I had an exchange on Twitter about this with CMDR Vulcan from Frontier Help and they suggested I make a post here.
I would like to suggest that since the launcher already has the options to remember my username and password as check-boxes there should also be an auto-login option. This wouldn't auto-launch into the game but rather auto-login to the launcher. This would mean when starting Elite: Dangerous I wouldn't have to click "LOG IN", followed by "LOG IN" in a second dialog popup that is already populated if I selected "REMEMBER ME" and "REMEMBER MY PASSWORD" and then PLAY back on the original launcher. Granted it is only a few more clicks, but it seems redundant to me if the launcher is remembering my log in credentials anyway, and certainly no less secure as, again the launcher is already storing the credentials. The addition of an auto-login check-box would mean if all the relevant check-boxes are checked the launcher logs in the user. Then the game can be launched just by pressing "PLAY" rather than all the extra log in clicks.
CMDR Vulcan raised a couple of good points that I think can be worked around:
1. What about users that have multiple accounts?
This is already complicated by the existing REMEMBER check-boxes. If a user has multiple accounts they would need to leave these unchecked in the current launcher anyway. I don't think this would be made any worse by a new auto-login option. One new additional check-box to enable or disable the auto-login option would allow both use cases to function as desired.
2. Might cause frustration if the user wanted to upgrade/downgrade.
We didn't debate this one much, so not sure exactly what CMDR Vulcan meant by upgrade/downgrade. If this is game updates (happens fairly automatically with Steam version already) this could be resolved by simply adding either prompts or buttons to the launcher to initiate upgrades or downgrades. Upgrades are generally desirable to have happen automatically to avoid people reporting bugs that have already been patched. In that case the upgrade process would take priority over the auto-login and the upgrade would have to happen before the user could log in. A downgrade seems like something that should be user initiated anyway but I may be misunderstanding that one. If this is related to buying items, accessing the launcher menus, etc. that would all still work the same. Remember this suggestion isn't a request for auto-game launch, taking one directly into the game. It is just a request to allow the log in to happen automatically at launcher start-up followed by a single "PLAY" click to launch the game. All the launcher loveliness would still be available.
Hopefully that wasn't too long and cumbersome. For your consideration. Thanks.
I would like to suggest that since the launcher already has the options to remember my username and password as check-boxes there should also be an auto-login option. This wouldn't auto-launch into the game but rather auto-login to the launcher. This would mean when starting Elite: Dangerous I wouldn't have to click "LOG IN", followed by "LOG IN" in a second dialog popup that is already populated if I selected "REMEMBER ME" and "REMEMBER MY PASSWORD" and then PLAY back on the original launcher. Granted it is only a few more clicks, but it seems redundant to me if the launcher is remembering my log in credentials anyway, and certainly no less secure as, again the launcher is already storing the credentials. The addition of an auto-login check-box would mean if all the relevant check-boxes are checked the launcher logs in the user. Then the game can be launched just by pressing "PLAY" rather than all the extra log in clicks.
CMDR Vulcan raised a couple of good points that I think can be worked around:
1. What about users that have multiple accounts?
This is already complicated by the existing REMEMBER check-boxes. If a user has multiple accounts they would need to leave these unchecked in the current launcher anyway. I don't think this would be made any worse by a new auto-login option. One new additional check-box to enable or disable the auto-login option would allow both use cases to function as desired.
2. Might cause frustration if the user wanted to upgrade/downgrade.
We didn't debate this one much, so not sure exactly what CMDR Vulcan meant by upgrade/downgrade. If this is game updates (happens fairly automatically with Steam version already) this could be resolved by simply adding either prompts or buttons to the launcher to initiate upgrades or downgrades. Upgrades are generally desirable to have happen automatically to avoid people reporting bugs that have already been patched. In that case the upgrade process would take priority over the auto-login and the upgrade would have to happen before the user could log in. A downgrade seems like something that should be user initiated anyway but I may be misunderstanding that one. If this is related to buying items, accessing the launcher menus, etc. that would all still work the same. Remember this suggestion isn't a request for auto-game launch, taking one directly into the game. It is just a request to allow the log in to happen automatically at launcher start-up followed by a single "PLAY" click to launch the game. All the launcher loveliness would still be available.
Hopefully that wasn't too long and cumbersome. For your consideration. Thanks.