Forum Discussion

Re: HWID BANNED

@dismay0313 

Account Safety

How to keep your account and hardware safe 101:

  1. Use strong passwords for you game accounts. Keep track of your game account information (ownership) and to what other accounts they are connected to.
  2. Use strong passwords for the associated E-mail account. Keep track of your E-mail accounts and what they are connected to.
  3. Do not use e-mail accounts that you cannot fully control, like those provided to you through, schools, universities, workplace and or other organizations etc. If the Org. revokes your E-mail or you leave the school, switch workplace etc and no longer have access to that E-mail you will end up having issues you do not want or need.  
  4. Do not share either of these passwords with others. Keep note of your passwords in a safe place.
  5. Enable two factor identification for both the game and associated E-mail accounts.
  6. Do not let others use your game account (Friends and family alike) because if they do something wrong on your account it is still your fault, nobody wants to have a sanction on their account because somebody else did or said something wrong.
  7. Do not use internet café’s to access your account and play, you do not know what software is on the hardware there, you do not know if the hardware at the cafe has a hardware ban and this can affect your account in a negative way.
  8. I would suggest only accessing your account with your own trusted hardware, gaming on another person’s hardware brings some of the same risks as above.
  9. I would also suggest not letting others use your hardware in order to play with their account, because if they get a hardware ban on your hardware while using it, it can have a negative affect on your account.
  10. Buying used hardware comes with risks as well. The hardware could have been banned and this is not an EA problem but a problem between the buyer and the seller. 
  11. Play nice with others, in other words do not de-mean, harass or bully others in Chat or over voice coms, both can be reported and that can also have a negative effect on your account.
  12. Use non-offensive user/gamer tag/club tags, if you get a warning about such change it, doing otherwise can lead to a negative effect on your account.
  13. Play fair, boosting and teaming are cheating.
  14. Play fair using cheating software or hardware is not fair and is really only cheating yourself.
  15. Do not buy and or sell accounts, do you really know what has been done with the account? What cyber info are you giving up? What risk is there that the account is bunk. What is the risk to your hardware?
  16. Re-read the Terms of Service agreement and the Terms of Sale agreement you agreed to play this game and adhere to it. https://www.ea.com/legal/user-agreement and https://www.ea.com/legal/terms-of-sale

About points 7, 8, and 9, I do know that not everyone can afford multiple hardware setups for the entire family and there is trust that has to be there, talking about the does and don’ts on the use of shared hardware should be done so everybody can enjoy what they do on the hardware and everyone can be safe.

If you believe you have been hacked take appropriate measures to secure your account and associated E-mail account https://help.ea.com/en-gb/help/account/secure-hacked-ea-account/

If you believe that a sanction (Suspension/Ban) placed on your account was by mistake you should reach out to the Terms of Service team https://help.ea.com/za/help/account/information-about-locked-or-banned-or-suspended-accounts/

Contacting EA help https://help.ea.com/help/faq/using-ea-help

12 Replies

  • @阿斯莫德斯566 I don't know if there is a hardware ban, EAC knows. EAC is aware of the hardware ban and still allows me to log in to the game normally?
    I can understand why HWID is permanently banned for 2-6 hours in other anti cheating games. I can accept this punishment and avoid losing my account. Why is EAC permanently banned? Not even a warning!
    The hardware ban is already a punishment for cheating on the device. Why permanently ban normal accounts that log in to the device afterwards? Does simply logging in to the game on the device, or even playing for only a few minutes, harm the fairness of players?
  • Asmodeus566's avatar
    Asmodeus566
    Hero+
    10 months ago

    @dismay0313 

    This is my personal opinion. 

    Gaming just like banking have accounts that are worth a lot to people. 

    I would not use an untrusted device for either because you do not know what software is on that device and what info may be being stolen (Keystroke logger), along with what sanctions the device may or may not have that can carry over to your account.

    As far as cheating goes if it was up to me, anyone being caught cheating, I would hardware ban the device and account being used and any account that logs into that device afterwards.

    Banning accounts does not do much against the cheater and they just make a new account on the device and start all over, no repercussions. HWID banning really starts to put a stop to that nonsense.

    That is all however just my personal opinion.

    In my previous post there are links for disputing a ban, use them if you need them.

  • @Asmodeus566 HWID banned is certainly useful
    What I mean is that the device can be banned from playing games, but non cheating accounts logged in on the device cannot be permanently banned
    Who would go to an internet cafe? Who would use second-hand equipment? This is a huge blow to people who are already facing difficulties in real life, as they have to bear the punishment of others for following the rules
    You often browse the internet, and you should also know that for true cheating players, HWID cannot stop them at all
  • Asmodeus566's avatar
    Asmodeus566
    Hero+
    10 months ago

    @dismay0313 

    I understand your argument and have sympathy for your situation and others that may be affected this way.

    However that will not change my opinion on this and truth be told we live in an age of Computer Technology and Cybersecurity is even more important than it was in the past and will become increasing more so. 

    Using untrusted devices is just not something that should be done anymore by anyone. 

    My sincere apologies but that is the simple hard truth of todays computing world. 

    Best of luck. 

  • dismay0313's avatar
    dismay0313
    9 months ago
    @阿斯莫德斯566 Is the way EA protects my account permanently banned?
    Does EA's user policy prohibit players from playing games in internet cafes?
    This is my account, and I have the right to play Apex anywhere and on any device while complying with player regulations
    When I log in to a HWID device, does EA fulfill their responsibility by informing me of the potential risks associated with the device? When other games log in to HWID devices, they will prompt that the device has HWID!
    I have played Apex for over 5000 hours without any violations. I couldn't help but want to play Apex outside, but as a result, I have been permanently banned!
    Loyal players will all leave
  • @dismay0313 I participated in ALGS YEAR 4 and reached the semi-finals.
    Waiting for APEX's ALGS badge.
    This is my first and last time participating.
    When my account was banned, this game was already dead
  • Asmodeus566's avatar
    Asmodeus566
    Hero+
    9 months ago

    @dismay0313 

    Decisions have consequences......

    "Does EA's user policy prohibit players from playing games in internet cafes?"

    No, you can assuredly play at internet cafe's, however it has risks like I explained before and that is your decision and you have to deal with the consequences of that poor decision.

    Me, I would never ever do this, to much risk. 

     

    "When I log in to a HWID device, does EA fulfill their responsibility by informing me of the potential risks associated with the device?

    Where is it EA responsibility to inform you? Protecting your account starts with you and using some common sense goes a long way in this.

    You chose to practice unsafe gaming with an untrusted device which can lead to catching all kinds of bad things, viruses, malware and even Bans. 

    Practice safer "gaming" it protects you and your account.

    We can argue about this round and round but in the end it is your choice and your responsibility to protect your account and the consequences are yours and yours alone.  

  • dismay0313's avatar
    dismay0313
    9 months ago
    @Asmodeus566 "using some common sense goes a long way in this"
    My common sense is that when I log in to other game companies' games on a HWID device, it will prompt me that the device has a HWID, kick out my account, and ban it for 2 hours! I am willing to accept this punishment!
    I would rather have my account stolen than permanently banned!

    I did not violate any of the provisions in section 6. EAC knows that my account was banned due to HWID, not cheating. I did not gain an unfair advantage from this behavior, did not undermine the fairness of the game, and did not affect the gaming experience of other players!

    Speaking of account cheating, GBT's account was hacked during the competition to cheat. Why wasn't his account banned? After HAL's account is banned, it can still be unbanned. We all know that cheating is not their intention, but their account actually engages in cheating behavior. The EA user agreement targets the account, not the user themselves. Why not permanently ban their account?

    So, what about my account? My account did not cheat at all, I just logged into a HWID device and did not gain any unfair advantage as a result. Why can't it be unbanned? Because I don't have any influence?
  • Asmodeus566's avatar
    Asmodeus566
    Hero+
    9 months ago

    @dismay0313 

    Use the link I previously provided if you want to dispute the ban.

    I have provided you with abundant tips as far as cybersecurity goes and it is up to you if you want to use them or not. 

    Each case is different and the ToS team decides how they handle them.

    We cannot assist you with your account issue here on AHQ. 

  • dismay0313's avatar
    dismay0313
    9 months ago
    @Asmodeus566 Haha, they no longer accept my appeal, haha, they have deprived me of my rights

    I'm here just to vent my grievances

    As I said, Apex was already dead when my account was banned
    5000+hours, haha, thank Apex for releasing my disk
  • CiocanHD's avatar
    CiocanHD
    8 months ago

    EA forums are nonsense!

    They give your information u already know about.

    There is no use for admins in this Forums if they can not collaborate wit TOS team togheter to fix some issues!

    TOS can not be reach .doesnt matter what your appeal looks like you get always the same answer.

    EA to lazy to take care of people who spent money and time in games,i also got permabanned for saying 1 bad word.

    They should at least warn you that the PC is REDFLAGGED and u know that u shouldnt be playing on that PC.

    They even dont give you Information about your account if u are HWID banned or not !if u do 1000 new ACC you can still play for couple of hours till they ban your account !

    EA  have the worst and unprofessional response in matter of BAN/Problems !

    So is just waste of time to write on forum/TOS because they are incapable to help you out!

  • id be blaming the internet cafe for allowing cheaters to install things on their machines.