Deadlock players demand harsher penalties for serial quitters

❘ Published: 2024-08-28T11:56:55

Valve

Deadlock players have called for tougher punishments for players who purposefully and repeatedly quit matches early.

Despite still being in Closed Alpha, Deadlock has become explosively popular since Valve officially lifted the lid on its upcoming MOBA.

Unfortunately, with a huge install base comes a higher prevalence of issues, including cheating and griefing. Such problems are inevitable for a competitive game, but players have registered their hope that they’ll be addressed before Deadlock reaches completion.

Detailing their experiences on Reddit, one player got a lot of support for their request to increase penalties for those who prematurely leave matches.

“I’d love a cooldown when you leave, starting from two hours and increasing to like 12, then 24 and probably 48 at max”, they suggested, adding, “It’s beyond frustrating having to queue sometimes one to three times just to actually get into a match.”

In my experience there's enough leavers to warrant a bigger penalty for leaving
byu/seventysevenpenguins inDeadlockTheGame

While many agreed that stricter rules need to be implemented, some argued that for as long as it remains in Closed Alpha, Valve should be “lighter on penalties”.

Bugs and general instability are to be expected for a title still in active development, as well as disconnects and crashes, in addition to people intentionally leaving early.

“I’ve seen more leavers since the NDA loosened than the week before when I got access. It’s just people getting their hands on the game and doing what they do best”, another user replied.

While true that such behavior can be expected, addressing these teething issues early could pay dividends in the long run. Deadlock’s pool of players will undoubtedly continue to grow in the weeks and months ahead, making such frustrations more commonplace.

If you’re one of the many jumping in, you may want some tips on how to build your favorite hero. Check out our build guides for Pocket, Seven, and Infernus. For an overview of every character and how they’re performing in the meta, check out our tier list ranking the entire playable roster.