This isn’t about one specific feature, it’s about the overall health of the game.
Right now, the multiplayer population is not large. That means every active player, especially in ranked, matters more than in bigger games. Matchmaking quality, queue times, and overall competitiveness all depend on having enough consistent players.
The issue is that current systems can permanently remove players from the ecosystem. Whether it’s bans, restrictions, or other enforcement systems, the end result is the same: players leave and don’t come back.
In a large game, that might be fine. In a smaller one, it has a noticeable impact.
When active players are lost:
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matchmaking becomes less consistent
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queue times increase
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skill gaps widen
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the overall experience declines
And unlike large games, those players are not easily replaced.
This creates a mismatch. The systems in place feel like they are designed for a much larger player base, where losing players has minimal impact. But in the current state of the game, player retention should be a priority.
This isn’t about defending bad behaviour or removing rules. It’s about recognising that in a low-population competitive game:
player retention is critical to the game’s long-term health.
If players are pushed out permanently, the game doesn’t just lose individuals—it loses stability in its multiplayer ecosystem.
I think this is something worth seriously considering going forward.
Receiving an indefinite chat ban led me to uninstall the game permanently, I won’t be returning. No problems here anymore, but again I did enjoy the game but wont be putting up with it as its the last straw for me.
It’s frustrating that things like inappropriate usernames or other questionable content can exist, yet basic trash talk in a 1v1 ranked setting results in a penalty of this severity. “Indefinite” in practice functions as permanent, especially when multiple appeal attempts lead nowhere.
As a result, I chose to leave the game entirely.
There are also other issues affecting the experience, such as Elo mismatches and inconsistencies in army movement speed across formations that makes competitive play terrible.
I know people have a common habbit of totally DEFLECTING the points made here as they always do. But it doesnt fix how the elo, moderation, gameplay bugs that are structured right now. Keep making more DLC and take forever to fix existing issues. I wont be supporting that behaviour I’m glad that just before I got banned I held back from buying the Demeter DLC, what a state that DLC was released in too.
