Topic: Valve reverses 12,000 false positive bans

[idolminds]

Yeah, and people said VAC was a good thing?

Hello,

Recently, your Steam account was erroneously banned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

This was our mistake, and I apologize for any frustration or angst it may have caused you.

The problem was that Steam would fail a signature check between the disk version of a DLL and a latent memory version. This was caused by a combination of conditions occurring while Steam was updating the disk image of a game. This wasn't a game-specific mistake. Steam allows us to manage and reverse these erroneous bans (about 12,000 erroneous bans over two weeks).

We have reversed the ban, restoring your access to the game. In addition, we have given you a free copy of Left 4 Dead 2 to give as a gift on Steam, plus a free copy for yourself if you didn't already own the game.


To share your extra copy of Left 4 Dead 2 with a friend, you can 'Manage Gifts and Guest Passes' from the 'Games' Menu in Steam, or visit this article on the Steam Support site for detailed instructions: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...4502-TPJL-2656.

To access your own copy of Left 4 Dead 2, visit your library of games in Steam. If you didn't already own the game, it will now be listed among your others there, and is available for download immediately.

Regards,
Gabe Newell
President, Valve


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I think this post on neogaf sums up my feelings:

so, if you already owned L4D2, you basically get nothing for the up to 2 weeks you were banned and couldn't access the game you paid for (it bans you just from that game, right?) and get a free 'gift' to give to someone else that basically makes them install the same spyware that falsely banned you in the first place?

and they get applause for this shit?

[MysterD]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of VAC, either.

The problem w/ what Valve's doing is...I think most people who are on Steam probably already own most of Valve's games already - especially L4D2. Countless times, Valve has put their own games on sale at a cheap price - i.e. $20 or less.

I mean, hell - what is the cheapest we've seen Modern Warfare 2 PC on sale for in store or on Steam? Maybe $45, if that? 

*shrug*
So, given everything I've said already - this ALL is a waste for probably most people.

Nice gesture, Valve - but you really should've given away a future full-priced Valve game away for FREE to those who got boned by this VAC-mistake on MW2.

[gpw11]

I can kind of see where they're coming from there; it had to be a Valve game and that's the most recent one.  I imagine they could offer a small amount of credit (if that's even technically possible), but I imagine giving away a full game from another publisher would create a bit of a problem.

[MysterD]

I can kind of see where they're coming from there; it had to be a Valve game and that's the most recent one.  I imagine they could offer a small amount of credit (if that's even technically possible), but I imagine giving away a full game from another publisher would create a bit of a problem.

Agreed w/ all of that, GPW.

Now that I really think about it, Valve was damned if they do or damned if they don't here. They couldn't win on this one - people were still gonna bitch and moan, regardless - and rightfully so, pretty much. I'd be bullshit if I got slapped w/ a VAC wrongfully and lost access to my game, too.

I suggested Valve could've given credit to say their next full-priced game for those 12,000 or so false-banned gamers - maybe it'd be...HL3? L4D3? Portal 2? I dunno - but, maybe some would've complained they couldn't get a current game like L4D2 (if they didn't already have that already)?

Hell, I dunno... *shrug* But, yeah - Valve put themselves in a lose-lose situation (dilemma) here.

EDIT:
You know what would've been worse? If Valve offered up FREE copies of Alien Swarm to those MW2 false-bans.

[idolminds]

I don't think its necessarily bad that they gave a free game out to those effected, though its not really that great if you did already own that game. I think it just sort of glosses over the fact that 12,000 people weren't able to play a game they paid money for due to an automated ban system Valve set up.

Guess thats PR doing its job. Turn a bad thing into a "praise Valve" situation by giving away a game that, for Valve, costs them absolutely nothing to do.

[scottws]

I wish I got banned.  I don't have L4D2.

Seriously though, Valve didn't really have much choice.  They made a grave mistake and are trying to make up for it.  A free game for up to 2 weeks of downtime isn't too bad, though I suppose it would have been better to grant credit in case a user already had a game.  They are also being honest and open about situation, unlike Apple who blames their issues on customers and third parties and throws up a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

[idolminds]

True. I'm not really mad at Valve for this (other than the VAC system itself), more peoples reactions to it. Its almost like...oh hey, Apple fanboys. Valve can do no wrong, even when they do wrong. This isn't really above and beyond, because we should expect to be compensated for having our games taken away wrongly.