So-called shadow bans are currently a big topic in the Call of Duty: Warzone 2 community. Such a ban leads to playing with cheaters or other suspicious players. But the system seems to cause trouble and causes frustration, especially for good players.
We recently reported on MeinMMO that good players could have a problem if other players think they are “too good”. A few cheating reports through the report system and you’re already considered a suspect.
In the past few weeks, there have been an unusual number of reports of false shadowbans appearing in the community. In general, an assessment from the outside is difficult – cheaters often claim that they are innocent, although there are good reasons for a ban or shadow ban.
But in the meantime, it is increasingly affecting players who are considered “clean”. In addition, there is now an error message that throws some players out of the match after 10 kills and then classifies them as “suspicious” and assigns a shadow ban.
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CoD Warzone 2: Shadow ban system causes problems
What is this system? The shadowban system is a way for developers to separate suspicious accounts from regular players without permanently banning them right away. Shadowbann players will then end up in matches together without access to normal matchmaking.
A permanent ban is usually irreversible in Call of Duty, so there is this preliminary step to check the allegations.
Analyzes assume that the system works at least partially automatically. CoD expert “TheXclusiveAce” describes, for example, that cheater reports from players via the report system can automatically lead to a shadow ban (via youtube.com).
More about the shadow ban, how to check the status and how to get rid of it, can be found here:
What is a shadowban in CoD Warzone and what can you do about it?
What is the problem? Messages via the report system are a double-edged sword. The reports help to find suspicious players. However, ignorance of gameplay mechanics or an emotional overreaction can quickly lead to a report.
In addition, the shadowban system seems to have been a bit buggy in the last few weeks. While 2 weeks ago that was more of a guess in the dark, there are now gameplay clips with a pattern that indicates an error.
There are several clips showing a player with 10 kills in a match attacking an opponent and then the player is kicked out of the match. After that, the player was shadowbanned.
This happened to the Warzone professional “IceManIsaac”:
The player “RussJames” had a similar experience. He shared a similar clip on Twitter, but with sniper gameplay (via twitter.com).
The nature of the disconnects also points to an error in the shadow ban system. The only indication here is “Disconnected from Server” and no error code. This could mean that some system initiated the ejection.
In addition, the player RussJames was unbanned again one day after his shadow ban – which could also be related to a problem with the shadow ban system.
For affected players, an unjustified shadow ban is very annoying. Theoretically you can play, get into matches and meet opponents.
But in practice, such matches are often unplayable. You have a high ping and extremely high chances of encountering cheaters who bury the rest of the fun.
The developers have not yet responded to the players’ complaints.
Since it is probably a problem with the anti-cheat system, no detailed statements are to be expected. Here you don’t want to be looked at in the cards to provide hackers with information about the system.
You can read what is known about the system here: CoD Warzone’s anti-cheat system is online – this is “RICOCHET”