Winning multiple Most Anticipated Game Awards, as well as rocketing to the top spot on Steam’s Wish List, Fire RingThe hype was nothing short of enormous. After launch, with many players having beaten the game at least once, Fire Ring continues to dominate, holding steady among some of Steam’s most played games.
However, it wasn’t always so positive for the game, especially before launch. Back in January, especially FromSoftware titles Dark Souls 3, was threatened by an extremely dangerous hacking method that could be used to gain access to players’ computers. Not only was the hack a problem for previous titles, but it was assumed Dark Souls 3 hack also affected Fire Ring.
This led FromSoftware to turn to Easy Anti-Cheat for help, incorporating the system into the game to stop hackers from gaining access to online games. While this seemed to work as there have been no reports of that specific hack since the game’s launch, hackers have still been able to tamper with the game. In more innocuous cases, hackers used techniques to gain access to Fire Ring‘s empty Colosseum area; Recently, however, a hacker managed to data mine an unobtainable object.
Normally this would simply result in a ban for the player in question; however, the event led to the soft ban of Reddit user Ok-Communication7125, with the potential for a hard ban. What happened is that Ok-Communication7125 picked up an item that another player dropped for them; this is a feature in online games that is usually used to give new players a boost in levels or useful equipment. However, Bandai Namco Entertainment issued a surprisingly soft ban on Ok-Communication7125’s account.
What’s worse is that the threat came with an ultimatum for Ok-Communication7125: they had to choose between deleting 220 hours of progress or receiving a hard ban that would last a devastating 180 days. Much like the poor player who lost to Fire Ring‘s Godskin Noble 100 times, Ok-Communication7125 had been told by Bandai Namco Entertainment that regardless of their choice, they lost a ton of progress. Based on Ok-Communication7125’s post title, they decided to delete all of their game files, which, while surely heartbreaking, was probably the right move to make in the face of a half year ban.
However, the fact that this was Bandai Namco Entertainment’s response to a player using an online feature they created is concerning. Commenters told Ok-Communication7125 that they never pick up items from other players for fear of this exact scenario. However, it should not be a player’s responsibility. In previous FromSoftware games, item sharing has been a wholesome, community-driven activity designed to help lower-level players. Responds to hackers who abuse this feature in Fire Ring threatening hackers’ targets with massive bans is a backwards reaction that threatens to destroy player cooperation and encourage hackers to continue manipulating the game.
Fire Ring is now available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X/S.
