In a bit of a head scratcher, Bethesda has given those banned from their newest game, Fallout 76, the opportunity to appeal. While that is not necessarily out of the norm, the method in which players with closed accounts can gain access is; they must write an essay with a very specific prompt: ‘Why the use of third party cheat software is detrimental to an online game community.’

Players who have been found to be using third-party mod software such as Reshade and Cheat Engine have recently been hit with a wave of bans. Players using mods to gain an advantage in a game, especially one that is online-based like Fallout 76, are definitely rolling the dice as to whether or not their actions will go unnoticed and unpunished, or they’ll be caught red-handed, with a pile of duplicated items in hand trying to sneak away from the scene of the crime.

The issue is that loads of players are claiming that they have been falsely accused and therefore locked out of their accounts. Players affected reported receiving an email stating that their account has been closed for the use of third-party applications, giving them an unfair advantage in the game. According to a thread on the main Fallout subreddit, the last line of the email is calling back to the dreaded English class five-paragraph essay.

If you would like to appeal this account closure, we would be willing to accept an essay on ‘Why the use of third party cheat software is detrimental to an online game community’ for our management team to review.

While it is unclear whether or not the self-proclaimed falsely accused are really innocent (in my experience, it may be possible that a caught cheater will say just about anything to get away with their crimes), players are understandably upset that they’ve been given a homework assignment for a video game. The bright side to the situation is that Bethesda is actually giving banned players an avenue for reentry to the game. There are a good amount of games out there that implement a perma-ban system, and it’s nice to see Bethesda having a little fun with it as well.