There is absolutely no deterrent if you guys continue giving "second chances" to these repeat offenders. In fact these are no longer second chances. BW you are in fact enabling this behavior and you are part of the problem as well. Not to mention the rampant drama and toxicity these individuals were involved in and caused will resurface. I thought you guys were trying to address toxicity in ranked yeah... so much for that!

Top 3 is such a joke and has been ever since I can remember. From backfilling in seasons 8 and 9, to que syncing on the lesser population factor before cross-faction, to que declining on alts for your main/friend, to multiboxing in team ranked, to getting meme tanks/healers to que vs you, I can go on and on.

I came back to the game a few months ago and nothing has changed and things have gotten worse. I haven't cheated but it feels like I have to cheat even for gold because you guys keep encouraging meme players who have no business in ranked at all to que. Can barely get silver, unless I do stupid stuff like selectively que because of all the bots and throwers in que. Stop trying to make ranked more accessible! I'd rather have longer que times and decent games than shorter que times and lopsided, horrid ones.

You know what just remove top 3 entirely and make a platinum tier. Otherwise stop enabling this ******* ******* that is explicitly against the TOS. Ban yourselves while you're at it BW. And NO taking away their top 3s when you unban them is NOT enough. This is enabling, aiding and abetting, accessory to the crime

There is absolutely no deterrent if you guys continue giving "second chances" to these repeat offenders. In fact these are no longer second chances. BW you are in fact enabling this behavior and you are part of the problem as well. Not to mention the rampant drama and toxicity these individuals were involved in and caused will resurface. I thought you guys were trying to address toxicity in ranked yeah... so much for that!

 

Top 3 is such a joke and has been ever since I can remember. From backfilling in seasons 8 and 9, to que syncing on the lesser population factor before cross-faction, to que declining on alts for your main/friend, to multiboxing in team ranked, to getting meme tanks/healers to que vs you, I can go on and on.

 

I came back to the game a few months ago and nothing has changed and things have gotten worse. I haven't cheated but it feels like I have to cheat even for gold because you guys keep encouraging meme players who have no business in ranked at all to que. Can barely get silver, unless I do stupid stuff like selectively que because of all the bots and throwers in que. Stop trying to make ranked more accessible! I'd rather have longer que times and decent games than shorter que times and lopsided, horrid ones.

 

You know what just remove top 3 entirely and make a platinum tier. Otherwise stop enabling this ******* ******* that is explicitly against the TOS. Ban yourselves while you're at it BW. And NO taking away their top 3s when you unban them is NOT enough. This is enabling, aiding and abetting, accessory to the crime

Why do you care so much ? What difference does it make to you that some guy gets top 3 cheated or legit ?

Just play and worry less about what others are doing...

Why do you care so much ? What difference does it make to you that some guy gets top 3 cheated or legit ?

 

Just play and worry less about what others are doing...

I've had friends perma banned for far less and they don't get endless second chances

I play ranked within the rules

This locks legit players out of earning these rewards

This is unfair and it should infuriate anyone who plays this game within the rules. It cheats us out and the fact that we pay $15/mo for this? Unacceptable we should expect the devs to enforce the rules for all of us who play fairly

I've had friends perma banned for far less and they don't get endless second chances

 

I play ranked within the rules

 

This locks legit players out of earning these rewards

 

This is unfair and it should infuriate anyone who plays this game within the rules. It cheats us out and the fact that we pay $15/mo for this? Unacceptable we should expect the devs to enforce the rules for all of us who play fairly

There are " conspiracy theories" about some players from this select club of ranked players you speak about having influences among devs ,and about the fact that they talk on discord about things.. etc.

If you do a search about ranked on Steam forums, you will find threads about players complaining about the same things you mention and they posted screenshots to back up their claims.

I am in no position to judge whether this is true or not, but I learned to not give a **** ck . I played late this season because I wanted the nice stuff and I put in the effort to earn them . Once I saw I have enough to buy what I want , I lost motivation and started playing like crap and I stopped. It's enough for me. This wintrading and cheater stuff is out of anyone's control and worrying about it isn't worth it. How do you know your friends didn't earn their bans ? You can't tell ... Even criminals state their are innocent in court.

You said that even silver needs some work . Yes, it can happen.. Most players will think you are bad and that's about it. The truth is that the vast majority of players are rated between bronze and silver and a small minority makes it to gold and top spots. You should que ranked cause it's fun and thrilling... Let the traders and cheaters have their flairs if that's what they want.

Other games have systems that perma ban cheats and some even name and shame to give players confidence they are taking out the trash. They have real deterrents against cheats.

BioWare rely on players to report and then they ignore many reports or take too long to do anything. Then when they do ban some cheats, they don’t perma ban them, they give them a slap on the wrist. And if other players name and shame on the forums they can get banned worse than the cheats.

There is no real deterrent to cheating in this game and there never has been. It’s a complete joke and everyone knows it. Titles in ranked have lost all validation because of it and sadly, even those players who legitimately get the titles get smeared with the cheat brush because of BioWares lax policies towards cheating.

Other games have systems that perma ban cheats and some even name and shame to give players confidence they are taking out the trash.

This has been happening here already with the monthly reports. It wasnt really naming and shaming but if you observed the ranked scene you would know who it was that was banned etc.

BioWare rely on players to report and then they ignore many reports or take too long to do anything. Then when they do ban some cheats, they don’t perma ban them, they give them a slap on the wrist. And if other players name and shame on the forums they can get banned worse than the cheats.

This is not really true as they do setup blocks for the cheaters. The problem is that the cheaters adapt and thats it. There are things which you simply cannot solve by setting a kill command when a player leaves the spawn area. These things require real analysis and mainly manpower to analyse them, but Bioware does not have that. But I have to say there are quite a few new faces on the forums so it is really obvious that there are more people at Bioware so they are getting some bigger budgets.

It’s a complete joke and everyone knows it. Titles in ranked have lost all validation because of it and sadly, even those players who legitimately get the titles get smeared with the cheat brush because of BioWares lax policies towards cheating.

As I said before, in the end these players who get the top3s do not care, they got it an the people that dont like it leave and only those are left that dont know that they got it by cheating

I agree in almost everything, but the part that you call some new players bots. I ´d really like more participation from new players, I prefer that over a small group of elitist players that keep playing against each other.

On the other hand, I personally believe that the wintrading and toxicity is, in part, being allowed by Bioware. How? Is well known that taking actions from Bioware requires an insane amount of reports/time. And when they ban, fnally, the banned players just create a new accounts. The players "prepare" for the ban that will come at some point, buying Tokens -Insta level 70 characters-. Plus the toxicity related to players that has been banned multiple times is an issue as well. This is a circle, and it wont stop working this way until Bioware, finally, decides to do something. They decided to adress toxicity by Qlocking from almost everything. And my point stands, this is no solution at all, until they start being serious on banning people and making it impossible to create new accounts, call it IP ban, account associated to an specific credit card, or whatever.

The big issue here is that wintrade/toxicity/harassment or whatever it happens in any aspect of the game is not being punished, because ban evasion is so common.

So I think nothing that Bioware has announced as a "big change on players behavior" will affect the game at all, since they have been tolerating this for a long time, ignoring reports or taking actions way too late.

How? Is well known that taking actions from Bioware requires an insane amount of reports/time. And when they ban, fnally, the banned players just create a new accounts. The players "prepare" for the ban that will come at some point, buying Tokens -Insta level 70 characters-. Plus the toxicity related to players that has been banned multiple times is an issue as well. This is a circle, and it wont stop working this way until Bioware, finally, decides to do something. They decided to adress toxicity by Qlocking from almost everything. And my point stands, this is no solution at all, until they start being serious on banning people and making it impossible to create new accounts, call it IP ban, account associated to an specific credit card, or whatever.

 

The big issue here is that wintrade/toxicity/harassment or whatever it happens in any aspect of the game is not being punished, because ban evasion is so common.

 

So I think nothing that Bioware has announced as a "big change on players behavior" will affect the game at all, since they have been tolerating this for a long time, ignoring reports or taking actions way too late.

There are some benefits which Devs do get from this constant banning. Its interesting to see how hooked the people are on the game and the specifically ranked pvp. Many claim the game is terrible, yet there you see them going for the top 3 which has absolutely no meaning.

On the otherhand if you know how cheating is not that beneficial for BIoware. The silliest thing is group ranked. You can que for ranked pvp even as preff since only one of the 4 players in team needs to be a sub to que.

Anyway ban evasion will always be a thing and yes, they should setup a filter for that one too, based on IP address or so.

I've had friends perma banned for far less and they don't get endless second chances

 

I play ranked within the rules

 

This locks legit players out of earning these rewards

 

This is unfair and it should infuriate anyone who plays this game within the rules. It cheats us out and the fact that we pay $15/mo for this? Unacceptable we should expect the devs to enforce the rules for all of us who play fairly

Let me enlighten you a little. I know the majority of the players banned and queue locked. I am in almost all the ranked discords on SF and DM. Your banning players little rant you are on is funny to watch. Every single person I know that is and was banned from ranked play on alt accounts. The ban is an inconvenience but has absolutely no effect on keeping the player banned out of ranked. They simply switch accounts, keep low key and queue ranked just like normal.

Personally I think the banning in ranked is foolishness. I think if someone like Jeezee or whatever his name is is using mechanical exploits and literally hacking the mechanics I think then and only then should bioware step in and ban them from playing. But to ban someone for toxicity and perceived win trading or queue sinking is foolish and dumb and also accomplishes nothing. And I know for a fact people this season have been banned who are not guilty of cheating. So even bioware when they ban players are a total mess.

Anyone who insists on banning players should either stick to regular pvp or maybe just consider not queueing for pvp at all period. Rather than trying to break the backs of players you don't like to accommodate your high standards or righteousness maybe you should consider doing the player base a favor and go do something that is more pleasant for you to do. Sitting here crying and screaming to ban everyone to me sounds like your the problem rather than the people you are crying about.

Pvp is competitive and stirs the emotions. Everyone who plays pvp is an mmorpg knows that. It nothing new. It is the norm. It always amazes me when these white knight types kick and scream to ban pvpers because they want it to be calm and docile is too funny.

Do not go to a biker bar and expect everyone to be dressed in suits and proper mannered. Could you imagine going into a biker bar and get infuriated about the bad language and inappropriate attire? Its no different than a white knight entering the pvp arena and then having a hissy fit when he is called trash by other players and demanding bioware to start banning players forever. Thats the absolute joke not unbanning pvp players you distaste. If you do not like the atmosphere then stay the heck out of the pvp queue. Just like if you do not like a rowdy crowd stay out of the biker bars. Rather than pestering the bikers, find yourself a jazz bar and leave everyone the heck alone.

Let me enlighten you a little. I know the majority of the players banned and queue locked. I am in almost all the ranked discords on SF and DM. Your banning players little rant you are on is funny to watch. Every single person I know that is and was banned from ranked play on alt accounts. The ban is an inconvenience but has absolutely no effect on keeping the player banned out of ranked. They simply switch accounts, keep low key and queue ranked just like normal.

 

Personally I think the banning in ranked is foolishness. I think if someone like Jeezee or whatever his name is is using mechanical exploits and literally hacking the mechanics I think then and only then should bioware step in and ban them from playing. But to ban someone for toxicity and perceived win trading or queue sinking is foolish and dumb and also accomplishes nothing. And I know for a fact people this season have been banned who are not guilty of cheating. So even bioware when they ban players are a total mess.

 

Anyone who insists on banning players should either stick to regular pvp or maybe just consider not queueing for pvp at all period. Rather than trying to break the backs of players you don't like to accommodate your high standards or righteousness maybe you should consider doing the player base a favor and go do something that is more pleasant for you to do. Sitting here crying and screaming to ban everyone to me sounds like your the problem rather than the people you are crying about.

 

Pvp is competitive and stirs the emotions. Everyone who plays pvp is an mmorpg knows that. It nothing new. It is the norm. It always amazes me when these white knight types kick and scream to ban pvpers because they want it to be calm and docile is too funny.

 

Do not go to a biker bar and expect everyone to be dressed in suits and proper mannered. Could you imagine going into a biker bar and get infuriated about the bad language and inappropriate attire? Its no different than a white knight entering the pvp arena and then having a hissy fit when he is called trash by other players and demanding bioware to start banning players forever. Thats the absolute joke not unbanning pvp players you distaste. If you do not like the atmosphere then stay the heck out of the pvp queue. Just like if you do not like a rowdy crowd stay out of the biker bars. Rather than pestering the bikers, find yourself a jazz bar and leave everyone the heck alone.

Got it, so what you’re saying is “you support people cheating” to get top positions in ranked.

Got it, so what you’re saying is “you support people cheating” to get top positions in ranked.

I did not say that. I don't know why you have that in quotes because I did not say that. What my point is rather than entering an arena that in any mmorpg where there is pvp, it is extremely aggressive and an environment of high intense emotions why not do everyone a favor and DO NOT do it. I mean everyone on earth is tired of these light weight Twinkies trying to impose their moral high ground on a system that is going to be extremely emotional and is certain scenarios toxic. I mean seriously you have to wonder what the motive is with these same small group of people who constantly try to ban players and stir up trouble in a system by their own admission they do not like. If you do not like it leave us the heck alone.

I mean seriously can you imagine a trained fighter going into the MMA octagon and getting triggered when the other fighter taunts them and gets smashed. I mean can you imagine that and then crying saying that MMA is mean because they punch and kick and hurt people. Can you imagine that.

If you don't like the arena, stay the heck out of it. Its that simple. And as far as win trading it is very difficult to detect. First of all the queues are so random its hard to sink anymore. And because of people like this guy innocent people are getting banned because it is perceived they are trading when it is just bad skills and poor position management.

The 15 minute lockout in ranked really hurt traders and sinkers. By the way the second lockout is like 1 hour so the sinking trading bs is over. It is very tough to do now. As far as banning players it is total bullcrap unless they are doing thinks that manipulate the actual game system like fly hacking and things like jeezee was doing. But this toxic banning and all that crap is just that, crap. And bioware should knock it off. Nobody should get banned unless they are physically exploiting the game files or game mechanics.

All these bans did absolutely nothing to improve solo ranked. It is worse now than ever so the amount of bots has not been better but increased. So I have to conclude that the bans are more virtual signaling by bioware than a real attempt to make solo ranked better. The bans have zero effect.

Agreed. Being plat should mean something more than "hardcore wintrader". Just make sure the right people are banned. I've heard of a few ranked players getting banned for rules they didnt break.

It's ok, these top 3s that got removed are gone from the game. Instead of idk, going to the next person who should have gotten it? Whether the bans were right or wrong, why delete them instead of giving them to the next in line?

It's ok, these top 3s that got removed are gone from the game. Instead of idk, going to the next person who should have gotten it? Whether the bans were right or wrong, why delete them instead of giving them to the next in line?

That's my point. The bans need to stop unless it is mechanical hacking exploit. Too much shady bs to pull apart. Wrong people getting banned, perps not getting banned that according to the very broad rules should. I say just stop the dam bans. Let the cards fall where they fall and build a hardened system like they have with the RNG being impossible to decipher and 15 minute to 1 day timeout for leaving. And if someone does not like that do not queue ranked and go somewhere else. This ban crap is out of control.

It is true that you see many of the known players on new accounts. You can see it by looking at their achievements, which are just a few thousands. They just make a new account and it seems they are just playing for the thrill.

However, I am also the opinion that the top 3 should be removed and you should just keep platinum or gold for anyone that reaches it.

That's my point. The bans need to stop unless it is mechanical hacking exploit. Too much shady bs to pull apart. Wrong people getting banned, perps not getting banned that according to the very broad rules should. I say just stop the dam bans. Let the cards fall where they fall and build a hardened system like they have with the RNG being impossible to decipher and 15 minute to 1 day timeout for leaving. And if someone does not like that do not queue ranked and go somewhere else. This ban crap is out of control.

And what about wintraders? People who are actually cheating? You are saying they should be allowed to cheat

All these bans did absolutely nothing to improve solo ranked. It is worse now than ever so the amount of bots has not been better but increased. So I have to conclude that the bans are more virtual signaling by bioware than a real attempt to make solo ranked better. The bans have zero effect.

This is demonstrably not true. The queue on Star Forge drastically improved when educated squad got banned (along with the removal of vote kick). Because even though a lot of them kept queueing on alts, they couldn't be open about it, and they couldn't immediately return to their bullying, queue-manipulating ways. Same thing with Nikana. If he wasn't constantly being banned, he would go right back to acting like he did in previous seasons, but the bans keep him in check.

Your blatant support of wintrading and cheating is simply shameful. Your posts boil down to "it's part of the game, just accept it.' How about instead I report it every time I see and it and get the wrongdoers banned? What an absolute joke indeed.

It's ok, these top 3s that got removed are gone from the game. Instead of idk, going to the next person who should have gotten it? Whether the bans were right or wrong, why delete them instead of giving them to the next in line?

This is true. Bioware clearly should give top 3s to the next person in line when one gets banned. When an athlete gets stripped of an olympic medal, they give it to the next person. The reason Bioware doesn't do it can really only be laziness.