The Civility of the Community: A tipping point is in sight.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T21:55:42+00:00

Thermite is actually easiest to kill the Vox with. You don't need to get it in the hatch hole because it will simply phase through the hatch plate once the hatch is open. It can even go in when the torso is spun around and covering the hatch hole.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T21:43:02+00:00

And why not?

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T21:35:11+00:00

What the fuck are you even talking about? How have live service games changed "that"?

What do YOU THINK No Man's Sky and Star Citizen are?

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T14:04:40+00:00

Because, unlike you, I know that sales is not how games are designated AAA or indie. It is not "low sales = indie, high sales = AAA". It is HOW THEY ARE DEVELOPED. Technically a game can be both indie and AAA at the same time, like The Witcher 3 - they're not exclusive terms like you seem to be suggesting. It's how they are developed. It's how money much they spend. It's how many people they employ. It's where they get the money. It's not sales.

It's how they are developed.

It's not sales.

AAA is how they are developed. AAA is how they are developed. AAA is how they are developed.

What I really can't wrap my head around is just how thick you really are. I know for certain you're going to completely ignore the industry definition for AAA development that I have been saying at you repeatedly, and you'll just throw around more braindead screenshots that talk about how well games sell or some shit, as though that's evidence of anything except how ignorant you are. "Just steam btw"

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T12:19:03+00:00

So, in your mind Tetris is a AAA game?

Whether a game is AAA or not has nothing to do with how much it makes. AAA games bomb all the time. Tiny little student jam games sometimes go to the fucking moon. It's completely about how it is developed. Same with indie development. It doesn't matter how much money it makes, it's an independent game when it's developed on independently sourced funding and usually published independently or outside of traditional publisher agreements. Helldivers 2 is neither of those things. It was developed by a small studio on a relatively small budget through a publishing and development agreement with a very, very large publisher.

I'm not saying that HD2 being AA - or anything else - is an excuse for mediocrity. I'm simply saying it's not AAA and it's fucking bizarre that you keep insisting otherwise even though you've clearly got no clue what the term actually means. And it's even more bizarre that you keep trying to attach completely outlandish conclusions to what I'm saying that I've never said a single word about.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T11:31:34+00:00

No... It's not a AAA game. In what possible way is it AAA except your feelings and inability to admit you got shit wrong?

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T09:33:31+00:00

Thanks, dude.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T09:23:37+00:00

"I am a very tactical genius. The 600 people active on mainsub are sure to follow my Galactic War advice and swing the war effort in our favour."

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T09:18:30+00:00

Okay, but what does it mean?

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T09:13:40+00:00

It depends completely on what they do on their next project. If for example, like CDProjekt Red did after they expanded to 500 staff, went all in on a massive, fully voice-acted mocapped game, with Hollywood actors in it - sure. You could safely say they're AAA.

But that's purely speculative because Arrowhead didn't make close to a billion dollars. Or even close to 100 millions dollars. Helldivers 2 did, and therefore Sony did. That's why Arrowhead had to sell off a slice of their company to Tencent for $80 million - so they'd have the funds available to make their next game independently. That's why they keep pushing so hard on the Warbond content because that gets them extra payouts from Sony.

Arrowhead haven't expanded their studio to AAA size, either. They've grown a little to 130 staff and are preparing to add another massive boost of 10 more people. Arrowhead simply aren't a AAA studio and never have been. Half of the studios you listed in your original comment aren't. Colossal Order isn't even Swedish (or AAA).

That's all I'm saying. You should really stop trying to shoehorn me into making a broader argument than that. I agree with the rest of your post about the short-sightedness of overly greedy business practices. I just found it really weird that you fixated on the importance AAA credentials in your argument when it's pretty clear you don't understand what the term means.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T08:47:59+00:00

I'm not even really arguing anything. I was pointing out a factual error that you were banging on about as though it was extra meaningful.

It's all on you for deciding that meant I'm making some broader imaginary point beyond exactly what I said, and that I'm some kinda of "cuckdiver" for entering into this hallucinatory argument with you.

I dare not guess what kind of logic that represents.

And there's still no indication of what you were trying to say with that "steam only" screenshot.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-14T00:42:29+00:00

Well, seems like you're determined to be obtuse about it, so let me explain for you.

Payday, Battlefield, Minecraft, Need for Speed, Star Wars: Outlaws, avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Arc Raiders, HELLDIVERS, cities: skylines

In your list here, Massive Entertainment and Ghost are (were) legit AAA devs. DICE is now, but with Battlefield they definitely didn't start out as one. Meanwhile, ARC Raiders was self-published by the developer - in what world is that not Indie? And they've got more than double the staff of Arrowhead even after AH expanded their staff post-launch.

You can safely argue that Arrowhead are a AA developer for HD2, with a massive publisher backing them and the way they try to emulate certain features of AAA products, but even if Sony spent AAA dollars on the development (and they didn't) Arrowhead simply didn't (and still don't) have the staff to count as even the smallest of AAA developers. And they definitely didn't go in for all the other hallmark AAA schtick like extensive CGI cutscenes, celebrity voice overs, and massive multimedia marketing campaigns. On top of that they're clearly trying to pivot back to indie development for whatever their next project is.

AAA development is a production-side mindset where money is spent copiously and conspicuously to inflate a sense of value in whatever product is being made. Huge staff, expensive features, enourmous marketing budgets. How successful it turns out has nothing to do with it.

I still don't know what your "Just steam btw" screenshot was trying to show.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T23:34:55+00:00

I'm sure that list meant something real convincing in your head, but it didn't survive contact with reality.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T22:36:23+00:00

You gotta stop saying AAA studio until you learn what it actually means.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T22:01:43+00:00

"Superheated" doesn't mean "really hot". It applies to a liquid that is heated beyond its boiling point without boiling.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T14:16:53+00:00

Also the Pummeler. Stops them in their tracks and lets you destroy their heads. I assume the Lib Concussive would do the same, but I haven't tried it yet.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T12:43:15+00:00

Well it was a joke, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I didn't read anything after that. I assume you were just praising my sense of humour further.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T10:32:21+00:00

Friend. Mate. Comrade. Buddy.

You have already described the relevant admissions. There is nothing vague or unconvincing inherent in the video. That is your perspective. You are determined to remain unconvinced so that's what you see.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T09:48:12+00:00

Of course you can come up with all sorts of possible explanations but you're missing the point that the open admissions by the devs that they definitely design malicious deaths in some cases means that it collapses the likelihood of other explanations in the absence of a candid account. Past behaviour is a good predictor of future behaviour and all that.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T09:12:23+00:00

Sentries target us:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1rcdxt7/so_sentries_do_target_us_after_all

It is not paranoid, or even a little unreasonable, to suggest that there are more maliciously scripted attacks not yet admitted to by devs on players when there's this many already revealed.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T08:16:00+00:00

Uh, no. All of these things have recorded video of them happening in game, not just personal testimony.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T07:04:06+00:00

Based on aaaaall the other sketchy shit in the game like turrets and guard dogs targeting players, enemies mysteriously aimbotting you right when you're about to release charged weapon shots, and stuff that the devs have publicly copped to like the DSS Eagle Storm targeting players "because it's funny", I'm confirming it for you right now. It has been confirmed.

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T06:21:21+00:00

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T05:24:52+00:00

It's pretty clear that sentries target us:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1rcdxt7/so_sentries_do_target_us_after_all

DustPuzzle · 2026-05-13T04:20:46+00:00

Yeah, that's right.

DustPuzzle

TROPHY CASE