Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/01/how-helldivers-2-became-more-about-the-developer-than-the-game.html
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I’d mostly heard positive things said about Arrowhead throughout, if there’s been significant news/drama about “Pilestedt” and/or Arrowhead, perhaps including some references to that in the post would have been worthwhile?
Even the comments there seem mostly positive though?
The short of it is that the developer is handling the community somewhat well, or to the best of their ability. The problem is their development on the game hasn’t been great, they’ve confirmed that one of their leads for determining balance for weapons, armor, etc on the game can’t play on anything beyond a mid-tier game, and generally prefers to play on easier difficulties. This is a problem because weapons and abilities have been repeatedly nerfed and enemies buffed to a point that playing just doesn’t feel as fun as it should be. And in relation to this the developer is seen as quick to nerf things but very slow to fix problems, even when they agree that their nerfs have been poorly thought out.
Overall content in the game has been sparse, they just released a new mech and while somewhat fun has aiming issues, and feels slightly underpowered. And the new mission type they released was/is bugged on multiple fronts (something like a collection of 3-4 different bugs). Further making it obvious that they just aren’t playtesting their own content sufficiently.
At this point the community is quite frustrated at the dev. I went from playing every day to maybe playing once a week, i really want the game to do well but things are just taking too long to turn around. I have also gone back to Deep Rock Galactic, their new season is coming out soon.
I do want to add that i like the developer, i think they’ve got their heart in the right place and are really trying not to be predatory towards their customers, and generally do right by them. They just don’t have a lot of experience making this kind of live service game and it really shows. I would really love if another studio would jump in and temporarily help them because they seem to be absolutely overwhelmed.
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It is also a whole lot of drama and just off-topic bullshit from the developer that isn’t “fix the game” or “fix the glaring problems your community is screaming about.”
I don’t need long stories about how they met the new CEO – I want the game to stop crashing on my above-average power 3090 based PC gaming station. I’d care about their vision more if the game worked.
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Thank you for this, makes things vastly clearer than the article.
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My general thoughts is that the game is still very much worth playing. If someone were to jump in today they’d likely have a lot of fun, especially if they have a crew of friends to experience things with. But if you play with randoms in a lobby it’s still quite a great time. The frustrations are more from the folks that have had more time with the game and are constantly having to struggle with the developers choices on how to balance the game, and the lack of content and things to do once everything has been unlocked.
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You know you can buy those with credits you earn in the game? Not to mention I use several pieces of that “worthless” equipment.
One of the awesome aspects of this game is that everything you start with can be used in the endgame, but I will also never complain about devs giving me more outfits to wear in game. Weird BB hit peice.
The story is more about how Sony keeps sabotaging their own live service games/ambitions all because Overwatch 1 made a ton of cash from loot boxes and they want easy money
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I have a top of the line PC and I get screen-freeze every couple games that gets me killed on higher levels. Frustrating.
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I haven’t had any freezing or crashing issues, not that that helps you but it hasn’t been my experience with the game.
I was wondering why I stopped seeing it referenced as regularly. Not my sort of game so haven’t followed it and likely won’t check it out. But it was all over out of nowhere for a bit.
Then a few weeks ago innernets got curiously quiet about it. I’d be willing to be A LOT of people have tapered back. And given I’m seeing chatter about Deep Rock again there seems to be a theme here.
Yup. Two drops in a row max and it’ll lock up or quit. Hell of a way to tell me to stand up!
Played a game now, still great fun. Just really hope whatever patch is coming soon will help diversify what weapons and stratagems are viable, i often ponder if i should bring something new to a mission and i default so the same stuff i always equip.
On the flipside if anyone wants to team up with either Helldivers 2 or Deep Rock Galactic on PC let me know.
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Some folks just get real salty at criticism of vidjya gamez. On the plus side the Dark Fluid mission is over and Meridia has imploded into a black hole.
Yes, I expect the “not journalism, you goddamn blogger” every time.
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I decided not to try HD2, based on the 30 minutes of gameplay I watched. I just got bad vibes from the way the game looked, sounded, and played. I’ve played DRG since the beginning, and there didn’t seem to be any reason to switch over. A bunch of my friends did, and they seem to like it. But every news story or player post about problems with the game and its developer make me more and more glad I didn’t spend the money.
I think its worth it, i’m not afraid of telling someone that a game is bad. But in your case i would recommend waiting longer and see how the next few months go and how they handle their balance patches, ultimately watching from the sidelines as you enjoy something else isn’t going to impact you. If the developer manages to pull things around you should check it out.
That said, the new season of DRG looks good. I plan to sink my teeth into that.
