The new Counter-Strike 2 update for Monday, December 4, has resulted in a wave of accidental and unprompted VAC bans, affecting a number of CS2 players, despite the fact that they have not used any cheats within the online shooter. Valve says that the inadvertent ban wave is being rolled back and that accounts are being restored. Meanwhile, Counter-Strike 2 players say that their CS2 ‘trust factor,’ a measurement of fair play that can impact which servers and game types are accessible, has dropped following the accidental bans.
In our own Counter-Strike 2 review, we note a variety of improvements to Valve’s FPS game, and sequel to CSGO. Nevertheless, CS2 has a ways to go before it’s absolutely perfect. Following the Counter-Strike 2 update of December 4, a number of players complained that their accounts had been unfairly and unceremoniously VAC banned. Possibly, this is the result of changes by Valve to VAC itself – if the parameters for automatic bans are altered, it may result in a wave of erroneous bans.
“I got a VAC ban for no reason on my account yesterday,” one player on the Counter-Strike 2 Steam forums writes. “Along with a ton of other players I was hit with the VAC ban,” another says. “I’m not good at the game but I don’t cheat.” “The exact reason is unknown,” a third player says, “but Valve incorrectly VAC banned too many CS2 players, including players with many valuable items. This isn’t the first time they’ve done this and it’s getting really annoying.”
In response, Valve says it is beginning to rollback VAC bans that were made in error. “Yesterday’s update mistakenly triggered game bans,” the developer says. “We’ve fixed the issue and ban rollbacks are in progress.”
However, some Counter-Strike 2 players report that their in-game trust factor has dropped to red. Players with a green trust factor are more likely to be connected to games with other players whose trust factor is green, meaning they will rarely encounter any cheaters.
A yellow trust factor applies to a large number of players, and means they may be admitted to lobbies with players who have been reported or penalized in the past. Players with a red trust factor have normally been penalized on a number of occasions, and will be connected to lobbies with other red-factor players.
“Why do I have a red trust factor?” one player writes. “I just recently got unbanned and this happened.” “I’m trying to understand why my trust factor has become red today for no apparent reason,” another player says. “I’ve played on this account since 2016. I have a phone number, mobile authenticator, Prime, etc, and it suddenly turned red. Why is this?”
Hopefully, as Valve rolls back accidental bans, it will also reset the trust factors of any affected players. In the meantime, if you have not logged onto Counter-Strike 2 in the past few days, you may want to check your account.
Alternatively, get the best Counter-Strike 2 crosshairs right now, to help up your kill count. You might also want the Counter-Strike 2 best binds, to help play like a pro.
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