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This was never an issue for me previously, but I think the devs have gone a bit overboard. First off, a question:
Does the developer of a custom game still need to enable this? If so, I suggest any custom game developers to leave this feature OFF.
There's several major problems.
1. Lag/quick leaving/bugs can prevent you from making another custom game. Leaving a custom game that is in a bugged, inconsistent state, or is done but hasn't said this to the server yet; --> you get hit.
2. Penalties are opaque and unclear. Whether a developer enables it or it gets somehow automatically enabled in absentia, there's no 'are you sure about this', and not necessarily any patch notes provided. I.e. operating the UI to abandong is just as quick and the buttons are in the same places, but suddenly huge penalty. *
3. Penalties are too big for something that's mostly a minor problem.
4. SOLO players are being hit with a penalty for leaving their game. What?
5. Playing a custom game with a party (i.e. not a versus, but a coop-style game) and only said party can still get you a penalty, even though those in the party may want a restart.
6. Playing a custom game with a password protected (and thus closed to the public) lobby (see (5)) can still get a temp ban, even for the lobby organizer. HINT: If I'm the one that put together the party, it should stand to reason that abandonment should not be a problem.
7. Leaving even after a win/loss is guaranteed can get you hit with a penalty if it's before the server closes the game.
Combine all 7 of those, and it becomes quite easy to accidentally lose an hour of access, even though nobody got harmed; in fact, I'd say the whole party wants to restart ASAP.
* Basically, if I'm used to quickly abandon and restart difficult TD challenges that depend on some rng, and for some unexplicable reason penalties got enabled on the game, then one can get used to quickly clicking to abandon and recreate a new lobby. If the buttons are in the same places, and the same number of clicks are required, that can be a nasty surprise.
It should be very, obviously clear that pressing a button will result in hours or days of no game access for an account. Don't use the same text, don't use the same popups. Indicate the amount you're going to be suspended for if you click.
It should also be obvious that if all players want a game abandoned, it should not result in this problem (for open games). I.e. only if at least one person wants it do you ever hand it out. Next obvious point: in closed games, especially self hosted ones? If I'm host, party creator, lobby creator, invited every other player manually, then this isn't reasonable nor sensical.
Does the developer of a custom game still need to enable this? If so, I suggest any custom game developers to leave this feature OFF.
There's several major problems.
1. Lag/quick leaving/bugs can prevent you from making another custom game. Leaving a custom game that is in a bugged, inconsistent state, or is done but hasn't said this to the server yet; --> you get hit.
2. Penalties are opaque and unclear. Whether a developer enables it or it gets somehow automatically enabled in absentia, there's no 'are you sure about this', and not necessarily any patch notes provided. I.e. operating the UI to abandong is just as quick and the buttons are in the same places, but suddenly huge penalty. *
3. Penalties are too big for something that's mostly a minor problem.
4. SOLO players are being hit with a penalty for leaving their game. What?
5. Playing a custom game with a party (i.e. not a versus, but a coop-style game) and only said party can still get you a penalty, even though those in the party may want a restart.
6. Playing a custom game with a password protected (and thus closed to the public) lobby (see (5)) can still get a temp ban, even for the lobby organizer. HINT: If I'm the one that put together the party, it should stand to reason that abandonment should not be a problem.
7. Leaving even after a win/loss is guaranteed can get you hit with a penalty if it's before the server closes the game.
Combine all 7 of those, and it becomes quite easy to accidentally lose an hour of access, even though nobody got harmed; in fact, I'd say the whole party wants to restart ASAP.
* Basically, if I'm used to quickly abandon and restart difficult TD challenges that depend on some rng, and for some unexplicable reason penalties got enabled on the game, then one can get used to quickly clicking to abandon and recreate a new lobby. If the buttons are in the same places, and the same number of clicks are required, that can be a nasty surprise.
It should be very, obviously clear that pressing a button will result in hours or days of no game access for an account. Don't use the same text, don't use the same popups. Indicate the amount you're going to be suspended for if you click.
It should also be obvious that if all players want a game abandoned, it should not result in this problem (for open games). I.e. only if at least one person wants it do you ever hand it out. Next obvious point: in closed games, especially self hosted ones? If I'm host, party creator, lobby creator, invited every other player manually, then this isn't reasonable nor sensical.