How the Helldivers 2 Community Became Divided Over 24 Hours

hell divers 2 has been on top of the world for about a month now it cultivated a wonderful community of players who have congregated around the game they love a community filled with fan art memes and all sorts of creative projects as people talk in forums and Discord using in Universe Expressions that are now common to see all over the Internet with people wishing to spread freedom and democracy and all that wholesome positive funfilled environment collapsed over the span of a day the SE were planted earlier but it all happened on March 6th so let me tell you the story of how it went down and why this is such a sad event that we should all learn from so hi I'm mug th and I make videos about stuff I care about and first we have to give some context hell divers 2 released on February 8th after releasing it was so successful that servers couldn't keep up with the players leading to people unable to play the game and just waiting in queue for hours to get in and the game is is so good that people understood it and defended the developers and the community for the game quickly grew I've already gone in depth in other videos about how the combination of the game's Universe its Cooperative nature and how it's a game that places fun above everything else helped Foster this community that very much reflected those values found in the game well-meaning people kind generous that just wanted to have fun and share the love they have for this game with others I don't think I've ever used the hug and in the game without someone running up to hug me no matter the circumstances and it's important to mention that the developers themselves with figures like pet the CEO at Arrowhead also participated in this they engaged with the community interacting with tweets posting memes weighing in on discussions and even commenting on YouTube videos and it showed that they care that they're listening and they want to build the best game possible for all of us the back and forth has been facilitated by the structure of the game an Intergalactic Cooperative DND campaign of sorts with the game master known to all of us as Joel pulling strings as we the players fight for the freedom of the Galaxy in the name of super Earth there's new objectives every little bit for the entire player base where something specific must be achieved known as major orders there's smaller personal orders and emergencies to take care of that unite the player base in a common goal and a bit of role play every time a you tweet or Discord message went out with news or a major order Millions would view it thousands would interact with it and hundreds would post their own fun replies generating even more engagement and the perception of what I believe this community is a group of people who don't take it too seriously and just want to have fun but Paradise may be promised but never delivered this is where we reach what I believe to be the match to start the fire a Reddit post with someone commenting on how they'd been kicked from a Lobby for not running the load out people consider optimal in the game namely the rail gun and Shield Pack this post got traction as people argued over it and debated and it spread Twitter accounts would reframe it and repost it generating engagement YouTubers would make videos about it while in many cases being the same people that defined said Meta Even the CEO commented on it on Twitter formerly known as X the war had begun The Meta was here people were furious at the idea that a game where fun is Paramount was now home to people who only cared about repeating missions optimally to the point of kicking out those who didn't do as they believed best others defended this saying that it's only normal even if the game is a co-op game where Stakes aren't high that people would prefer to win and gravitate towards whatever were the strongest options and this debate sat in the background and simmered until March 5th the arrival of Mech the EXO suits that had been teased as the new strategems that were coming soon and the announcement had everyone excited the planet of Tian Kuan would be making these in Universe before they were implemented in the game but it would soon be under attack and need to be liberated before the new feature was unlocked a wholesome almost MMO like event to unite the community in fighting for a highly anticipated new part of the game and then on March 6th the first balance patch was released if you know the specifics you don't need them from me but the gist of it is that the precious equipment that defined The Meta had been gutted the rail gun was half as powerful slower and now dangerous The Shield Pack was also less safe the patch brought other Buffs to other weapons but it completely shifted the point of balance for the game and didn't buff anything to the same power level as the rail gun it brought other changes like a fix for armor to actually matter and effect players people suspected that there were other changes that hadn't been documented specifically around the number of enemies and the difficulty of them but the feeling in the community specifically those on the three highest difficulties was clear the game is less fun less manageable and the balance is off many debated why was it just the rail gun keeping everything in check were the enemies buffed with this patch what should be done to compensate for this many complained about those who complained calling them meta slaves relying on their meta crutches to play the game in a way that isn't intended removing difficulty from the equation and associating them with that one story of people who kick out other players or not doing as they say the community quickly devolved into people complaining about the balance patch and then other people complaining about those complaining and then finally people defending themselves by complaining about the people who complain about the complaints and I think you get the point there were more smaller changes that weren't actually told to the community in the patch notes something that might have been an Easter eggs some fun Community interaction before once revealed in the middle of this Raging Fire led to even more negative feedback and backlash what would have been received as cheeky fun was received with apprehension and distrust towards the developers and as Reddit and Discord were Ablaze and people ran to try and Define a new meta quote unquote the bomb would finally go off the developers would respond a couple of developers would stir the pot specifically and answer the community with resentment they implied that players complaining were bad at the game and needed a wakeup call that the Nerfs weren't as bad as people said that the game was fine and the community didn't know what they were talking about some even said that they enjoyed watching the community cry it was a meaton the Flames climbed higher and higher a community that represented to me the best of gaming was engulfed in flames over 24 hours pad would address the comments from Developers and apologies would be made parts of the community would attempt calls to understanding and comprehension calls for civility from all sides While others now convinced would stand on the sides calling for developers to be fired saying the game was now doomed to fail after this first patch and that in general all the developers were clueless and had no idea what to do with their game other parts of the community would try to appeal to the feelings present in the month prior wholesome memes and glorious democracy instead of the constant fighting and so as tensions calm down the developers announce a new balance hot fix addressing one of the main Solutions the community proposes to deal with the new state of the game that the problem had always been the spawn rates of bigger heavy armor enemies that required the rail gun and the total HP of them these are now being modified and the Swift response by the devs is a reminder that they are always listening and it has quelled some anger but most of it remains even if under the surface even if it will eventually subside the hell diver subreddit set up a mega thread for ranting inventing and people have refocused on the liberation of tianquan to unlock the mechs and having unlocked them we're now busy playing with them and of course people complaining about the balance of the mechs but time will tell how this event will affect the relationship between the players and the developers between the players and the game and that's more or less where we are now but I want to offer some of my own insight into all of this because In the Heat of the Moment a lot of things can be forgotten In the Heat of an argument many things can be said that we wouldn't normally say this unfortunate situation is one that I hope does not hurt the soul of this community we are lucky to have a game that we love and developers who care and listen the developers are lucky to have a community that loves their game so much as to talk about it want it to improve and build wonderful things around it this relationship is one that I hope grows I hope that the community grows and that the game itself grows as well and that we can all enjoy it more together so I know people are going to hate me for even having an opinion but I feel like any feedback that comes from a place of positivity is worth listening to there are many regrettable things here the behavior of a lot of the community the behavior of the developers with some inexcusable responses and even people praising the developers on that behavior elsewhere and at the end of the day like any live service it's not going to be perfect and part of the fun is meant to be discovering new ways to play and keep the game fresh I currently think the game is in a good spot maybe not as good as before for many reasons but the mechs have helped and made the game feel fresh while offering a nice way to take down the heavily armored enemies that pose so much of a problem in balance at the moment and that that is going to be tested or taken care of hopefully and there's new weapons coming in a war bond very soon knee-jerk reactions and hostility are to be expected not just from the community but from any human being and I hope this doesn't become a trend in this game feedback open lines of communication and yes even reactionary takes but from a place of respect are all good for the game since it helps it improve but these sorts of things lead to famously Shu in developers that never communicate about their games and that is bad we need more communication but without the veil of negativity around it so I hope the developers who have been scared away from interacting with the community put in the work to return and continue to Foster that great atmosphere since at the moment it feels like there's a dark cloud around the discourse of this game and that will eventually go away but I don't want it to ever return we need better patch notes less aggressive language from the devs less hatred towards them from the community and especially overall less infighting as the great Ryan Reynolds once said divided we are broken and United We Are strong I'm sure he said that at some point as much as I believe that a lot of the criticism towards the patch and the state of the game is warranted I also think the rail gun Nerf is a good thing these are just stages in the life of an Ever evolving game but that doesn't mean that a community should lose its Good Vibes over literally everything becoming a tribalist sidak argument that takes over that Community as High School Musical once said we're all in this together against Joel so I've been Muk Thief that that's your recap of the situation a little time capsule for posterity of this hopefully insignificant event in the history of Hell divers 2 and hopefully a beacon of positivity for the community as well if you like the video remember to like the video or you will be branded a traiter subscribe for more stuff on all sorts of games and if you're not sure check out the channel maybe that'll convince you as always I will see you again very soon

Channel: Mugthief

Views: 11,583

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Id: Zxh8D1JMZxY

Length: 11min 56sec (716 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 09 2024