But this is exactly what they’re doing. They do listen to the community.
Flamer and Powersword nerfs were entirely community demanded.
As were many other changes in this game’s lifecycle thus far - Some good, some bad.
A short list:
Summary
→ “Need to seriously consider nerfing flamer”
Views: 2400
Responses: 221
Thread with many players arguing for the Flamer to be nerfed. Quite the heated debate.
Link: Need to seriously consider nerfing flamer
→ “Nerf the flamer already”
Views: 982
Replies: 55
Another thread where people carry on endlessly about the plights of the Flamer. There was very little resistance to the arguments.
Link: Nerf the flamer already
→ “Powersword makes all other melee weapons, as well as Zealot and Ogryn, irrelevant”
Views: 7600
Replies: 378
One of the oldest nerf threads and one of the very first that cropped up on the Darktide forums.
Link: Powersword makes all other melee weapons, as well as Zealot and Ogryn, irrelevant
→ “Please BALANCE weapons”
Views: 3500
Replies: 140
Thread where OP lobbies for nerfs, in particular the Powersword and the Bolter. This one even predates the previous thread, but it did have less traction overall.
Link: Please BALANCE weapons
→ “Balance feedback from a top 0.3% player”
Views: 3100
Replies: 73
Thread where OP claims to be a top tier Tide Veteran. He makes a list going over every class and some loadouts and makes a number of suggestions on what to change - You guessed it, mostly nerfs to everything. He wrote in particular one paragraph for the Powersword and the Surge Staff each. Also suggested the Psyker to be way too strong. Psyker nerfs originated likely here:
Link: Balance feedback from a top 0.3% player
Essentially, these changes were asked for by the Community.