Fatshark…
We need to talk about your crafting for Darktide…again. This won’t be the last time I’m sure.
I just fully upgraded 14 plasma guns from Brunt. I figured that since there’s just one pattern of PG, and I focus resources on just that one weapon, I’d get something neat after dumping a couple weeks worth of play resources into it, after having abstained from crafting anything for a couple of months out of frustration.
Welp, 11 of them received Volatile IV, 10 of them straight in a row. I already have Volatile IV learned. I’ve got it on several existing plasma guns. I’d really have liked to try something else. But no, Hadron decided that she’s only handing out Volatile Plasma guns today, and nothing else higher than Tier III. None of the 14 PG’s are an upgrade on what I was already running (which, you guessed it, already had Volatile IV). This isn’t even an abnormal experience or anywhere near the worst people have dealt with, but it’s enough to get me to sign off playing for the night and be damn sure I’m not in a mood to spend real money to buy Aquilas for outfits for my warhammer e-dolls.
Fatshark, the crafting in Darktide sucks.
You know it sucks, and you’ve done better in other games.
We know it sucks, because we’ve seen you do better.
It’s so bad it undercuts literally every other bit of content you put out for this game, detracting from the work of the rest of the development team that makes this an otherwise masterpiece of immersion in the 40k universe. It makes for a really frustrating and inconsistent reward experience. It generates constant negative feedback and reviews. It actively disincentivizes trying out new gear and grinding for things. And again, you have to know all this by now.
Why on earth do I care about new shovels for the Traitor’s Curse release when I’m still trying to grind weapons that have been in since launch? This experience is the single most common point of feedback across every avenue of engagement you’ve got (Discord, Forums, Reddit, Steam, etc). From here the crafting system looks like a abandoned implementation of Gacha-game arcade/mobile gambling mechanics, designed to generate frustration, but without the usual bypass valve of dumping huge amounts of various in-game resources or cash that such systems traditionally use as the outlet for such frustration, and so it goes into forum posts and Steam reviews instead.
Between the acquisition rate of Plasteel, the rate at which Hadron bricks items, and the RNG nature of literally every aspect of gear in this game, equipping a character is by far the least fun and most painful part of this game. Characters continue to generate XP beyond 30, but can’t put it to any use, likewise much of the Diamantene that gets found, and there’s often little to do often with millions of excess Ordo Dockets, why not let any of that be put towards crafting gear?
With all the other changes to this game over time, why are you so wedded to this system that generates constant player ill-will and negative reviews? If nothing else, given the constant stream of complaints on this issues, can you please take some time somewhere somehow to explain what value you see in the existing crafting system, why you choose not to change it, and what we as players seem to be missing?
