Home Gaming EA admits to accidently banning innocent Battlefield 3 players

EA admits to accidently banning innocent Battlefield 3 players

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EA are suffering through some bad media of late with complaints about Battlefield 4 still doing the rounds and having to fend of complaints that the new Battlefield Hardline is nothing more than a mod pack for Battlefield 4.

And to make things even worse EA Games has now been forced to admit that they have incorrectly banned some innocent Battlefield 3 players they suspected of cheating.

According to a notice posted on the official EA website their punkbuster software appears to have misfired and banned some gamers for no real reason.

We are investigating an issue of Punkbuster bans that were incorrectly applied to some of our players. Please undertstand [sic] that our game advisors are not able to access or overturn Punkbuster bans, but we’re working with our partners at Even Balance to get this resolved as quickly as possible.

If you have been impacted by this issue, you can appeal the ban directly by following the instructions found here.

Please stay tuned for updates on this issue, and we’re very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused.

So we don’t quite know what exactly is going wrong but it is surprising to see that they can’t overturn these bans themselves and have to work with Even Balance to get it sorted. That to me seems like a risky policy for EA to be running and something that could go horribly wrong for them.

Cheating is definitely a scourge in online gaming but when the innocent start suffering more than the guilty you start to wonder if any of this is worth it anymore.

Last Updated: June 24, 2014

39 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

    June 24, 2014 at 11:03

    If you cheat in online gaming, you have NO right calling yourself a gamer.

    Reply

    • CAE9872

      June 24, 2014 at 11:08

      Agreed – what a total waste of space you become!

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

        June 24, 2014 at 11:08

        Oxygen thief

        Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2014 at 11:12

      Seen that a couple of times in PS2. But because there are so many people playing the cheater gets reported instantly by about 40 – 50 people.

      Reply

  2. Rince&exhale

    June 24, 2014 at 11:08

    “EA are suffering through some bad media of late” There is a point in time where they were not?

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2014 at 11:15

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      June 24, 2014 at 11:24

      Poor EA. It’s so unfortunate all this misguided hatred that the gaming media seems to have for them. So undeserved when all they do is make games which bring joy & happiness into peoples’ lives. They didn’t do anything to deserve this scorn & ridicule.

      PS. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA

      Reply

      • Sith JJ

        June 24, 2014 at 11:28

        Oh you

        Reply

  3. CAE9872

    June 24, 2014 at 11:09

    Eish EA – maybe it’s time to give this all up. You clearly cannot catch a break which YOU seem to impose on yourselves anyway!

    There is an adage that goes – measure twice, cut once. Maybe you should try it on for size! CHECK the bloody thing before you just release it.

    Reply

    • Kensei Seraph

      June 24, 2014 at 11:12

      EA seem to prefer the adage “Don’t cut, sell rotten, get rich.”

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2014 at 11:13

      Vote with your wallet.

      Reply

  4. Rince&exhale

    June 24, 2014 at 11:10

    This is when 4chan peeps appear and justify cheating and that people who moan about it are diks.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2014 at 11:13

      Shame, little boys who likes naughty japanese cartoons

      Reply

      • Rince&exhale

        June 24, 2014 at 11:15

        Who? Umar? *RUNS

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          June 24, 2014 at 11:17

          Hahaha you’ve been running a lot today?

          Reply

          • Rince&exhale

            June 24, 2014 at 11:18

            I’m bloody knackered man 😉

  5. Rince&exhale

    June 24, 2014 at 11:20

    Rather strange they would use what sounds like a third party to control who is booted?

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2014 at 11:24

      They can’t even launch a AAA title properly how do you think they would handle banning people.

      Reply

  6. Hammersteyn

    June 24, 2014 at 11:24

    Having to admit you banned someone by mistake opens up a whole lot of trouble for EA. If a system like punkbuster is shown not to be fool proof then why use it?

    But what is up with EA, first the admit BF4 was less than stellar during launch, now this? Are they trying to be humble and open with us before the release of Hardline?

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      June 24, 2014 at 12:40

      It’s the ol’ bait and switch, but I think this time EA’s old strategy will fall on deaf ears.

      Reply

  7. Alex Hicks

    June 24, 2014 at 11:26

    I suffered an issue with BF3 when it was first released – with a massive “Cannot connect to EA” error which support was unable to solve – and I stopped playing. Also didn’t buy BF4 until I got a special and it became worthwhile to me.

    Only started again when they released it for free because I thought why not, and I had a few friends who wanted to play.

    When EA stuff up – they do a really good job. Just a pity they feel the need to illustrate their excellence in “buggering it up” so often.

    Reply

  8. VampyreSquirrel

    June 24, 2014 at 11:27

    I was one of those people that got banned… freaking idiots… couldn’t play for almost 2 days 😛

    Reply

  9. Sith JJ

    June 24, 2014 at 11:27

    Is EA’s every second announcement an apology these days?

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 24, 2014 at 11:29

      That’s what I’m wondering. Maybe it’s a new PR stint?

      Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      June 24, 2014 at 11:32

      Thankfully not Every Announcement is an Explanatory Apology, otherwise things might get Extremely Awkward.

      Reply

      • Sith JJ

        June 24, 2014 at 11:32

        Hey man. To EAch his own.

        Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        June 24, 2014 at 11:32

        THIS!

        Reply

      • Rince&exhale

        June 24, 2014 at 11:34

        I see what you did there…

        Reply

  10. Sith JJ

    June 24, 2014 at 11:34

    Apologize for what you have become!!
    *sniff*

    Reply

  11. Kromas

    June 24, 2014 at 11:34

    Your last sentence describes DRM more than anti-cheating software 😛

    Reply

  12. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    June 24, 2014 at 11:36

    Who else thinks that what’s to blame is that Peter Moore secret sauce?

    Reply

    • Sith JJ

      June 24, 2014 at 11:44

      I thought it’s a secret

      Reply

  13. Mossel

    June 24, 2014 at 11:45

    And also tell you partners at Even Balance to stop fucking kicking me from certain games!

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

      June 24, 2014 at 11:48

      “certain games”….

      Reply

      • Mossel

        June 24, 2014 at 11:49

        Read: certain servers. Not even, I’m able to join Wage server, but only certain game modes!

        Reply

  14. Viking Of GabeN

    June 24, 2014 at 12:00

    What’s going on today: I hear Ubisoft is over DRM, now EA is apologising? have the end times come?

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      June 24, 2014 at 12:41

      Only Gaben can save us now 😀

      Reply

  15. alcatraz5953

    June 24, 2014 at 13:47

    I’ve heard that people are openly admitting to using hacks on bf3 ever since they launched it ‘on the house’ in Origin? Either way, no place for them in this world. But it would be pretty sweet if we could get the crossbow back for bf4 (completely off topic)

    Reply

  16. RedRover

    June 24, 2014 at 13:53

    EA didnt ban anyone. Punkbuster/Evenbalance did the banning all by themselves. EA just stepped in to help resolve the issue.

    Reply

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