As Helldivers 2 players cower in fear from the barrage of friendly fire caused by the newly completed Democracy Space Station, one developer admits its launch has been “a step backwards.”
The difficulties caused by the DSS, which was completed last week but immediately forced Arrowhead to start offering additional shields when it began blowing players to pieces, seem appropriate for the Helldivers story, but very frustrating for those facing its bombing. That frustration had one Discord player wondering if the continued changes to new features are evidence that Arrowhead isn't fully in touch with its community.
This prompted a response from community manager Twinbeard, who said that “the idea of DSS and what it can become in the future is amazing.” He admitted, however, that “the testing process and communications surrounding the development cycle have been a step down from the recent heights we've seen for Helldivers 2.”
“We need to own that and adapt,” Twinbeard continued, but also said that “things are rarely shit or great. The DSS launch was flawed, but it can be modified and evolved in many different ways.”
Those “recent highs” likely refer to the 60-day recovery plan that Arrowhead promised would help realign players with developers. Despite a last-minute schedule-based delay, that plan seemed to work, with both the player count and recent reviews increasing. However, that likely means frustrations are greater than they might have been regarding DSS. Twinbeard suggests that the roving space station will likely still bring a lot of good to Helldivers 2, but perhaps its guidance systems still need a little work.
If you give a ship enough Death Star-style power to eliminate “a small moon”, you have to be prepared for it to take out some ground troops in the process.