In Anthem, the well-known streamer xGladd was banned. The community is discussing this vigorously: Some find the ban completely okay. Others are siding with the streamer. He says: “I just play efficiently – I would never have been banned in Destiny for that.”
This is the streamer in question: xGladd is one of the best Destiny players in the world in PvE and has made a name for himself as a speedrunner there. He is known for marathon sessions and for doggedly pursuing goals. It was he who solved the Niobe Lab puzzle in Destiny 2.
With his team, the clan Redeem, he has achieved several World-First titles and has even made it into the Guinness Book of Records with a handicap run.
Since Anthem is a PvE game, but PvP games are more popular on Twitch, xGladd is one of the most important streamers there, even though with about 120,000 followers he is not a big name on the streaming platform compared to Twitch giants.
The streamer has used 3 exploits
This is why the Anthem streamer was permanently banned: He is said to have exploited bugs that affected the “economy” of the game, namely loot drops. BioWare does not elaborate further on this.
According to his own statements, xGladd did three things that could have led to a ban. He explains this in a YouTube video:
- He farmed “treasure chests” in the open world of Anthem on a high difficulty to get good items with almost no enemy contact – the incident received significant attention, it was reported about worldwide. BioWare closed this loot loophole shortly after.
- He exploited a trick to use the Storm’s ultimate repeatedly – but he states that he only did this briefly and for fun, then reported it to the devs.
- And he farmed the final boss of a mission using an exploit by killing him and then killing himself. This caused the boss to respawn and could be farmed again.
This is how xGladd presents it: He says that looking for such “farming opportunities” is the way he plays, just like he played Destiny. There’s nothing wrong with that.
The chest run was possible and intended by the game, thus he did it. He just uses “efficient ways to farm.”
On Reddit, he is accused of exploiting a bug in the “Tyrant Mine.” This is a mix-up – he did not exploit that.
He himself now rules out “chest farming” as a possible reason for his ban.
xGladd also sees himself as an ambassador for Anthem. He has been promoting the game practically from day one and has introduced thousands of people to it. He said to EA and BioWare: “You’re welcome for getting all these people to buy your game or Origin Premier to try it out. Now they can tell me how much fun they have or not.”
This is what opponents of the ban say: The ban of xGladd is causing quite a stir, especially on Reddit. There, the top comments are very much on the side of the streamer. Many do not understand the ban.
Opponents say:
- If there were exploits that someone could exploit, that is primarily BioWare’s fault, they cannot ban him for playing the game “efficiently.”
- That such methods were also used in comparable games like Destiny (Loot Cave) or The Division (Bullet King), no one was banned there.
- BioWare should have made it clear that players would be banned for using the exploit.
- In a PvE game, no one should be banned anyway.
According to MeinMMO:
For a new AAA title, there is absolutely no buzz on Twitch about Anthem. They could practically use every big streamer.
Ultimately, however, I still believe that one cannot punish the player for a mechanic in a game being poorly implemented.
For this, no one gets banned in Destiny.
Reader HansWurschd on MeinMMO
This is what supporters of the ban say: There are also voices, for example on MeinMMO, that support the ban. The arguments here are primarily:
- Streamers also must adhere to the rules. They cannot expect special treatment.
- xGladd is anyway known for exploiting glitches to get ahead.
- Exploiting bugs leads to a ban in any game.
Both are important: You must ban people, no matter how great and prominent they are on Twitch, and you must fix bugs. Together, both create a good game.
I have nothing against power players or pro players. I just have something against people who cheat, and this starts for me with glitching and includes bug using.
Reader Bodicore on MeinMMO
We will continue to report on the case on MeinMMO as things develop.
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