Once again, you're misunderstanding causes and consequencies. Then never intended to "block overlays", "protect swap chain" or anything like that. Non-working overlays or game video capture applications it is the consequence. And they never targeted it and wanted to block it. They targeted API hooking in general and it is the cause.

for online games i get it ..for single player people can cheat to their hearts content on gta 4 for example i never got deep into the story kinda got bored after burning my life on gta 3,vice city , and san andreas i was not drawn to the story at all but i spend a lot more hours than i am willing to admit just cheating to get all the weapons or the tank and just causing mayhem trying to survive / escape the maximum wanted level i can get ! although i never went online with gta 4 was 100% single player , online now ... they could have done this .... if the game detects the X/Y program to deny to run or freeze till you shut the program down that would be fine in my books . ps. Cheat engine working now on online games too ? oO i thought data is all stored server side on what you loot and own

I think many of you are missing the point here. Bungie banned non-cheaters simply for using 3rd party programs like RTSS after they publicly denied banning anyone for using such programs. So in essence they banned innocent players then called them liars and cheats for complaining that they had been wrongly banned. Then the next day reinstate some accounts with out any details as to how many people were affected or why they were banned in the first place. Full disclosure-I was banned and I know for a fact that I wasn't cheating. Never have and never will, I rarely play online games as it is because of the rampant cheating and this experience doesn't make me inclined to try another online game anytime soon.

So much for that non revocable charade.

Online gaming is becoming like shopping at WalMart. I despise going there and rarely do. Magnetic strips on everything, tie strips and locked doors for all kinds of items, even cheap ones. WalMart has everything locked down to the point that it makes YOU feel like a criminal for even being there. I've lost count of how many times that silly magnet has forced me to go back to a clerk and search the bags for the missed magnet. ... then there's the cesspool of freaks that go there. There's a "People of WalMart" website for good reason. It's unreal. When I go online to game, pretty much the same feeling. Cesspool of freaks in an entity that doesn't trust me.

I know VAC isn't perfect, but I'd much rather these anti-cheat measures had something similar to VAC where it won't even let you play the game if you have an app running that would trigger their anti-cheat detection. Dota 2 for example, will prevent me from matchmaking all together and give me a message that says I can't join matchmaking until this program is closed. This would solve a bunch of these so called bans for no reason. Is it perfect? No, but at least people would know to close the offending program before playing. For those wondering, the app that triggers VAC is a VPN program I use to connect to my work network so it has nothing to do with cheating at all and I have no idea why VAC hates it.

nhlkoho:

I know VAC isn't perfect, but I'd much rather these anti-cheat measures had something similar to VAC where it won't even let you play the game if you have an app running that would trigger their anti-cheat detection. Dota 2 for example, will prevent me from matchmaking all together and give me a message that says I can't join matchmaking until this program is closed. This would solve a bunch of these so called bans for no reason. Is it perfect? No, but at least people would know to close the offending program before playing. For those wondering, the app that triggers VAC is a VPN program I use to connect to my work network so it has nothing to do with cheating at all and I have no idea why VAC hates it.

Probably to prevent people that have been ip banned from playing anyway?

0blivious:

WalMart has everything locked down to the point that it makes YOU feel like a criminal for even being there.

Apples and oranges bud, apples and oranges. Saying a business does not trust "you" because there are real, legitimate people who steal those items you are talking about, is absurd. Not to mention the fact that; why should they trust you, someone they do not know, and do not know your intentions? Don't blame a business for protecting their products against people that will steal them, blame the people stealing. I worked in an electronics store, and quite literally, people would steal 55" TVs, just pick them up and walk right out the door, which meant we started keeping the TVs locked up in the back and only had the displays to show. This wasn't the company i worked for fault, this was the thieves fault. Blame the correct people. And the reason i say apples and oranges? You can't compare online gaming to a retail store. That's nonsense. A retail store protects its items to protect its loss. You could say that this is for the customers, since protecting their loss ultimately can mean making sure prices stay low, but realistically, it's just to protect themselves, not their customers necessarily, from loss. A online game protects itself, because it directly affects the people trying to play said game. Sometimes this can be a problem to legitimate users, which sucks, and hopefully is fixed in a timely manner, but its intention is to make sure legitimate users get a fair and enjoyable game. A game without any protection from cheating is a game no one would want to play.

Do we know what caused the ban yet? A buddy of mine was banned then unbanned on a clean Windows install. With nothing running AB/Discord/etc he had a few game crashes and after the third was banned.

These companies make it so easy not to pre-order or buy games at launch these days. lol

I think many missed the point of my question. I've never cheated and never will. I do not condone cheating. The MSI afterburner is not a cheat tool. I use it to set a custom fan profile for my gtx970 along with overclocking the gtx970. My point it they are banning people for using the MSI Afterburner program. I was questioning what right the developers have to say I cant use this program to manage my computer. Yes, they CAN stipulate this, as long as it's very clear before you buy the game. In which instance - don't buy it.