This is not a pass for IO Interactive, but fans have reverse engineered the server and made a bootleg one, to my understanding.

Yeah it's a damn shame. They had something great. And they shit all over it.

Same. I loved the first one when I had a PS4 and was so excited when the 2nd came to PC then stadia. I thought that meant for sure it'd run on Linux. But nope

Lol I am on the opposite side of the spectrum. I've unlocked everything possible with medals and am constantly looking for them to add new content for me to spend them on.

It has a lot of bugs that are not due to the live service approach, and they are improving their patching process.

The live service part about new missions and storyline can be joined at any time, no more complicated then when released.

But the legitimately nice thing about Helldivers is you can look through all of the updates, and decide which you want over time.

It's slowed down now, and either way you can feel free to run missions at any difficulty you're comfortable with to get equipment for viable builds.

Not every game needs to be playable forever. Yes, BG3 should be playable indefinitely and with mods it would probably be worth it too!

But there is also space for games that have a design for a shared group experience with a changing world that will result in a limited lifespan. If the world in HD2 didn't chsnge and there wasn't an evolving setting it would probaably grow stale a lot faster as the gsme play itself is repetitive. Events like wiping the automatons off the map and them reappearing are only clever once, and wouldn't hold up on a replay. Without major orders there is less community engagement with the fantastic setting leading to more multiplayer dives once all the unlockable stuff has been unlocked.

It is a different kind of game and there is space for that alongside the other replayable games that don't have a limited lifespan. It isn't like all the games similar to BG3 are going to hold up nearly as long as BG3 either, it stands out as one of the best of its genre.

Counter-Strike existed for over a decade before this business model was even feasible. Mostly by doing... what you're suggesting... immediately. Like, as part of the software you bought. When people like the game enough, they'll host their own communities and keep playing.

Only the top of the top games have the numbers to keep people buying a new version of basically the same game over and over again without fragmenting their player base to the point where the series dies.

Good.

Not every game deserves to become an undying zombie, buoyed by shark testicle cards or whateverthefuck. Especially not if what those slouching relics deliver for their billions upon billions of dollars are tiny changes to exactly one map, or an endless parade of stupid hats, or deleting the entire game and replacing it with Game 2: Pay Harder.

This business model is an abuse. There is no tolerable form of it. Nothing inside a video game should cost real money. The obscene examples, the $400 special pants, the $50,000 purple drops, are the exact same con as any $1 pack of "gems." Only the number is different. And nobody has to "like" it. Your preference is not asked. This infection has hit every genre, platform, and price point. It is in $70 single-player games. It has been added to games people already bought. The skeeze factor does not matter, because of how much money this abuse makes. Calling it "extra money" is bewildering. This is the only reason most of these games exist. The games were developed to funnel people toward these systems. This is the hook - you play the bait.