Deadlock players reportedly perma-banned already for abusing pauses

Valve has begun issuing permanent bans to individuals caught exploiting Deadlock’s pause function, according to reports.

The MOBA, still in Closed Alpha stage, enables players to pause a match for 20 seconds regardless of the game’s progress. This feature is primarily designed to accommodate instances where teammates disconnect or leave the game, providing ample time for a replacement player to fill the empty slot.

Recently, a video of Twitch streamer ohnePixel discovering and promoting the use of the function to “tilt the enemy team”has surfaced online. Some have also claimed that their accounts were banned due to inappropriate use of this feature.

It is unclear how accurate these claims are. The ban notice displayed below does not provide any specific reasons for a teammate’s permanent ban. However, a popular thread on Reddit discussing the situation prompted numerous individuals to share their personal experiences.

they WILL ban you for this https://t.co/19nvNYmHqK pic.twitter.com/opV8PkUACH

— Jay (@JChillinsworth) August 27, 2024

“According to one fan, our recent match was a close one that resulted in a win for the opposing team. Throughout the Weakened Patron phase, they repeatedly paused the game for approximately five minutes while we were struggling.”

In addition, there were other instances of misuse reported, with one person saying, “During one of my games, we were completely dominated. It was already not enjoyable, but the opposing team took turns pausing and unpausing as they killed our Patron,”another person shared.

Some proposed that there could be a plausible reason for the behavior. “I know a few people who are avid players of League of Legends. They have a habit of pressing P [to pause] when attempting to access the shop out of muscle memory. I advised them to alter their shop button to prevent this from occurring.”

It is common for MOBAs to have a pause feature. Even Valve’s Dota 2 has this feature, but since the game is still in development, the way Deadlock works may undergo significant changes before it is released.

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