Dark Souls 2: Scholars of the First Sins mods may be causing softbans

Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin 9

A Dark Souls 2 "softban" is essentially an exile into a realm of cheaters: Softbanned players can continue to play, but their online interactions are limited to other softbanned people—a much smaller pool of players than would normally be available. It's typically a punishment meted out for cheating, but Kotaku reports that a growing number of Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin players are saying they've been softbanned simply for using the DS2fix mod.

DS2Fix, as the title suggests, clears a number of technical issues with Scholars of the First Sin, including a significant weapon durability bug and a couple of big crash bugs. It also, according to its Nexus Mods description, will not trigger softbans. And mod creator Alessanro De Micheli told Kotaku that, unless the game itself has changed, he's confident DS2fix isn't the problem.

"Unless Fromsoft patches the game to recognize DS2Fix64, it cannot be detected (because the game doesn’t know what to look for)," he said. "So, the only logical conclusion here is that the game is actually flagging any hook / injector—that means that even by using x360ce, SweetFX, ReShade, DXTory or the Durazno Dead-zone fix for controllers will put users at risk of getting banned. Being DS2Fix64 the only ‘SotFS-made’ tool available it also is the most exposed one to accusations—players would likely think DS2Fix is at fault, not anything else they’ve been using for years."

A lively argument about whether or not DS2Fix is the culprit is underway in this Reddit thread, among others, which unfortunately just highlights the fact that nobody really knows what's causing the softbans. It's quite possible that DS2Fix is the problem, despite De Micheli's insistence that it's not, and in fact the sheer number of complaints has prompted him to reach out to Bandai Namco for official confirmation, one way or the other.

We've done the same, and will update if and when we receive a response. In the meantime, we strongly recommend avoiding the DS2Fix mod, and other injectors like SweetFX with Dark Souls 2, until the situation is cleared up. Better safe than softbanned, right?

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Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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