Steam Account Closed

[Scorpion5600]

Man my account is ****en closed. I paid for my Half-Life 2 and i played it and everything. But I try to connect to my steam accound and its disabled.

Why did they disable my account and how can i get this fixed??

[Harryz]

What store did you buy it from and did you buy bronze, silver or gold?

[Havoc01]

Looks like you got owned. Valve is doing another mass ban (So it seems) looking for all people who have cheated, have an illegal version of the game, or CC fruad. You have open a support ticket with valve, but i doubt they will unban you.

[Thread]

did you gwt an email explaining why you were banned?

[Scorpion5600]

Well i bought it from futureshop and no I did not get a email saying why i was banned.

[Harryz]

Well i bought it from futureshop and no I did not get a email saying why i was banned.

Which version did you buy? Gold, silver or bronze?

[Scorpion5600]

Just the regualr one. Half-Life 2 and CS:S so i guess its the bronze one.

[justmatt]

What store did you buy it from and did you buy bronze, silver or gold?

I don't think it works that way with retail. I'm pretty sure with retail there are just 2 choices: Regular and Collector's Edition (is on DVD and contains HL:Source and all that extra junk).

[MiccyNarc]

If you have EVER tried to illegally use a game with steam, your account will be banned.
Anyway, tough luck.

[Scorpion5600]

Man this is gay. I never tried to use get it illegally cuz i got the game the day it came out. So there is nothing i can do??

[gcomeau]

Man my account is ****en closed. I paid for my Half-Life 2 and i played it and everything. But I try to connect to my steam accound and its disabled.

Why did they disable my account and how can i get this fixed??

If you haven't received an e-mail explanation from them yet write to them requesting one, then once you have that info, go from there. If it really is a mistake and you really didn't do anything wrong you may be able to sort it out.

[Hectic Glenn]

On the steampowered website you can check the and send an email disputing your ban. If you get to talk to valve, send them a picture of your HL2 case with the cd key in it. Never show that to anyone else but them obviously. If they made an accidental ban they will lift it from your account if you provide proof, in the form of a CLEAR picture. Otherwise no chance. However the chances will be that you did do something wrong...

[Klyka]

do the same as me (i did it in germany though, so know idea if it works where you are from):

step 1: take a screwdriver

step 2: screwdriver + dvd of hl2 + some spots in the case

step 3: go to your store, say you wanted it as a christmas present but OMG THE CRACKS EVERYWHERE!

step 4: get a new game for free


btw, i did this 3 days after the game released and i bought it on release day.

so NO i didn't do anything illegal...yet :P

[Scorpion5600]

Ok i will do that. Who would I email??

[diluted]

Um.. you could try scanning your receipt and sending the pic to Valve.. do anything you can to prove your purchase was legitimate. If you threw out your receipt (or if you really did use an illegal game) the only option is to purchase HL2 and open a new account.

[Scorpion5600]

Well i will try sending them a pic f my box and cd key,I think i still might have the receipt i will also send them that.

Who would I email gabe or the steam people and where is the steam email??

[JohnnyBeverage]

Your best bet is to go to steampowered.com and pm Taylor Sherman. I believe Gabe's email is gaben@valvesoftware.com. But im not exactly sure.

[Interloper]

Hmm....Assuming that you genuinely have not done anything illegal, I think you probably have a case for taking the product back to the retailer (without screwdriver scratches on it) and telling them to refund you on grounds of "not fit for the purpose that it was sold".

IE - you paid your money for something that describes itself as working, but now through no fault of your own, it damn well aint!

In the UK you would definately have a case with some govt trade organisation like Tradng Standards or Citizens Advice.

Assuming you have nothing to hide, I would definately take it back to the point of purchase.

[kupocake]

They didn't just ban people who illegally obtained Half-Life 2. If you illegally grab any Valve game that works through steam, they'll know about it and the punishment will be the same.

You didn't pirate any other Valve game did you?

[Hectic Glenn]

dont send it to gabe foo! theres a proper link you can find on steampowered forums for the complaint. Search around on it first.

[Scorpion5600]

Well i never illiegaly tried to get any other valve game. The only thing i tried to do was use a nocd crack on my retail version.

[Sars]

this guys sounds legit to me...thats total bullshit on valves behalf. they seem a bit too gung ho on this banning rampage

Valve, the lars ulrich of gaming

[WeeViL]

If you believe your account has been banned by mistake goto www.steampowered.com
Under Support, goto the 'Ask a Question' part and take it from there.

[diluted]

I don't think using a no-cd patch is a bannable offense (and if it is, Valve can go **** itself with a 10 foot pole), and anyway they removed the cd-check last week I think.

[kupocake]

Well i never illiegaly tried to get any other valve game. The only thing i tried to do was use a nocd crack on my retail version.
So long as this is true and you have the means to prove that you purchased a copy, you should contact the right people through steampowered and be completely honest with them as to what you have and haven't done.

Permanently losing access to your legally purchased game sounds incredibly harsh to me if all you have done is tried to bypass the CD protection (a feature now programmed into the latest HL2 version anyway), but it does remain a lesson to everyone: don't mess with Steam or Valve at all.

[cschaef13]

i got disabled too really shitty seeing as i did pay for it. No i did not use a illegal version before because i bought it 4 days after it came out. I have receipts (steam/futureshop), box, cds, cd cases, every bit of proof i should need i do not know how some bloody cdkey with fay98 would end up on my account when my cdkey ends in AQJ84, i also was using a no-cd patch.

[PvtRyan]

I was using a no-cd crack on my laptop, because it was the only way it could run (SecuROM didn't read my dvd, which was the reason why Valve removed the check) but it would really suck if I would get banned for that since it was Valve's fault that forced me to use that crack.

[CriYam]

i got disabled too really shitty seeing as i did pay for it. No i did not use a illegal version before because i bought it 4 days after it came out. I have receipts (steam/futureshop), box, cds, cd cases, every bit of proof i should need i do not know how some bloody cdkey with fay98 would end up on my account when my cdkey ends in AQJ84, i also was using a no-cd patch.

Did yours come with the white or the black cd cases? I heard the ones that came in the black ones had problems. Something about the plastic as opposed to the other ones.

[Megalomaniac]

Did yours come with the white or the black cd cases? I heard the ones that came in the black ones had problems. Something about the plastic as opposed to the other ones.

That sounds funny, i didnt hear anything about that

[Mountain Man]

Why did they disable my account and how can i get this fixed??
"Today Valve disabled more than 30,000 Steam accounts which had been used to try to illegally gain access to Valve games without a valid purchase.

"Valve takes such activities seriously and reserves the right to disable Steam accounts engaging in piracy, cheating, illegal activities, or any other activity in violation of the Steam Subscriber Agreement. The accounts that are disabled today will not be reactivated."

Link (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212674&perpage=15&pagenumber=1)

[cschaef13]

there must've been serious problems this time honestly i didnt read this many complaints either time before

[kenyo]

Well i never illiegaly tried to get any other valve game. The only thing i tried to do was use a nocd crack on my retail version.
that may be your problem!
when i get hl2 i will make a new account to put it on JUST in case
(yup, i'm paranoid)

[OD-Black_Fire]

Well i never illiegaly tried to get any other valve game. The only thing i tried to do was use a nocd crack on my retail version.

They probably can't tell the difference between a cheating hack or a no-cd hack, that's why you got bant. Any type of crack = bad.

[Apos]

I hope you can get this resolved in the way that you deserve. But keep in mind that we're just people here on a messageboard: we have no way at all to know if you are being truthful with us about your situation. I'm not saying that you're not telling the truth, I'm just saying there's no way for us to distinguish you from people that did try to steal the game, and then after getting banned come onto the messageboards trying to figure out how to get unbanned. Taylor Sherman has powned many many people who did this: started threads with elaborate stories of woe... only to have him come on and point out that the person in question, with the same IP and STEAMID and everything as the poster, had tried over 50times to input different faulty credit card numbers for purchase.

In short, there's no real way to get help except for the official process, and no guarantee that that will work. I think they really should send an email with a list of charges and reasons.... but then maybe they do. I dunno. I don't plan on getting banned.

[MysticalMrBob]

With all this banning I'm getting worried about my purchase of it through Steam. What if I want to move it to another computer or something? Are there any other signs of proof I can use (I'm not banned, just having my Steam account banned freaks me out as I feel I really have to avoid doing anything (like burning it onto a CD to install somewhere else)).

[rocklegendfm99]

what if you cheat on a server that is made for cheating?

[CookieCuttah]

Man my account is ****en closed. I paid for my Half-Life 2 and i played it and everything. But I try to connect to my steam accound and its disabled.

Why did they disable my account and how can i get this fixed??
I love the smell of fresh napalm in the morning.

((I hate the smell of bullshit in the afternoon though))

[Maui]

Or, you could give Valve and their overblown response the finger, and install one of the freely circulating steam removers, and completely bypass everything they were trying to do and not have to deal with steam anymore. :P

Ironically, Valve may be pushing people who wouldn't normally pirate into it by these mass bannings. Not to say it is or isn't necessarily a good thing they're doing, just an observation.

[Snewo]

Just out of curiousity, why do you need a no-cd crack? They removed the CD check a few patches ago.


Snewo

[Revenge]

You realise they have the legal right to close your account if you have ever used any cd key for HL1 that has been published on the internet, regardless of how much you paid for other games that you later added to your steam account....

[Huge Cohones]

AHAHAHAH Big suckers HAHAHAHAH

[Dasparov]

Just out of curiousity, why do you need a no-cd crack? They removed the CD check a few patches ago.


Snewo

why do you need it

[Zelnaga]

My mate had some trouble with him account as well. All he did was return the game to the GAME store (England) and he has the 30 day return game, and no questions asked. Basically he got a new copy. He had to sign a newaccount and all, and lost all his saves .... but better than nothing. it worls fine for him now.

[Huge Cohones]

Man my account is ****en closed. I paid for my Half-Life 2 and i played it and everything. But I try to connect to my steam accound and its disabled.

Why did they disable my account and how can i get this fixed??

What , you played the game?? wow that means you cant get banned
Noobo

PS: PIRACY CONCOURS ALL

[MiccyNarc]

Alright people, we know your problem.
NEVER use a crack when steam is involved.
Just don't mess around with it, alright?
So you have to stick a CD in every now and then. Hope it ain't too painful.
If you hadn't done this, you would still have your game.

Morons.

[Hectic Glenn]

what if you cheat on a server that is made for cheating?
...just DONT do anything, as the guy said above, install the game, play it, play mods, dont fooking do anything else. You mess with it and expect to lose everything. Stay on the right side of the law and everything is fine, cross the line and expect for people to come down on you like a ton of bricks. Crime doesnt pay people :imu:

[Scorpion5600]

Well thankfully i had a probelm with my game that i bought first. I first dl the game off steam, then after i formated my pc i tried using the cd but only with hl2 not cs:s and it didnt work. So i reterned it and got a new copy of the game with a new cd key. So i basicly had 2 copys of the game. But then i read that it ****es up when you try to install is without cs:s. But any waz i opend another acount and used my other cd key i got.

But anywaz i am still mad cuz they closed my other account. The reason why i used the no cd crack was before they took away it with the update.

Well I am sorta happy now. I can still play hl2 and everything but that ****en sucks.

Anywaz thanx for your help ppl.

[PvtRyan]

Alright people, we know your problem.
NEVER use a crack when steam is involved.
Just don't mess around with it, alright?
So you have to stick a CD in every now and then. Hope it ain't too painful.
If you hadn't done this, you would still have your game.

Morons.

Or you could try to read the next time.

It was a common bug when the SecuROM protection was still active, that booting up HL2 wouldn't go further than "preparing to play", it had to do with the DVD check. The only way to bypass it was to make Steam think that you've got a Steam copy instead of retail so it wouldn't do the DVD check, which is what that crack did. You can't blame someone for trying to make a faulty product work, and Valve also recognized this problem by removing SecuROM so they know people had trouble with this and may have used a cd-patch. And then again: so the fck what? There's no pirate version of HL2 using Steam, so a cd check is stupid (and was probably forced by VUG).

But I don't believe that crack is a motive for Valve to ban people.

[^Ben]

Smells like BS TBH, if you want to get your account unbanned contact valve not us.

[Huge Cohones]

Ahahahahha

[CLASSIFIED]

I've got both Original Copies of HL and HL2, Both Cd-Keys are Registered to my account, I haven't done anything illigle and there is no chance i'll. and my Account is not Banned. Everything seems to be Normal... But i heard lotsss of rumors from ppl who has original copies and claiming that they didn't do anything wrong or tried anything; that their accounts are banned...

I'm begining to worried about my Steam Account :x
Still... I doube it will happen to me.. dunno why.. I've got my Steam Account Registered.. Three or Two Years ago when i started to use Steam (back then it was really annoying.. and i used to play more often on WON)

[Huge Cohones]

aahsdhahdayzhahahahhahaahhaahahahahhhhhhahgahahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahaha

[kupocake]

But i heard lotsss of rumors from ppl who has original copies and claiming that they didn't do anything wrong or tried anything; that their accounts are banned...
The point is that they are only claiming they did nothing wrong. Some may have actually pirated HL2, others pirated other Valve games. Then there are those who have tried the CD crack even when they're otherwise clean. No-one has been falsely accused, everyones done something that violates Valve's terms and conditions, it's just a matter of how harsh these terms and conditions are. If anyone is in doubt about their use of Steam being fully 100% legal, read the terms and conditions. I admit, I am personally scared about the fact that "Big Brother is always watching", but so long as I don't do anything illegal (and I'm not inclined to do so) I do at least trust Valve's judgement.

Because if we don't trust them, why should they trust us?

[SqueakyWaffle]

I'm not sure what to think about all these complaints... but if they are true, then Valve has some explaining to do, because people that paid $50 for a game should be able to play it, plain and simple.

Valve should also not be banning anyone now for a crack they used 2 years ago on HL1... I'm not sure if they do this or not, and while doing so would be legal under the license agreement, it's totally f*cking immoral and I wouldn't buy anything from a company that did so. They had the means to ban them when they used the crack, and waiting until they spend $50 on a new game 2 years later is worse than piracy.

If video games start going in this direction, I see myself playing less and less of them in the future... I don't like the idea of companies playing big brother with my computer. I pay for every game I play, and if that doesn't make the game mine, then they can keep it.

[Top Secret]

How come it's allways the people with <200 posts that have these sort of problems? Is there some Halflife2.net Angel Warrior that guards our shoulders, we who are over 200? Or do we just not steal/crack all of our shit?

[Dumb Dude]

I wanna know something. If your account gets closed for, lets say, not actually buying the game and then you actually go buy it and activate it, will they close the new account because you had pirated the game before?

[dorrus]

How come it's allways the people with <200 posts that have these sort of problems? Is there some Halflife2.net Angel Warrior that guards our shoulders, we who are over 200? Or do we just not steal/crack all of our shit?
Most of us don't even know how to operate a computer right. :rolling:

[Dumb Dude]

Most of us don't even know how to operate a computer right. :rolling:


He doesn't speak for me, don't listen to him. :P