Capcom has released a patch update for Dragon’s Dogma 2 This mitigates the threat of Dragonsplague, the viral disease that can be caught by Pawns, the game’s AI-controlled party members, and transmitted from one game to another.
Infected farmers show signs of illness, becoming aggressive and disobedient, and their eyes glow red. When the player finally rests in an inn, the character transforms into a shadowy dragon that can wipe out entire towns full of merchants and quest givers. Since the player just saved at the inn, there is also no way to undo the game save. (Cities, however, apparently repopulate over time.)
When the Dragonplague waves began to hit following the game’s release in March, some players were shocked and angered by the devastating effect their saves were causing – despite the game’s frequent warnings about the serious threat of the disease. It was another example of what appeared to be deliberate resistance to players in Dragon’s Dogma 2The game’s gameplay design, such as the lack of fast travel options and the way saving is handled, makes it difficult to easily reverse bad luck.
But it seems that Capcom is now admitting that the players may have been right in this one case. In the Sticky notes For the new update, the developer notes that it has reduced Dragonsplague’s infection frequency and made the signs of infection easier to spot – for example, by making the farmers’ glowing eyes more clearly visible.
Is this a case of the developers capitulating to the loud complaints of a portion of their fan base and compromising their original vision, as in the infamous debacle of? Mass Effect 3is over? That may be part of it, but it’s also possible that Capcom really didn’t intend the extent of the wipeouts Dragon’s Dogma 2 Community has seen.
The game was a sales success – Capcom said it was 2.5 million copies sold in the first two weeks – and perhaps Dragonsplague’s infection rate wasn’t properly tailored to an audience of that size. While Capcom says this has made it easier to spot the signs of the disease, there’s no mention of mitigating the consequences of leaving it unchecked, so inattentive players are still subject to NPC massacres in their games could. The development team has yet to budge on other systems that have caused trouble for players, such as the cost and scarcity of fast travel items. So the signs point to this being a deliberate change in balance.
Elsewhere in the patch, Capcom has taken a number of steps to make pawns, to put it bluntly, less annoying. Characters now fall off cliffs and repeat themselves less often, keep their chat on topic, actually guide the player when they offer to, and respond better to help commands when the player is pinned by an enemy.
Oh yes, and treasure chests that have already been purchased will no longer be displayed on the minimap.
