So I have seen a lot of grumbles on forums recently about releases or balance etc and it made me think about the time I was happiest in DT …and if we all chime in with the time we liked it best then it might offer some valuable insight to the devs.
What time were you happiest with DT and why?
After much consideration I believe the time I was having the most fun in DT was when the Path of Redemption penance system released. Having that rewards timeline with nice cosmetics to work towards was ace, and all those new penances gave me so much purpose in the game and forced me out of my comfort zone to move to different classes again. It had me glued to the screen like a Tox Gas addict.
It felt like a really solid and meaty update.
I also loved it when Glorianna and Dark Communion released as new maps are super refreshing.
when carrying peeps by yourself was the metric of the hardest content and not some mandatory talents/weapons against rainbow colored buffs that “needs” other classes.
coop or not if the game shoehorns you away from personal leeway and agency it aint my idea of “fun”
Yeah whilst I ‘mostly’ enjoy the challenging gameplay of Havoc (and detest the demotion system) I will be surprised if anyone says post-havoc has been their favourite time.
I do remember when Auric felt as difficult as a fairly high havoc mission though. Having that level of challenge on the main board again is essential IMO. Auric is too easy now.
I was looking through old videos and came across yours… haha.
Personally, I think Darktide was genuinely challenging and the difficulty actually felt meaningful before the skill tree was implemented. Of course, back then, the skill tree didn’t exist, so there were fewer choices in terms of variety. Still, Caparaces didn’t appear in overwhelming numbers like they do now, and players could freely use their preferred weapons to a greater extent.
Gold Toughness also didn’t exist, so if you lacked skill, you would easily fall and die. Unlike today, beginners couldn’t be carried simply by spamming Chorus or Smite, and matches rarely paired players with others whose skill didn’t match the difficulty. Everyone seemed to have the level of skill appropriate for the challenge.
On Veteran, revolvers and bolt guns were the meta, but at least Ogryns had a meaningful role as tanks. In my opinion, Gold Toughness is extremely harmful to the game and really shouldn’t exist.
but yeah, the less tools you had the more it had to be you, your aim, movement, overall skill instead of some fancy numbers or space magic that does the job for you.
and it was “better”
all this idea of “variation” and different classes/options when in essence the thing that should “vary” is peoples approach to the game in terms of knowledge, experience and how to deal with obstacles instead of getting lifted above them.
only to realize “this is boring, I want harder content”
that stuff had to go, but again people nowadays aren’t happy playing the game from the getgo, they’re conditioned to want the hamster wheel as a sense of progress and accomplishment when in the age of quake you got all the essential tools at the start and needed to earn the physical experience to use it.
aka rocketjumps, strafe jumping etc, which in essence parted the wheat from the chaff.
not arbitrary “levels” or penances, portraits etc but actual skill
I have always enjoyed the game. I don’t know if I enjoyed the game slightly more in the past, since humans tend to always view the past through the nostalgic lense, forgetting all the bad stuff, but I do have nostalgic feelings about the early days of the game where I was still learning the game and getting each base class to level 30.
But if you actually look at the things objectively, Darktide has never, ever been a perfect game. It’s always been something, lack of content and features, huge server issues (first winter break) and gamebreaking bugs like poxhounds being near-invulnarable in the early days, lack of decent weapon system, and now it’s balance and lack of difficult content. I don’t remember a single time period where most people were “happy” with the game.
My favorite time was probably first anniversary update with 2 new maps in a carnival zone, Twins fight, stimms, more weapon marks etc. They just added so much for that update, and they still haven’t done a better update since in my opinion. While crafting update was god-tier too, by that point I’ve already had all the perfect versions of every weapon I wanted, so crafting update did little for me personally.
The first time after the new skill tree feels the best, it was a very extensive update that allowed for much greater gameplay variability, +8 new classes right away.
Veteran’s golden shield had a much slower recharge rate and definitely wasn’t the most popular choice like today. + I also remember how Plasma took away health when actively cooling and had no cleave, considered an extreme-situational weapon for eliminating dangerous targets, not spammable at all.
Zealot Relic didn’t stun bosses. At least for a while between patches. But isn’t it fun to knock a boss off a bridge? I think, to be fair, only the last impulse should do that.
DS was only available to psykers and could still be super-effective, but psykers were fragile. Scrier’s gaze was such a skill-dependent active skill that it was extremely rare to encounter a player with it.
And Ogryn got Rock and Nuke, that was super fun
Because having a goal is just better IF core gameplay is good enough, especially in PvE, than not having it. Diablo 2 was in the same era as arena shooters. People are still playing D2, meanwhile arena shooters with “pure gameplay” died naturally.
There planty of high paced games nowdays with movement shmovement, crazy techs and nuances, like Deadlock for example. The problem is oneday you will reach skill plateau, and it will become a ratrace full of frustration.
But casually playing for a new cool helmet, or gain +10 to max HP, will be always satisfying if there is a feeling you earned it throgh a fair time investement.
RPG elements and progression leaked into other genres was the best thing ever. I speak it as a boomer. It’s just devs use those things as a manipulation and player retention mechanism.
This is why I refer to it as the Most Holy Patch 13; it felt like the game had moved towards a point where it should have been for launch despite still needing a lot of work to be done still. I think post-Patch 13 was the high point for me as well. I still play but I do so less and less now. Even with the recent update I’ve not played that much and the lack of new missions and story is making replaying all of the other maps yet again is pushing me away. I probably just need a break and then come back and get bitten by the addictive gameplay loop again.
speak for yourself, I really don’t need a carrot dangling to keep me playing.
nothing I haven’t done in old games since decades and I’m still enjoying them.
clearly different strokes, besides its the 40k theme that keeps me here.
no other design comes even close or hits home like that, pure mechanics in a sterile plastic environment aint cutting it either
while they are still around its a small community that plays it and for the very reason that you either need to invest years of experience as a newcomer or a rigid regular training schedule as a “pro” to maintain in a pleasant spot.
and while I still enjoy shutting up loudmouthing wannabes from work and make em wonder why the “old guy” flies through the maps like a squirrel on crack, I know very well my competitive years are behind me.
still, darktides gameplay loop is more than enough to keep me coming back for the gameplay sake.
