It was not a jolly weekend for some people in the Path of Exile community. That is because a massive ban wave has hit players, with some getting banned despite not doing anything malicious.
Banned Unexpectedly
The Path of Exile community did not have a happy weekend at all, especially those who had planned on spending countless hours playing the game. That is because an unexpected ban wave has hit quite a lot of players.
The game's Reddit page, as well as the "Help and Information" section of the forums, are flooded with posts regarding the recent ban wave. Most of the affected players are not happy, with some even furious about getting banned for no good reason.
Redditor @1miss_rita shared that they have received an email from the Path of Exile support team, stating that they have been permanently banned for breaching the game's terms of service, specifically Section 7 of the ToS.
They added that the only programs they had used at the time were Awakened PoE Trade, X-Mouse Button Control, and Discord.
For those who do not know, Awakened PoE Trade is a third-party program that lets players easily conduct a price check on items by using certain keyboard shortcuts. Not only that but the program provides other nifty features as well, such as quick replies for whispers, and the ability to teleport to one's hideout with a single key, among others.
X-Mouse Button Control is another popular software used by a lot of Path of Exile players. With this, players are able to bind their left-click on their mouse scroll wheel so that they can quickly and easily put multiple items without breaking their wrists when doing so. This is basically more of a quality-of-life feature than getting an unfair advantage.
Because the programs used by 1miss_rita are generally accepted by the community, it baffled the Redditor why they got banned for utilizing them.
Redditor @Electronic-Type-8718 provided some insight as to why a plethora of players got banned recently. They said that the game's anti-cheat system may have flagged these programs incorrectly even though they are not malicious.
Over on the forums, user @lagwin1980 said that the developers will never include the specific reason why people get banned. This is to prevent those who do use cheats to circumvent the system by trying to evade the specific mechanism that got them permanently suspended in the first place.
Under Section 7 of the Terms of Service, players cannot use anything that modifies or adapts the game client or its data. It is also stated in this section that performing in-game services, such as trading for items to be compensated outside of PoE, is a bannable offense. The latter could be the reason why so many players got banned recently.
Read Also: Path of Exile's 'Affliction' Expansion Makes a Beloved Mechanic Part of the Core Gameplay
What Can Players Do?
So, what are the options players can take if they get banned for no good reason? According to community manager Chulain_GGG, they can email the support team to make an appeal.
If it is true that even innocent players get banned for no apparent reason, Grinding Gear Games needs to issue a statement regarding this matter. With people being so busy due to the holiday break, it is unlikely that the Path of Exile community will get any response from the company anytime soon.
Are you playing Path of Exile? If so, are you one of the people who got banned too?
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