Is Fatshark even listening to us?

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide General Discussion
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The book of grudges, the threads asking for Solo Mode (mine included, it’s been two years, Fatshark, where is it?), the requests for at least SOME kind of answer beyond a vague statement or kicking a can down the road…

Is Fatshark even listening to us anymore?

I had a bout of nostalgia the other day, wanted to play Vermintide 2 again, booted up the update, had a tonne of fun with playing solo mode (with BOTS too!) And generally walked away from it feeling pretty satisfied.

Then I looked back at Darktide and I can’t help but feel like it’s an entirely different developer studio at the helm there, speedrunners and toxic players continue to be a plague upon public lobbies, solo mode is still nowhere to be seen after TWO YEARS of promising and being “Nearly done” and the developers have this condescendingly smug idea of what they WANT the game to be as opposed to what the players want.

There have been threads asking for solo mode for YEARS but apparently they thought we wanted the FOMO-generating Havoc game-mode instead?

Either there is a grievous disconnect between the developers and the players to such a degree that Fatshark doesn’t even use this forum as a source of feedback or recommendations for new content, or they are hearing us but they aren’t LISTENING.

Fatshark, give us a damned answer beyond “I’ll take it up the chain!” This is what we want! We want this game to actually be worthy of our time and money! Give us answers and explanations, ask us questions, don’t just ghost us for an entire year and release an update whose only approval has been from a curated group of playtesters!

Or just keep ignoring your customers I guess.

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Yes, that’s why we’re getting Havoc changes, got the Sacrifice system added onto the crafting rework, got much-requested Ogryn overhaul, etc.

They’re just not saying/doing everything that anyone wants them to say/do.

We got an answer on solo mode in 2023: it’s not a priority. Not off the table completely, but nothing to count on. It’s more of a direct answer than anyone has ever gotten on mission select.

As always, I believe it’ll come. But not talking about what’s coming until it’s imminent has been FS’s mode for years and years now, long before DT.

We don’t need more Versus situations.

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gut feeling would tell me, through their cm’s and lower level employees, yes they are.

as well as the “higher ups” tend to stick to their plan/time table/vision whatever you wanna call it, no matter the critique or ideas presented and proven situations such as the crafting revamp could have saved is a good year of frustrations and maybe a larger player pool.

kinda of a “mom knows best” when moms idea of best isnt really resonating with her flock at all for numerous examples and the alternative went so much better in the end.

and its not that after trying a chance it’d be set in stone.

wasted time on the dev side as worst case for sure, still better than the alternative using those on your pay roll than missing out on revenue that provides for said pay roll in the first place, no?

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Thank you for your support in a solo game mode…

This topic can be added to the long list of same messages to Fatshark…

So Fatshark… when?

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Genuinely, I think there’s a disconnect between the developers and…the developers.

The core gameplay, visual immersion, and general capture of 40k feel in Darktide is great, and Fatshark as a studio has this down really well. These feel like they’re magnificently crafted by people with enthusiasm and interest in the subject.

It’s all the functionality, mechanics, and systems around that core gameplay and visual feast that suck. A narrative that never gets fleshed out and goes nowhere. A game economy with 4 different resources that ultimately are relatively meaningless at the endgame, sitting alongside a 5th Premium currency. Crafting systems built on Gacha RNG mechanics that took two years to get addressed, and still rely on RNG generation of stats and base items. Havoc with its de-ranking ladder that nobody asked for and serves no apparent purpose in a PvE Coop game that thought a Scoreboard generated too much toxicity. Tons of dramatically overcomplex talents/trees/weapon mechanics, etc.

It feels like outside the core gameplay elements, Darktide is managed and led by someone who genuinely does not understand what they’re developing and who they’re developing for, someone who has a deep RNG fetish and really likes to take elements from other titles and slap them into Darktide without really thinking how well they fit the product, and who really doesn’t like being told their ideas are bad.

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You have to understand that there are also technical (coding, build, engine) limitations that they probabbly can’t bypass or it would cost the so much that it simply doesn’t worth it.
That being said, rerolling maps and modifiers on Havoc by spending in game currencies would be nice…but is it possible to implement? Well, I’m not a dev so I don’t know, so my guess is maybe.

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What are you pointing out here? About solo game mode?
So modders would be better than the current developers?

Changing a number from 2 to 1 seems too difficult for you?

This is total nonsense. Close to Stockholm syndrome. Seriously, to explain Fatshark’s inaction, you are ready to find weird excuses. How could this game be different from ALL other games?

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you got some kind of beef with him?

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yes every bug i reported gets fixed in a couple of patches
crafting system was fixed
havoc deranks is getting reworked

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Not with him… but with reading such recurring arguments

Like the legend that Game Workshop would forbid Fatshark to allow us to recolor our cosmetics… absurb
Or, that it would be too difficult to implement it… it is already in game but the user cannot access it.

Really… all other similar games have a solo mode. THEY ANNOUNCED IT. So, sorry, no… I cannot accept that players invent excuses for Fatshark.

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Given there are mods that should be by default in the base game… Yeah, in some way.

Took them two years (locks in crafting), so apparently it is.

I’m not defending them, FYI.

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I would like to return to Havoc. But the rank decay - Leads to people showing resentment towards team mates whether party finder or discord, hell it happens between friends. Bit of anxiety as they see the rank tick down, when Auric is if you lose gg nt, no resentment. The whole party finder, request, await invite, slows things down as they inspect your build etc.

I said no problem currently Maelstrom and Auric will do, quick match make in and out. But now most random matches players are simply blowing past hordes and armor like knife through cheese with their respective classes anti-armour, mass cleave and AOE output. Players have got really better in Auric/Maelstrom generally it seems.

For those that do not want to engage with Havoc and it’s out of mission rank mechanics or party finder I wish there was addition of T6 missions for those casual jump in and out. Would be just spawn tweaking and new tiles on mission board, nice and easy.

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he never specified any feature
you just assumed..

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yup, it has been a persistent issue with the game since release.

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:+1: also something i’ve been saying all the time. havoc is such a complex solution to a simple problem.

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Acute observation. Feels like you’ve put into words what many players I know have felt ever since the beta.

To chip in a bit here, it’s not the first game where it feels like that to me. I believe it to be caused by the game being put into life support mode, where original directors (music, gameplay, writing etc.) are no longer working on it and inexperienced people have been placed in charge of creative direction of the game (inexperienced in the area, that is). It’s what happened to many other games such as eg. Killing Floor 2, where people who had the original vision are no longer in charge and those developing the game now do not share or understand it.

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No.

/Close topic

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Not even neccessarily inexperienced. Its pretty much standard practice since online games started that after a year or less after release the initial developement team moves on to another project while handing the game over to the “live” team. In many cases its even a good idea as the staff who create the initial game may not be the best at making necessary changes later. Both from a lack of experience and a “I made this so it doesn’t need fixing!” mindset. While the live team isn’t so emotionally invested etc. Of course all this requires that the people taking over not have their own issues and be willing to take feedback from as wide a section of players as possible and have clear, documented, directions.

Fatshark specifically, and game developers in general, just have massive issues admitting to when they screwed up. Its the whole rather risk burning the entire house down than admit ignorance about home repair mindset. And its repeatedly biten Darktide in the rear. Classic example is how they test (in the loosest sense of the word) their updates. Most games have test servers - permanent or temporary - where the entire playerbase can jump in to test updates and give feedback. Fatshark has a handpicked selection who just happen to have a certain highly toxic-to-game-health type grossly over-represented. Result? Havoc. Something the overwhelming majority of the player base didn’t want (we wanted less special spam, smarter/ better scripted opponents) but fit right in with the sweaty tryhard “meta or GTFO scrub” crowd. And if history is any indication its going to ultimately help kill Darktide by keeping new players from joining or staying once they hit that wall.

Frankly its amazing just how resistant humans can be to learning from past mistakes.

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Demonstrably yes. They just act on it vveeerrrrryyyyyyy slowly

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