Can MSI Afterburner = Ban?

Discussion in 'Player Support' started by McFail, Nov 17, 2013.

  1. McFail

    So I've been using Afterburner to underclock my GPU and record my gameplay since release. However, today I opened up the MSI On-Screen Display Server program that always runs with it and allows it to record, and it says that it uses a certain method of hooking into the game to record that could be mistaken for cheating software and other hacks.

    This has got me worried, even though I've never heard of anyone being banned for using it and I've used it for a year without getting banned. This is really the only game I play, and as such I like to record and upload videos of it, but if that comes with the slightest chance of me being banned, then I don't know if I want to continue.

    I do know that there are other programs similar to Afterburner that are excluded from the games automatic hack detection, but does anyone know if Afterburner is among them?
  2. Geneaux

    Nope. SOE normally bans players use programs that inject themselves directly into the game. The client looks for it and the server identifies discrepancies that deviate the client from normal gameplay. However the same concept applies to indirect gameplay, graphic, or cosmetic enhancement. SweetFX is a good example of this.

    TLDR: If you get banned, you should be able to appeal it in a heartbeat.
  3. McFail

    Alright, I'll probably just buy Fraps then, as I really don't want to run the risk.
  4. McFail

    Never mind, Fraps is just one large headache... Whenever I record with it my in-game FPS drops to 30 and stays locked at it, even if I have it set to record higher at a higher FPS and have all framerate caps and lockers off. My computer is definitely powerful enough to record at 40-60 (i5 2500, GTX 670, recording to a separate 7200RPM HDD), Fraps just automatically locks it at that. All of Google's suggestions haven't worked, and the Fraps site has next to no documentation... Any experience Fraps users out there that know what is going on?
  5. Alexlightning7

    Dont use fraps. its horrible. nearly every other recorder works better. I usually use a free trial of Bandicam. 10 minute videos take up the same space as 30 second fraps vids.
    Bandicam also works best on multicore computers, while fraps, like planetside 2, tends to pound 1 core.
  6. McFail

    Yeah, Fraps is pretty awful, the only reason why I was gonna use it is because it is the only recording software that they explicitly state is permitted to run alongside the game. Apparently all game recording software that uses a game hook like Afterburner does can be mistaken for a hack, but it seems that they only allow Fraps...

    I'm gonna upon up a support ticket with them and see if I can get a definitive answer from them on whether or not Afterburner will be a cause of concern.
  7. Alexlightning7

    Overlays wont. Im fairly certain afterburner wont cause hacks. I know bandicam doesn't since ive been using it since beta.
  8. Spartan101

    If you've got an Nvidia card, try out the new shadowplay. I've heard its pretty good and causes no noticeable performance issues and even better, it automatically records the last 20 mins of gameplay which u can save with the press of a button. It also has a manual activation mode for when ever you want to record longer segments.
  9. Bvenged

    I use MSI afterburner for recording footage, but I'm also concerned with the "hooking" it mentions in its OSD settings. If we coudl get clarification from an Admin/GM/tech, that would be great.
  10. McFail

    Well, I got a response from my ticket (Very quickly too, I might add), and the GM basically confirmed what has already been said here, that they do have cheat detectors running in the background that might detect afterburner as one. If it does detect it, action could be taken against my account. The GM recommends not running any third-party programs along PS2, but any program that doesn't give the user an unfair advantage is fine to use by the users discretion. Seems like if a ban does occur, I should be able to fight it pretty well if I can prove that the program they detected was Afterburner.
  11. McFail

    But what would really be helpful is if one of the mods here could speak on the situation. But until then, I'll just turn Afterburner back on and keep recording...
  12. Utrooperx

    I wish I would have saw a answer from a Red Name on the MSI Afterburner question...but silence is golden :)

    In my Eternal Quest for slightly better performance with my existing hardware, I just installed MSI Afterburner and tweaked my settings up about 10%. When I logged in, I was pleasantly surprised to see my FPS had increased by ~15 to 20% with hardly any increase in heat output/fan speed.

    Very handy little program...I'm quite impressed.
  13. FLHuk

    Export a sys info file and a dx cfg file to show what you've got in there in case you're banned, worked for me.
  14. Gheeta

    If you just wan't to record your game play i really recommend trying Open broadcast software aka OBS. Or if you have Nvidia shadowplay compatible graphics card then that is your best bet.
  15. Predator01cz

    check out dxtory, far superior performance to FRAPS. Bandicam is pretty good too.

    I'm GTX670 owner myself, but haven't tried the shadowplay yet. I'll try it out this weekend
  16. Sliced

    I've been using it for many years. Never been banned for it.
  17. stix6029

    If you got an Nvidia card use Shadowplay,it's free and you lose only 3 fps when you record with it.
  18. Bastid721

    why not just use twitch..already built into game...free...wont ever be banned
  19. DirArtillerySupport

    That really is too bad...forcing us to choose between a harmless overlay and the welfare of our hardware doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in their marketing strategy. That means closed wallets because who wants to choose between their $200-300 investment in their character to possibly lose $200-300 to an overheated video card or even an entire system.

    I use Afterburner to monitor and overlay my video card temps so I can hotkey fan speed increases and also use HwiNFO64 to add the CPU temps using the same overlay. I purchased this new system specifically to run PS2 and only PS2...and I`m going to protect my investment.
  20. blackboemmel

    i tried afterburner, fraps and some more... - as you have a gtx 670: get shadowplay, it's free AND the BEST recording-software i ever used.