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Skyforge’s peer-to-peer installer now asks for user permission after player backlash

Skyforge

Skyforge, the new sci-fi/fantasy MMO from Allods Team and Obsidian, caused a bit of a ruckus when it launched recently as players discovered that the game’s installer works on a peer-to-peer system and shares files with other users. Not a massive deal on its own, but the game’s launcher doesn’t explain any of this, and so users were sharing files with no knowledge. 

Following backlash on forums, publisher My.com have changed the way the installer works to make the peer-to-peer elements more clear, and even allow players to opt out of sharing their files with other users. 

Skyforge’s new installer has a checkbox that players can uncheck to stop the game sharing install files. “The option informs the player that our launcher uses peer to peer networking to download the game and patches,” explains Aaron Biedma, producer on Skyforge. “Normally, the launcher will also seed the patches to other players to help them download quicker/easier. But we are aware that some players have limited bandwidth and/or do not wish to participate in this. So, by unchecking that box they can disable seeding the patches once their download completes. Players will also be able to turn it off later by visiting the settings in the launcher itself.”

The option to turn peer-to-peer off has always existed, but it was hidden away in the launcher’s options menu. The checkbox is now much more prominent on the actual installer itself, on its main window.

Other players have been annoyed at the fact that the launcher boots with Windows, but Biedma clarifies that this can be turned off in the launcher’s options: “We do give the players an option to turn this off easily. Once the launcher is open, click the “My.com” button in the upper left of the launcher, then click “Settings”, and finally uncheck the box for “Start automatically when you log in to Windows.”