchased the game once i was sold on it and it wasn't an issue then. but i was also having a lot of pop in with textures and that and i presumed it was the steam record feature. i archived that 2 hours of my penultimate outbreak game and i wouldn't mind spending a day to upload it to show off the weird pop in issues (which looked very much like the images you posted). tweaked the ini file and it was mostly fixed.

i cant help but think, especially given the other games i ♥♥♥♥ about with tend to have issues with some dll related mods especially if they're injected dont play nice under LTSC 2024. that something has been changed under the hood on microsofts end that isn't exactly accounted for by the current anticheat which its really weird especially for such a release. i've come up with all sorts of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ theories ever since this has happened like my offbrand dualshock 3 controller with my ♥♥♥♥♥ wire disconnecting and reconnecting at times just being left plugged in made the AC flip out and ♥♥♥♥ me. although i dont even remember if it was plugged in. even thought keepass being open doesn't like being captured by recording software unless i explicitly flick it on when its open was a bit ♥♥♥♥♥.

i dont want to believe that but im sort of leaning towards not being able to help that at the moment. doesn't really help that i played the Black Ops 6 open beta a few weeks ago under LTSC 2021 (Windows 10) and it worked flawlessly. although that actually uses ricochet and not whatever treyarch used for cold war as to my understanding they use something completely different.

Originally posted by 1sebastiannn:

ts happened to me last year lol i was chilling playing solo zombies and apparently i was "manipulating game data" 😭😭??? i heard the anti-cheat picks up software like steam and nvidia geforce as said unauthorized software so i don't know. if only activision helped at least a little bit lmao

that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sucks. although i do have my doubts geforce experience would be a culprit, i have a feeling the steam port of this game is kinda wonk judging by this one small bug it had that it wouldn't show your actual rank until you finish one game everytime you launch it. i'd say i wouldn't be shocked if steam fingered it and fuzzed the AC but i think Windows 11 LTSC being wonk under the hood has a lot more credibility to me now someone else has a very similar play for play here.


still. this all sucks, sorry that it happened. i get activision doesn't want to help cheat developers debug their cheats by explaining what flagged ♥♥♥♥ and how (not even the bare ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ minimum) but this takes the piss. this company continues to make me ashamed that i grew up and still enjoy a side mode vividly in a series of their products and have best friends who i play this gamemode with reletively often. when i switched back to BO3 days after i felt my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ stomach turn that im even propping up their ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ numbers after they scarred my steam account, took my money and made my hours on the game redundant. i cant even have a silver lining like "Oh i can still play cold war offline" or "Oh, i had it coming i did cheat. maybe i should not do that". i would ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ love to make a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ out of this and get a real persons actual attention on the matter, someone that could do something but i'd wager that not happening. lets hope someone is still looking at these appeals and noticing an odd trend that doesn't make any sense and catch onto it.

[Welld1s]

Funny thing: I also played Black Ops 6 Beta without any problem, didn't get any ban. Was playing on the same OS.

And now I'm pissed off like you. Have no singleplayer campaign (which was the reason I've bought the game), nothing. And then, if I'll ever buy BO6 where's the guarantee that I won't be banned after an hour or so like with the Cold War game? They don't say anything about the real reason I was banned, but how can I fix this on my end if I don't know what to fix? Just mind blowing.

I'm so mad at fact that I can't change or do anything with these false accusations, which not only left me without money and the game I payed for, but also did destroy my reputation here, on Steam.

[yorkinheimer]

Originally posted by Vladimir:

Funny thing: I also played Black Ops 6 Beta without any problem, didn't get any ban. Was playing on the same OS.

And now I'm pissed off like you. Have no singleplayer campaign (which was the reason I've bought the game), nothing. And then, if I'll ever buy BO6 where's the guarantee that I won't be banned after an hour or so like with the Cold War game? They don't say anything about the real reason I was banned, but how can I fix this on my end if I don't know what to fix? Just mind blowing.

I'm so mad at fact that I can't change or do anything with these false accusations, which not only left me without money and the game I payed for, but also did destroy my reputation here, on Steam.

probably the best play is to avoid purchasing modern cod games on steam.

im never gonna make that mistake again. hell i never want to give this company money directly again. the most i ever will is if i need to buy the season pass for BO3 because i love that game too much. but to my knowledge. last i heard a friend of mine is purchasing me black ops 6. wont lose sleep if he dont follow through but i'd never buy it with my own money.

i do trust LTSC 2021 a lot more over 2024 right now though. so will be daily driving that more often. which sucks because i was looking forward to windows 11 ltsc from the start of the year

[Neclord06]

It happened from the Single Player portion of the game. Didn't even get past the intro cutscene. I posted here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1985810/discussions/0/4844273853946716921/

[thelilhippie420]

I was also permabanned a few months ago on a 15 year old clean account. I've never modded, hacked, or cheated a day in my life. Appealing it was worthless. ♥♥♥♥ THOSE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

[OGPoetoe]

i've got banned permanently because unauthorized software and Manipulate game data, idk which apps made they think me use unauthorized software even i never use that both. to be honest, this is unfunny.

[Blink]

Originally posted by El_pipitas:

Falsely banned womp womp.

Must be another Clara's victim.

people like this cant think for them self sadly

[qexkk]

Same here, the email said I'm banned permanently from Cold War and *all past and future COD games* for "unauthorized software and manipulating game data". It happened last week whilst playing the singleplayer campaign.

I'd just installed the Windows 11 24H2 update, other than that I have no idea what triggered the anticheat software. My Activision or Steam accounts weren't hacked, I don't have any RGB software, sound driver software, overclocking software/overlays or any of the usual culprits.

There's a ton of reports of false bans online, even if only 50% of us are actually telling the truth, that's a lot of people...