How can you tell if you've been soft banned?

[Ehud]

I just learned the term "soft banned" today while trying to figure out why I suddenly can't connect with my friend, can't be summoned, and why there are no summon signs anywhere. After reading a little bit about these soft bans I fear that I am indeed soft banned. I have never hacked the game or cheated in anyway, I was invaded by a few hackers recently but I never picked up any items they dropped (they didn't even drop items). The only thing I can think of that might have cause this is that my computer randomly crashed while I was playing yesterday. I wasn't invading or being invaded (that I know of) during the crash, but it did set me back like a minute of gameplay. Maybe I got super unlucky and the previous save I was set back to set off an alarm? Maybe I was being invaded during the crash?

For me the most importat thing is to know for sure if I am indeed soft banned. Can I check somewhere? Is there a way to know for 100% sure?

Next, if I am soft banned, how can I fix it? Is there some kind of customer support I can plead with?

I would love to be able to play the most fun parts of this game again, any helpful feedback will be greatly appreciated.

[TheAngryRogue]

The recent Softban wave hit alot of innocent players. BandaiNamco posted on their twitter feed to contact their support email to confirm if you have been softbanned or not. But that is all that they can do. Attempting to appeal the ban has them tell you to go to FromSoftware's website which states, in big bold letters, that they do not reply to inquiries for the Dark Souls series and to contact Bandai, who again tells you to contact FromSoftware. They put you into an infinite loop with no resolution. This latest Ban wave hit alot of streamers who stream to hundreds if not thousands of people...live. Kind of hard to cheat with all the eyes on you. All you can do is pray that they get enough complaints and reverse it, but being a Japanese company, they are arrogant pricks and don't care.

In the end it's a scam to force you to buy it on another steam account to play, losing all of your time and progress.

Their email is [e-mail]

[Ehud]

Well this is depressing. Thanks for the email address, I might as well try.

[Ehud]

Little update and clarification (I really don't understand soft ban)- Are you able to connect with other people who are softbanned? While I am still unable to connect with multiple friends no matter how we try, I have been invaded twice and I was summoned as a dragonbro once. (not by my friends because life sucks) I am still looking for summon signs wherever I go but even the Iron Bridge is empty. (except for the invasions and one dragon bro summon)

I am extremely confused by the dragonbro summoning. I can understand still being able to be invaded as a punishment but somehow I was summoned as a dragonbro. I have only been summoned once but I have been trying for a while now.

This goes back to my big question- am I soft banned? Can soft banned people still connect a little? or maybe to other soft banned people?

[Catticus, Coveter of Snack]

The solution is to migrate on softban pool for all community.

[shadoom]

Originally posted by Ehud:

Little update and clarification (I really don't understand soft ban)- Are you able to connect with other people who are softbanned? While I am still unable to connect with multiple friends no matter how we try, I have been invaded twice and I was summoned as a dragonbro once. (not by my friends because life sucks) I am still looking for summon signs wherever I go but even the Iron Bridge is empty. (except for the invasions and one dragon bro summon)

I am extremely confused by the dragonbro summoning. I can understand still being able to be invaded as a punishment but somehow I was summoned as a dragonbro. I have only been summoned once but I have been trying for a while now.

This goes back to my big question- am I soft banned? Can soft banned people still connect a little? or maybe to other soft banned people?

You are in the cheater pool now so you only will be matched with people that have been softbanned as well so yeah the post above me is correct

[Ehud]

Originally posted by shad00m:

You are in the cheater pool now so you only will be matched with people that have been softbanned as well so yeah the post above me is correct

Thanks for the answer, awful as it is. In my research I saw that there was apparently another ban wave a month ago, was this ever fixed in any way? If not... am I just up a creek without a paddle? Also, if I make a new character will they be banned? If I can never get back into normal online play this game will be dead to me once I complete the last DLC. That would be the greatest dissapointment from any video game I have ever experienced.

[DirtyMike]

Originally posted by Ehud:

Thanks for the answer, awful as it is. In my research I saw that there was apparently another ban wave a month ago, was this ever fixed in any way? If not... am I just up a creek without a paddle? Also, if I make a new character will they be banned? If I can never get back into normal online play this game will be dead to me once I complete the last DLC. That would be the greatest dissapointment from any video game I have ever experienced.

Unfortunatly its your account that has the ban on it, not the individual characters, have to resort to alterior methods to get back into online play (does not involve buying the game again luckily).

[Sohaim]

i want to know that question too, right now my SM is at 7 mil, i can still see 7~9 sings at Iron Bridge, i am still at NG, and co-op takes way too now, soft banned?

[Legas]

Originally posted by Sohaim:

i want to know that question too, right now my SM is at 7 mil, i can still see 7~9 sings at Iron Bridge, i am still at NG, and co-op takes way too now, soft banned?

You can see plenty summon signs and can even coop.
It doesn't look like you're softbanned, it just looks like you have too much SM for NG.

[Sohaim]

Originally posted by Artorias (Legas):

Originally posted by Sohaim:

i want to know that question too, right now my SM is at 7 mil, i can still see 7~9 sings at Iron Bridge, i am still at NG, and co-op takes way too now, soft banned?

You can see plenty summon signs and can even coop.
It doesn't look like you're softbanned, it just looks like you have too much SM for NG.

Co-op takes forever, and my low leve i can only see one Big Sing and 3 small ones at forest of the giants at 50000 sm, also i was at Freja last night on my sorc(2.5m) and no sings, there was ONE for Nakja but i did found two guys to help kill Dragonriders, but none for Mirror knight, i guess my SM is just too high and a lot of people are in NG right? not that many new people anymore ;/

[Legas]

Originally posted by Sohaim:

Originally posted by Artorias (Legas):

You can see plenty summon signs and can even coop.
It doesn't look like you're softbanned, it just looks like you have too much SM for NG.

Co-op takes forever, and my low leve i can only see one Big Sing and 3 small ones at forest of the giants at 50000 sm, also i was at Freja last night on my sorc(2.5m) and no sings, there was ONE for Nakja but i did found two guys to help kill Dragonriders, but none for Mirror knight, i guess my SM is just too high and a lot of people are in NG right? not that many new people anymore ;/

I'm almost sure you're not softbanned, everything you said looks perfectly normal to me.

[Crazybite]

I think it has to do with a small fact that most playing people have done all the bosses you describe, don't have another character to help out or are in NG+ or have soul memories in NG that are not matching your soul memory range.

In the game is an item for resetting some values for if you get frequent disconnects. (bone of order? anyone?) If you do get disconnects and see less and less signs you can try using that item. (I never needed to use it so it may be a complete fluke..)

[Wreckoning]

I've heard of a trick to checking a soft ban. Apparantly, although I haven't been softbanned so I can't check, but apparantly the stone plaque in Majula that counts the deaths of all players ever will display a much lower total when softbanned, as you are only connecting to the softbanned players and thus only counting the softbanned deaths.

I haven't verified if this happens, though. I've only heard of it.

[Crazybite]

I know that happens when you lose connection to steam, read the plaque and you can see your own character's death count.
what your talking about, might be the case if the soft ban pool has it's own death counter aswell.

[Sohaim]

still have my bone of order, never got that kind of DC, i just see way less sings than my friend and we have the same ISP and i have a better modem/Router Tp-link n750(TL-WDR4300), i can still see sings at iron bridge(7~9), i also managed to Co-op with 6 people so far with low level(SM now at 100k) but i get the feeling that my ports are blocked or something, even thought i tried to open them, my friend still gets way more sings, is invaded a LOT more and the sings show up faster, i am at lost bastile right now and took 5m to get summoned, by i see no sings lolz