Steam will ban you and not tell you why

[hamster]

Email the RPS folk and there'll probably be some attention popping up shortly on the front page.

edit:
this is the kind of bullshit situation we've been talking about. It's bad enough hypothetically.

[Kaira-]

All I want is for Valve to tell me why I'm banned. My guess is they have no proof.

They don't need proof of any sorts (or reason). Sad but true.

[gimperial]

Email the RPS folk and there'll probably be some attention popping up shortly on the front page.

edit:
this is the kind of bullshit situation we've been talking about. It's bad enough hypothetically.

I did, unfortunately they ignored it. That's why I posted here

[soldant]

Email the RPS folk and there'll probably be some attention popping up shortly on the front page.

But that would mean criticising Steam, which isn't allowed apparently. Origin? Yes, crucify them. Steam? No.

[DaftPunk]

Can i borrow this thread and ask something stupid,i found out that i can gift CS:Source,but i am not sure if this is other copy of Source game or is it my,that i can gift. Anyone know if you can gift your own,already played game ?

[soldant]

You can't gift games that are in use by your account, so you must have picked up a gift somewhere along the line, or bought an extra copy or something.

[Bhazor]

Just want to say that it's true that Steam will ban you without explaining why. Happened to me once, it was only after emailing tech support for three days that I got an explanation. It was two weeks after that before they unlocked my account. What I learned is don't complain if you don't recieve a game. They'll accuse you of fraud and threaten to close your account.

Edit: Another example
http://rockpapershotgun.com/rpsforum/topic.php?id=4140

[DaftPunk]

Yeah i noticed that,i had extra copy of CSS to i gifted it to my friend. Feels good :D

[gimperial]

Just want to say that it's true that Steam will ban you without explaining why. Happened to me once, it was only after emailing tech support for three days that I got an explanation. It was two weeks after that before they unlocked my account. What I learned is don't complain if you don't recieve a game. They'll accuse you of fraud and threaten to close your account.

Edit: Another example
http://rockpapershotgun.com/rpsforum/topic.php?id=4140

Thanks for the story and link - I guess that was the point of this thread, to highlight how completely useless Steam Support is. You're lucky you got a reason though, I've had 2 replies from them so far, both times copy-pasting a standard reply, with the last one saying they won't be replying about this issue any more. So I'm basically never going to find out why I'm banned.

That's mainly why I contacted RPS - not because I think I've been wronged, but because Steam Support is terrible and deserves an article, because from reading Valve employees' replies on SPUF, they are under the impression that their support is the best in the industry, and that waiting days to weeks is a good thing because that way "the issue is solved". Except like in my case, it isn't, whereas live chat with Origin solved my (two separate) issues twice in 2-3 minutes.

And this is separate from the whole "if you're gonna ban someone's account with $1000+ of games, have the decency to tell them why" issue.

[Bhazor]

Yeah I was really impressed with EA's customer support.
Though admittedly the problem I had was to do with their DRM software.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/foru...-should-I-kick

[gimperial]

t: 425-889-9642
f: 425-827-4843

Guess you've never tried calling? Looks like I was right, Valve doesn't have phone support. That number just tells you to go to www.steampowered.com

[John Walker]

I did, unfortunately they ignored it. That's why I posted here

Dude, you emailed on Saturday. It's Sunday now. Work starts again tomorrow. We have hardly ignored you.

[John Walker]

But that would mean criticising Steam, which isn't allowed apparently. Origin? Yes, crucify them. Steam? No.

I'm sick of bullshit like this. We've questioned Valve a bunch, and are frequently critical. That they're less frequently and less egregiously evil than some others explains much of your invented discrepancy.

[Rii]

That they're less frequently and less egregiously evil than some others explains much of your invented discrepancy.

On the other hand, their power in the industry does lend itself to greater oversight, particularly when their MO seems to be to say nothing about anything to anybody.

Did Valve ever bother to properly inform their users about that security breach of theirs?

[Vexing Vision]

Did Valve ever bother to properly inform their users about that security breach of theirs?

Well, they've been a lot faster to do so than SOE. At least for me.

Speaking as someone very, very neutral - I dislike DRM, I always disliked Steam, why the hell can't you STILL pick which bloody directory to install your games in, seriously, is this 1980 -... the OP's insistence and self-righteous anger pretty much rings every alarm bell I had installed in my brain during my long, long years of customer service.

I'm surprised that Steam didn't give a reason. I find that really hard to believe, to be honest - their customer service is not exemplary, but it has been pretty accurate for me and uses far less "canned responses" than I would have expected it to.

On the other handm, I know exactly how EA's customer service works. From the inside. It's not their fault, but EA's customer service policies are bad - and that's why I'd rather pick Steam over Origin.

[hamster]

I'm sick of bullshit like this. We've questioned Valve a bunch, and are frequently critical. That they're less frequently and less egregiously evil than some others explains much of your invented discrepancy.

Well, I don't know about that. There was a lot of talk on the front page about the Origin EULA but it was actually rather misleading because the same term is in Steam as well. There was of course the whole forum-ban thing and a bit of a back and forth with Origin but there are inexplicable bans on Steam as well. Not surprising, considering the number of users on both platforms, that sometimes there's a slip-up here or there. But the ability to just shut down a user account along with all the account's associated games is bullshit and should only be exercised in very specific, stipulated circumstances with clear reasons given.

[gimperial]

Dude, you emailed on Saturday. It's Sunday now. Work starts again tomorrow. We have hardly ignored you.

Yeah, sorry, I thought it was Friday I emailed you. You did however ignore my email back in December, when they suspended me for 7 days (most of the sale, meaning I couldn't buy cheapcheap games).

I kind of gave up because I'm not really expecting an article or anything like that (considering I'm not exactly "innocent").

[Nullkigan]

... the OP's insistence and self-righteous anger pretty much rings every alarm bell I had installed in my brain during my long, long years of customer service.

To be fair to the OP he was put up to the "make an immediate fuss" campaign by posters on something awful, where he's generally well liked in the steam thread.

Valve are infamous for their slow response times and it's still the weekend. A little more waiting is necessary.

Not that I think bans without explanations are ever warranted, especially given the amounts of money that can be tied up in a steam account, but peer pressure, loss of a considerable investment and suddenly having to change how free time is spent do go some way to explaining the distressed behaviour you're flagging.

[gimperial]

Nullkigan: I wasn't put up to anything, and I'm not trying to make a fuss, or even get my account back. I want Steam to tell me why I'm banned, and provide proof (although that's less important). Their last reply was on Thursday, which clearly said they won't be relpying to me anymore ("unfortunately we will not be able to help you with this issue further"). That was their second reply to me, which was identical to the first apart from saying that I didn't get banned for excessive gifting, and saying they won't help me further.

Vexing Vision: twice they said it was for "violating the Steam Subscriber Agreement". I guess that's a reason, but having read it twice I didn't find anything I'd violated.

[Bhazor]

RPS went a bit gung ho when they read the Origin user agreement. Forgetting it was basically the same as what Valve have been doing for years.

Steam is still one of the most restrictive and tempermental DRM systems out there but still gets a free ride.

Compare and contrast
Steam bans thousands of users from online game and refuse to reverse ban. One post and then declaration "Everyone who was banned gets a free copy of a game [which also uses the broken VAC system]? How can anyone still be upset"
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010...-a-bit-glados/

EA suspends a handfull of people in games for cussing in the forums. Leads to six posts and adorable "investigation" implying their refusal to change system is a sign of evil intents. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011...pdate-edition/

Sorry John but a lot of your rages at Origins and GFWL are about what Google and Valve have been doing for a decade (data mining, hardware scanning, signing away rights to sell your personal details). Maybe it's not bias but its certainly short sightedness.