# Open Letter to our players

**URL:** <https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874>\
**Category:** Announcements\
**Tags:** devpost\
**Created:** [January 24, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874 "2023-01-24T19:00:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 18

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**Author:** ![nemy123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e4f/32.png) [@nemy123](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/nemy123)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 9:52am UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/348 "2024-01-05T09:52:20Z")

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> [@Ragnarok101](#):
>
> Oof. Sorry to disappoint. But Fatshark only apologizes once Steam reviews hit Mostly Negative.

I see you’ve already played game of Fatshark before.

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**Author:** ![MunKy](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/munky/32/72010_2.png) [@MunKy](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/MunKy)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 10:18am UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/349 "2024-01-05T10:18:31Z")

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Despite everything, I still am! 🤡

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**Author:** ![Kurt](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/kurt/32/57465_2.png) [@Kurt](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/Kurt)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/350 "2024-01-23T14:02:02Z")

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Happy 1 year anniversary! 🤗

I’m really glad you’ve adressed all of the given points of your open letter!

Oh wait… We neither got a more rewarding progression loop, better game stability & optimization nor did we get any real seasonal content.

Oh but we got the Xbox release and new cosmetics! So that’s something 🙂

Edit: Ooops the anniversary is tomorrow ☹ I guess that means bad luck to fatshark

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**Author:** ![Ragnarok101](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/ragnarok101/32/78147_2.png) [@Ragnarok101](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/Ragnarok101)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/351 "2024-01-23T14:31:25Z")

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Darktide was my first. If I’d known about this company beforehand, I would not have purchased this game.

> [@Kurt](#):
>
> I’m really glad you’ve adressed all of the given points of your open letter!
> 
> Oh wait… We neither got a more rewarding progression loop, better game stability & optimization nor did we get any real seasonal content.
> 
> Oh but we got the Xbox release and new cosmetics! So that’s something 🙂

It is kinda impressive that despite an entire _year_ to fix things, they somehow have consistently failed to do so.

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**Author:** ![MunKy](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/munky/32/72010_2.png) [@MunKy](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/MunKy)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/352 "2024-01-23T14:52:39Z")

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> [@Ragnarok101](#):
>
> Darktide was my first. If I’d known about this company beforehand, I would not have purchased this game.

If its any consolation, they will eventually most likely fix things mostly properly somewhere down the line out of the blue.

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**Author:** ![Macharia](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/macharia/32/71061_2.png) [@Macharia](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/Macharia)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 9:38am UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/353 "2024-01-24T09:38:52Z")

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Sooo… The anniversary is today! Let’s celebrate the first birthday of the Open Letter together with @FatsharkCatfish ! A whole year wasted!  
Ah, it’s clear that Fatshark lives on another planet, where time (and respect towards their players) have a completely different meaning…

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**Author:** ![Lt.DavinFelth](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/lt.davinfelth/32/63279_2.png) [@Lt.DavinFelth](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/Lt.DavinFelth)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 10:00am UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/354 "2024-01-24T10:00:22Z")

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You gave me hope and then you crushed it…  
I was sure they’ve penned new Open Letter but it was just you, you karking grave digger!

![You Heartless Bastard Michael Chertoff Sticker - You Heartless Bastard Michael Chertoff South Park Stickers](https://media.tenor.com/fwpPOSdJ5QwAAAAi/you-heartless-bastard-michael-chertoff.gif)

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**Author:** ![se05239](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/se05239/32/115181_2.png) [@se05239](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/se05239)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/355 "2024-01-24T17:35:26Z")

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Crushed like Fatshark’s promises.

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**Author:** ![TheyMikeBeGiants](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/theymikebegiants/32/75314_2.png) [@TheyMikeBeGiants](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/TheyMikeBeGiants)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/356 "2024-04-02T15:32:21Z")

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Came back here to look at this letter and see how closely we’ve cleaved to statements made at this time.

Hmm.

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**Author:** ![Molonious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Molonious](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/Molonious)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/357 "2024-04-02T16:06:45Z")

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The same issues from Launch are still the same issues now, and it’s mind-boggling. Crafting and progression are still bleeding open sores on the face of the game, the RNG slot-machine fetish a C-suite or Dev manager is afflicted with is as entrenched as it ever was, and it’s clearly still not something FS seemingly wants to acknowledge or talk about in any way.

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**Author:** ![anon73549677](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/da6949/32.png) [@anon73549677](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/anon73549677)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/358 "2024-04-02T16:09:10Z")

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> [@Molonious](#):
>
> the RNG slot-machine fetish a C-suite or Dev manager is afflicted with is as entrenched as it ever was, and it’s clearly still not something FS seemingly wants to acknowledge or talk about in any way.

Lol yea except for saying this less than a month ago:

> [@What's coming up in Darktide](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/whats-coming-up-in-darktide/92572/1):
>
> Following this, we are working on an overhaul of our current itemisation process. With the new system we want to remove a lot of the unpredictable grind that came from an RNG heavy system whilst giving players more agency and a steady manner to progress toward specific loadouts, blessings, and stats refinement.

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**Author:** ![Molonious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Molonious](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/Molonious)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/359 "2024-04-02T16:16:55Z")

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Slightly rewording a statement from months old copy-pasta doesn’t count.

> **[Darktide: Crafting in Darktide](https://www.playdarktide.com/news/crafting-in-darktide)**
>
> Nov 25, 2022

> We have learned a lot from our previous choices and gameplay surrounding crafting offered within the Vermintide series. For Darktide we wanted to take those lessons to expand and improve in such a way that crafting would become a central pillar of player progression, while giving more impact and agency to you, the player in your preferred playstyle.
> 
> The nature of randomization and repetitive actions sometimes seen within crafting is something that we are steering to avoid in the crafting system within Darktide. Meaningful choices will be made with strategy and goals behind them, as you set your eyes upon that perfect combination of melee and ranged weapons for your class.

Especially when you then proceed to miss the deadline you gave everyone for releasing news and updates, and especially a year and a half after release at this point.

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**Author:** ![anon73549677](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/da6949/32.png) [@anon73549677](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/anon73549677)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/360 "2024-04-02T16:17:24Z")

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So they did acknowledge it but it doesn’t count zzzzzz

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Molonious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Molonious](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/Molonious)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/361 "2024-04-02T16:23:57Z")

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A single line that’s almost word for word identical to what FS has said repeatedly said before, failed to live up to, and again fail to follow up on, it’s hard to see where it matters.

Unless you want to get _real_ deep into some useless “well ackshually” and “technically correct”, but nothing of value was added to the conversation in any way.

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**Author:** ![TheyMikeBeGiants](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/theymikebegiants/32/75314_2.png) [@TheyMikeBeGiants](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/TheyMikeBeGiants)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 5:52pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/362 "2024-04-02T17:52:12Z")

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Sure but they said they were gonna “overhaul” crafting before and all they did was give us Brunt’s and shuffle around the locks a little bit. They didn’t fix, or overhaul, anything.

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**Author:** ![anon73549677](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/da6949/32.png) [@anon73549677](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/anon73549677)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/363 "2024-04-02T17:58:22Z")

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It remains to be seen what they’ll do with crafting through this new effort. But saying they refuse to acknowledge or talk about crafting/RNG in any way is just not true. We’ve been told it’s a focus of ongoing/upcoming development. We’ll see if what they cook up satisfies everyone.

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**Author:** ![JaynSilver](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/jaynsilver/32/37639_2.png) [@JaynSilver](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/JaynSilver)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/364 "2024-06-14T21:36:58Z")

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I have to ask… How’s those open letter promises coming along?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ragnarok101](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/ragnarok101/32/78147_2.png) [@Ragnarok101](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/Ragnarok101)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/365 "2024-06-14T23:19:20Z")

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1. ‘Complete’ crafting system: kinda fulfilled. It’s a dogsh\*t system but it is ‘complete’.
2. ‘More rewarding progression loop’: partially at best fulfilled. The penance update _helps_, but without the crafting rework it’s not _progression_. Just cosmetics.
3. ‘Game stability and performance optimization’: Not really. Game for some is more unstable than when it started. The spawn increases post Patch 13 have murdered the audio cue system.
4. ‘Seasonal content rollout’: Well I guess that got delayed into nonexistence. They did get the Xbox port out.

Our feedback continuing to shape the game? Not that we’ve seen. In fact it seems like they’ve _completely ignored_ feedback. Particularly feedback pertaining to monetization.

So at best around 40% complete about a year and a half on.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dragomusic](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/dragomusic/32/77374_2.png) [@dragomusic](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/dragomusic)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/366 "2024-06-14T23:56:54Z")

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> [@Ragnarok101](#):
>
> ‘More rewarding progression loop’: partially at best fulfilled. The penance update _helps_, but without the crafting rework it’s not _progression_. Just cosmetics.

Class rework is arguably part of this. Since now every level up until level 30 gives you a talent point to spend, instead of the old system that was every 5 I believe?

Additionally there are now more crafting material drops, and more docket rewards since the introduction of the auric board, and heretical idols providing a plasteel bonus. Alongside the penances that you’ve mentioned.

Ofc a large part of progression is fundamentally tied to weapons, so we’ll have to wait and see for that ig. However it does suck that practically all the weapons you get before level 30 are complete trash for Damnation enemies.

> [@Ragnarok101](#):
>
> ‘Game stability and performance optimization’: Not really. Game for some is more unstable than when it started. The spawn increases post Patch 13 have murdered the audio cue system.

In general I would disagree, with 2 exceptions. 1 is the audio system. The other is the memory leak issue which I believe was also introduced in patch 13.

However all other crashes for me have stopped happening, especially the ones that were common around the time this letter was sent.

However I do know people who still have weird stutter issues introduced with the penance update which would be another point against it.

Edit: I say however too much

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ragnarok101](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forums.fatsharkgames.com/ragnarok101/32/78147_2.png) [@Ragnarok101](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/u/Ragnarok101)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 4:05am UTC](https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/open-letter-to-our-players/73874/367 "2024-06-15T04:05:28Z")

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> [@dragomusic](#):
>
> Class rework is arguably part of this. Since now every level up until level 30 gives you a talent point to spend, instead of the old system that was every 5 I believe?
> 
> Additionally there are now more crafting material drops, and more docket rewards since the introduction of the auric board, and heretical idols providing a plasteel bonus. Alongside the penances that you’ve mentioned.
> 
> Ofc a large part of progression is fundamentally tied to weapons, so we’ll have to wait and see for that ig. However it does suck that practically all the weapons you get before level 30 are complete trash for Damnation enemies.

See, my problem is that the progression didn’t fundamentally change.

It’s still just ‘get to 30, then encounter the RNG wall’.

The class rework is _good_ but it’s not enough to fulfill the loop.

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