The Valkyrie Drop Ship is kind of a downer

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide General Discussion
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TLDR: There’s just something sullen and boring about the rejects in the dropship and I think it could be better.

Let me just start out saying this is a minor cosmetic thing, I get that.

I’ve always been struck by the Valkyrie dropship scene. It’s got a vibe, for sure. But I think it’s the wrong vibe for this game.

Everyone looks bored, or like they’re going to their own execution. Like condemned criminals waiting in their cell for the guards and the priest to come get them.

That’s on brand for what this game is, but it starts off the mission with this weird despondent vibe.

Our characters are warriors, right? Their mission is against improbable odds, they’re risking their lives and their souls and they ****ing hate heretics.

They shouldn’t be sitting there like they’re waiting for a doctor’s appointment. Or like they’re a bored teenager in a class they hate. Or that they’re contemplating what might be their last day alive.

They should be getting psyched up! They should be doing their pre-battle rituals, whatever those might be. They should be getting ready to fight, not relaxing in a moment of calm.

The Sharpshooter should be checking their weapon over or loading up a magazine with ammo by hand.

The Zealot should be pounding their fist into their palm, or be praying to the Emperor.

The Psyker should be channeling little bits of warp energy between their hands, or obviously meditating.

The Ogryn should be clenching and un-clenching their fists or eating some snack. (The finger counting is still funny as hell and should stay in.)

I get new animations yadda yadda, it’s work. But it’s one of those small aesthetic improvements that I think would make the game feel less anticlimatic at times.

I suppose you could just add these and further randomize what animations characters can play. But I think it’d be tonally a little weird to have 3 rejects chilling out while one is actually doing something. Other than the Ogryn, I don’t feel like any of those animations have a lot of value. They’re a decent spread of well animated neutrality. And that’s just not what I expect to see in a dropship heading into a suicide mission. Show them getting psyched up for a fight, and get us psyched up for a fight.

3 Likes
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I agree u should be able to have ur own animations and epicness to customize but they will probably make it so that you have to purchase them for real money xD fail

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That would suck, to me. This isn’t one of those things I think should be monetized. It should just be better. Although I’m sure someone over there is like “Never thought about monetizing that bit, thanks!”

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Absolutely not, I can bite my lip and pay a small sum for new classes and/or cosmetics you have ON your character (or animations that are shown more often than during a load screen), but a little thing like that should be 100% free.

Ok, they are trying to make money and I get that, but what I think they need more is player retention right now. It’s in early stages of the release and a lot of core ‘features’ need to be addressed.

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They’re all waiting for the shop to refresh.

1 Like
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Being boring until it’s not is pretty much exactly military service.

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Fair. But this isn’t sitting on a troop ship for weeks at at time. This is combat drop imminent.

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There’s still some of that on combat drops, but Warhammer is its own endless war thing so who knows lol

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Yeah in RL only actual psychopaths are pumped to maybe get killed. In 40k, that % is a lot higher.