As the 1000+ hours demonstrate this has been my favourite game for quite some time now. Unfortunately, due to mismanagement, missing anti-cheat, totalitarian attitudes towards players on the forums, and glitches and bugs that just never get fixed, the player-base is falling!

In detail

Mismanagement: Promises were and have been made and NEVER fulfilled. These include a single-player mode, leader boards, and monthly content updates that were there for a while but now it’s not even one in half a year.

Missing anti-cheat: The servers are full with cheaters and despite promises of bans and account wipes from Paradox, nothing has been done. An anti-cheat system was announces last year and was stated to be coming “soon”... it is now June the following year and there is nothing. Most people leaving the game say this is the reason.

Totalitarian attitudes towards players on the forums: The game had an amazing community forum right from Alpha. Players got to know each other on and off the battlefield and some fantastic discussions were had on balance, new content, and tournaments. Unfortunately, once the community started to complain about broken promises and bad game experiences, the Mods started banning and infracting left right and centre. Prizes were promised for tournaments but were not given or only given after months of nagging by the organisers...

Glitches and bugs: Some bugs were reported during Alpha and never fixed. The worst part is that many bugs were reported and fixed in a patch, only to reappear with the next patch.

Summary: The game started off in Beta offering around 60% of what the Publishers were promising, which was an amazing start. Players loved it and it held an average daily player list of around 2000 players for months. It peaked at maybe 70% and then with the introduction of the Kingmaker patch it started to fall and has since fallen into an abyss of laggy servers, bad netcode, cheaters, OP-builds and weapons, a server browser that doesn’t work, leader boards that don’t work, and a publisher who keeps promising and promising but who never does anything.

My loyalty to the game drives me to recommend it, but right now I just can’t.

UPDATE 22.10.2014

I am glad you commented and asked this question because I need to write a new review or revise this one, which i will do properly, but for now I will say this:

Anti Cheat was finally introduced and despite some bugs actually worked (for a while) – the game was sadly empty with it being very difficult to get a server with enough players, but the flow felt fantastic, the skill was back and things looked good. Sadly, very soon after the first cheats snook back in! However to be fair EAC who made the anti cheat reacted very quickly (though it took some effort from the players to get Paradox to accept there was a problem) and things got better again.

Today? Well, some cheaters are back and sadly, the servers are almost empty! Just recently Paradox announced and officially cancelled ALL future development for the game. So it is only a question of how long now. The official announcement brought some anger amongst the hardcore fans leading to even mor typical Paradox Totalitarian Ban Hammers falling on long-standing, loyal players (ElricVonRabenFells to name but one) many of whom had been around since alpha / beta..

The game is one of the finest ideas I ever saw and played! Paradox is a shambles and has no idea how to get customers, keep them,. And to develop business into a market. They are idiots.

As the 1000+ hours demonstrate this has been my favourite game for quite some time now. Unfortunately, due to mismanagement, missing anti-cheat, totalitarian attitudes towards players on the forums, and glitches and bugs that just never get fixed, the player-base is falling! In detail Mismanagement: Promises were and have been made and NEVER fulfilled. These include a single-player mode, leader boards, and monthly content updates that were there for a while but now it’s not even one in half a year. Missing anti-cheat: The servers are full with cheaters and despite promises of bans and account wipes from Paradox, nothing has been done. An anti-cheat system was announces last year and was stated to be coming “soon”... it is now June the following year and there is nothing. Most people leaving the game say this is the reason. Totalitarian attitudes towards players on the forums: The game had an amazing community forum right from Alpha. Players got to know each other on and off the battlefield and some fantastic discussions were had on balance, new content, and tournaments. Unfortunately, once the community started to complain about broken promises and bad game experiences, the Mods started banning and infracting left right and centre. Prizes were promised for tournaments but were not given or only given after months of nagging by the organisers... Glitches and bugs: Some bugs were reported during Alpha and never fixed. The worst part is that many bugs were reported and fixed in a patch, only to reappear with the next patch. Summary: The game started off in Beta offering around 60% of what the Publishers were promising, which was an amazing start. Players loved it and it held an average daily player list of around 2000 players for months. It peaked at maybe 70% and then with the introduction of the Kingmaker patch it started to fall and has since fallen into an abyss of laggy servers, bad netcode, cheaters, OP-builds and weapons, a server browser that doesn’t work, leader boards that don’t work, and a publisher who keeps promising and promising but who never does anything. My loyalty to the game drives me to recommend it, but right now I just can’t. UPDATE 22.10.2014 I am glad you commented and asked this question because I need to write a new review or revise this one, which i will do properly, but for now I will say this: Anti Cheat was finally introduced and despite some bugs actually worked (for a while) – the game was sadly empty with it being very difficult to get a server with enough players, but the flow felt fantastic, the skill was back and things looked good. Sadly, very soon after the first cheats snook back in! However to be fair EAC who made the anti cheat reacted very quickly (though it took some effort from the players to get Paradox to accept there was a problem) and things got better again. Today? Well, some cheaters are back and sadly, the servers are almost empty! Just recently Paradox announced and officially cancelled ALL future development for the game. So it is only a question of how long now. The official announcement brought some anger amongst the hardcore fans leading to even mor typical Paradox Totalitarian Ban Hammers falling on long-standing, loyal players (ElricVonRabenFells to name but one) many of whom had been around since alpha / beta.. The game is one of the finest ideas I ever saw and played! Paradox is a shambles and has no idea how to get customers, keep them,. And to develop business into a market. They are idiots.