[draft] Gated difficulty

[mithrand0]

See https://discord.com/channels/310381338538541056/1476469823406997586

I joined the lobby. And he saw that I'm From the Philippines. The next thing he said is that "Filipino?", No newbies allowed. If you dont know what ASBI is then you dont belong here.
What a way of welcoming new people. Sounds racist too. Gatekeeping a lobby is beyond toxic in my opinion.

This situation occurs far more often than we like to admit.

This document covers the technical part for joining. Toxic conduct is handled independently through the report/ban pipeline.

Proposal for Quick ASBI Access Improvements (Minimal Coding Required)

The goal is not to create a perfect system that blocks 100% of inappropriate joins. The goal is to prevent the obviously unprepared players from entering ASBI games, using existing stats and existing systems wherever possible.

1. ASBI Access Requirements (using existing player stats)

A player should only be able to join ASBI games if they meet all of the following:

• Max level on all available weapons. Ensures basic familiarity with the game’s loadouts and progression.
• Completed all campaigns on Brutal difficulty. Ensures sufficient map knowledge and baseline skill.
• Has the Hardcore achievement. Demonstrates the ability to handle at least Brutal Onslaught Hardcore.

All of these stats already exist and require no new tracking systems.

2. How to enforce these restrictions

Most mechanisms already exist and can be reused:

• Kick players during connection. This system is already implemented and can be extended with the new checks.
• Disable or grey out the Join button. Prevents players from attempting to join ASBI lobbies.

Challenges can indicate that they use ASBI rules by setting the existing convar:
rd_auto_kick_low_level_player_if_brutal_or_asbi

3. Additional improvement: gated difficulty progression

To prevent players from jumping into high difficulties too early, difficulty access can be tied to existing achievements:

• Normal / Hard - always available.
• Insane - unlocks once the player has any Hard campaign achievement.
• Brutal - unlocks once the player has any Insane campaign achievement.

This creates a natural progression path without adding new UI or systems.

What about alt accounts?

The achievement‑ and stats based requirements are meant to prevent accidental or unprepared joins. Experienced players using an alternate account should be able to meet these requirements very quickly, this system does not meaningfully restrict legitimate ASBI players.

Why this approach is low‑effort

• Uses only existing stats and achievements
• Uses existing auto‑kick logic
• Uses an existing convar for ASBI behavior
• Requires no new UI, matchmaking logic, or tracking changes
• Uses existing progression data

Mostly configuration and simple conditional checks

This provides significantly better filtering with minimal development time.