Hi,
Have been happily playing BF2 for over a couple of years with no problems. I come back from Easter holidays, try to join an online game and get kicked saying I have a GLOBAL PunkBuster GUID BAN.
So I contact Even Balance to ask why this has happened. They say:
'The supplied GUID has been associated with hacking or interfering with the normal operation of our PunkBuster software and has therefore been compromised resulting in a global ban from PunkBuster enabled game servers. We have no way of knowing who was actually playing with this GUID at the time the violation was triggered. We also have no way to know if the violation was triggered on your specific computer. Our system does not collect personal information and furthermore we have no way to attach a cheat/hack violation to a specific person. This ban will not be lifted as then the person who did trigger the violation would again be able to join PunkBuster Servers using this GUID.
To be clear: we are not saying that you cheated as we have no way to know who triggered the violation. If it is certain that no one playing on your computer ever had a cheat/hack violation triggered by PunkBuster, then your GUID (cdkey and/or game account password) has been stolen by or leaked to someone who has used it on a different computer to trigger the violation. We do not have the means to help you find out who is responsible for compromising your GUID.'
So they are not saying I have cheated but they are preventing me from using the game anymore, that's not a lot of use to me. They wont even tell me any information about what the ban was for or on what date it occurred.
So I contact EA and they say:
'Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do since Punk Buster has already rendered its decision on your issue.'
I know I have not hacked or committed any violation. My BF2 manual with the CD key is collecting dust on my bookshelf so I know no-one else has got the real key. There is no-one else in my house the could have caused this problem.
So what this points to is a hacker getting my CDKey/GUID via some mechanism or even randomly and then committing a violation with it. The hacker probably goes on his merry way finding another CDKey/GUID to abuse while the PunkBuster system bans innocent users. Neither EA or Even Balance seem willing to do anything about this.
Surely there is a better way of tracking this. I know that I only rarely change the PC I play BF2 on so why can't there be some mechanism to validate the machine as well as the software (assuming that also can't be compromised).
I've now no way to play BF2 online (no point joining non-PunkBuster servers) without buying another copy of the game (maybe that's why EA doesn't do anything about this
). But even if I buy a new copy what's to stop this happening again soon after?
Anyway rant over. Guess I'll have to play a different game now.
Cheers
Nigel