Valve Is Banning Dota 2 Players in the Funniest Way Possible

ign.com:

We’ve seen a number of ingenious methods of banning naughty players from video games over the years, but this latest attempt from Valve may be the funniest yet.

Valve is on the warpath, clamping down on Dota 2 smurf accounts in what it has called a “bloodbath”. As part of that and the recently released Frostivus 2023 update, Valve is sending a surprise gift to Dota 2 smurf accounts, even those belonging to professional players of the company’s hugely popular MOBA.

What the unsuspecting recipients of the in-game gift, misleadingly described as a “seasonal reward”, fail to realise is it contains a “highly toxic” lump of coal that triggers a permanent ban. That’s exactly what happened to Dota 2 pro and streamer Mason "mason" Venne, who was surprised to see his account banned after opening the gift from Valve in a clip now being widely shared online.

This might be the funniest thing I've ever seen relating to Dota. Well played Valve. pic.twitter.com/v37jGXHQK1

"What?!" mason exclaims as realisation sets in. "I got banned?! What? What if I just never opened it? Are they serious?"

In a follow-up post on the Dota 2 subreddit, mason admitted to and apologised for hiring a behaviour score farmer to boost his in-game behaviour score (Valve uses a behaviour score system in an attempt to promote positive behaviour and communication in Dota 2, which has a reputation for toxicity).

Mason has now pleaded with Valve to lift his ban. “I completely understand what I did was wrong, and I know it's a hard ask, but I'm asking for leniency,” he said. “I have never in my 13 years of playing Dota 2 ever done anything like this, and when I realised it felt wrong and was the wrong way to go about things, I stopped it, sadly you can't undo a mistake you