I already know the reply to this is "because it's for security purposes", but I'm willing to bet that logging people out randomly has had a negligible impact on compromised account metrics. I've been around this place since before Skyrim's release, and I remember when GameSpy went down, and I even remember when you used to be able to download files without an account as long as they were under 2MB (hence the username). I've used throwaways this whole time, and largely due to my PC upgrade cycle (every 6 months or so, yes I can afford it, no the old one doesn't go to waste). However, this randomly logging out business is probably my largest gripe to date. For those of you crying about security, it wouldn't even be a problem if the site let us download without an account. The biggest reason users are required to register at all isn't because of the forum software. It's to inflate metrics, and it's evident by how often and in how many places the "current active users" metric has been bragged about. I don't have this issue anywhere else - be it here, ModDB, or SitesThatShallNotBeNamed. All of these issues are linked with one another: Site won't let me DL without account because Robin Scott wants more numbers. Make a throwaway account to download mod, because I forgot the password to the other one, and the site logged me out. Site logged me out for security purposes, which wouldn't be an issue if I could download without an account. For banking sites like PayPal or even my service provider (Sprint/TMO), sure, it makes sense because there are CC and DC numbers being thrown through the airwaves to have a short cookie expiry. But here, it makes no damn sense.
