Some players are not happy with the new change of rules coming to Rocket League‘s casual playlists, which arrive alongside the launch of Season 4 today (August 11).
The new rules will ban Rocket League players who repeatedly quit casual matches, with the ability to quit capped at one match per day, although it will also be possible to forfeit the match to end early without any punishment.
As reported in PC Gamer, players on the Rocket League Reddit have been expressing confusion and frustration over the new rules. One of the top posts, currently with 13.8K upvotes, is titled: “No one asked for this. Its CASUAL for a reason.”
While rage-quitting – the act of quitting an online games early when you’re losing and frustrated – is common in online gaming, some posters have reasoned that they may also be balancing other priorities and responsibilities.
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“I put family first when interrupted during a game (any game). It’s how I believe you’re supposed to be a responsible parent,” argued another player.
“Casual play in Rocket League has meant I haven’t had to completely give up online games. Pick up any time you *might* be free. But if real life comes knocking? No worries, just quit and play later.”
Rocket League is also unique to other online multiplayer games where if a player does drop out early, they’re simply replaced by a bot, so the game can still continue.
In response, Psyonix issued the following statement: “We’re really excited to see all of the conversation in the Rocket League community around the changes we’re making to Casual playlists.”
“The changes were made to address the negative impact to teammates from repeated early leavers from Casual matches. We understand that life happens, so we think that not penalizing the first early exit, then a slow escalation for those who repeatedly leave early from matches is fair. We will continue to monitor how this change impacts the match quality and community perspective.”
“Once these changes are live, we think our players are going to adjust quickly, and the improvement in quality of play will shine through. We’ll be thoughtful about feedback once the changes are in place, and players have an opportunity to experience the changes for themselves.”
Elsewhere, Red Dead Online‘s new survival mode Call To Arms has launched, and players can reap triple the rewards in its first week.