Automatic ban for cheating/exploiting

Matherios · May 23

My friend got permanent banned from the game because of violating the Code of Conduct through Cheating/Exploiting even tho he did nothing. The 'person' who is replying to him is constantly replying to him with the same copy paste response when he is asking for proof of what he did and he got banned 'spoiler alert he did nothing wrong'. You are telling me now that an actual human being sit down did an 'investigation' and found that my friend is cheating/exploiting when he has nothing to do with this? Sorry but i don't believe it....
Either there is an actual AI sharing those bans or the people who handle the ban waves are incompetent.
His ticket number is # 250513-006600

Sarannah · May 23

Just wanted to note two things here:

1: When someone is banned/suspended, they should still be able to log in and sent tickets to customer support.

2: We need to get rid of the daily stuff from the game, otherwise there is a major risk of missing out on something if one is falsely banned/supended and these are lifted a few days later.

PS: Hopefully noone ever gets falsely banned/suspended ever!

AD42 · May 23

Important. What's more, not all of you can unsubscribe from this topic. Since if they forgot or did not get access to the forum, they will not be able to get it through support now. And maybe those who are banned are much more.

Unfadingsilence · May 23

At this point I think ZOS needs to make an announcement i was online tonight and in zone chat inside pvp people are saying hundreds of guild members have been perma banned for this "cheating" thing and then 90% of zone chat is saying its due to AI and not just zone chat but multiple videos on YouTube are now saying the same thing with thousands of views on these videos saying its the new AI system doing these bans even though I've already seen 1 ZOS employee say its not dude to AI. So more feedback would be nice because if there is something really going on then let it be known so someone does not make a mistake and do whatever it is that is getting people banned

crappyjazz1964 · May 23

umagon wrote: »

This might be one of those situations where someone who was exploiting sold and/or bought items on the trader. And zos froze all the accounts that may have unknowingly purchased from or sold items to the person exploiting.

I don't understand, can you explain this like I'm 5? I could buy something from a guild trader and the person selling cheated at one time and so I could get banned for buying from that person? That can't be real.

DenverRalphy · May 23

crappyjazz1964 wrote: »

umagon wrote: »

This might be one of those situations where someone who was exploiting sold and/or bought items on the trader. And zos froze all the accounts that may have unknowingly purchased from or sold items to the person exploiting.

I don't understand, can you explain this like I'm 5? I could buy something from a guild trader and the person selling cheated at one time and so I could get banned for buying from that person? That can't be real.

It's not. Just rampant speculation and guessing and missing the mark.

Giraffon · May 23

I think it would be in everyone's best interest if they had at least one live representative available to assist players in a meaningful way. When someone challenges a ban, that needs to trigger an auto response that details the specific event(s) (exact details, not vague policy references) that caused the ban and then allow the player to respond. The response should go to a live person for review and follow up until the matter is resolved. The players that are getting blindsided and don't even know what's going on are not the targets of this action so I would think game devs would want to keep them playing and potentially spending money. It's not good when someone spends years and a small fortune playing a game only to be dismissed without any kind of chance to try to resolve the matter.

Elsonso · May 23

Sarannah wrote: »

Just wanted to note two things here:

1: When someone is banned/suspended, they should still be able to log in and sent tickets to customer support.

Regarding #1... ZOS has a support website option for people who cannot log into the site due to a ban. It is buried under "Account->Can't log in->Yes->..."

That is probably the best option, as it focuses the input from the player towards the goal of the appeal, and that is really all that is important.

Hotdog_23 wrote: »

If you say there are no Al auto bans, then I believe you. But with all the smoke, there must be fire somewhere. Maybe not AI auto ban, but the process is too easily rubber-stamped by a person for it to be happening this much if what I am reading is also to be believed to be true with all the bans/suspension taking place.

Based on previous situations, it feels like ZOS rolls out some new tool or criteria for banning people to Live before they really have dialed in the parameters of what they should ban for. We saw this with the AI tools a few months back, but it was evident in earlier ban waves, as well. Kevin actually said something along the lines that they were still learning how to use the AI tools. My thought was that this should have happened before they started actually banning people.

twisttop138 · May 23

crappyjazz1964 wrote: »

umagon wrote: »

This might be one of those situations where someone who was exploiting sold and/or bought items on the trader. And zos froze all the accounts that may have unknowingly purchased from or sold items to the person exploiting.

I don't understand, can you explain this like I'm 5? I could buy something from a guild trader and the person selling cheated at one time and so I could get banned for buying from that person? That can't be real.

Idk about this game but many moons ago when SWTOR was new, there was some kind of dupe that got sold on the auction house. People were banned for buying that stuff. I believe it got sorted but these are shoot first ask questions later kind of things.

freespirit · May 23

crappyjazz1964 wrote: »

umagon wrote: »

This might be one of those situations where someone who was exploiting sold and/or bought items on the trader. And zos froze all the accounts that may have unknowingly purchased from or sold items to the person exploiting.

I don't understand, can you explain this like I'm 5? I could buy something from a guild trader and the person selling cheated at one time and so I could get banned for buying from that person? That can't be real.

Unfortunately it can be real, especially if ZoS are following the possible laundering of RMT's.

Syldras · May 23

freespirit wrote: »

Unfortunately it can be real, especially if ZoS are following the possible laundering of RMT's.

Now I had to look that up and finally know why that sequence of letters gets censored in ESO chat (which is very impractical because it's a normal part of many completely harmless words in some languages).

Tigertron · May 23

I also have multiple accounts. Only checked two because the other I only logged in to once (free Epic). One is banned, one is not. Both running on the exact same computer using the exact same keyboard and mouse. Both fresh installed only a week ago after I upgraded to Windows 11. Both I only did writs on using the addon.

Tell me how this can not be a rouge AI bot?

If you honestly think I’m a cheater and I’m lying, then enjoy your cave. Paint some pictures because it’s a bit dreary in there.

I am a grandfather and a territory manager at a multi billion dollar corporation. I play this game to unwind and tune out. Others my age go fishing or play music. It’s nothing more than a way to stop thinking for a bit.

My motivation to even figure out how to cheat is way down near playing with a wild possum. And for what? So I can brag to my friends? Sell my gold? Give me a break. This is beyond pathetic.

The_Meathead · May 23

Sometimes it's shocking the length they'll go to hemorrhage customers from this game.

We can see the revenue numbers for ESO without much trouble. They don't jive well for going cheap on Customer Service or live interaction to keep customers satisfied and treated well. I personally remember the phone Reps being phenomenal waaaay back in the day, but it really sounds to have slid just like so much else the past few years.

It takes willful negligence and a firm adherence and misdirected loyalty to poor methods to hit this ''high'' of a bar. I hope very much those banned for flawed reasons get their accounts reinstated in full.

umagon · May 23

crappyjazz1964 wrote: »

umagon wrote: »

This might be one of those situations where someone who was exploiting sold and/or bought items on the trader. And zos froze all the accounts that may have unknowingly purchased from or sold items to the person exploiting.

I don't understand, can you explain this like I'm 5? I could buy something from a guild trader and the person selling cheated at one time and so I could get banned for buying from that person? That can't be real.

On the server typically items have some type of identification number. If someone finds a way to for example duplicate items zos can see those duplicate items in the data base. The accounts who may have unknowingly received these items will get frozen while zos audits the account.

I am going to guess while they might not be using AI they have some type of detection system that automatically freezes accounts when there are discrepancies in the data base. Then a person has to review the accounts. They freeze the accounts to prevent anymore state changes to the data. Their logs can only go back so far.

They have to figure out who are the actual exploiter(s), who are the victim(s) and how to remove said items from those accounts.

Tandor · May 23

umagon wrote: »

crappyjazz1964 wrote: »

umagon wrote: »

This might be one of those situations where someone who was exploiting sold and/or bought items on the trader. And zos froze all the accounts that may have unknowingly purchased from or sold items to the person exploiting.

I don't understand, can you explain this like I'm 5? I could buy something from a guild trader and the person selling cheated at one time and so I could get banned for buying from that person? That can't be real.

On the server typically items have some type of identification number. If someone finds a way to for example duplicate items zos can see those duplicate items in the data base. The accounts who may have unknowingly received these items will get frozen while zos audits the account.

I am going to guess while they might not be using AI they have some type of detection system that automatically freezes accounts when there are discrepancies in the data base. Then a person has to review the accounts. They freeze the accounts to prevent anymore state changes to the data. Their logs can only go back so far.

They have to figure out who are the actual exploiter(s), who are the victim(s) and how to remove said items from those accounts.

I totally agree with that explanation, albeit we don't know if it applies to the present cases referred to here.

However, what a developer should do in that type of situation in my view is advise that an account has been frozen pending wider investigations, not issuing bans with confusion over whether they're temporary or permanent. If those investigations clear some of the accounts then those players should receive some kind of compensation, perhaps an amount of Crowns dependent on the time taken to clear the account of any actionable conduct and unlock it. I think most players would be a lot more understanding if things were handled that way.

Unfadingsilence · May 23

So i'm also starting to wonder if it could be that people are getting banned because of multiple accounts playing on the same IP address. Since if I remember correctly a few weeks ago, there was an update, and when i went and logged on to my account. There was a new notification verifying the IP address I was playing on which i thought 🤔 I've never seen that before but also thought oh well and clicked it and went on playing the game

Etherea1 · May 23

I have single account, not playing multiple account simultaneously.

Any chance of ban reviewed and lifted before weekend?
Hate to miss guild events and daily rewards.

@ZOS_Kevin , @ZOS_GinaBruno

Sarannah · May 23

For those who missed it, ZOS made a sticky about this situation:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/678078/follow-up-on-this-weeks-ban-wave

JavaRen · May 23

Dang, imagine losing your account for automated afk fishing, gotta be a lousy feeling.

AlwaysDancing · May 23

That sounds... fishy.

I'll see myself out now

JohnG · May 23

So they do a mass ban wave, getting tons of random people along with the botters, yet s0niz users are running rampant in cyrodiil and nothing is being done.

Unfadingsilence · May 23

So a program known as "FishyBot" or "FishyBot ESO"—to automate gameplay. These accounts have been permanently banned following a thorough investigation by our Safety Team.

🤔 never heard of that addon at all and glad I've not heard about it since I do ALOT of farming and fishing

JavaRen · May 23

To be clear, this is not an add-on installed thru minion or esoui, this is external automation software, which the creator warns could result in action against your account.

MalaVrazica · May 23

This is an addon you can get on minion.
It's a companion for the said bot.
On it's own does nothing, everyone who had it installed got caught in this.

It's actually really nice they provided actual reasons this time, unlike some times where they left it vague, so everyone knows... which is why I'm linking this here so ppl don't install it.

Etherea1 · May 23

MalaVrazica wrote: »

This is an addon you can get on minion.
It's a companion for the said bot.

I had it in my Addons folder somehow. This might seems the legit reason for ban.
I wish customer support had ability to check game logs like how many times I fished prior to ban and how many fish I caught (I believe I haven't fished for half a year at least).

@ZOS_Kevin could you please pass this info to customer support?
[250523-002612]

ssewallb14_ESO · May 23

This is getting goofier by the hour.

Please tell me they didn't just ban anyone using a library because they didn't bother to check and see if there were other addons using the library.

JavaRen · May 23

Oh crap, there is an addon available from legit sources that links up with the bot program? That stinks and makes the whole thing much more insdious. The idea that "addons use the ZOS approved/created interface and are therefore always safe" is just an understood "fact," is this not true?

ZOS_Kevin · May 23

Etherea1 wrote: »

MalaVrazica wrote: »

This is an addon you can get on minion.
It's a companion for the said bot.

I had it in my Addons folder somehow. This might seems the legit reason for ban.
I wish customer support had ability to check game logs like how many times I fished prior to ban and how many fish I caught (I believe I haven't fished for half a year at least).

@ZOS_Kevin could you please pass this info to customer support?
[250523-002612]

We checked in on your ticket just now. It is in the correct place awaiting the appeals process. Since it was placed today, please allow for some time as we work through tickets in order. But your ticket is accounted for and will go through the appeals process.

SpiritKitten · May 23

Why would anybody install an add-on or library that they did not need for some other function. Who just installs random add-ons that they're not using? If you have this installed then why did you install it? Can you answer that?

silky_soft · May 24

So we should uninstall all add-ons and library because at any time now we could get 10yr accounts banned if some cheater makes a bot that utilised a function from it?