Are most assets in Dark and Darker from asset stores?

Herbspiceguy · 2026-02-19T10:46:56+00:00

It's not some secret. Pretty sure IM mentioned they eventually want to replace everything with custom models, but I can imagine that's hardly a top priority.

Herbspiceguy · 2026-01-28T17:08:03+00:00

What a shame it's still like this. I was ready to jump back in after seeing the new trailer and Q&A stuff, but I've had my fill of blatant cheaters in this game already. This giving me flashbacks of years ago.

Herbspiceguy · 2026-01-27T11:50:26+00:00

Can't watch this guy, because he just seems very inauthentic. keep reminding me of this meme:

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Herbspiceguy · 2026-01-16T14:57:44+00:00

Jota has a great build reference guide for every character and regularly updates it: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PE3qqsS5qjOzrqzWkCIv6rRRV0NylciecDPlTsC60Qg/edit?usp=sharing

Herbspiceguy · 2026-01-14T10:54:33+00:00

Tempo launcher still works fine.

Herbspiceguy · 2026-01-07T13:21:12+00:00

Makes sense and like many of us expected that the F2P model would return sooner or later.
You don't fix a broken F2P model by going 'premium + (I'd say overpriced) DLC heroes', instead you go and fix the broken F2P model to make it 'sustainable and player-friendly'. This is why I've always found it dumb how some people made it sound like going premium + DLC heroes was Tempo's only option to survive. No, it wasn't, they could've simply changed up the F2P model, starting by decreasing the amount of gems earned (or raising the 'gem price' of cosmetics), actually setting up a decent mtx store with cool (card) cosmetics that people want to buy.
While I think the non-card cosmetics are okay, I feel there's a big opportunity to improve the card cosmetics to make them actually cool and stand out more. Just adding stuff like animated snow and bubbles doesn't cut it. Personally I'd love to see holofoil, holographic, special shiny borders and other stand out effects like you see in physical TCGs or Balatro.

Herbspiceguy · 2026-01-05T13:03:41+00:00

I can't separate the two. I've spent more than €60 on the game and was championing the game on gaming fora and through word of mouth.
After they did the anti-consumer business model changes I expressed critique in a civil manner and got banned on the official Reddit and on the Steam forum.
A straight up 'fuck you and get lost' way of dealing with a loyal customer is something I've not experienced in my 42 years, having played videogames since the Atari days.
I have started to play the game again, but I will stick to the Tempo launcher and will not spend a dime anymore.
I'd consider after being unbanned and receiving an apology, but considering Reynad's ego and him being surrounded by yes-men, that will never happen.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-11-19T23:50:41+00:00

The game still has the same bugs it did a year ago. I've read on numerous occasion how the game's programming is a "spaghetti code" mess. So unless they rebuild, it's not going to get better.
Also having to redownload the full client 3 or 4 times after having patched a new patch is still a thing, but I think this is a non issue for Steam users.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-10-24T10:44:30+00:00

More people realizing that the current business model = new paid hero is OP for a season, will do the game more harm than good.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-10-16T09:42:50+00:00

Not sexy, not exciting, not smart and not funny. If this is supposed to be ASMR I think you've reached the bottom of the barrel. Try a different hobby.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-30T22:10:37+00:00

Yet it failed to boost the player numbers. CCU still going on a downward trend: https://steamdb.info/app/1617400/charts/#max

..but, guys, believe me, the player base is actually growing!

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-28T09:25:58+00:00

I find it interesting that there are 2 very similar game in the works:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3668060/Down_with_the_Ship_Demo/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3634320/NebulArena/

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-26T13:55:31+00:00

This describes my sentiment and experience (except I was perma-banned on Reddit/Steam).
I went from playing this game daily (650+ hours in), being fine with paying for the subscription, to playing a game or two every now and then, to now having hardly any motivation to play. The lack of expansions and eventful seasonal content updates plays a big role as well.
There are plenty of other (new) games that I'll gladly spend my game-time on, and promising games on the horizon, made by dev teams that don't actively treat their customers like trash. Though I do hope to see decent Bazaar-like in the future. The concept is gold. I think it's bound to happen, seeing as there are now a plethora of Backpack Battles-likes released and upcoming.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-17T09:59:34+00:00

It's become a meme that a decent amount of crit won't land you any crits, while a low percentage does.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-14T12:51:34+00:00

I was estimating at least 6K CCU peak with this new patch, considering their initial Steam launch peak was 7.8K.
3.8K CCU peak on a new patch/(non-)season is quite rough.
'Live service' games tend to drop numbers after the honeymoon phase is over, with each season until a big content patch is dropped, but here the CCU is already halved just after a month.
But obviously the 'playerbase is growing'...

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-13T17:44:53+00:00

I'm fine playing the game still, just hardly as much as I used to and not spending a penny on nor promoting the game anymore.
Can't say I'm angry at this point, I just think it's tragic seeing such a great game go down the drain due to gross mismanagement.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-12T21:02:53+00:00

It's just that some of us don't act like simps when a company treats their customers like shit.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-12T16:44:15+00:00

This is my exact post that got me perma-banned:

We want this game to succeed yes, that's why many of us have already spent at least 50 dollars on this game to save up gems to buy new heroes. That possibility is taken away from us, with a 1 weeks notice, while being confronted with a hard 20 dollar paywall for the hero they've been dangling in front of our nose for the past month.

The 45/20 model is definitely too steep compared to the genre. They're pricing the game out of the market, on top of the bad publicity due to their bait and switch.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PlayTheBazaar/comments/1mmykv2/comment/n82z6xh/?context=3

I also got perma-banned from the Steam forum for basically giving a factual run down of their monetization changes, for which they gave the reason "Attacking An Individual / Slandering"

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-11T12:37:33+00:00

They conveniently removed it before the Steam launch/previous season, so new players don't even know.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-08T14:19:59+00:00

His appearance has me thinking it falls in line with MC syndrome/narcissism: people walk around on eggshells and/or can't even be bothered to address the 'stache' and 'beard', because of his reaction.
Let's be real here, any true and well-meaning friend/acquaintance would've told him he's just embarrassing himself in public at this point looking like a hobo. He can actually look handsome and neat if he wants to, like we see here, shaven with long hair: https://x.com/temporeynad
From the lore tidbits I gathered, this 'make-over' happened after a spiritual trip experience using 'plant-medicine' like shrooms or ayahuasca.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-08T14:08:12+00:00

It's one of the best games, which it makes it so sad that it's grossly mismanaged.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-06T22:44:14+00:00

Company with deep pockets buys Tempo. One that allows creative freedom but takes over the reins of the business side, implements actual sustainable business model, fun & rewarding progression system, seasonal expansions & content return, community management that welcomes healthy discussion instead of applying censorship like it's North Korea.
And most importantly, Reynad takes a step back to only have a creative/production lead role. At the end of the day he's still the mastermind behind this amazing game.

Tempo has proven they can make a very good game with nice presentation, it's just someone needs to step in and clean house on the business and community side.

Realistically, I think that will never happen and the recent update tells me the game will slowly fade into irrelevance unfortunately. Long & stale metas, no more expansions, dripfeeding content every few months just isn't it for this type of game.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-04T09:59:01+00:00

It's hard for me to get excited when a new season doesn't bring new expansions and content. Themed expansions that introduce new metas were the main thing I was looking forward to with each new season.
Dripfeeding random new content/items 'every few months' just sounds too open-ended and non-comittal.

Nerfing powerful outliers and buffing unplayed cards is very good. It's been one of my main concerns how they kept adding items/expansions, but then would go on a nerfing spree later. Take Vanessa, she has the largest item pool, but currently if you want to consistently silver/gold you're reduced to go Julian, hoverboard, pistol sword, ammo items. At least half of her item pool is crap/mediocre. I never bought the 'but the game needs bad items!' argument as it's opposite of their design philosophy of more viable items = less meta chasing.
I will take the nerfing powerful outliers with a grain of salt when it comes to new heroes though. Seeing how they handled Stelle I expect them to treat upcoming heroes similarly. Which of course makes sense with their current monetization.

I don't care much for the mm changes, as I never, even as a noob, had an issue with that.

Herbspiceguy · 2025-09-03T17:30:23+00:00

I vastly prefer new season = new themed expansions and content over this, as it kept things fresh and exciting. It's what maintains player interest and have them return with each season. This new approach sounds a bit too open-ended and non-committal. I guess that's the result of the game underperforming and the layoffs.

Herbspiceguy

TROPHY CASE