The official Halo 5 "Why was I banned?" thread

Games Halo 5: Guardians
421

Why do I get banned for 24 hours for quitting out of a social game where people join in progress anyway?!? I am not ruining anyone’s game by quitting out of a social game as I had to take a call?

Surely I done the best thing anyway? Would it be better to be afk and getting killed over and over or quit and let someone take my place?

The ban system is out of control. I agree that I should be banned for quitting out of ranked matches and I have been. I know that I was one quit away from another ban and genuinely was not going to quit from another ranked match. I honestly did not know that I would get banned for quitting social where there is join in progress.

Between this and many other issues (server crashes, not being able to find games, not ranking up, just to name a few) I don’t see why I and many other members of the community should play anymore and support 343.

I know a response is very unlikely but if anyone from 343 does see this a reply would be massively appreciated. Thank you.

422

So… I literally have 0 clue why I was banned. I know I DCd from a game earlier, which, would be a possibility. But then I played a match until the end, even won actually, and then got banned afterwards… But even so, I thought one DC wouldn’t get you kicked that easily? Not to mention, it wasn’t even my internet, it just kicked me out of the game saying “lost connection to dedicated server.”

Furthermore, why let me play a game and THEN ban me? That throws me off a bit too haha. I understand that the banning system is there for a reason, but legit, what just happened?
Lastly, I know when you DO get banned, you actually get a notification specifying that you have been banned - I didn’t even get a notification; I tried searching for another match and “boop” - I’m banned…
:confused: I don’t get it.
When my friend got banned, it was immediate, and he got a notification. Sorry, FRIENDS, not friend, plural. My friends rage quit 10x more than I do, yet I’m the one getting punished lol.

Unless of course, it’s counting the other game that I DCd on the other day… Perhaps that is it. I thought it reset every day though? ._. I don’t like getting DCd from games, especially when it isn’t my internet going out, and getting punished for it.

As far as I know, my record is mostly clean for playing games… In fact, most of my DNFs are in Warzone. As I look at it now though I notice it labels DNF for custom games, but that doesn’t count right lol (I stopped playing with friends for example, on Foggy alt [a map my friends and I made[). One of the DNFs on arc I did leave, by choice, for sure - won’t deny that, but that’s the only manual leave I have had in quite a while… Plus, leaving a warzone game does not have an effect on arena, which, is what I was banned from…

I respect a banning system, but please… make it somewhat better if ya can lol - or at least fix your servers.
And, as a side note, don’t even get me started on how broken the ranking system is xD It’s no wonder the enemy team leaves against my team sometimes; it’ll be onyxs vs. golds and plats… smh

Oh, and here’s one more thing just to poke a hole in the failure of the banning system… “You can get kicked for AFKing” - Can you really though? People can band their controllers, and believe me, people do it all the time - just look at Halo reach, where it all began with Grifball… and quite frankly, it’s hard to get kicked for AFKing when you keep dying anyway… Good job though, great system that doesn’t work.

The way I see it, is the cons are outweighing the pros of the system. People do leave their team behind, for sure, and, well, it makes the game less enjoyable. But, at the same time, I don’t foresee a banning system putting an end to it anyway. People leave for their own reasons: lagg, dying a lot, etc. - different for virtually every person, but nonetheless, people do it. Simply throwing in a banning system isn’t going to make the average person stop quitting. Personally, I think a better system for punishing people is to make it so they get no XP for the amount of games they play. Ex: You leave 5 games, you don’t get XP (or req points) for 5 games.
Or, if you REALLY want a twisted system, which seems to be what is desired - make it so the next game that you play you LOSE that amount of xp and req points. - Gosh, that’s a bit harsh, but it might as well be the equivalent to this system. Sorry - but the humor had to be added.
But, I’m not a game developer, nor am I a genius at making any form of “balancing.” - Regardless, don’t throw in a broken system just to say “yer we got a ban system.”

423

Ok I am not crazy about this Ban thing, but since it is here can you please add some fixes to it. Like if I am Banned at least provide me with information regarding who banned me and why they banned me. This guessing game of “Why was I banned” is stupid. If you get arrested the police have to tell why you have been arrested.

343 Can you please resolve this issue!

424

I got banned for leaving one match, that hardly seems fair. I normally complete most of my matches and the one time I want to leave I get punished for it. It says repeated offenses and i only left once. The banhammer in this game is too dang sensitive. It’s just dumb really, I want to enjoy the game and this happens.

425

How do you tell how long your ban lasts? My buddy got a message saying 8:22 is that 8 mins 22 secs or 8 hour 22 mins? If it’s the first then I’ll wait and join him.

426

I’ve just been banned for 2 days and 20 hours because I lost connection I’m not happy

427

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428

Good way to go about business 343. Ignore your customers and pretend it’s all fine. Look how many people have issues with this! Answer us!! You are losing many players to this!

429

good thing I finished multiple games and the server couldn’t load the stats screen and treated it as a quit. 3 hour ban for no reason.

430

Okay so i rage quit a couple times got a 15 min cool off deserved it whatever okay so i played 1 game after my ban was lifted i finished the game service record even indicates here i finished it but i was disconnected before seeing the final stats why am i banned this time?

431

I believe I only left once or twice today , almost no disconnects . I got banned for like 3 or so mins for quitting . ???

432

> 2533275031293244;424:
> I got banned for leaving one match, that hardly seems fair. I normally complete most of my matches and the one time I want to leave I get punished for it. It says repeated offenses and i only left once. The banhammer in this game is too dang sensitive. It’s just dumb really, I want to enjoy the game and this happens.

Same. The last arena game I quit before today, according to my game history, was 1/23/16. I don’t see how me quitting a game over 1 month ago qualifies me to be banned for quitting once today. I mean come on, this is ridiculous. There’s nothing like getting banned from a game that I have to spend money on to play…

433

I QUIT 1 GAME NOTHING HAPPENS THEN I PLAY ALL THE WAY THROUGH A MATCH THEN IT TELLS ME IM BANNED FOR 5 HOURS!!! EVEN WHEN I GET DISCONECTED THIS IS A LIE!!!

434

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> > 2535455905503287;415:
> > I quit one match because i had to quickly finish dinner, and i went back on, played a match and then got banned. Why?
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> I have the same problem as you. Glad that I am not the only one who has this situation!

The ban system generally runs one game behind, so you will be picked up for your earlier offience. I’ll make sure to add this info to the first post

> 2533274994765760;423:
> Ok I am not crazy about this Ban thing, but since it is here can you please add some fixes to it. Like if I am Banned at least provide me with information regarding who banned me and why they banned me. This guessing game of “Why was I banned” is stupid. If you get arrested the police have to tell why you have been arrested.
>
> 343 Can you please resolve this issue!

The ban system is automated, it’s not a physical person monitoring each game and banning you for it.

> 2533274814890762;428:
> Good way to go about business 343. Ignore your customers and pretend it’s all fine. Look how many people have issues with this! Answer us!! You are losing many players to this!

To be honest, most folk having issues are habitual quitters that don’t realise their service records are public

> 2533275031293244;424:
> I got banned for leaving one match, that hardly seems fair. I normally complete most of my matches and the one time I want to leave I get punished for it. It says repeated offenses and i only left once. The banhammer in this game is too dang sensitive. It’s just dumb really, I want to enjoy the game and this happens.

As I’ve posted before, you don’t get banned for quitting one match. That one match will be the trigger that makes the banhammer swing though. If you have a patterned history of team killing, idling or quitting, the system will pick on that. According to your game history you have more than 1 unfinished match

> 2535456584333968;433:
> I QUIT 1 GAME NOTHING HAPPENS THEN I PLAY ALL THE WAY THROUGH A MATCH THEN IT TELLS ME IM BANNED FOR 5 HOURS!!! EVEN WHEN I GET DISCONECTED THIS IS A LIE!!!

The ban system runs one game behind generally, which is why action is not always taken immediately.

> 2533274924317769;431:
> I believe I only left once or twice today , almost no disconnects . I got banned for like 3 or so mins for quitting . ???

You have 7 DNF matches over the last day, that’s a little more than 1 or 2. You also have one for Warzone and more the futher back in your service record I go. Stop quitting and you won’t get banned

435

Stupid , stupid, stupid! Your automated system is crap and I’m getting sick and tired of being banned for EIGHT HOURS at a time when my damn Xbox conveniently “loses connection to the server” AFTER THE MATCH IS OVER. I will admit, that when I first started playing Halo 5 I rage quit a lot, but now I’m actually finishing every game I enter, and I STILL GET BANNED. If you’re gonna ban me at least ban me for a half hour or two, not EIGHT HOURS to end my gaming sesh with my friends, you -Yoinks!-!

436

Yeah, either way you slice it this system is really dumb. It doesn’t discourage quitting but it does encourage quitting the game entirely. I’ve consciously decided to make halo 5 my last game until Microsoft finds a different developer or something drastic changes. Banning people for threats, harassment, modding, cheating, ect… That’s awesome. Banning for having a crappy connection and quitting… Not cool.

437

I’m not crazy! Oh lord. The lost connection during the end cutscene=ban, the get booted from a match because you had to answer the door, then after you finish another match get BANNED for 50 minutes because -Yoink- you we hate casuals with lives, I’ve experienced these so much. I have never been banned until Hammer Storm hit, what’s the issue? Yes, I leave a few Social games every once in a while because I need to do something in the real world. Yes, I have a potato for a router and often get dropped from, lemme repeat this, SOCIAL games. Why is the ban system so strict on the CASUAL PLAYLISTS!?! Aren’t the Casual Playlists for the people who don’t care about ranks and stuff?

438

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> > > 2535455905503287;415:
> > >
>
>
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> > 2533274814890762;428:
> > Good way to go about business 343. Ignore your customers and pretend it’s all fine. Look how many people have issues with this! Answer us!! You are losing many players to this!
>
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> To be honest, most folk having issues are habitual quitters that don’t realise their service records are public

I feel like the two problems I have with this post, are, well, 1) it’s a snickery answer, implying that “because I can see your record, which shows you did not finish(this is important to note, did not finish - meaning, did not finish the game - but, does not mean you chose to not finish the game) means you have no legitimate reason to be posting in this forum, because it has been stated that you get banned for leaving games (regardless of your choice to leave or not). Simply put: it is what it is, and what you say doesn’t matter - stop whining” (that’s basically what you said, in an implicit manner, no offense. Which, also is a poor answer to the problem to be honest, and in fact, provides no solution since anyone can say “Don’t leave games.”) - 2) more importantly, it makes assumptions. Certainly, there are people on here that complain about being banned when they’ve left a vast amount of games - and have no other reason to be here other than complain - however, not everyone that complains and/or has DNFs is illegitimate… Here are the problems with this post:

  • By assuming that someone that “DNF” means someone has not finished a game, you jump over the possibility that they have been disconnected. Should people REALLY be punished for having poorer internet? After all, certain regions/areas don’t provide internet that is as adequate as others have. So, disconnecting is an issue worse for others. If I provide someone with a 60 mb upload connection (with a good download as well) and someone else, who lives in the middle of a farm, mountain, etc. (pick your location really) and doesn’t have a provider that gives them a strong internet source, since, the company 1) chooses not to, or 2) simply doesn’t have the capability to do so, can we get mad them for that? Simply put, no - it’s out of their control more or less - unless of course you would like to tell someone where they can and cannot live.
  • By assuming that “most folk having issues are habitual quitters” we also ignore the possibility, and, well, the fact that most people don’t post on forums. The fact of the matter is, many people don’t utilize the online community, or “support” (whichever term you would prefer to use) that is available to them - this could be for a variety of reasons, such as: A) Not getting the desired support/result/answer, B) Not having the time, C) Being unaware of the forums/community/support online, D) Not having a computer to access such information, which, believe it or not, is a possibility to consider. “E)” (quotation marks inserted because it is a subpoint) - A second fact is that simply because people hit the “like” button on facebook on Halo, 343, whatever page you want to say, doesn’t mean they are aware of the fact that there is a community to be used… which thus brings us back to A-D. People like Halo, but that doesn’t mean they like what is underlying beneath it.
  • By assuming that “most folk having issues are habitual quitters” we also ignore the possibility that some disconnects are, well, not the players’ fault… Dedicated servers have a tendency to time out on this game. I mean, even looking at the Master Chief collection which, obviously was rushed, well, we can see that the servers simply don’t hold up to their max potential yet. This is not to say that the company isn’t doing the best it can, it simply means it hasn’t reached it’s max potential yet (and I also acknowledge that it is more difficult than most people would think to house servers that properly work for a massive online community).
  • Perhaps most importantly to clump other points related to this list, is that it ignores the fact that, well, this system simply isn’t at its best right now; it bans people improperly/harshly when it shouldn’t. Of course, it is a computer system as you have noted - you can only do so much. However, I have played other games that have banning systems which have worked far more efficiently than this one, and in fact some of them are partly computer run and partly player run (meaning, the player actually contributes something to the system in order for it to function properly, such as feedback and tips)
  • In addition to #4, we should also consider that there is a possible solution to take into account: whether the person DCs, or leaves the game - many games have the opportunity to “leave an imprint” so to speak when a player manually chooses to leave a game. Of course, the counter argument will be “well, people can just disconnect themselves by choice” - Well, yes… but as we can both agree, we can only take a system so far, can’t we? Why not add an extra layer of improvement to the system that may catch people in the act who are unaware of this, versus slapping everyone down at the same time, including those who do not deserve to be slapped down?
  • As if the punishment wasn’t already bad enough when people DC from games, they lose any cards that they put down on that lobby/match, all the time they wasted on the match [which could be: a large amount or small] (which also includes XP and req points - and quite frankly, the enjoyment that the player may have been having with their friends or other teammates).
  • God I hate to bring this point up, but I can’t hide it: spawn camping. People spawn kill, believe it or not it’s quite easy to do so with the way spawning works in Halo… And, if you can’t even move out of spawn without a sniper bullet going through your dome within literally 3 seconds, or a grenade being tossed in your face, or, my personal favorite, literally walking around the corner approximately 10 feet away and being assassinated (because this can happen), who is going to stay in a game which they literally have no chance? Whenever this happens to my friends and I (or randoms), I’m literally the only one that stays sometimes… But admittedly, I have left a couple of these matches. Of course, someone can say “you can’t just leave because someone is better than you” - true, to an extent, but I don’t think any amount of “skill” can justify exploiting an issue with the game, which deters the fun for others.
  • This is probably my weakest point of all, but I’m gonna add it anyway - lagg. Ever play that match of Halo where someone literally is teleporting all over your screen and you simply cannot kill them, but somehow, they ironically can aim perfectly fine at you and kill you with ease? “That’s sketchy” as my friend puts it… This doesn’t really justify leaving I don’t think, because, this most likely has not been done by choice of the player who is teleporting (I’m sorry, I’m not going to count it out as a possibility that they have figured out a way to do so - because, anything is possible at this point I think) but it is still something yet to consider. - Again, an issue with the servers most likely.I could make this list longer, trust me - I could… but I don’t really think there’s a need to.
    Enjoy your day, and thanks for the help - please do consider these things - after all, we both want the same thing, don’t we?
    Cheers - Sincerely, CraZHoneyBadger :smiley:

Quote of the day: “Oooooh that Splinter grenade had so many sparkles to it that I don’t even know how to react to that…”

439

If you’re going to get banned for quitting there should be no option to even quit, or there should be a forfeit option. Too many times has my entire team quit, out of frustration and not wanting to destroy my k/d i quit too. I quit one game all day hurting absolutely no one, and i get banned for two hours. Absolutely ridiculous, there needs to be a complete revision of the ban system and things need to change. There is no point to playing a game of 1 v 4, even 3 v 4 there is almost no chance of winning.

440

I wonder what is taking 343 so long to fix this broken ban system. Have the monitors relayed these complaints to the developers?
I see that many more people are having the same issues. Any one in their right mind would understand this ban system is hurting too many people. it is never a good idea to torment your paying customers with this type of frustration. Im sure there are many more hurt by this ban hammer and this will surely be remembered if they don’t do something quick to fix this problem.