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[Draugoth]

Vanguard has finally arrived in League of Legends, and nearly immediately the online community has been awash with players claiming their computers have been “bricked” by the kernel-level program and its activity.

The claims⁠, which were mainly shared on X (formerly Twitter) but also popped up across Reddit and Facebook, range from Vanguard preventing startup programs from firing correctly to other programs crashing when the anti-cheat software loads, and some have even suggested Riot’s kernel program has been “tampering with unrelated files.” Others simply dubbed it “malware” and declared they would be quitting League until the program stopped breaking PCs.

One high-profile example came from famed League creator LS, who reported both his computers breaking after Vanguard was installed on May 1. He said he fixed one by taking out the CMOS battery and forcing BIOS access, but suggested his other computer is “still bricked.”

via Dot Esports​

 

[Arsic]

Gaben ready to welcome all the new dota 2 players.

 

[kruis]

The claims⁠, which were mainly shared on X (formerly Twitter) but also popped up across Reddit and Facebook, range from Vanguard preventing startup programs from firing correctly to other programs crashing when the anti-cheat software loads, and some have even suggested Riot’s kernel program has been “tampering with unrelated files.” Others simply dubbed it “malware” and declared they would be quitting League until the program stopped breaking PCs.

When a device has been bricked, it won't start up anymore and has become as dead as a brick. None of the things mentioned here can even remotely be considered "bricking a PC".

 

[RoboFu]

Wrong thread.

 

[StereoVsn]

Yeah, saw this yesterday. It’s absolutely insane that this shit is tolerated by the player base.

People are reporting major issues with the game causing instability, anti-cheat staying always on, and more. Is this the one they also can send screenshots of basically anything on the PC up to Riot/Tencent?

And the guy who got both of his PCs bricked, that’s just wild. I wonder how it managed to do that. But yeah, this is malware basically and I hope people quit and move to other less egregious games because of this.

 

[SJRB]

LOL indeed

 

[Kiya's Guard]

I honestly want to reject my account. If I recall some years ago you could ask riot to delete your account and be permanently blocked access (like a casino), and get somewhat of a refund. God I wish I did it back then

 

[BlueLyria]

I completely deleted riot's shitty launcher from my pc after finding out about the vanguard implementation, I haven't played league anyway in years and was shocked to find out there was a 25gb install somewhere lol

 

[Deerock71]

Well...you're not cheating NOW, are you?!

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I think I'm just going to avoid any online games that implement kernel level solutions.

 

[Kataploom]

I think I'm just going to avoid any online games that implement kernel level solutions.

That's why I'm getting an Xbox probably this year. You can play many online games (save some like Apex) with M&K on the console and you don't have to deal with those anti-cheats... Not perfect solution but at least something I can feel safe with.

 

[coffinbirth]

When a device has been bricked, it won't start up anymore and has become as dead as a brick. None of the things mentioned here can even remotely be considered "bricking a PC".

"One high-profile example came from famed League creator LS, who reported both his computers breaking after Vanguard was installed on May 1. He said he fixed one by taking out the CMOS battery and forcing BIOS access, but suggested his other computer is “still bricked.” "

This is about as close to software bricking a pc as you can get at a consumer level.

 

[EsotericManiac]

I've played League of Legends for a long time and know anti-cheat is essential. But hearing that Vanguard is breaking PCs is worrying. Vanguard runs deep in your system, which can mess with other software and hardware. If you have problems, try uninstalling and reinstalling Vanguard and make sure your drivers are updated. Also, check Riot's support forums for any fixes. In the meantime, using something like PhantomScript can help you deal with cheaters in the game and give you a better gaming experience. It's annoying, but hopefully, they'll fix these issues soon so the game stays fair without damaging our computers.

 

[mayham2199]

PC master race FTW.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

Staying away from PC gaming has been the best decision ever lmao.

 

[winjer]

I'm sure that if cheaters were to risk loosing their accounts and their PCs, that would discourage a lot of them from doing it.

 

[The Cockatrice]

This turned out to be fake, not sure why this thread was bumped. The bricking was irrelevant to the anti-cheat and everyone keeps playing the game safely. The spying aspec of it is true tho, but what are the chinese going to do with what porn I watch anyway? Microsfot and google already probably know everything about my life.