First off, I’d like to say where I’m coming from.
The End Times: Vermintide is one of my most played games of all time, I remember after acquiring my last veteran item at about 600 hours and was at a loss, believing I would abandon the game as I was pretty much done with it, every mission/dlc mission done on all difficulties including solo runs, I intended to stop playing.
But then I discovered mods, and it gave me another 800 hours out of V1. Not only thanks to the cosmetic side of things with visual weapons, third person and quality of life mods related to UI and gameplay, but the mutators kept me playing enjoying the challenge and outrageous difficulty at times with mostly a laughter of hopelessness. It was then to my delight that V2 was announced, as at this point I naturally had become a big fan of fatshark, already a fan of warhammer, it was great to see more good games from the universe. So I supported the game, and despite my better judgement, I decided to pre order and support the upcoming sequel to a game I enjoyed a lot. I wanted it to be good, I wanted it done right, and I must admit, I gave Fatshark some blind faith. I’ve been a loyal fan to V1, purchasing every DLC because I craved more content to enjoy, and I did, so I really did believe that Fatshark had really taken in and learned from the lessons taught throughout V1s lifespan; but in V2’s current state, it seems not at all.
Now, only 2 months into V2’s lifespan and 380 hours, I am so fed up.
I am so tired of crashes, I am so tired of audio bugs(no announcements from specials, music on loop for 30 minutes, specials screeching forever after their death, dialogue, one of my favorite aspects of V1, is a complete mess and unbelievably inconsistent), I am so tired of performance issues, the problems are just stacking up to heights I never experienced in V1.
Crafting and its design flaws
Rerolling traits and properties
The End Times: Vermintide allowed you to reroll traits and unlock them using the same quality token that the item belonged to, so white, green, blue, orange, meaning the items you most consistently got from the difficulty you were playing, would allow you to mix and try new traits.
In Vermintide 2, this is not the case. In fact, as of right now, the game punishes you for playing higher difficulties. You wish to reroll properties and experiment with the variety of bonuses available and you’re a Legend player exclusivley? Drag yourself through lower difficulties for the opportunity to do so, or spend… an ungodly amount of time using the crafting systeym (which already is slow) to at random craft green items that you can then salvage.
It is apparent to me, that Vermintide 2 and its crafting design has gone BACKWARDS and become worse than its predecessor. It is as of right now, one of my biggest problems with the game, as I simply cannot experiment with different properties, I do not have access to enough green dust because I play more than one hero and career. Besides, I was already running out on my first hero.
Weapon Illusions
At first, this was something I welcomed but I now inherently dislike. In V1, weapon appearance was tied to the quality of the weapon, where as in V2, it is randomly added to an item you aquire.
This means, due to the random nature of the game, that some people are not going to see a decent skin for a weapon they like for ages, if any, and perhaps, not even the time they play the game before they quit. I believe this to be inherently disheartening, even boring to many as there are heroes and weapons I’ve played I’ve not seen skins for other than soldiers, Krubers Executioneers Sword being the example, and he is my 2nd most played hero.
Now, where to the topic where I am borderline disgusted by the advertisement of V2.
False/deceptive advertisement
Remember all those things promised?
Dedicated servers
An end to what many had issues with, host migration. One of the things that really stings, an unfair blow after great teamplay or a clutch, a game crahes or the host loses connection to the internet for a moment, and all is lost. The fun of cooperating, of pulling a clutch, it disappears in a second and you feel cheated.
We’re still waiting for an announcement, but we’re stuck waiting. Fatshark made a promise they did not hold, and are now having us wait with no information of when, where and how. They set their own deadline, and they could not keep it - and we are now left in the dark.
Mod Support
Mod support, is according to the recent newsletter close, but still lagging behind schedule and other than “soon”, we do not know.
Keep Decorations
Remember we were promised opportunities to actually display our accomplishments by decorating the keep? Perhaps for completing tough deeds on legend, something fancy and cool to be displayed somewhere? Yeah, no. And it is nowhere in sight.
And while on decorations, cosmetics for your heroes is just in a LAUGHABLE state right now, though it isn’t making me smile. 3 hats per hero, 1 per career, and in 380 hours, with hundreds of commedation chests opened, not a single one.
Not one.
Final thoughts
I really wish Vermintide 2 was released, advertised as early access. I’ve played early access games with fewer bugs and crashes than V2, and it being advertised as a ready release is really hurting the percetion of the game, not just for me, probably for other fans of the first game, and people completely new.
Thanks for reading, feedback and opinions very welcome.
( I wil edit spelling errors, feel free to point them out too. :>)
