half the player base dropping off won't affect queues? lol. we are not in ARR anymore.
As numerous people have already said, adding kernel-level anticheat does nothing. The game's network traffic gives out the IDs. Whatever people use to grab them doesn't interact with the game data or files, or even memory. It interacts with the network traffic. Further, this can be done even if you play on console. Run whatever program they use to grab the data on your PC in the same WLAN and you have it. All the plugin does is make it easier for the vast majority of people to grab it, but it is literally trivial to access that data without plugins. This is not a defense of plugins, mind you, I am trying to emphasize this point because everyone is so focused on plugins and missing the core point.
SE needs to change things so account IDs are not easily plucked out of network traffic. So many people in this thread are more concerned with kicking off people who use third party plugins, and forgive me for being rude but it is the stalking and player safety that's a way bigger issue here. It just seems to me that that core problem is not at all being taken seriously, and instead we're cutting off our noses to spite our face. Something as invasive as kernel-level anticheats are not something anyone should want on their system, whether to play this game or any other, but so many people in here are demanding it when it, again, does not address the issue.
You argue that it raises the barrier to entry but I argue it doesn't. There are always bad actors out there, and at the bare minimum no one should be sending data to the client that they cannot trust the client to have.
A paid subscription game should not have third-party programs/tools connected to the game. I pay for the game how it is, not for cheaters who cannot wait for a queue e.g.
I will welcome the day when there is anti cheat installed so none of those tools will be working anymore. Will e.g. halve of the players quit? I don't care and will not miss players that try to cheat.
Even if you use it for glamour ends and think it will be look better on the game or maybe it is better for the game, create your own game is my advise.
I'm increasingly convinced that SE's statement was actually genius. Everyone's arguing with each other about plugins, which are an almost entirely separate issue, instead of dogpiling SE for their astounding incompetence.