Do Grief Reports Do Anything In CS2?
Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) is one of the best games this generation has seen but sadly there always had been a problem with players griefing. If you’ve played CS2 before you’d have been paired in a competitive match with other players who are toxic, troll and who just want to make you have a bad time. This attitude in the game is called griefing, and the players that have this attitude are known as griefers in the community. This article will clearly explain to you what is considered a player as a griefing player, how to report it, does a griefing report do anything, and how to avoid getting griefers in matchmaking.
Reporting a griefer or player who is griefing can have an impact on that player’s account. When Valve has received enough reports they will send a demo of that player’s game to be reviewed by others in the community using the Overwatch system they have in place. If enough players agree that the player was griefing, the player will be banned.
What is griefing in CS2
In the CS2 community a grief player is a player that does get entertainment from making his teammates angry and does not get worried about winning the game; this kind of player just wants to inconvenience his teammates to joke on them.
Griefing players are considered one of the most annoying things that can happen within a game. Especially in a competitive match where a griefing player can make you lose your patience and even make you lose the match as well as your rank. There are many people in CS2 that have that decided to stop playing the game because of the griefers and the toxic ambient that these players can bring into the game.
These players are one of the main reasons that guide players preferences in preferring to play on unofficial servers or web portals. Popular alternatives to Valve Matchmaking like FACEIT have small communities and a better moderation system. This helps avoid the increasing amount of recurrent grief players in CS2 ruining games by banning them early from their platform. Compared to matchmaking these websites offered a good alternative to avoid the griefing problems that are present in the CS2 matchmaking; but not a permanent solution.
The rank you see almost all griefs are in the silver ranks, which range from Silver I to Silver Elite Master. The best way to avoid griefers is to get higher than these ranks, as you will usually only run into people who are trying to get a lower rank from here on. If you are stuck in silver check out the Get Out Of Silver Rank Video Course.
Popular Ways Players Grief in CS2
There are many different ways that a player can grief in a game on purpose, each one is more infuriating than the last. Here is a list of the ways players grief in CS2.
Those are the most common griefing conducts in CS2:
- Intentionally killing, shooting, hurting or knifing a teammate.
- Intentionally team flashing.
- Intentionally team blocking.
- Going away from the game multiple times, is also known as being AFK.
- Being away for a long time on purpose.
- Intentionally using Molotovs to block teammates.
- Flashing your teammates on purpose.
- Intentionally running into teammate’s Molotovs or grenades.
- Throwing the bomb or weapons in a location that gets them stuck.
- Blocking teammates on purpose to prevent them from moving or going somewhere they intend to go. Common spots blocked are doorways.
- Toxic text or voice chat to you or the enemy team.
- Use the voice chat to play music or unwanted sound effects.
What can you do to beat the grief players?
The fastest and easiest solution to deal with grief players is to ignore them, start a vote kick and hope your team members agree to kick them, and lastly to report and mute the grief player. Doing this doesn’t give the griefer the satisfaction of they crave by getting a reaction from you, and in a lot of instances they will stop.
In CS2 exists a self-moderation system that leaves the community to regulate itself, this system is called Overwatch. Overwatch is a system that allows other players to review replays of random people reported in the game. This system was designed so players who have obtained the rank of Master Guardian I (AK) and play a decent amount of competitive matches can review random reported player demos in Overwatch. The reports that are reviewed are those of behaviour problem players (griefers) and hackers. These players then determine the validity of the reports by watching the demo, and if enough of these players agree then the player who was griefing receives a temporary ban. Hackers who are convicted will receive a permanent game ban.
After the first time, a player who has been temporarily banned has it increased from a temporary ban to a permanent bane. Here is a table showing how each minor overwatch ban.
| Minor Overwatch Ban Number | Ban Length |
|---|---|
| 1 | 30 Days |
| 2 | Permanent |
Some people think that the overwatch system is useless but this system gives a great solution to convict the players who grief.
Players who are abusive in the game by using the microphone or text are muted by default for every play if they receive enough reports from other players. Also for abusive text chat, Valve has not publicly stated this but they may have a system in place that scans the text from a match if a player receives enough reports looking for any abusive chat.
Nobody in the CS2 community knows exactly how many reports a griefing player needs to be reported to go to the overwatch system. However, players (including myself) have seen reviewed matches they have just reported themselves in the Overwatch system directly after the match has ended.
How to report Griefers in CS2
Griefers can be reported in one of three ways which include a feature inside of the game, their steam profile, and an e-mail to the Steam Support. I’ve listed more information on how to do each and which are worth doing before you look at doing the others.
An e-mail to the Steam Support would be completely useless unless you good amount of evidence for a very serious offense. Steam Support is well known for not solving issues, copying and pasting replies even if they do not relate to your e-mail, or outright ignoring serious issues. Meaning that in most cases it is a waste of time when you could spend your time playing another match after using one of the first two ways to report the player.
How to report a Griefer on Steam Profile Page
The first way is to report them inside the game while you are playing with them, this way the match can be logged and the demo can be used in the Overwatch cases. Alternatively, you can report them after the match by downloading the Demo and reporting them the same way as you would in game.
- While holding the scoreboard key (default: tab), press the secondary attack/zoom key (default: right mouse button) to bring up a mouse cursor.
- Left click on the triangle with an exclamation mark on it. If you hover over it the word “Report” appears.
- A new dialogue will appear with the options you can report the player for.
- Check the Griefing box and click Submit.
How to report a Griefer in CS2 on their Steam Profile
The second way is to visit their profile and hit the “Report Player” button on the user’s Steam Profile. A pop-up will appear which will ask you for a description of why you are reporting the profile as well as what game it was in. You will want to select the game as Counter-Strike 2.
- Go to the user’s profile in the Steam Community.
- Click the large “More” button in the upper right corner of the user’s profile.
- Click the “Report Profile” button from this drop-down menu.
- Select “You are cheating in a game”, and then click “Submit this account for review.”
Can you get rid of a Griefing Overwatch Ban
No, Steam support states that they will never remove or reduce an Overwatch ban once it has been applied. Players who are banned are commonly surprised to find out they also cannot use the marketplace or trade their CS2 items while they are banned which is why this question is asked so often. After the first ban minor Overwatch ban, players will receive a permanent ban. So it is best to follow the rules if you ever end up getting a minor ban as there is no second chances.
Conclusion
Griefers can ruin a game for you in seconds but if the offender receives multiple reports their gameplay demo will be reviewed by higher-ranked players in the community. If they decide the griefer has been griefing then that player will receive a minimum of a 30-day ban. Most griefers are in silver and you can avoid that by getting out of silver, if you need want to get that edge to get out of silver and away from the griefers check out the Get Out Of Silver Rank Video Course. Hopefully, each one of the griefers you encounter and report will get a 30 day ban each minimum after you report them.
