After overcoming the controversy over linking PC accounts with the PlayStation Network, the Helldivers 2 community has returned to the old habits: the classic feuds between players. Remember that at the beginning of April a small civil war broke out between the sector of the community that plays on the Automata front, which involved the Creekers and Anti-Creekers.
As a summary, Anti-Creeker players accused the Creekers of boycotting the Supreme Orders by not following them and choosing to fight on Malevelon Creek for as long as possible, even when it was not necessary or a priority over other planets. And the launch of a cape dedicated to the fallen on that planet did not help calm things down.
The eternal dilemma of Helldivers 2
The history repeats it self. Complaints echo again from the Automaton front, although now they charge against the players of the Terminated front. Luckily, this time there is no violence or disrespect between the players and a plea to the developers to take action on the matter.
The user CouldBeBetterTBH de Reddit has published a post in which he talks about his perspective on the Automata front: “I think it’s time to admit that Automata need an incentive for players to touch the Western Front.” And he adds: “90,000 helldivers online and 60,000 on Terminated worlds.”
Even when we get major orders where we just fight Automata to progress, there are still 30-50% or more of the entire Helldivers 2 community hunkered down on bug planets almost all the time. […]
No one wants to play against robots, we are always the minority of the player base and we keep failing all our Orders and we keep losing planets because no one wants to touch our worlds with a 100 mile long stick. […] Something must draw players to this side of the Galactic Map or else we will never make any progress in the West.
nature of Helldivers 2 It makes the experience communal. That is to say: victories are achieved with the effort of a majority and not by the skill/consistency of a few. It is true that each mission we do contributes to our victory, but they are small grains of sand when we talk about Supreme Orders with multiple objectives or numbers as crazy as those we currently see.
The current Supreme Order calls on us to eliminate or dismantle 3,141,592,653 enemies (a huge reference to the number Pi, thanks Alex CD) of freedom, which includes Automata and Terminids. At the time of writing these words (approx. 13h), we are 72.4% complete and most of the 34,945 players who are fighting are on the Finished Front.
You don’t have to do much research to see that the community certainly prefers Terminids over Automata today. The robot sector with the most players does not exceed 6,500 players, compared to the almost 24,000 that come together between Jin Xi and Mirin fighting the bugs. This is not a gratuitous complaint, although I must point out that there are already incentives to fight on one front or another: the rewards of specific supreme orders.
The other side of the story: the lovers of the Terminid front
Just because the numbers are with this player does not mean that he has the absolute truth in this matter. I agree with some comments in the publication that point out that Arrowhead Game Studios must work on balancing the Supreme Orders, because they tend to go from easy to difficult, leaving results that are achieved in hours or are simply unattainable.
The other side of the matter is exactly the same, but a few months late. As a Helldiver on the Terminated Front, I’ve seen how the Automata were the favorite faction during the first few months. Several Supreme Orders unique to this front have occurred and Mecha, one of the first big additions, have been unlocked on this front.
On the other hand, there were the memes that true helldivers fight robots and that those of us who fight bugs are less because it is “easier.” This history of front preference is not new and comes from quite a long time ago, so much so that it even dates back to Helldivers (2015).
Now, the Terminids have gained ground as the favorite faction of many players and Automata lovers must fight in inferiority, as we did against the bugs when they were killing each other for a happy cape in an absurd Civil War.
The beauty of Helldivers 2: Holy Liberty!
I empathize with this player. The helldivers of the Terminated Front know very well what it is like to fight outnumbered and without taking extra medals from the Supreme Orders. But there is a very dangerous precedent in his request that would shake one of the best aspects of Helldivers 2: freedom.
If they implement multipliers and/or more rewards (in addition to Medals) for fighting on a specific front, the player’s (authentic) freedom to choose the scenario where they want to contribute is diminished. Arrowhead would not only be guiding our enemies, but also a large number of helldivers who prioritize the meta and hoarding resources. He would lose a lot of his Dungeons & Dragons essence.
The thing about Democracy is that you don’t always get the results you want. A majority of the community Helldivers 2 He has decided that he now wants to fight against the Terminids, because they can choose thanks to a series of supreme orders that allow contributions from both fronts. Losing planetary defenses on the Automaton front is collateral damage that we assume in order to have fun while we play.
I repeat: this story is not new. Just above you can see a screenshot that shows how I found the Galactic Campaign in Helldivers (2015) when I started playing a week ago: the Terminated and Enlightened fronts completely conquered and SuperEarth under siege by the Automata because the community preferred to eliminate two enemies and let them advance other. This will occur in Helldivers 2 in the future and we will have to defend SuperEarth… or not.
Has the Automaton front become a problem in Helldivers 2? Yes, there are certainly few helldivers fighting. Does this mean that Arrowhead should take action so that the players on that front feel more comfortable? No, because the video game is about precisely that: strategies, community efforts, decisions and consequences.
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