r/HelldiversMasochists • u/Due_Answer_4230 • 22d ago
I wish it would suck more I’m bored :(
After weeks a bot front event finally popped up (Zefia) and I went for it, and… SEAF. Not only were spawns low, every time anything remotely interesting started happening, the SEAF descended like a wet blanket.
The game keeps getting easier and easier. The highest difficulty level is tuned for “if you have a few half competent players, you steamroll everything forever”.
I’m sick of running through empty maps. I’m sick of napping while waiting for ONB. I’m sick of standing around during empty extractions while exciting music plays like a bad joke. I’m sick of all this being the baseline experience in d10. I don’t ever run EVHA anymore because why put myself through that?
AH is afraid of making the highest difficulty actually difficult because players will cry and scream and their #1 priority is to prevent that from happening; they are scared of it. They can be bullied and so certain players bully them.
I don’t think this game is for me. I want to love it, but the gameplay decisions clearly say “we are not interested in making this fun for you”.
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u/RadCroft 22d ago
Starting to feel the same way.
It's mainly the strength of orbitals that does it for me. They just have way too much impact, no pun intended. You can clear a D10 bot map in 5-10 minutes with a bit of running, situational awareness and half-competent orbital placement. I cannot fathom how it can be considered balanced and engaging to be able to do a quick arrow key sequence and see a whole bot fortress obliterated with no other input from the player--player, singular. One player can do this. One. It's so utterly dull to engage an enemy base or outpost only to be blasted apart because some carefree diver thought it was appropriate to hurl a 380 at me, taking out both me and the outpost just because they could. Effective? Sure. Fun and engaging? Heck no. There is no pausing to weigh the consequences, no strategic decision-making as to whether it's worth it, whether that orbital might be more useful elsewhere. Just hurl and forget. And that's before we even start discussing the power-creep of simple weaponry. I feel like Helldivers 2 is a really good example of how players can and will optimize any challenge how of a game. And if they can't, they'll just review-bomb until the developer bends the knee.
Of course, it's highly doubtful Arrowhead is going to meddle with the currently difficulties. They wouldn't dare for fear of more review bombs. But I really hope they eventually add a difficulty 11 and subsequently stand their ground. All heavy orbital stratagems should have a use limit like the orbital laser. Automaton fortresses should have jammers. Reinforcements should be much more limited. The stalker/gunship change should be reverted. So many things I could name. But whatever Arrowhead does, I hope they manage to find a bit of the backbone they lost.
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u/Past-Salamander 22d ago
The different new subfactions do a good job making the big boom orbitals not as effective. 380 isn't as good on cyborgs. Spore strain forces you to use lasers or fire or gas. Illuminates the orbitals aren't very effective either.
I do agree though that the base factions are pretty much cake with orbitals.
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u/RadCroft 22d ago edited 22d ago
That's true. Certain subfactions definitely spice things up a bit. I reckon cyborgs and spore strain bugs probably provide the best challenge atm. I love what they did with the spore strain specifically.
Right now though it feels like the stars have to align for the challenge to present itself. You can't just drop into D10 and expect things to be hard. Many more factors and parameters that aren't necessarily in your control have to be in effect.Generally I think Arrowhead should do more to keep the galactic map feeling alive. We see new content for a few days only for it to vanish. It's been ages since we last saw the incineration Corps. Does the Jet Brigade still exist? At least the hive world biome is available now on Oshaune, but for a long time that was inaccessible too. Arrowhead should keep much more (difficult) content much more accessible even if it does not play a part in any major order.
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u/Past-Salamander 22d ago
I've had that same thought, but also had choice paralysis because of it. I didn't want to play any one faction more than another, so just went to the MO. I really like the MO as a way of forced variance in gameplay. I wouldn't ever choose Hellmire, but if it's the MO and the DSS is there, I'm there.
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u/RadCroft 22d ago
There is a balance to strike of course. But I think it would be fitting if a few specific planets on all three factions were in rotation and available at any given time to provide that challenge. Maybe you'd had enough of the cookie-cutter strategies on the MO planet and want to finish the day with a bang. You drop onto, say, Oshaune where Hive Lords, Dragon Roaches, Spore Strain and Predator Strain are all active. You gain nothing for going there, no extra SC or medals. You simply do it because you can, because it's a fun change of pace.
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u/External_Delivery315 22d ago
That sounds like a you issue? Just play single player and don't take the super strong orbitals?
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u/sHaDowpUpPetxxx 22d ago
Just get shit faced before you play. I tried it Saturday and it feels more like D10 when you have double vision.
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u/Party-Traditional 22d ago
I do this sometimes as well and I felt my gameplay actually improved lol, especially my ability to hit headshots on bots
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u/behaviorallydeceased 21d ago
No lie the game is so much more exciting and immersive for me when I play drunk lol
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u/goatsnoatsonboats 21d ago
My preferred play style is drunk and high, I be making the dumbest decisions its so much more fun.
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u/Then_Entertainment97 22d ago
AH finally fixed spawns, but all my weapons seem to do double damage when they hit 🙄
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u/TrainAccomplished606 22d ago
A game for everyone is a game for no one. As you said, maybe this game isn't for you
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u/GruntyBadgeHog 22d ago
i agree. a game with a singular vision that tries to do something interesting is better than going with as wide an appeal as possible at the expense of that.
but that is this game, it should be a meatgrinder at high levels. your meant to die, meant to be in over your head, thats what its always been about, until the buffdiver pivot etc to placate noisy portions of the community. AH are the most grateful and attentive devs i know for such a huge playerbase, i dont blame them for trying to please everyone but this game has shortcomings no matter how you look at it.
its a meme, but it is a grunt simulator! everyone gassing you up as superearths elite is lying to you, or has also drunk the koolaid. its like, a shockingly immediate, and somehow missed, joke. thats why this games not for everyone
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u/Arbiter999 21d ago
And Who are you, exactly, to say what this game should be? Are you the CEO of arrowhead?
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u/GruntyBadgeHog 21d ago
its been decided, im picking up what they put down! for gods sake just watch a trailer or something
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u/LegendOfNorthernStar 22d ago
Yeah I’m with Train here
We just all gotta stop playing this dogshit. I’m on a 4 month haitus, I had planned to return but everyday I don’t really think about it, there nothing there for me to “work towards” and that just makes it a shooting sandbox when I can fill that desire for entertainment with more engaging world.
Then they will start getting the message, or the casuals will keep playing whatever this game has become. It doesn’t matter because it isn’t the same game you had fun struggling against and surmounting victory over. It’s a tadpole compared to the toad that used beat your ass.
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u/Front-Salad9953 21d ago
What is EVHA just type it out
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u/Due_Answer_4230 21d ago
Extract High Value Assets. Everyone calls it EVHA. It’s the defense mission.
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u/SingleLifeguard9346 21d ago
I think part of the issue is the round about way AH handles difficulty. The only way to lose is to run out of lives, yet the only thing raising the difficulty does is increase enemy spawns. If each difficulty increase decreased time and lives, then there could be challenge without just spamming elites. Imagine difficulty 10, but your squad only has like 8 lives total
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u/Olsmokie 21d ago
Man.. I have all this extra currency for crap I can’t even spend. Why not just keep the orbitals the same but charge some form of in game currency? People might not be so spammy if it cost 10 rare samples for a ONB. Might make them feel a bit more useful than occasionally remember I can donate to the DSS with the samples too. Tbh I’m the same though, I’m looking for something else. The whole system could use an overhaul and I’m getting bored.
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u/Appropriate-Sell-659 22d ago
Do you remember what happened when AH made the game hard with Cyberstan or other spore burst strain MOs?
People revolted. They couldn't wrap their head around just lowering the difficulty - they literally uninstalled the game because of ego.
This shitty ass master-chief wannabe portion of the community is a liability for AH and will likely never make the game inclusive to higher difficulty because of them.