False Ban (Due to VPN?) - Looking for information on support team response times or process.
Hi All,
I understand that this may not be the right place to post but I feel I've exhausted all other options currently. I'm posting here as I've already submitted a ban appeal and also had a friend in the content creator discord post in there for me with no response from support at all. This is the first time I've been banned in a video game and this is also my first Bungie title, so i'm unsure of how the support system works.
On 23/09 I was hardware banned from marathon with the error code "Goji", I have almost 1,800 hours in game and have never received any similar issues at all, including warnings or bans. I had been playing the game normally like any other day, there were some slight server issues but around 2-3 minutes after extracting successfully from a match I was given the error code and banned. A friend of mine was also in the same match as me (on a different team), he messaged a group discord (Marathon ASIA/OCE) that we're both in and said that he was banned just before the end of that match. He had also been given the same "Goji" error code along with a ban. Which makes me assume that this was an automatic "ban wave".
From what I've read online, the "Goji" error refers to an issue that Marathon is flagging with your PC, in my ban appeal I've listed all the applications I usually have running when playing marathon as well as screenshots of my system-tray and task manager. The only changes I've made to my PC since I started playing marathon are; GPU + CPU upgrade and I've switched from using Nvidia's game recorder to using the "Medal" application to record gameplay.
I'm not sure if it matters but the servers were experiencing issues that entire day, there were multiple games where we could not load back to the main menu and even a game where we received an error code around "matter transfer issues" upon exfil, we were successful but we received no points for the match. I've attached a post-game screenshot of this also.
Honestly, i'm just looking for some support. I know i haven't broken any ToS, I've supported this game since I started playing it and i've had no issues in almost 1,800 hours. It actually feels so shit to have this happen and not have a clear communication lines with support. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.
If anybody in the support team sees this, my appeal number is "480995" and I'm happy to provide literally any information required. I'll happily sit with a bungie dev or creator and do an extensive PC check to help find out what was flagged as I understand this issue may have happened to many others.
I've recently been told that using a VPN can flag an account wrongfully. I occasionally use ExitLag VPN, I wasn't using it on the day of the ban but I was told that these types of VPN's use a pool of shared IP addresses for each region, and if someone who was breaking ToS was assigned the same IP as myself in a different session it could cause my account to be flagged with them. Has anyone heard of this before?
I have attached links to both; the final minutes of that last match, as well as just after that match when the ban occurred.
1. Final minutes of game before false ban - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeSBMkjDNho
2. Moment of false ban (shortly after video above) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXrkfh6_jkY
Comments
Hi there,
The forums are unable to assist with ban appeals. Response times using the appropriate contact form linked above may vary, and please note that a response is not guaranteed if an offense is found on the account.
Lv is apart of my main 3man
His always bottom fragging, getting the lowest damage and making the upmost diabolical calls that get us killed.
His one of the worst players I’ve ever seen on this game, with saying that his definitely not cheating.
Just to be clear before any moderator responds and says that they cannot do anything about my ban. That's not what i'm looking for.
I have submitted through the official and appropriate channels and am awaiting a response.
I'm looking to see if any other players have experienced issues like this.
Lv is a well-known player on OCE and also a big pillar in our commuity , is always welcoming to new players, and is all about fair play, have had the privillege of playing with him quite a few times and very can confirm i have not expeirnced or seen any gameplay that is indicating cheating
Bungie Support. I understand, thanks for the response anyway. Like i mentioned in a comment above, i'm not looking for any direct help from this post.
I am however, interested in raising awareness around issues like this and seeing if any other players have had similar experiences.
Bump for awareness! Definitely don't think he's cheating, played with him a couple times and seen his gameplay as well,if hes cheating then half of the player base must be too.
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