Different take on "The Ban"

Starting with I was not banned 😅, been playing on and off and been active for past 7 months I would like to understand a few things

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos

Part of the post is just me wanting free resources (I'm just being honest) and the other part feeling bad for genuine players (if any) who got banned for playing fair(no cheat or hack) but having downloaded the game from non authorised source.
Kabam definitely is right in asking people to download the game from authorised source but if people are being permanently banned then it has to be more than a download issue so it might make sense with different version of ban as different punishments.

Ps:- If cheaters are being punished then fair players can be rewarded too 😜

Comments

smdam38

I thinks it’s mostly apk players but not all.

Not sure if you were around back then but China used to have their own Android severs.
They were shutdown in maybe 2022?

I remember kabaam gave Chinese players coming over awesome compensation packages.

Chiragcool

Oh.. I didn't know that. I hope we receive some too 😄

Luke9523

I don't think Kabam are going to give compensation to the rest of us for just playing the game as intended, although I do like your forwardness and honesty! 🤣🤣

I will be honest, I don't really know much about downloading from 'unauthorised sources', I dont have enough technical knowledge or expertise to weigh in. But, if they have been playing fairly, and it was just as simple as downloading from a non apple store/Google store problem, I agree, and dont think they should have permanent bans. It is unfair to lump these people in the same bracket as those who mod and hack their way to earn rewards they haven't deserved.

Chiragcool

I don't think Kabam are going to give compensation to the rest of us for just playing the game as intended, although I do like your forwardness and honesty! 🤣🤣

I will be honest, I don't really know much about downloading from 'unauthorised sources', I dont have enough technical knowledge or expertise to weigh in. But, if they have been playing fairly, and it was just as simple as downloading from a non apple store/Google store problem, I agree, and dont think they should have permanent bans. It is unfair to lump these people in the same bracket as those who mod and hack their way to earn rewards they haven't deserved.

I mean it would be a good surprise you know, to get rewarded for something normal (playing honestly/fair) it definitely is not needed but it would make us (me personally 😅) happy to know that being or doing what is expected is being recognised not necessarily rewarded just like getting a cake on a normal day.

Fun aside, hope it doesn't affect players with no bad intentions and they do something for them 🤞

Luke9523

I don't think Kabam are going to give compensation to the rest of us for just playing the game as intended, although I do like your forwardness and honesty! 🤣🤣

I will be honest, I don't really know much about downloading from 'unauthorised sources', I dont have enough technical knowledge or expertise to weigh in. But, if they have been playing fairly, and it was just as simple as downloading from a non apple store/Google store problem, I agree, and dont think they should have permanent bans. It is unfair to lump these people in the same bracket as those who mod and hack their way to earn rewards they haven't deserved.
I mean it would be a good surprise you know, to get rewarded for something normal (playing honestly/fair) it definitely is not needed but it would make us (me personally 😅) happy to know that being or doing what is expected is being recognised not necessarily rewarded just like getting a cake on a normal day.

Fun aside, hope it doesn't affect players with no bad intentions and they do something for them 🤞

Maybe something like a unique profile picture and title?
"I survived the 2025 cheating ban and all I got was this lousy title!"🤣🤣

gazbea

Maybe something like a unique profile picture and title?
"I survived the 2025 cheating ban and all I got was this lousy title!"🤣🤣

I like this trail of thought 🤣🤣

Ericson23

Starting with I was not banned 😅, been playing on and off and been active for past 7 months I would like to understand a few things

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos

Part of the post is just me wanting free resources (I'm just being honest) and the other part feeling bad for genuine players (if any) who got banned for playing fair(no cheat or hack) but having downloaded the game from non authorised source.
Kabam definitely is right in asking people to download the game from authorised source but if people are being permanently banned then it has to be more than a download issue so it might make sense with different version of ban as different punishments.

Ps:- If cheaters are being punished then fair players can be rewarded too 😜

I totally agree with your second point. This is what Kabam should have done, but it didn't. Its behavior was very rude and barbaric.

xenchief

I don't think Kabam are going to give compensation to the rest of us for just playing the game as intended, although I do like your forwardness and honesty! 🤣🤣

I will be honest, I don't really know much about downloading from 'unauthorised sources', I dont have enough technical knowledge or expertise to weigh in. But, if they have been playing fairly, and it was just as simple as downloading from a non apple store/Google store problem, I agree, and dont think they should have permanent bans. It is unfair to lump these people in the same bracket as those who mod and hack their way to earn rewards they haven't deserved.
I mean it would be a good surprise you know, to get rewarded for something normal (playing honestly/fair) it definitely is not needed but it would make us (me personally 😅) happy to know that being or doing what is expected is being recognised not necessarily rewarded just like getting a cake on a normal day.

Fun aside, hope it doesn't affect players with no bad intentions and they do something for them 🤞
Maybe something like a unique profile picture and title?
"I survived the 2025 cheating ban and all I got was this lousy title!"🤣🤣

Will3808

My understanding is it’s extremely difficult for kabam to tell which people who downloaded the game from unauthorized sources are using it to cheat and which aren’t. They now are able to better see who downloaded it from unauthorized sources, which is against TOS, so they’ve banned all the people who did that.

xenchief

Ok so I dont know much about any of this other than weekend forums are the best but seems like this is a great step in the war vs modders.

Ercarret

The problem with downloading the game from an unauthorized source is that (from what I understand) Kabam can't really see what you're doing. You can play the game perfectly legitimately but you could also be modding it, and Kabam can't tell the difference. Therefore, downloading it that way is against the TOS no matter if you cheat/do anything wrong afterwards or not.

Way before the game came to PC, I used to play it via an emulator on PC (this was back in 2020). The reason was that my hands were disabled at the time and I couldn't hold a phone straight, so I set up the game so that I could play it with a mouse and keyboard instead. That way, I could still keep playing the game despite my disability.

Looking back, I can recognize two things. Banning me was the right thing to do, and me setting the game up to be played on PC was freaking dope. As a tech dummy, that's one of my proudest technical achievements. It took a ton of effort to map out every input so that I could still play the game despite the limited functionality in my hands at the time and I'm still, all these years later, very proud of what I accomplished. But at the same time, as I said, I can recognize that Kabam couldn't see what I was doing on my end. All they saw was that I was using a method of playing the game that could, potentially, allow me to cheat.

As for sending out a warning email or something, eh, I think a 7-day ban (which is what you get for a first-time occurance unless you really mess up somehow) is enough warning. From what I understand, there's an escalating system of bans - 7 days, 30 days, and permanent. As such, you basically get two warnings (for minor infractions) before you get permanently banned. Then you've got situations where you can get an immediate permanent ban if you cheat in the Necropolis, but that's neither here nor there in this instance. If people are getting permanent bans now, chances are that they've gotten banned twice before and probably should have listened back then. It is possible to get back-to-back bans (I got two in a row and basically got re-banned as soon as I booted up the game again, despite having gone "clean" after my first ban), but since I haven't seen any forum posts complaining about similar issues in the past I figure my double-ban is pretty unusual and that the escalating system works as intended on the whole. In the end, it did for me. I changed my way and haven't had any issues in the years since. If this is your third ban, you probably should have changed your ways earlier. If it's your first ban and it's only a smaller one, just bite the bullet and see it as a learning experience.

Demonzfyre

I thinks it’s mostly apk players but not all.

Not sure if you were around back then but China used to have their own Android severs.
They were shutdown in maybe 2022?

I remember kabaam gave Chinese players coming over awesome compensation packages.

Everyone is an "APK player" you potato. The game client is an APK file to download and install. It's WHERE some people are getting the files that caused the bans.

Demonzfyre

I don't think Kabam are going to give compensation to the rest of us for just playing the game as intended, although I do like your forwardness and honesty! 🤣🤣

I will be honest, I don't really know much about downloading from 'unauthorised sources', I dont have enough technical knowledge or expertise to weigh in. But, if they have been playing fairly, and it was just as simple as downloading from a non apple store/Google store problem, I agree, and dont think they should have permanent bans. It is unfair to lump these people in the same bracket as those who mod and hack their way to earn rewards they haven't deserved.
I mean it would be a good surprise you know, to get rewarded for something normal (playing honestly/fair) it definitely is not needed but it would make us (me personally 😅) happy to know that being or doing what is expected is being recognised not necessarily rewarded just like getting a cake on a normal day.

Fun aside, hope it doesn't affect players with no bad intentions and they do something for them 🤞
Maybe something like a unique profile picture and title?
"I survived the 2025 cheating ban and all I got was this lousy title!"🤣🤣

Except it's not a ban on cheating.

Zwierzakol

I got banned, installed only from play store. Used only official game, even though most of You won't believe me and call me a cheater but bare in mind when You'll decide to buy something that there IS a chance that legimate player getting banned and you'll lose the things that You paid for.

DNA3000

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos

No, and no.

No, its highly unlikely Kabam is going to be rewarding players just for the accomplishment of following the rules.

No, a warning through email would not be better. Kabam has sent email notifications warning players to not use any unauthorized software. That includes emulators, modded clients, or any software not distributed by them. They have sent these out constantly, and yet I keep hearing people say they never saw them. People don't watch the streams, they don't read the forums, and they only pay attention to in-game emails when there's rewards attached.

The problem with unauthorized software or software distributed by unauthorized sources is there's no way to tell if it has been altered in some subtle way. Kabam can't trust the game is doing the right things all of the time, and can't even trust its own anti-cheat systems built into a client anyone could have tampered with.

I've worked in IT security for over thirty years. You can't detect everything. You can't prevent everything. Whether we're talking about games, banks, or NORAD. You have to act on what you do detect, and you have to make sure people can't just keep trying over and over again or eventually they'll get lucky and evade detection.

We keep telling people not to do a whole laundry list of things, and yet they keep doing them. They do them because they don't know any better. Because they do know, but don't care. Because they think they have no choice. Because they think they can get away with it. Regardless, at some point Kabam has to take direct action to not just advise people to stop, but take action to stop them. And apparently that time is now.

This is not about banning cheaters. This is about banning a behavior that enables cheaters. Some of the players banned were probably not cheating. But they were helping to normalize an environment that assists cheating. And that's enough.

Glassback

I don't think Kabam are going to give compensation to the rest of us for just playing the game as intended, although I do like your forwardness and honesty! 🤣🤣

I will be honest, I don't really know much about downloading from 'unauthorised sources', I dont have enough technical knowledge or expertise to weigh in. But, if they have been playing fairly, and it was just as simple as downloading from a non apple store/Google store problem, I agree, and dont think they should have permanent bans. It is unfair to lump these people in the same bracket as those who mod and hack their way to earn rewards they haven't deserved.
I mean it would be a good surprise you know, to get rewarded for something normal (playing honestly/fair) it definitely is not needed but it would make us (me personally 😅) happy to know that being or doing what is expected is being recognised not necessarily rewarded just like getting a cake on a normal day.

Fun aside, hope it doesn't affect players with no bad intentions and they do something for them 🤞
Maybe something like a unique profile picture and title?
"I survived the 2025 cheating ban and all I got was this lousy title!"🤣🤣

The Unbanned

StanleyChristo_0301

The problem with downloading the game from an unauthorized source is that (from what I understand) Kabam can't really see what you're doing. You can play the game perfectly legitimately but you could also be modding it, and Kabam can't tell the difference. Therefore, downloading it that way is against the TOS no matter if you cheat/do anything wrong afterwards or not.

Way before the game came to PC, I used to play it via an emulator on PC (this was back in 2020). The reason was that my hands were disabled at the time and I couldn't hold a phone straight, so I set up the game so that I could play it with a mouse and keyboard instead. That way, I could still keep playing the game despite my disability.

Looking back, I can recognize two things. Banning me was the right thing to do, and me setting the game up to be played on PC was freaking dope. As a tech dummy, that's one of my proudest technical achievements. It took a ton of effort to map out every input so that I could still play the game despite the limited functionality in my hands at the time and I'm still, all these years later, very proud of what I accomplished. But at the same time, as I said, I can recognize that Kabam couldn't see what I was doing on my end. All they saw was that I was using a method of playing the game that could, potentially, allow me to cheat.

As for sending out a warning email or something, eh, I think a 7-day ban (which is what you get for a first-time occurance unless you really mess up somehow) is enough warning. From what I understand, there's an escalating system of bans - 7 days, 30 days, and permanent. As such, you basically get two warnings (for minor infractions) before you get permanently banned. Then you've got situations where you can get an immediate permanent ban if you cheat in the Necropolis, but that's neither here nor there in this instance. If people are getting permanent bans now, chances are that they've gotten banned twice before and probably should have listened back then. It is possible to get back-to-back bans (I got two in a row and basically got re-banned as soon as I booted up the game again, despite having gone "clean" after my first ban), but since I haven't seen any forum posts complaining about similar issues in the past I figure my double-ban is pretty unusual and that the escalating system works as intended on the whole. In the end, it did for me. I changed my way and haven't had any issues in the years since. If this is your third ban, you probably should have changed your ways earlier. If it's your first ban and it's only a smaller one, just bite the bullet and see it as a learning experience.

Same thing happened for me .i used an emulator on pc around 2020 because my phone broke .i jus wanted to login and play without missing those days for that i got banned .after that i got afraid and never used those kind of things .but now im permanently banned ...i dont know why...i used genuine downloads after that incident because i know if i do something like that i will definitely get banned ....but now i got banned anyway even i used official client from palystore only

Ericson23

Starting with I was not banned 😅, been playing on and off and been active for past 7 months I would like to understand a few things

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos

Part of the post is just me wanting free resources (I'm just being honest) and the other part feeling bad for genuine players (if any) who got banned for playing fair(no cheat or hack) but having downloaded the game from non authorised source.
Kabam definitely is right in asking people to download the game from authorised source but if people are being permanently banned then it has to be more than a download issue so it might make sense with different version of ban as different punishments.

Ps:- If cheaters are being punished then fair players can be rewarded too 😜

I totally agree with your second point. This is what Kabam should have done, but it didn't. Its behavior was very rude and barbaric.

I got banned, installed only from play store. Used only official game, even though most of You won't believe me and call me a cheater but bare in mind when You'll decide to buy something that there IS a chance that legimate player getting banned and you'll lose the things that You paid for.

Do you use a VPN to log into the game?

Ericson23

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos
No, and no.

No, its highly unlikely Kabam is going to be rewarding players just for the accomplishment of following the rules.

No, a warning through email would not be better. Kabam has sent email notifications warning players to not use any unauthorized software. That includes emulators, modded clients, or any software not distributed by them. They have sent these out constantly, and yet I keep hearing people say they never saw them. People don't watch the streams, they don't read the forums, and they only pay attention to in-game emails when there's rewards attached.

The problem with unauthorized software or software distributed by unauthorized sources is there's no way to tell if it has been altered in some subtle way. Kabam can't trust the game is doing the right things all of the time, and can't even trust its own anti-cheat systems built into a client anyone could have tampered with.

I've worked in IT security for over thirty years. You can't detect everything. You can't prevent everything. Whether we're talking about games, banks, or NORAD. You have to act on what you do detect, and you have to make sure people can't just keep trying over and over again or eventually they'll get lucky and evade detection.

We keep telling people not to do a whole laundry list of things, and yet they keep doing them. They do them because they don't know any better. Because they do know, but don't care. Because they think they have no choice. Because they think they can get away with it. Regardless, at some point Kabam has to take direct action to not just advise people to stop, but take action to stop them. And apparently that time is now.

This is not about banning cheaters. This is about banning a behavior that enables cheaters. Some of the players banned were probably not cheating. But they were helping to normalize an environment that assists cheating. And that's enough.

Not all people who use unofficial channels to download games do so in order to cheat. People in some regions just cannot use official channels. They download the game because they like it and even spend money to support it, so don't they deserve better treatment?

DNA3000

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos
No, and no.

No, its highly unlikely Kabam is going to be rewarding players just for the accomplishment of following the rules.

No, a warning through email would not be better. Kabam has sent email notifications warning players to not use any unauthorized software. That includes emulators, modded clients, or any software not distributed by them. They have sent these out constantly, and yet I keep hearing people say they never saw them. People don't watch the streams, they don't read the forums, and they only pay attention to in-game emails when there's rewards attached.

The problem with unauthorized software or software distributed by unauthorized sources is there's no way to tell if it has been altered in some subtle way. Kabam can't trust the game is doing the right things all of the time, and can't even trust its own anti-cheat systems built into a client anyone could have tampered with.

I've worked in IT security for over thirty years. You can't detect everything. You can't prevent everything. Whether we're talking about games, banks, or NORAD. You have to act on what you do detect, and you have to make sure people can't just keep trying over and over again or eventually they'll get lucky and evade detection.

We keep telling people not to do a whole laundry list of things, and yet they keep doing them. They do them because they don't know any better. Because they do know, but don't care. Because they think they have no choice. Because they think they can get away with it. Regardless, at some point Kabam has to take direct action to not just advise people to stop, but take action to stop them. And apparently that time is now.

This is not about banning cheaters. This is about banning a behavior that enables cheaters. Some of the players banned were probably not cheating. But they were helping to normalize an environment that assists cheating. And that's enough.
Not all people who use unofficial channels to download games do so in order to cheat. People in some regions just cannot use official channels. They download the game because they like it and even spend money to support it, so don't they deserve better treatment?

Did you even read what I wrote? You quoted it and everything.

Ericson23

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos
No, and no.

No, its highly unlikely Kabam is going to be rewarding players just for the accomplishment of following the rules.

No, a warning through email would not be better. Kabam has sent email notifications warning players to not use any unauthorized software. That includes emulators, modded clients, or any software not distributed by them. They have sent these out constantly, and yet I keep hearing people say they never saw them. People don't watch the streams, they don't read the forums, and they only pay attention to in-game emails when there's rewards attached.

The problem with unauthorized software or software distributed by unauthorized sources is there's no way to tell if it has been altered in some subtle way. Kabam can't trust the game is doing the right things all of the time, and can't even trust its own anti-cheat systems built into a client anyone could have tampered with.

I've worked in IT security for over thirty years. You can't detect everything. You can't prevent everything. Whether we're talking about games, banks, or NORAD. You have to act on what you do detect, and you have to make sure people can't just keep trying over and over again or eventually they'll get lucky and evade detection.

We keep telling people not to do a whole laundry list of things, and yet they keep doing them. They do them because they don't know any better. Because they do know, but don't care. Because they think they have no choice. Because they think they can get away with it. Regardless, at some point Kabam has to take direct action to not just advise people to stop, but take action to stop them. And apparently that time is now.

This is not about banning cheaters. This is about banning a behavior that enables cheaters. Some of the players banned were probably not cheating. But they were helping to normalize an environment that assists cheating. And that's enough.
Not all people who use unofficial channels to download games do so in order to cheat. People in some regions just cannot use official channels. They download the game because they like it and even spend money to support it, so don't they deserve better treatment?
Did you even read what I wrote? You quoted it and everything.

I am not here to argue or debate with others, I am here to speak out against injustice. This wave of bans has hurt the hearts of many players. They are beginning to feel disappointed and frustrated with this game company. Shouldn't this be taken seriously? Can you please stop using the so-called TOS to shut up players? Isn't it the lax TOS that caused this incident?

BringPopcorn

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos
No, and no.

No, its highly unlikely Kabam is going to be rewarding players just for the accomplishment of following the rules.

No, a warning through email would not be better. Kabam has sent email notifications warning players to not use any unauthorized software. That includes emulators, modded clients, or any software not distributed by them. They have sent these out constantly, and yet I keep hearing people say they never saw them. People don't watch the streams, they don't read the forums, and they only pay attention to in-game emails when there's rewards attached.

The problem with unauthorized software or software distributed by unauthorized sources is there's no way to tell if it has been altered in some subtle way. Kabam can't trust the game is doing the right things all of the time, and can't even trust its own anti-cheat systems built into a client anyone could have tampered with.

I've worked in IT security for over thirty years. You can't detect everything. You can't prevent everything. Whether we're talking about games, banks, or NORAD. You have to act on what you do detect, and you have to make sure people can't just keep trying over and over again or eventually they'll get lucky and evade detection.

We keep telling people not to do a whole laundry list of things, and yet they keep doing them. They do them because they don't know any better. Because they do know, but don't care. Because they think they have no choice. Because they think they can get away with it. Regardless, at some point Kabam has to take direct action to not just advise people to stop, but take action to stop them. And apparently that time is now.

This is not about banning cheaters. This is about banning a behavior that enables cheaters. Some of the players banned were probably not cheating. But they were helping to normalize an environment that assists cheating. And that's enough.
Not all people who use unofficial channels to download games do so in order to cheat. People in some regions just cannot use official channels. They download the game because they like it and even spend money to support it, so don't they deserve better treatment?
Did you even read what I wrote? You quoted it and everything.
I am not here to argue or debate with others, I am here to speak out against injustice. This wave of bans has hurt the hearts of many players. They are beginning to feel disappointed and frustrated with this game company. Shouldn't this be taken seriously? Can you please stop using the so-called TOS to shut up players? Isn't it the lax TOS that caused this incident?

I don't think they took such a bold decision without taking it serious. They probably knew how frustrated and disappointed some people would be and did it anyway.

Ericson23

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos
No, and no.

No, its highly unlikely Kabam is going to be rewarding players just for the accomplishment of following the rules.

No, a warning through email would not be better. Kabam has sent email notifications warning players to not use any unauthorized software. That includes emulators, modded clients, or any software not distributed by them. They have sent these out constantly, and yet I keep hearing people say they never saw them. People don't watch the streams, they don't read the forums, and they only pay attention to in-game emails when there's rewards attached.

The problem with unauthorized software or software distributed by unauthorized sources is there's no way to tell if it has been altered in some subtle way. Kabam can't trust the game is doing the right things all of the time, and can't even trust its own anti-cheat systems built into a client anyone could have tampered with.

I've worked in IT security for over thirty years. You can't detect everything. You can't prevent everything. Whether we're talking about games, banks, or NORAD. You have to act on what you do detect, and you have to make sure people can't just keep trying over and over again or eventually they'll get lucky and evade detection.

We keep telling people not to do a whole laundry list of things, and yet they keep doing them. They do them because they don't know any better. Because they do know, but don't care. Because they think they have no choice. Because they think they can get away with it. Regardless, at some point Kabam has to take direct action to not just advise people to stop, but take action to stop them. And apparently that time is now.

This is not about banning cheaters. This is about banning a behavior that enables cheaters. Some of the players banned were probably not cheating. But they were helping to normalize an environment that assists cheating. And that's enough.
Not all people who use unofficial channels to download games do so in order to cheat. People in some regions just cannot use official channels. They download the game because they like it and even spend money to support it, so don't they deserve better treatment?
Did you even read what I wrote? You quoted it and everything.
I am not here to argue or debate with others, I am here to speak out against injustice. This wave of bans has hurt the hearts of many players. They are beginning to feel disappointed and frustrated with this game company. Shouldn't this be taken seriously? Can you please stop using the so-called TOS to shut up players? Isn't it the lax TOS that caused this incident?
I don't think they took such a bold decision without taking it serious. They probably knew how frustrated and disappointed some people would be and did it anyway.

Many people who didn't use cheating software but only used unofficial download clients will even continue to spend money to support the game. Does Kabam not want money anymore? What bad influence can these people have on the game?

BringPopcorn

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos
No, and no.

No, its highly unlikely Kabam is going to be rewarding players just for the accomplishment of following the rules.

No, a warning through email would not be better. Kabam has sent email notifications warning players to not use any unauthorized software. That includes emulators, modded clients, or any software not distributed by them. They have sent these out constantly, and yet I keep hearing people say they never saw them. People don't watch the streams, they don't read the forums, and they only pay attention to in-game emails when there's rewards attached.

The problem with unauthorized software or software distributed by unauthorized sources is there's no way to tell if it has been altered in some subtle way. Kabam can't trust the game is doing the right things all of the time, and can't even trust its own anti-cheat systems built into a client anyone could have tampered with.

I've worked in IT security for over thirty years. You can't detect everything. You can't prevent everything. Whether we're talking about games, banks, or NORAD. You have to act on what you do detect, and you have to make sure people can't just keep trying over and over again or eventually they'll get lucky and evade detection.

We keep telling people not to do a whole laundry list of things, and yet they keep doing them. They do them because they don't know any better. Because they do know, but don't care. Because they think they have no choice. Because they think they can get away with it. Regardless, at some point Kabam has to take direct action to not just advise people to stop, but take action to stop them. And apparently that time is now.

This is not about banning cheaters. This is about banning a behavior that enables cheaters. Some of the players banned were probably not cheating. But they were helping to normalize an environment that assists cheating. And that's enough.
Not all people who use unofficial channels to download games do so in order to cheat. People in some regions just cannot use official channels. They download the game because they like it and even spend money to support it, so don't they deserve better treatment?
Did you even read what I wrote? You quoted it and everything.
I am not here to argue or debate with others, I am here to speak out against injustice. This wave of bans has hurt the hearts of many players. They are beginning to feel disappointed and frustrated with this game company. Shouldn't this be taken seriously? Can you please stop using the so-called TOS to shut up players? Isn't it the lax TOS that caused this incident?
I don't think they took such a bold decision without taking it serious. They probably knew how frustrated and disappointed some people would be and did it anyway.
Many people who didn't use cheating software but only used unofficial download clients will even continue to spend money to support the game. Does Kabam not want money anymore? What bad influence can these people have on the game?

If after this they continue to spend money its their problem really, I personally wouldn't.

Sundance_2099

Once again for the hard of thinking: people chose to download the game from non-official channels. They have broken the TOS. That's not injustice. It's their fault

FunnyDude

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos
No, and no.

No, its highly unlikely Kabam is going to be rewarding players just for the accomplishment of following the rules.

No, a warning through email would not be better. Kabam has sent email notifications warning players to not use any unauthorized software. That includes emulators, modded clients, or any software not distributed by them. They have sent these out constantly, and yet I keep hearing people say they never saw them. People don't watch the streams, they don't read the forums, and they only pay attention to in-game emails when there's rewards attached.

The problem with unauthorized software or software distributed by unauthorized sources is there's no way to tell if it has been altered in some subtle way. Kabam can't trust the game is doing the right things all of the time, and can't even trust its own anti-cheat systems built into a client anyone could have tampered with.

I've worked in IT security for over thirty years. You can't detect everything. You can't prevent everything. Whether we're talking about games, banks, or NORAD. You have to act on what you do detect, and you have to make sure people can't just keep trying over and over again or eventually they'll get lucky and evade detection.

We keep telling people not to do a whole laundry list of things, and yet they keep doing them. They do them because they don't know any better. Because they do know, but don't care. Because they think they have no choice. Because they think they can get away with it. Regardless, at some point Kabam has to take direct action to not just advise people to stop, but take action to stop them. And apparently that time is now.

This is not about banning cheaters. This is about banning a behavior that enables cheaters. Some of the players banned were probably not cheating. But they were helping to normalize an environment that assists cheating. And that's enough.
Not all people who use unofficial channels to download games do so in order to cheat. People in some regions just cannot use official channels. They download the game because they like it and even spend money to support it, so don't they deserve better treatment?
Did you even read what I wrote? You quoted it and everything.
I am not here to argue or debate with others, I am here to speak out against injustice. This wave of bans has hurt the hearts of many players. They are beginning to feel disappointed and frustrated with this game company. Shouldn't this be taken seriously? Can you please stop using the so-called TOS to shut up players? Isn't it the lax TOS that caused this incident?
I don't think they took such a bold decision without taking it serious. They probably knew how frustrated and disappointed some people would be and did it anyway.

I don't think they know, they wouldn't have done it on Friday if they knew.

I played this game for almost 9 years, and I'm very sure Kabam made some mistakes and underestimated players reactions from time to time. They will not admit most of the time, but they make changes silently. If you remember, Kabam crashed posted a very long article to explain why they designed the banquet 2023 in that way, and didn't admit they screwed up, but they reverted all their 2023 designs in 2024. There are many examples like this.

DNA3000

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos
No, and no.

No, its highly unlikely Kabam is going to be rewarding players just for the accomplishment of following the rules.

No, a warning through email would not be better. Kabam has sent email notifications warning players to not use any unauthorized software. That includes emulators, modded clients, or any software not distributed by them. They have sent these out constantly, and yet I keep hearing people say they never saw them. People don't watch the streams, they don't read the forums, and they only pay attention to in-game emails when there's rewards attached.

The problem with unauthorized software or software distributed by unauthorized sources is there's no way to tell if it has been altered in some subtle way. Kabam can't trust the game is doing the right things all of the time, and can't even trust its own anti-cheat systems built into a client anyone could have tampered with.

I've worked in IT security for over thirty years. You can't detect everything. You can't prevent everything. Whether we're talking about games, banks, or NORAD. You have to act on what you do detect, and you have to make sure people can't just keep trying over and over again or eventually they'll get lucky and evade detection.

We keep telling people not to do a whole laundry list of things, and yet they keep doing them. They do them because they don't know any better. Because they do know, but don't care. Because they think they have no choice. Because they think they can get away with it. Regardless, at some point Kabam has to take direct action to not just advise people to stop, but take action to stop them. And apparently that time is now.

This is not about banning cheaters. This is about banning a behavior that enables cheaters. Some of the players banned were probably not cheating. But they were helping to normalize an environment that assists cheating. And that's enough.
Not all people who use unofficial channels to download games do so in order to cheat. People in some regions just cannot use official channels. They download the game because they like it and even spend money to support it, so don't they deserve better treatment?
Did you even read what I wrote? You quoted it and everything.
I am not here to argue or debate with others, I am here to speak out against injustice. This wave of bans has hurt the hearts of many players. They are beginning to feel disappointed and frustrated with this game company. Shouldn't this be taken seriously? Can you please stop using the so-called TOS to shut up players? Isn't it the lax TOS that caused this incident?
I don't think they took such a bold decision without taking it serious. They probably knew how frustrated and disappointed some people would be and did it anyway.
Many people who didn't use cheating software but only used unofficial download clients will even continue to spend money to support the game. Does Kabam not want money anymore? What bad influence can these people have on the game?

They are attempting to normalize an untenable situation.

I’m going to try to explain this as clearly as I can without getting into anti-cheat specifics. MCOC has for the most part tried to detect cheaters behaviorally. Which is to say, they see players doing something that is impossible without cheating. Running Necropolis in 15 minutes without dying, say. But cheaters keep evolving, and at this point only the brain dead are continuing to do stuff that obvious. They are moving to cheating more subtly, doing things that aren’t impossible, just incredibly difficult. How can you tell if someone is cheating, or just really really good? You can’t, if all you do is look at fight stats.

The obvious way to tackle those kinds of cheaters is to use what is usually referred to as telemetry. The game client sends data to the game servers that give Kabam more information about the specifics of how a fight played out. If a player was taking less damage than expected, or the AI was just standing around more often than possible, enhanced telemetry would allow Kabam to find more subtle forms of cheating.

However, this requires trusting the game client to report correctly and accurately. But a cheater can not only change how the game client works, they can also change what it reports back to Kabam. If you do not have complete control of both the game client and the environment it runs in, you can’t trust telemetry. And all your anti-cheat efforts go out the window. That’s why emulators have been prohibited all this time. You can’t trust what the game does in an emulator, because the player has control over the emulated environment.

Unauthorized game clients have also always been prohibited. However until recently Kabam had very few ways of telling if a game client was modified or otherwise tampered with. Apparently they do now. They can tell if the game client is unauthorized, or if it was sourced from an unauthorized source and thus they cannot trust it wasn’t tampered with in an undetectable way.

If we allow these unauthorized game clients to continue to play MCOC, Kabam will lose the ability to tell the difference between cheaters and non-cheaters, because they will never be able to trust their own telemetry. The war against cheaters would end because the cheaters would just have to look like all these other unauthorized game clients. They could hide among these players using unauthorized game software and we would never be able to find them, again, unless they did something really stupid.

For the longest time cheaters in MCOC were completely stupid. They did and to some extent still do incredibly dumb things and get caught because of it. But even though it took years, cheaters are starting to wise up. If Kabam doesn’t take these steps, the harm that gets caused is the cheaters will figure out which tools and which techniques allow them to hide among the unauthorized game clients Kabam decides to allow to continue, and we’ll never find them. That’s the harm.

The choice is, terminate these players who may have no other way to play the game, or offer permanent safe haven to any cheater who figures out how to hide among them. I will admit it is not an easy choice, and one I’m glad I don’t have to make. Kabam appears to have made their choice. The rest of the community has to decide if they agree with that choice.

Zwierzakol

Starting with I was not banned 😅, been playing on and off and been active for past 7 months I would like to understand a few things

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos

Part of the post is just me wanting free resources (I'm just being honest) and the other part feeling bad for genuine players (if any) who got banned for playing fair(no cheat or hack) but having downloaded the game from non authorised source.
Kabam definitely is right in asking people to download the game from authorised source but if people are being permanently banned then it has to be more than a download issue so it might make sense with different version of ban as different punishments.

Ps:- If cheaters are being punished then fair players can be rewarded too 😜
I totally agree with your second point. This is what Kabam should have done, but it didn't. Its behavior was very rude and barbaric.
I got banned, installed only from play store. Used only official game, even though most of You won't believe me and call me a cheater but bare in mind when You'll decide to buy something that there IS a chance that legimate player getting banned and you'll lose the things that You paid for.
Do you use a VPN to log into the game?

On the phone - no
On the PC - yes, work related, not game - it's easier to farm revives on pc for me

Always used play store to install and update the game, official link from kabam for launcher for pc ( same mail i got store code for subscribing).

But what's the point of me explaining that, most of the people here don't trust me that i was 100% legit, and i don't blame them, i wouldn't trust a stranger in the forum probably either. I'm totally bummed.
Happy only that my ally mates know i'm innocent byt i feel sad that they're punished also. They have 29 players now, haven't kicked me out despite me telling them to do it.
They wait because they know me, i'm an officer there. But i'm so let down i don't know what to do after the ban passes. So what i'll be able to log and play. I will use the game from the very same official source i had till and won't know if i'll be banned again.
It totally sucks, i have a cheater/tos violator tag by the most of the forum users.

Ericson23

Starting with I was not banned 😅, been playing on and off and been active for past 7 months I would like to understand a few things

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos

Part of the post is just me wanting free resources (I'm just being honest) and the other part feeling bad for genuine players (if any) who got banned for playing fair(no cheat or hack) but having downloaded the game from non authorised source.
Kabam definitely is right in asking people to download the game from authorised source but if people are being permanently banned then it has to be more than a download issue so it might make sense with different version of ban as different punishments.

Ps:- If cheaters are being punished then fair players can be rewarded too 😜
I totally agree with your second point. This is what Kabam should have done, but it didn't. Its behavior was very rude and barbaric.
I got banned, installed only from play store. Used only official game, even though most of You won't believe me and call me a cheater but bare in mind when You'll decide to buy something that there IS a chance that legimate player getting banned and you'll lose the things that You paid for.
Do you use a VPN to log into the game?
On the phone - no
On the PC - yes, work related, not game - it's easier to farm revives on pc for me

Always used play store to install and update the game, official link from kabam for launcher for pc ( same mail i got store code for subscribing).

But what's the point of me explaining that, most of the people here don't trust me that i was 100% legit, and i don't blame them, i wouldn't trust a stranger in the forum probably either. I'm totally bummed.
Happy only that my ally mates know i'm innocent byt i feel sad that they're punished also. They have 29 players now, haven't kicked me out despite me telling them to do it.
They wait because they know me, i'm an officer there. But i'm so let down i don't know what to do after the ban passes. So what i'll be able to log and play. I will use the game from the very same official source i had till and won't know if i'll be banned again.
It totally sucks, i have a cheater/tos violator tag by the most of the forum users.

So, have you figured out what went wrong? What are you going to do after unbanned? I also have a friend who only downloaded from the Google Store, but was banned

SpeedRocks

Starting with I was not banned 😅, been playing on and off and been active for past 7 months I would like to understand a few things

1. For people like us who are not banned do we receive any compensation being amongst cheats for such a long time and some being let go with warning? 🤣 or I guess being faithful or fair is taken granted then.

2. If downloading game from any unauthorised source doesn't give any unfair advantage then couldn't a better solution would have been a warning through mail and a deadline for those using - to avoid this chaos

Part of the post is just me wanting free resources (I'm just being honest) and the other part feeling bad for genuine players (if any) who got banned for playing fair(no cheat or hack) but having downloaded the game from non authorised source.
Kabam definitely is right in asking people to download the game from authorised source but if people are being permanently banned then it has to be more than a download issue so it might make sense with different version of ban as different punishments.

Ps:- If cheaters are being punished then fair players can be rewarded too 😜
I totally agree with your second point. This is what Kabam should have done, but it didn't. Its behavior was very rude and barbaric.
I got banned, installed only from play store. Used only official game, even though most of You won't believe me and call me a cheater but bare in mind when You'll decide to buy something that there IS a chance that legimate player getting banned and you'll lose the things that You paid for.
Do you use a VPN to log into the game?
On the phone - no
On the PC - yes, work related, not game - it's easier to farm revives on pc for me

Always used play store to install and update the game, official link from kabam for launcher for pc ( same mail i got store code for subscribing).

But what's the point of me explaining that, most of the people here don't trust me that i was 100% legit, and i don't blame them, i wouldn't trust a stranger in the forum probably either. I'm totally bummed.
Happy only that my ally mates know i'm innocent byt i feel sad that they're punished also. They have 29 players now, haven't kicked me out despite me telling them to do it.
They wait because they know me, i'm an officer there. But i'm so let down i don't know what to do after the ban passes. So what i'll be able to log and play. I will use the game from the very same official source i had till and won't know if i'll be banned again.
It totally sucks, i have a cheater/tos violator tag by the most of the forum users.
So, have you figured out what went wrong? What are you going to do after unbanned? I also have a friend who only downloaded from the Google Store, but was banned

Login and play, Kabam can be sloppy and reckless, but they ain't stupid, they will back down when they realize they did it wrong and can lose revenue.