I asked and currently there is no way to remove the popup. We'll just have to keep closing it when it appears, pretty much like we do with "specials". 

On the bright side, a Mac version is planned, likely by the end of this year.

Wiffen said:

That's good news Crowbar. Nice to see OSX users will maybe get the same benefits as Windoze users.

Yes, I'm happy for you and I think it's overdue. 

On the other hand, us Linux users will probably never get a version for ourselves.

Wiffen said:

There's a few applications what will run Win/OSX programs on Linux, but yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath for a native Linux version.

You're right, of course, but they are always significantly slower than the native apps. Taking into account how slow the game already is, I wouldn't even consider trying that approach. ;-)

Wiffen said:

Haha, very true! It does seem a lot slower than normal lately.. Guess they want everyone to download the app....

I've heard that rumour, on various days. Most of them, the browser version was fine for me. That's why I don't believe that they are throttling us on purpose.

It is quite obvious that this game is poorly made, especially when it comes to network requests. For those more technically inclined: most - if not all - of the network requests are synchronous. As a result, any delays in your own network will result in a super-slow game. And with the number of players we have on each map, it is highly likely that quite a few players will have this issue on any given day.

So, incompetence, not malice. Not sure that this makes it any better...