To be clear, DRG does the exact same thing. Fatshark fails at FOMO, DRG doesn’t even try. You are completely free to drop the game and pick it back up anytime without missing anything huge. It respects your time.
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I think what he said there is a pretty rational take. I mean, even if it was the best game on Earth, many gamers would only play through once. I’ve seen a lot of people declare the game “finished” once they play each map once or once they hit level 30 with one character.
Most gamers are VERY casual. Expecting everyone to flip and go hardcore sweat just with one taste of your game is not realistic.
They had the exact same attitude with VT2 and most long-term fans are satisfied with that game’s long period of support.
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Sure, but, if you put down the hyperbole of “forever” and “constantly” and “everyone”, your VT2 point doesn’t support this attitude, imo.
One of the most common sentiments I see is when this game gets its hooks in you, you’re toast.
I have played this non stop in my measly almost 1000hrs. I know that is not an overly uncommon thing for people with even vastly more time.
Yet, my desire to play has only taken a dive off a cliff with the most recent state of the game (un)balance.
It also seems, through my time with DT and what I read of VT/2 players recounting, that FS doesn’t actually know why people love their games.
There are plenty of little things they could be doing between these “big updates” to keep things in a much better state of balance and freshness, if they’d just free the damn modifiers or actually start small tweaks quarterly (or more often).
I’m not asking for the world here.
But now I see that they aren’t even shooting for half that because they don’t believe or maybe even want players playing their game as a main.
The casual dollar will come and go regardless of what you’re doing for the rest of your dedicated base.
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First, they need to look in the dictionary and look up the word balance…
No point hoping for an update, if they don’t know what they are supposed to be doing in the first place.
I personally find it not as likely as you suggest. Arbitrators are a class people paid for, and nerfing it would have repercussions to the morale (and player retention) of many of those who bought it and would now feel cheated. Also, arbitrators are strong, yes, but they are also a class that is very well put together. It’s something FS should take as an example rather than distancing themselves from. I find it more likely that other class will see a rework before arbitrators are touched.
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Simple, leave the tree, but tweak some of the numbers.
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Player retention? The player count has already dropped to around 6,000, and Darktide only really sees a surge in activity for about two weeks after an update. After that, it quickly declines and falls below 10,000. Most casual players only come back for about two weeks to a month. The ones who play consistently are mostly core players, and many of them believe that Arbites is OP and needs to be nerfed. If everything gets buffed to match Arbites, Auric would just become Uprising, and Havoc—supposedly designed for the top 1% of elite players—would be reduced to the old Auric, diminishing its value. Right now, thanks to Arbites and Ogryn, Havoc titles like Havoc 40 are being handed out like a bargain sale, making them completely worthless.
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Too subtle, too nuanced. There is no balanced understanding of balance. People only see “muh viability” or “nerfed into the ground”.
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The only people that we can confidently believe are complaining about the arbitrator are forum users. And that’s just a fraction of the average daily players.
I’m not saying they are wrong. All I’m saying is that this is a textbook case of a very vocal minority that can be mistaken for the majority.
And again, unless every single one of them can consistently clear havoc 40, then I’d suggest them to focus on that goal rather than complaining about something, anything, being OP.
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Riiiight only havoc 40 should be balanced…
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You missed my point. What I’m saying is that unless you can clear the highest difficulty of the game consistently, then there’s still room for you to challenge yourself without resorting to nerfing anything.
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Nah I got your point it’s just wrong.
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And you have believed it? so cute if you have!
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My point is logic. Good luck disagreeing with that.
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Dumb logic, havoc isn’t a higher difficulty it’s a seperate gamemode with a very small playerbase that expect you to be a metaslave and requires the god awfull partyfinder to play. Your logic can easily be reversed against you by the way, nerf overpowered sh!t and people can lower the difficulty if they struggle afterwards.
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Dumb, but…one that we have, as of yet, no reason to think FS isn’t in agreement with.
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Sadly true
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Havoc IS a higher difficulty, on top of being everything you rightfully said.
And yes, technically speaking, nerfing something that is considered (by some, definitely. Many? Perhaps) OP could be countered by choosing lower difficulties. There is no arguing that.
But if the same players that complain about the arbitrators being OP are themselves not able to clear the highest difficulty of the game, then there’s a reasonable possibility that they are focusing on the wrong issue.
I’m not saying that the arbitrator is not OP. I’m just saying I think it’s hardly the main priority to address.
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In my opinion, Reddit is basically a gathering place for casual players. The fun posts like memes are great, but most of the users there are casual players. It’s impossible to have meaningful discussions about technical aspects or balance, so it’s of no real use. On the other hand, the players who participate in the official forums, including well-known streamers, are passionate about this game and often have thousands of hours invested in Darktide. I believe only those kinds of players truly have the right to discuss balance.
Of course, that doesn’t mean opinions from people who don’t fully understand gameplay should be ignored, like when they say, “This part could be improved,” or “This weapon should be buffed.” But in the end, it’s only the core players who participate in the forums that can actually weigh those ideas and discuss what the game should be.
Right now, everything has become far too powerful, and as a result, the importance of actual player skill has been almost entirely removed. The difficulty has collapsed, and players who aren’t at the appropriate level are attempting Auric or Havoc 40. Then they say the game is too hard and demand that everything be buffed instead of nerfed.
Listen, Havoc was designed for the very best of the best Darktide players. If you saw someone with the Havoc 40 title, it should have been so rare and impressive that you’d want to shout, “Hey everyone, there’s a Havoc 40 player here! We’ve already won this match!” That’s how precious it should have been.
But the reality is different. You see players going down just from random mobs in Auric, not even knowing where the Medicae Station is, failing to dodge a single Crusher’s attack, or prioritizing a downed player over a teammate caught in a Trapper’s net right beside them. Honestly, a lot of the time, I can’t help but wonder, are these people even in the right place, or are they basically still wearing a beginner’s mark?
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No it’s a separate gamemode (might aswell be different game) that is more difficult (depending on rank) if it was just a higher difficulty that I could just quickplay into and not sit around the party finder for 15 minutes everytime I wanna play then your suggestion to just play havoc would be more reasonable but it isn’t.
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