But That’s What Happens When Computers Are Determining Skill
So it’s practically illegal to be too good in Battlefield 1. Several pro players have recently learned the hard way that their skills alert the banning bot. As a result of Battlefield 1’s anti-cheat system, earnest player ability has been punished in DICE’s flag-ship shooter. FairFight, the system employed by DICE, reportedly mistakes really good gameplay for foul play.
Thanks to player kL-Spazmo, who’s put in over 2800 hours of Battlefield gameplay, DICE has been informed of the issue. His elaborate post on reddit placed FairFight’s algorithm in the spotlight and has alerted many players to what’s going on. Furthermore, he’s reiterated his loyalty to DICE and Battlefield, stressing that he’s not a cheater. While FairFight has done its job and kept many unfair players out of the game, deviations from its statistical data on player skills have meant that pros fall under its category of cheating. Spazmo went so far as to list other examples:
Now, if you don’t believe that I didn’t cheat, that’s okay, but I’d like you tell you that I wouldn’t be the first one who didn’t cheat and still got banned by FairFight. The player that’s currently ranked top #2 on the Battlefield 1 PC leader boards (sorted by game score), Minidoracat, who records and streams every second of his game play, got hit by a 1 week suspension merely hours prior to when I got hit. Since then I’ve been contacted by several other players, who’re clearly not cheating either and even recorded the instant they got banned, like SpartanHoplite and Grubsi13. Hence, FairFight has become an issue for the pro and loyal fan base.
Fortunately, after Spazmo calmly went through all the proper procedures, he managed to reach producer Ali Hassoon. After loads of evidence and player reactions, it’s been confirmed that the fault lies with the system. Therefore, a slow and steady fix has begun, staring with lifting the ban on Spazmo:
“In case anyone is still interested in how things are developing, I’ve been in contact with Ali Hassoon via Twitter. At 9:02pm (UTC) on January 11th 2017 he messaged me, telling me that they had completed the review and would unban me! And it even seems like they’re reviewing my friend’s case now! Thank you so much, everyone!”
Since DICE is officially looking into FairFight, we hope to see an eventual halt to wrongful bans. We’ll keep you updated as things progress for Battlefield 1. For right now, play fair and remember to keep updated with COGconnected.