[kbluck]

There is nothing sinister here. The game is checking for updates.

I'd just like to point out that although your intentions may not be sinister, a not insignificant number of people will nevertheless regard software that silently and without permission contacts the publisher (for any reason) every time you start it as exactly that: sinister. If Microsoft tried to do this (and believe me, they'd love to) somebody would sue them immediately. Come to think of it, they did try it, and somebody did sue them.

Besides, its just plain annoying if you don't have an always-on connection. The dialog pops every time you start the game, and not infrequently the whole mess crashes.

My suggestion is to hold off on the network activity until the player explicitly asks for it, either to check updates or to initiate network play.

--- Kevin