Eugen, your DRM is corroding your playerbase

[Puma]

All right Eugen. I tried to appeal to you decency and get you to get rid of the alwarys connected DRM as an anti-consumer practice, and it didn't work. So this time I'm going to appeal to your love of money.

As a little bit of background for those not aware of what I'm talking about. Multiplayer in Wargame requires the clients to be constantly verified by the Eugen master server. The host computer monitors whether the clients all have the "right" to play the multiplayer. And if the host computer at any point for any reason fails to verify a connected client (even if it had previously verified said client just minutes earlier), it will kick the client in question, even in the middle of a game in progress. This sort of monitoring is a type of "Always Connected Digital Rights Management" aka. "Always Connected DRM". What makes this kind of DRM an anti-consumer practice is the fact that it causes constant problems for legitimate customers, because every now and then the Eugen master server has a hiccup and forgets that I'm logged in and have the right to play the multiplayer. I paid for that right, Eugen.

So earlier today I was in a middle of an amazingly tight match. My team was behind in points but not by much. I was bringing my A-game, but there was some seriously tough cookies on the enemy team. With less than 10 minutes left on the clock it was gonna come down to the wire. When suddenly... "You have been disconnected from the server." So I press the multiplayer button, and sure enough the Eugen server had forgotten that I was logged in. Now the match is a perpetual cliff hanger that shall never be resolved. And to be honest, it is a little bit frustrating. Kinda like never ever being able to watch the last episode of Westworld. And it wasn't just me. A friend in the same game who didn't get disconnected, said that more than half of the players disconnected at the same time as I.

While I am frustrated and might not play Wargame for a few days, I obviously am going to come back eventually. I am very particular as to what kind of games I play, and there is nothing else even remotely like Wargame on the market. However there are others who might not come back. Others who might rage-uninstall or just go play something that doesn't kick them for no good reason, and forget about Wargame. Those people are then subtracted from the playerbase. Which brings me to my main argument: DLC sales are directly proportionate to the size of the playerbase. A frustrated player who goes to play something else is potentially a lost DLC sale.

So for the love of money, Eugen, I implore you. Is the constant monitoring of the right to play the multiplayer really neccessary? Are the benefits gained by it worth the ill effects to the players who bought your game? Would it be enough to verify the right once when you join a server?

[leonidus]

I really understand you. At the day of the double red dlc release. i was disconnected and therefore lost two consecutive ranked matches which were realy close. After your explanation i understand that it was for the same reason because right after the sudden disconection the game asked me to reconnect... It was very frustrating so i quited playing mp matches that day...

[Aqour]

I can tell you with absolute certainty that DRM does nothing to stop piracy. It does nothing but hurt paying customers.

[Puma]

It happened again today. 40 minutes into a really close match and I get kicked because the Eugen master server didn't validate my right to play the multiplayer. Eugen, the way you manage my right to play the multiplayer really sucks.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=816078147