„It's Fine if Some Mechanics Are Just There for Lulz and Roleplay.” Helldivers 2 Devs Respond to Balance Criticism
The developers of Helldivers 2 have once again made clear their distaste for „metagaming” and stated that some elements in the game may exist just for fun.
Helldivers 2 is still a popular and well-liked game nearly two months after its release. Certainly, this doesn't mean that players have no grounds for complaint. However, the devs make an effort to address their feedback regularly. Therefore, the recent comment from the developers of Helldviers 2 implied that not everything in the game needs to be "meta" or especially useful at higher difficulty levels.
This was developers' response to players' complaints following the recent update that included gameplay balance changes. Fans were unhappy with the considerable weakening of the SG-8S Slugger shotgun, which they felt was unwarranted. The developers explained that this weapon had paradoxically become the "best sniper rifle" in the game, hence the decision to "nerf" it. However, this didn't convince all the players.
Alexus Kravchenko, senior game designer at Arrowhead Game Studios, explained the reason for each change in subsequent messages sent on the H2 Discord channel. Basically, he reiterated the familiar philosophy of the studio: powerful weapons cannot be versatile.
Nevertheless, his posts prompted a barrage of inquiries, such as those concerning weapons that require the collaboration of two players. These aren't nearly powerful enough to make up for the clear flaws. Kravchenko admitted that some aspects - mainly the rate of ammunition consumption - could be improved. However, this isn't a priority for the studio (via Discord).
Furthermore, according to the creator, there is nothing wrong with the fact that some mechanics in the game are only "for lulz and roleplay." They may not be the best solution for higher difficulty levels - but remember, not every strategy needs to be usable in the most challenging situations.
In fact, such an attitude of the devs shouldn't be surprising. The Arrowhead Game Studios team has already made it clear that they aren't interested in players being guided by the "metagame" when playing Helldivers 2. This is why a large part of the weapon statistics was hidden - so that fans wouldn't have to carefully compare which weapon has the highest "dps," "aoe," etc.
