These games wants people to play for very long periods of time. They want people to stick around for months and years on end to buy as much of their DLC and MTX as possible. There are a variety of ways these various games have engineered to keep the interest of their players for as long as possible, and the biggest ones tend to be quite successful at it.
These types of games also have a lot of content to justify the rest, usually. This is not the case for Darktide and is part what of I believe the author of this post is hinting at. There is an inadequacy between the vision they have for the game and what it really offers.
That is, of course, another issue altogether. And one that many titles struggle also struggle with, though admittedly Darktide is on the worse end of that scale.
you’d be correct, if not the difference in those games to darktide.
in mmo’s who sometimes share equally bad dropchance’s for the topdog of weapons,
these items are usually better, & look way cooler
resulting in, actual worth having them from a gameplay perspective
and them being regarded as a prestige object, to show off.
both is not the case for DT, having a 550 is in actual gameplay in almost all cases is exactly the same as a 520.
and second to that having a 550item in DT isn’t a prestige item, you neither prove that you did X superhard dungoen 500 times nor does it look any different to a 200item nor does anybody notice you using them.
AND to top it off mmo’s in most cases have entire economies around gear, meaning items you don’t want or aren’t for you class can be traded.
pretending DT’s gameplay/systems support any form of “hard obtainable” items is utter nonsense.
i wasn’t trying to frame you differently to your actual standpoint, sorry if it sounded that way.
i was merely pointing these things out for others to follow.
Also, usually, these types of games are free-to-play and are not “premium” $40 dollar games released with collectors editions and sound tracks and other swag.
Fat Shark most likely has an executive who (falsely, and with all the problems glaring them in the face) that RNG is a player retention strategy.
“Well, if we take the locks off, and they get the weapons they want, they won’t have a goal, and they will finish their builds and leave!”
I know that’s crazy, you know that’s crazy, but there IS actual evidence that players need something to ‘work towards over time’ to keep logging in. Logging in for fun works for awhile, as long as there’s new content… but without new content, it’s going to get old.
In this case, the locks are doing much more harm then good because the main reason to play a game like this at all (once you know all the maps well) is to experiment with different builds.
If you can’t experiment because everything is locked behind rng… you leave. If you want to play challenging content and you can’t set up the build you need, you leave. If you just have your heart set on a perfect sword, and you can’t get it, you leave. If you had an almost perfect weapon and there’s one lock you can never removed in the way… you leave. As most of us already have. I did. I drop in from time to time to see if it’s fixed…
But someone, somewhere is like “No! Collecting the weapons is the only thing keeping the game alive! We have to keep the locks!!!”
They need to ID and kick whoever is in their way. Unless it’s the company’s owners, in which case they are screwed.
You clearly can see when decisions comes from non-gamers. Obviously people behind the core combat either play games themselves, or sit near people and watching them playing. But not people who are in charge.
Not just more content, it should be a completely different game to achive Fatshark intentions.
Deeper itemization system so more things for players they can progress and chase, for example:
weapon comes with more affixes, like 4 perks: 2 offensive slots and 2 for utility; 3 blessings: 2 offensive/1 utility; 2 locks for perks, 1 lock for blessing, bigger perk and blessing pools.
armor should have stats too (hp/toughness/stamina/dmg resist/move speed should be here for helmet/torso/boots)
trinkets should be reworked, like 1 offensive, 1 deffensive and 1 utility, yet again more perks and blessings needed. Blessings on curios should be like on weapon (like in V2), not stats. Maybe even it should be just 1 curio with 3 utility blessings (for nade, consumable and some another 1), they should bring back potion analogue (combat stims)
More important there should be a way to work with locks:
rare materials from doing quest lines/dailies/hardest missions or some small amount for logging in, so you can remove locks and upgrading stats. Or like merging wepaon system, let’s say you can’t change a stock or barrel by yourself, but Hadron can, here is your better gun from a fusing 2 guns.
And there should be more side goals so you can still play the game while resting from itemization loop at the same time. People need their “vocations” from “work towards” inside the game. Fatshark went on vocation 2 times since release, however they want to players work for a better gear, waiting map+difficulty they want (kinda fixed) to stay 24/7 online. They are forcing people, but not giving them reasons.
npc reputaion - do more quest for Hadron and she will give you fancy skins like augmetic arms, legs, eyes, etc, same for Melk, Marrow, Masozi etc. There should be more venodrs and interractable NPC’s aswell.
some non-combat activities like your own room on Morningstar you can decorate for example, damn put cybermastiff (customizable) there with pet option, pet a dog is OP moment in vidya.
Only then people will stay logged in as Fatshark want this game to be GaaS
The thing is, for a lot of people, easier access to a wider array of gear and builds effectively equates to more content. Changing your playstyle with different character setups can make it feel like a new game.
Like, the content is there, we’re just being gatekept away from it by an oppressive crafting system.
Dump the locks, fix chain weapons, ignore the shovel or give it a asymmetrical advantage like more grenades, undo half the nerfs, and then get everyone working on new content.
