Helldivers 2

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

what's truly sad is that stuff like war thunder pulled shit much worse than this, got an uproar and that's it, it's still there with a hundred thousand players like nothing happened.

I’m only a bit surprised they’re doing something that could put the game in jeopardy right ahead of the July 25 western release date for Earth Defense Force 6. The only way the timing could be worse is if it was even closer to EDF6 coming out.

 

[Hell Swarm]

Hold up, this shit is real?
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/553850/view/4196868529806518741

HELLDIVERS™ 2 Account Linking Update
Attention Helldivers,

Due to technical issues at the launch of HELLDIVERS™ 2, we allowed the linking requirements for Steam accounts to a PlayStation Network account to be temporarily optional. That grace period will now expire. See details below in this post.

Account linking plays a critical role in protecting our players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games. This is our main way to protect players from griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behaviour. It also allows those players that have been banned the right to appeal.

As such, as of May 6th, all new HELLDIVERS 2 players on Steam will be required to connect their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account. Current players on Steam will start to see the mandatory login from May 30th and will be required to have linked a Steam and PlayStation Network account by June 4th. PlayStation Network accounts are free and easy to set up using this link
https://www.playstation.com/support/account/create-account-for-psn/

We understand that while this may be an inconvenience to some of you, this step will help us to continue to build a community that you are all proud to be a part of.

Many thanks for your continued support of HELLDIVERS 2!

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Literally Half Life 2.

Valve was one of the early pioneers of this with Steam.

Valve was the first to do this from what I remember.

That Half-Life 2 Steam shit pissed me off so much I’ve still never used it. (Well, that and the fact you don’t actually own your Steam games) Was over at a friends place back when Half-Life 2 came out, he’d just moved into a new place, we set up his computer to play some Half-Life 2 since he just got it, and we couldn’t play the fucking thing because you had to register the game through Steam (instead of a code that came in the box like everything before that) and his new house didn’t have Internet yet. That’s the first time I’ve ever not been able to play a video game despite actual having a physical copy of it.

Half-life 2 required Steam out the box but Half-life 1 multiplayer servers got moved from WAN to Steam and that seriously increased the specs required to play it.

what's truly sad is that stuff like war thunder pulled shit much worse than this, got an uproar and that's it, it's still there with a hundred thousand players like nothing happened.

I’m only a bit surprised they’re doing something that could put the game in jeopardy right ahead of the July 25 western release date for Earth Defense Force 6. The only way the timing could be worse is if it was even closer to EDF6 coming out.

You can't be serious if you think an EDF game is ever going to be popular like this. They're low budget garbage and their fanbase loves them but it's super niche. IGN doesn't even have it on it's upcoming game releases list

 

[Tehdagah]

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

You can't be serious if you think an EDF game is ever going to be popular like this. They're low budget garbage and their fanbase loves them but it's super niche. IGN doesn't even have it on it's upcoming game releases list

Post Helldivers 2, EDF6 could easily become a bigger game. Doing something that could drive players away it pretty stupid to do two months ahead of something coming out that those people could just jump over to.

Your point is also nonsensical given we’re talking about Helldivers 2, a game that either Arrowhead Game Studios or Sony expected to pop like it did with audiences, and that was a sequel to a top down shooter that nobody really played. There also barely even interest in Helldivers 2 before it released, it released unfinished, and it still became a hit. It even stayed a hit despite people not being able to get into games at the beginning.

IGN does have a trailer for it on their YouTube channel.

 

[Spark Mandriller]

I think if EDF was going to get big then it would have already. If people want to try it out then they could play 5 right now instead of waiting for 6. It's even on sale for 70% off. But they're not.

 

[Elttharion]

Let this be a lesson that you should never support Sony in any way.

 

[502]

"We have THIS MANY active PSN users, boss. Let's buy some yachts and coke."

 

[Blutwurstritter]

People are upset is because its inconvenient. If the creation of this account was as comfortably as clicking on a license agreement in-game next to nothing would have happened. Really strange that companies as big as Sony don't manage such a setup. And every willing Steam user paved the way for shit like this. Steam made the account-game connection mainstream by showing that the model can be successful.

 

[Rahdulan]

Straight from the CEO.



As seen on Discord.



All but confirming this is Sony flexing.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

meanwhile, 35%. and now i get it, at least i hope so, for the non-baboons: more than a psn matter, it's that sony declares their databases to be broken into every other year, which means they actually are every other day. that's a proper reason to be worried, even more than this move being just a way to gather and resell our personal data. it's sony we're talking about here, the same people who put rootkits on audio cds. also i've been target of misinformations: some months ago it wasn't "easy anti-cheat" to be found with gigantic holes, but nprotect, the one they're using for this game.
shit, i'm foundamentally a good man, i try to live by forgiving and forgetting. how can i do that in this world where everyone seems out to buttfuck each other?

 

[Chuck Norris]

All but confirming this is Sony flexing.

This does not need confirming. The creative types in the game industry and anyone who's actually responsible for the creation of games is nothing but a slave to the publisher and the marketing team outside of indie sphere.

 

[Hell Swarm]

Your point is also nonsensical given we’re talking about Helldivers 2, a game that either Arrowhead Game Studios or Sony expected to pop like it did with audiences, and that was a sequel to a top down shooter that nobody really played. There also barely even interest in Helldivers 2 before it released, it released unfinished, and it still became a hit. It even stayed a hit despite people not being able to get into games at the beginning.

IGN does have a trailer for it on their YouTube channel.

EDF is a known quality. It looks like shit, it plays like shit, it's a glorified PS2 game. And Vtubers are not a mainstream selling point and never will be.

IGN has a trailer on youtube, a long with many other trailers. On the website listing upcoming game releases it's completely missing because they curate the lists and it's not considered worth it

 

[Fedora Master]

The issue is not the PSN account itself, not even the data breaches. That's just surface level thinking.

The issue is that Sony wants to control the community and ban you for wrongthink directly.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

That's what I get for trying normie mainstream garbage.

I haven't tried Helldivers 2, but I'm pretty sure it's the same dev team that did Helldivers and Magicka. Those weren't exactly mainstream games.

Imagine having your game and reputation as a developer completely tanked due to Sony feeling they didn't have enough control over your players.

While this is true, the first game was very niche. Sony is probably the ones that pushed this one with marketing that made it popular in the first place. Still, it's a pretty crappy thing to do.

It’s also a lie. They already track everything and somehow (magically!) associate your progress to a Steam account. As of now, it does not require any association with PSN. They could ban you within the current system as it stands, if they cared to implement it. What they can’t do is make you jump through Snoy PSN hoops and promise to be a good boy to an Indian CS rep to put yourself in good standing again.

This. Also, it's not exactly hard to allow players to ban users from being on their servers. Games have been doing this since Quake, and having access to a Steam User ID makes that even easier since they can't ip dodge. But, instead of structuring things that way, Sony wants TEH POWAH to be able to ban players at will, which may or may not have to do with anything game related giving how Sony of America is these days.

The issue is that Sony wants to control the community and ban you for wrongthink directly.

Most likely, this is the correct reason.

 

[Fedora Master]

 

[Modron]

The issue is that Sony wants to control the community and ban you for wrongthink directly.

Historically this has been more about getting people to use a launcher and building their own storefront app in the hopes of syphoning some steam users off for a few more direct sales.

 

[Hell Swarm]

While this is true, the first game was very niche. Sony is probably the ones that pushed this one with marketing that made it popular in the first place. Still, it's a pretty crappy thing to do.

Do you even need Sony marketing? Helldivers 2 sold on a meme from streamers as much as anything else. These days you pay a few grand to top streamers and if your games even half decently fun you will pick up a player base. Pal world proved that. The days of needing a big publisher to target normies on TV is over. Helldivers 2 was the most generic genre with a good meme attached, it didn't need much more.

The issue is that Sony wants to control the community and ban you for wrongthink directly.

Historically this has been more about getting people to use a launcher and building their own storefront app in the hopes of syphoning some steam users off for a few more direct sales.

The discord messages explain the reason. When "Nigger dick 420" is put into the report system they have no idea which steam account that is. If there's multiple guys with the name and owning the game they don't know who to ban. So they want access to an account they can track and ban. But it's also Sony so if you said women don't have dicks you would get the ban too. If it was almost any other company the backlash wouldn't be as big. But most players probably didn't even know it was connected to Sony. I didn't when I bought it and I wouldn't had I known.

 

[kites]

New FAQ just dropped

Q: What is the benefit of this for me?
A: So we can ban you more easily.
Q: What if I live in a place that does not have PSN?
A: You must have PSN registered in the country you live in or will be account banned.
Q: Will you keep my data safe?
A: We are very welcoming and inclusive.

 

[Ba'al]

"We have THIS MANY active PSN users, boss. Let's buy some yachts and coke."

I'd say this is the real reason - inflating userbase numbers of their own platform to impress businessmen. It could also be a similar move to Epic Games using Fortnite to lure people onto their platform.

 

[kites]

"We have THIS MANY active PSN users, boss. Let's buy some yachts and coke."

I'd say this is the real reason - inflating userbase numbers of their own platform to impress businessmen. It could also be a similar move to Epic Games using Fortnite to lure people onto their platform.

Probably. It's not hard to imagine them shifting their policy 5-10 years from now when they have enough games on PC; ditching Steam and going from just having an account to needing a subscription to play online. I'd imagine if the game gets bombed hard enough they will think twice about requiring account linking for now.

Edit: Just checked; they've received nearly 70k negative reviews in the last day.

Spoiler

Sending in an eagle!

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Historically this has been more about getting people to use a launcher and building their own storefront app in the hopes of syphoning some steam users off for a few more direct sales.

This is hot on the heels of the #FreeStellarBlade push for people to unsubscribe from Playstation Plus. It's hard to gauge the impact of that, considering Stellar Blade is apparently doing well, a lot of people are unhappy with the censorship as well.

Do you even need Sony marketing? Helldivers 2 sold on a meme from streamers as much as anything else.

And you don't think Sony had anything to do with this?

 

[Hell Swarm]

Historically this has been more about getting people to use a launcher and building their own storefront app in the hopes of syphoning some steam users off for a few more direct sales.

This is hot on the heels of the #FreeStellarBlade push for people to unsubscribe from Playstation Plus. It's hard to gauge the impact of that, considering Stellar Blade is apparently doing well, a lot of people are unhappy with the censorship as well.

Do you even need Sony marketing? Helldivers 2 sold on a meme from streamers as much as anything else.

And you don't think Sony had anything to do with this?

I think Sony is 100% responsible for the PSN requirements.
I think Sony did almost nothing to make this game popular. There's a real lack of quality games at the moment so anything a streamer picks up and enjoys enough to play for more than the sponsored time is going to hit it big. We're in a drought even by modern standards.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

meanwhile, same players count as yesterday. maybe it's even a bit higher.

 

[Modron]

meanwhile, same players count as yesterday. maybe it's even a bit higher.

Weird it's almost like more people play games on the weekend.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Your point is also nonsensical given we’re talking about Helldivers 2, a game that either Arrowhead Game Studios or Sony expected to pop like it did with audiences, and that was a sequel to a top down shooter that nobody really played. There also barely even interest in Helldivers 2 before it released, it released unfinished, and it still became a hit. It even stayed a hit despite people not being able to get into games at the beginning.

IGN does have a trailer for it on their YouTube channel.

EDF is a known quality. It looks like shit, it plays like shit, it's a glorified PS2 game. And Vtubers are not a mainstream selling point and never will be.

Before you said it was niche, now it’s a known quantity. Most people playing video games probably do not know anything about the EDF games; they likely do not know the quality of them, or even that they’re a thing that exist. The biggest push EDF probably ever got was SsethTzeentach’s review of EDF5 last year...that might be the most viewed Earth Defense Force related video on YouTube.

I’m gonna make a prediction, and that prediction is that with the success this game has found, it will end up pushing EDF6 into the spotlight more than EDF has ever previously been. The stuff going on now will most likely help EDF6 even further. And when more stuff aimed at the west for EDF6 starts rolling out with gameplay attached there will probably be some big streamers that do Twitch and Youtube stuff looking at the game and showing it to people that may not have even known the series was a thing.

IGN has a trailer on youtube, a long with many other trailers. On the website listing upcoming game releases it's completely missing because they curate the lists and it's not considered worth it

Who the fuck goes to the IGN website? The website side of IGN has basically been unimportant since the days when GameTrailers started kicking their ass in the mid 2000s.