How serious are reports taken?

[iScream]

Last few days, I've been playing on a CS:S server that doesn't have voteban and else, so all I could do is report the ~5 players who cheated, I recorded demos, as stated in the report on their profile pages.

Question is, how serious are these reports taken? Can I be sure they get banned or it gets lost in ethernity?

[Captain Morti]

The report causes just that VAC checks this player more often/carefully. The report doesnt affect the cheater directly.

[Nyan Ranger]

I'm sure there are many, many, reports filled each day. So it might be hard for the support team to take care of the cheaters. Good Luck though.

[iScream]

So it's basically useless since if they cheat undetected they will continue anyway... Awesome

[bluz74]

Originally Posted by iScream

So it's basically useless since if they cheat undetected they will continue anyway... Awesome

Of course they are taken seriously. Valve wants the community to be safe and fun for everyone. VAC bans are delayed so its not going to happen overnight. Also, reports can be wrong. Not everyone that reports a cheat is right about it. Best thing to do it report and move along. If it is indeed a cheat it will be dealt with accordingly.

[DocHouse]

Originally Posted by iScream

So it's basically useless since if they cheat undetected they will continue anyway... Awesome

No, of course they will believe your words over proofs, because you're Mr. Important #455678

They won't believe a random report from a random guy in the internet. Get over it.

[masterchef341]

Originally Posted by iScream

how serious are reports taken?

Super cereal. In all cereal, they are taken cereally, but they are not used directly to ban other players. They can help direct VAC, which can lead to bans, and they can guide future VAC development, by providing data for the engineers developing VAC.

Originally Posted by iScream

So it's basically useless since if they cheat undetected they will continue anyway

This is incorrect / bad logic. The latter half is true, but the conclusion is not.

If they cheat undetected, they will continue to cheat. <- true

Therefore, reporting is useless <- not true