Bethesda offers essay criteria in order to appeal Fallout 76 bans

Bethesda recently unleashed a ban wave in Fallout 76, seeing players that utilise cheat programs and mods locked from their accounts. These players have all received an email notifying them of their ban, ending with criteria for an essay that allows them to begin the appeal process.

The email allegedly from Bethesda Support opens by telling users that their “account has violated the code of conduct and terms of service by cheating. The account was detected to be running a third-party application, which provides an unfair in-game advantage while logged into Fallout 76.”

According to YouTuber JuiceHead, members of the Fallout Reddit have complained that they have been unfairly banned, and the supposed email does little to explain why. Attempting to get to the bottom of things, JuiceHead with the help of the community determines that it could be the use of Reshade, a popular mod tool often used to modify the visuals of a game, however it can also be used to duplicate items, mods or Fallout 76 could potentially scan background files to uncover possibly malicious software, such as CheatEngine.

This is a particularly strange scenario for Bethesda, which has previously relied heavily on modifications to prolong interest in its open-world games. Although these particular users might not have caught wind, Bethesda did spend some time prior to the release of Fallout 76 explaining that mods of any kind would only be allowed when private servers eventually make their way into the game.

Fortunately, Bethesda Support has offered a new method of appeal should any affected user decide they want back in on the game:

“If you would like to appeal this account closure, we would be willing to accept an essay on ‘Why the use of third-party cheat software is detrimental to an online game community,’ for our management team to review.”

Having three separate people send the exact same wording, JuiceHead believes the email to be real despite criticising his small sample size. Bethesda has yet to verify the legitimacy of the emails sent out, but it isn’t out of character for the company to send something tongue-in-cheek to rule breakers.

KitGuru Says: Although Reshade and mods are common in previous Bethesda games, the multiplayer nature of Fallout 76 should be taken into account before running anything in the background. Do you believe you were wrongfully banned?

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