Arrowhead CEO on negative reviews: "I guess it's warranted. Sorry everyone for how this all transpired. I hope we will make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience."
"Oh no, this seems to be bad for everyone. Too bad there's nothing we can do about it!" Says CEO with enough control and influence to reverse the policy.
Their publisher decided it. And it's probably in the contract. Apparently it was originally a requirement, but was made skippable when there were login issues.
The only thing they proved by making ot skippable is that it wasnt even necessary at all. The reason they're giving for making it mandatory ( for security and being able to ban for griefing ) is bullshit. Not to mention They're already using a super invasive anti cheat, which apparently isn't capable of catching any cheaters.
I already turned down a free copy of this game because it installs a rootkit, and now this happens. I hear the game itself is a lot of fun, and I feel bad for the actual developers who are watching people shit on their work because of management and publisher bullshit.