Why Did Tower of Fantasy Ban Some Players and How Can You Avoid Getting Banned?

Initially released in China in 2021, Tower of Fantasy is one game many people in the gaming community have been excited about. In the time leading up to its worldwide release on the 11th of August, 2022, the buzz and hype around the game increased.

Players had to battle insanely long queue lines to play when the game finally launched internationally a few weeks ago. And while that is not how you would want to launch a game that has generated a lot of conversation, it indicates that many people were looking forward to the international release.

So why is Tower of Fantasy so popular, and why are people waiting hours to play? It’s difficult to put one’s finger on a single reason for the game’s popularity. Apart from the fact that the game has a pretty interesting storyline, it also allows players to team up with and play with friends. The in-game purchases also offer substantial opportunities to get special weapons and characters.

It is also quite popular since the game has also been repeatedly teased as a Genshin Impact rival, stepping up where Genshin Impact falls short. But the jury’s still out on that, with others describing Tower of Fantasy as a Genshin Impact rip-off. So, rival or rip-off? Time will tell.

It was a surprise to many players and other spectators in the gaming community when on the 16th of August, just 5 days after its international launch, Hotta Studios (the developers of Tower of Fantasy) banned 1,706 player accounts. In a statement released on the 18th, the developers clarified that they found most of the banned accounts to have used cheating software. An action that was a severe violation of the rules.

The statement titled August Suspension Notice - August reads:

“Dear Wanderers,

To provide a fair in-game experience… Hykros Central Control Room monitors accounts using cheating software and the violation of using scripts for initializing account data.”

They then went on to ban another 8,410 accounts on the 19th. From all indications, the developers will keep up this course of action, hoping to enforce a zero-tolerance policy for cheating in the game. And why not? Cheaters are menaces that ruin the experience for ordinary gamers with overpowered characters.

Of course, Hotta would not be the first game developer to ban players that cheat, but this was surprising for two reasons.

First, for a game that just launched internationally and is still generally trying to retain players, one might have expected the developers to temporarily overlook the cheaters. At least until the game can boast of an established international audience. But banning cheaters also encourages regular players who now know they won’t be facing unfair competition in the PvP arena or on leaderboards.

Secondly, the developers took it beyond just banning. They have also publicly published the names of all accounts they have banned and intend to keep publicly shaming the cheaters. The developers have described these steps as 'punishments” meant to deter those who might even think of hacking or using cheats to gain unfair game advantages.

At this point, it is safe to conclude that not many players have been very happy with the bans. Players who were not banned continue to complain that the ban wave did not get some of the biggest hackers and cheaters. On Twitter, @Lionheart replied to the official account's tweet announcing the ban: “You missed the two biggest cheaters on Solaris lmao. How does anyone with a 7.5 Suppressor survive a ban wave?”

A lot of players who were banned are also very unhappy. Many Reddit users claim to have been banned unfairly. LexPrettyMood on Reddit, while replying to a post showing another player with unreal stats who survived the ban wave, said: 'I don't even understand why I was banned, I played the game? wth. Now that I see THIS well I'll be….'

Others have also expressed some very valid concerns over hackers' ability to create new accounts and replicate everything they had done before.

Some players who claim to have been banned unfairly were probably banned for solving a blue screen crash problem that many players encountered. Solving this problem required the players to modify a ksophon_x64.sys file they downloaded with the game. It is believed this file is connected to the game’s anti-cheat system, and tampering with it could have been misinterpreted to mean players wanted to cheat.

First, until the game's anti-cheating mechanism is perfected, avoid implementing any fixes requiring you to tamper with or modify the ksophon_x64.sys file of your game.

Secondly, ensure to comply with the Fair Operating Statement released by the developers on the 19th of August. The offenses specified in the statement include:

• Cheats, game speed boosters, or other third-party tools give players an unfair advantage while playing.

• Sharing account information and making illegal gains by selling accounts.

• Irregular purchases or irregular refunds.

Suppose you can comply with all the terms of the fair operating system. In that case, you shouldn't be worried about getting affected by any ban waves, no matter how huge they may be.