Can you get softbanned for using other saves ?

[Sidd]

I recently got unbanned so I really don't want to risk it. Can I just use an old save I found and not get banned ?

[Papa Shekels]

Wait, this game has softbans? I've been playing in the forced online with a cheat engine item randomizer for years and haven't gotten one. I even get invaded by others with it open

[Sidd]

Yeah it does and I'm surprised I got unbanned. I used to edit my soul memory so I could play with a friend on my main. Surprisingly enough, I got invaded by a player while softbanned and was still able to see all messages.

[JellyPuff]

Simply using other savefiles will not get you softbanned. Direct gamefile modifications or impossible stats will (e.g. infused consumables or Soul Level is 300, but Soul Memory is 0). If such a savefile doesn't have impossible stats or items, it's safe to use.

Originally posted by Papa Shekels:

I've been playing in the forced online with a cheat engine item randomizer for years and haven't gotten one. I even get invaded by others with it open

Softbans are, as the name suggests, not complete bans. You are just put into a different matchmaking queue, that only has other softbanned players in it and are cut off from the rest of the playerbase. So you can still have multiplayer, albeit significantly more rarely. Or you might just have been lucky and really are not softbanned. I've seen the item randomizer generate impossible items (e.g. "Cracked Red-Eye Orb +7") before.

You can force the game into offline-mode either by launching Steam in offline mode or reconnecting your internet, once you've loaded your character, which will make Steam reconnect but leave the game offline. Useful when you still want achievements to pop offline.

[El Vitor]

i've been using ''other save files'' aka mule for pretty much a hole year and nothing ever happened, but i wouldn't risk it in ds3 XD

[Papa Shekels]

Originally posted by JellyPuff:

You can force the game into offline-mode either by launching Steam in offline mode or reconnecting your internet, once you've loaded your character, which will make Steam reconnect but leave the game offline. Useful when you still want achievements to pop offline.

Yeahh there's no way I'm doing that every single time I want to play the game. So as far as I'm concerned, it's forced online. And nah, I still see plenty of people online and did a coop run with a friend recently. I know I'm not softbanned. The game has no qualms with me keeping cheat engine open and connected to the game while online for probably over a hundred hours of game time now

[Call Sign: Raven]

Originally posted by Papa Shekels:

Originally posted by JellyPuff:

You can force the game into offline-mode either by launching Steam in offline mode or reconnecting your internet, once you've loaded your character, which will make Steam reconnect but leave the game offline. Useful when you still want achievements to pop offline.

Yeahh there's no way I'm doing that every single time I want to play the game. So as far as I'm concerned, it's forced online. And nah, I still see plenty of people online and did a coop run with a friend recently. I know I'm not softbanned. The game has no qualms with me keeping cheat engine open and connected to the game while online for probably over a hundred hours of game time now

Cheat scans on Wednesdays are confirmed, just a heads up in case you need to dodge. :)

I have heard they scan on random days, too. Due to the random nature, besides Wednesday, that's probably why you have avoided it.

What does the randomizer do?

[JellyPuff]

Banwaves happen wednesdays. When the game exactly scans for invalid data is unknown. Since it's possible to avoid softbans for texture mods by injecting them into memory, rather than modifying gamefiles directly, it's reasonable to assume they happen on startup, when the game logs you into the MM servers.

Just running CE in the background definitely won't cause a softban. Having randomizers applied will probably depend on what they do. If they haven't generated any invalid data, that permanently sticks to your savefile, never getting softbanned for it doesn't sound so unlikely.

Still, most of what people know about softbans is from trial&error and speculative, so mod at your own risk. Heck, there a people claiming, that it's someone working at FromSoft, who is manually dishing out softbans once a week.

[ShiroiŌkami (白い狼)]

Originally posted by JellyPuff:

Simply using other savefiles will not get you softbanned. Direct gamefile modifications or impossible stats will (e.g. infused consumables or Soul Level is 300, but Soul Memory is 0). If such a savefile doesn't have impossible stats or items, it's safe to use.

Originally posted by Papa Shekels:

I've been playing in the forced online with a cheat engine item randomizer for years and haven't gotten one. I even get invaded by others with it open

Softbans are, as the name suggests, not complete bans. You are just put into a different matchmaking queue, that only has other softbanned players in it and are cut off from the rest of the playerbase. So you can still have multiplayer, albeit significantly more rarely. Or you might just have been lucky and really are not softbanned. I've seen the item randomizer generate impossible items (e.g. "Cracked Red-Eye Orb +7") before.

You can force the game into offline-mode either by launching Steam in offline mode or reconnecting your internet, once you've loaded your character, which will make Steam reconnect but leave the game offline. Useful when you still want achievements to pop offline.

Damn you wrote it faster than me Jelly.
But yeah, pretty much what he said.
Other savefiles are safe as long as they don't have any ilegal stuff in them. I have been transfering savefiles between my alts since 2018 and never got banned because of it.

[Sidd]

Thanks guys, in that case how can I restore my old save while keeping my current one ? All the methods I've seen online seem to replace everything. I'd love to keep the character I'm currently playing on.

[Call Sign: Raven]

Originally posted by Sidd:

Thanks guys, in that case how can I restore my old save while keeping my current one ? All the methods I've seen online seem to replace everything. I'd love to keep the character I'm currently playing on.

Unfortunately, there is no way to do that, the info you are finding is accurate.

[Sidd]

Ah, what a shame. In that case I might just resort to spawning a few armor sets back. IIRC you couldn't get banned for that, correct ?

[Call Sign: Raven]

Originally posted by Sidd:

Ah, what a shame. In that case I might just resort to spawning a few armor sets back. IIRC you couldn't get banned for that, correct ?

You can be banned, during the item spawning. Easy though, spawn all items offline. As long as they are normal items that you can acquire in-game, you will be totally fine when you go back online.

What I mean is don’t put anything impossible, like a +20 Chaos Blade or something. That will trigger the From Police.

[Decimus Maxentius]

Originally posted by Sidd:

Thanks guys, in that case how can I restore my old save while keeping my current one ? All the methods I've seen online seem to replace everything. I'd love to keep the character I'm currently playing on.

Actually there is a way, check this mod:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qJ5PDG5PJM

You can export your character appearance, and import into another walkthrough. Only character appearance is affected, stats, equipment will persist. You can transfer character name either if you care...

[panagiotis8002]

Originally posted by El Vitor:

i've been using ''other save files'' aka mule for pretty much a hole year and nothing ever happened, but i wouldn't risk it in ds3 XD

Yeah I have lost my ds3 save 2 times and that's the whole reason I just don't download a new save now I am in the midst of my 3rd save file first playthrough cause I took a break

[Smorch]

If saves made by cheatengine, yes, you can be banned