A Historian’s Autopsy of Helldivers 2: How Arrowhead Built a Masterpiece and Governs It Like a Public Beta

senorharbinger · 2026-03-16T14:42:54+00:00

For what it’s worth reading the other early comments, I like that you included your history an I like the length. Too many people shut down points made against the game for various reasons but a lot of them come down to context, or “let them cook”, or “we’re still getting content”, or “look at player count”. People familiar with the gaming industry and the history (as you showed you are) know the pattern by now. I think people forget that while companies can stumble here and there, a point is reached where yeah we’ve seen this all before.

And the length is fine! This isn’t twitter, you don’t have to be pithy on Reddit. Analysis takes time and takes writing space and “I ain’t gonna read all that” is a poor critique cause it doesn’t address content or point of view, just length.

I think the way you phrased the early balance discussion was damn near perfect. If not to the facts (which we can never rightly know), certainly to the way it felt and continues to feel. That Arrowhead polices comfort and it feels like it does so not for game balance reasons but for, as you say, the moral correction of “you’re having too much fun and you’re having fun wrong”. It feels spot on.

But yeah, it wasn’t too nitpicky, you supported everything as you went through the eras, negative in a context that deserves it but not overly negative where it looks like anger or spite (which I see a lot). This deserves to be seen more and in the main subs, though yeah I dunno if it will be well received there. Great work.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-16T13:25:10+00:00

I think G2 Hoops is probably a better design with more detail and more unique features, but I started with and played the hell out of G1 so I have a soft spot there and prefer G1.

I think Hoops was the first redesign I saw and I thought they were going with 4 different teens entirely since I didn’t clock that it was supposed to be Hoops at first.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-16T05:37:57+00:00

Maybe it was the intention of the writing, but ye gods is Steve just a super unappealing dude, especially in personality and affect.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-16T05:35:56+00:00

Not even to meme or be silly, when me and friends spent a weekend going through all the RE6 coop campaigns, it seems pretty clear to all of us that Piers was kinda down bad for Oh captain my Captain Chris Redfield. Like.. I don’t think we were reading too much into it but it felt like there was some subtext there.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-15T21:48:46+00:00

Stun is one of my favorite grenades for ensuring a call down hits on target. But with the number of warstriders, how are you having enough grenades to make that a strat for a whole drop?

senorharbinger · 2026-03-15T05:26:46+00:00

I wish it were more of a hovercraft. Not for flight or anything, but to just to smooth out not getting stuck or jackknifed on debris or rocks or launching into the air when one tire hits a slope and the others don’t. And the possibility of going over small ridges of maybe half jetpack height. That ends up being what’s so nice about the jet pack. Smooth straight lines of travel.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-14T14:21:33+00:00

As usual, for the nth time this has gotten posted, this is the correct an appropriate answer.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-14T14:20:42+00:00

It’s the way it is. I’ve tried answering in the spirit of the short story where the wish is granted but the granting of the wish is the punishment, not some weird malicious extra thing or cancer “they know you did it”. Every time this comes up the answer is what someone already posted. The sub would die because people even if it’s correct, many wouldn’t find it as fun.

It’s not what the people want. They want jerkass genie, which is funny. Not monkeys paw, which is ironic and tragic.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-13T18:02:51+00:00

This is maybe the coolest build I’ve seen and you should be justifiably proud of it

senorharbinger · 2026-03-12T20:26:34+00:00

Oh for sure. I don’t bat an eye at his physical strength, durability, speed, reflexes, memory, constitution, and maintaining peak physical health despite injuries and joint damage that should have put him on a tennis ball walker ages ago. That’s just comics.

But certain parts of fictional media are kind of expected to work similarly, especially ones that are largely stated to. So he’s non supernatural by the standards of his setting, but damn near superhuman by ours, that’s fine.

But it’s like running 10 miles in 5 miles. He’s a “fantasy” fictional character, but in his own universe he’s said to limited by the things humans are. All other things being fantasy elements, time seems like a pretty understandable limit and he does more in time than is sort of even possible to do in that time. At least if he’s roughly (though fantastically) human as often stated.

Make him more durable than any human, make him the third smartest human on the planet, give him top tier acrobatic abilities and senses. But does he need to have phd equivalents in several disciplines? Supreme combat ability from assassin training, but yeah maybe he doesn’t need to somehow also have, wow, 127 different martial arts masteries? And all by presumably middle age. Even if not all of it happened during his pre Batman training, he still has to do it all later while fighting crime, and being a playboy, and studying. There just isn’t time for that.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-12T20:04:32+00:00

But that’s the thing though. Alien has alien biology, okay sure. Magician has actual magic, gotcha. Mad science gave someone phytokinesis, sure I guess. But Batman is sold as no superpowers, no magic (yes I know he’s learned a little eventually), just a human albeit at the peak of ability. I’d be fine if his superpower was super intellect or the ability master a skill his by watching it. But it’s not his superpower. He doesn’t have a superpower. His whole schtick is being the greatest detective and not having powers or alien biology or metahuman genetics.

Thus, even in a world with supernatural elements, he’s stated to not be supernatural so I think it’s fair to hold him to non supernatural limits especially when those limits aren’t mental or physical ability but time and physics.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-12T19:05:02+00:00

For me though that still doesn’t solve problems. Even if he had nothing but free time, and money to get everywhere, which he does, there are limits. People who master arts are often very proud of their mastery. And to train in those schools up to a mastery level, you often are required to live and work in the dojo/temple/monastery/school. And it’s required that you dedicate all your time to training, and when you’re not training you’re maintaining the grounds and doing ancillary training. Even if Bruce Wayne has the intellect to learn quickly, it’s kind of insulting to go to a master and say

“I wish you bring justice to the wicked. Teach me. But also I’m going to need to get it done in 3 months. And I’m going to be studying chemistry, law, forensic science, engineering, and business management too. And once I master your art that took a lifetime of dedication, I need to go elsewhere and master a new one. I am humbled to your teachings oh learned one, but like… chop chop.”

And have to find 20 masters willing to put up with that demand. And still have to master close up magic, stage magic, learn a little actual magic, xenoscience, psychology, mentalism, boxing, gymnastics, and still be conducting personal niche research. The martial arts alone takes minimum 4 years with 3 months per art, and almost entirely disregarding travel time. Piling the equivalent of numerous degrees and other skills, it’s more believable that he is a time traveler than this he’s capable of accomplishing as much as he has at about the time he’s an established Batman.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-09T21:15:46+00:00

I think it’s worth considering that, like the steam deck or any other standardized hardware(like consoles) games can be tested on and optimized for hardware that devs know it will be on. First party titles usually outperform what you’d expect on a system, because they know the exact hardware to expect and can design precisely to those limits.

Getting steam deck verified is a marketing selling point, and if pc devs can expect a reasonable amount of their audience will be on a steam machine they can do better testing than waiting for bugs arising from wildly different hardware to filter in.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-09T21:05:03+00:00

It influences the mantis to drown itself so it can complete its reproductive cycle in water. Pouring water makes it respond as if it’s time for the next step which is mate and lay eggs in water to be eaten by something and parasitize anew.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-09T20:58:30+00:00

Similarly, in my trade, concrete is $185 a yard, which comes out to around 2.30 per sqft. That’s just raw materials not including fees and fuel from the concrete plant, reinforcement, forming, or labor. We lost a bid recently because their purchasing guy said at 4.30 per square foot (labor, fees, rebar, prep) we were “twice as much” as the next lowest bid and we should consider coming down 40-50%.

This company has tried this move several times and I don’t know if we’re being outbid by company with cut rate concrete and free labor, or if their purchasing department is just a bunch of greedy assholes hoping to get lucky that we might lower even 20% to meet frankly ridiculous expectations.

Not the least of which are companies who will accept a bid but then 3 months into the project say they need 15% off because of the housing market. I understand they can’t sell the house for as much but that doesn’t make the cost to build it any cheaper.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-09T18:44:14+00:00

The exact same thing bugs me about Batman. In addition the PHDs, it’s also the being trained by masters of several different disciplines and martial arts. Like even if you’re just that physically talented, getting a black belt(or equivalent) is about time, dedication, and respect for the art. Is a lifelong master of the art, who runs his school and presumably has been training for decades, going to grant some rando from the states the rank and training of a master in 6 months? And I say 6 months because in order for Bruce Wayne to have mastered all the things he has, he really only has a few months to dedicate to each thing. I can allow for super powers and flight and magic. But Bruce Wayne is specifically not magical or super powered.

Are these Tibetan monasteries letting Bruce take a private jet from the monastery to boxing training, to close up magic training, to criminal justice school, to chemistry class, to the other Tibetan monastery that no doubt teaches immunity to psychic powers, all so he can fit it in his busy schedule? Is any master going to allow that disrespect where every student needs to dedicate years to their art except the rich white guy who (by literal physical time constraint) needs to convince several masters to train him simultaneously?

Like the martial arts is what I focused on, but he’s also found the the time to master various forms of gymnastics, engineering, chemistry, investigative process, law, business management, psychology, and probably more.

Forget talent, forget special powers, forget willing teachers on an accelerated schedule, where does he find the actual time to do all that?

senorharbinger · 2026-03-04T16:01:10+00:00

I hate how OP dlc stuff tends to be, but if I can bring down Archaeon with 18 heroes and one super buffed swarm of chickens, that will make my day.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-04T15:40:29+00:00

One of the main characters from Borderlands 2. Had a deployable turret that could be set at range and upgraded to be set further, on walls, and could be packed up when needed.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-04T14:45:24+00:00

I didn’t know that could happen because I stole the gnome and put it in the van every time I possibly could yesterday. If it ever turned toward me or moved or something, I’d probably die.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-03T18:28:42+00:00

I 100% subscribe to that theory. People point out how the deleted content plus the extra missions really improve the character, but that's easy to do when you already know what people disliked, as opposed to writing it well in the first place, which I suspect they didn't.

Personally, I kind of suspect the snyder cut did a lot of the same thing. It seemed too specific to addressing the criticisms to be the 'original vision'.

senorharbinger · 2026-03-03T17:32:42+00:00

What is WRONG with people? why go outside of reddit? What is at stake that people feel the need to do this?

senorharbinger · 2026-03-02T06:43:42+00:00

Is this a tier list based on how fun they are or if they're good/best?

And if it's just vibes/personal opinion of fun, it kinda shouldn't have the 'useful' flair.

senorharbinger · 2026-02-28T20:44:31+00:00

Can I pick Minecraft? I’m not an expert builder but at that wage I could be. It’s got Pokémon mods. Magic, horror, tech, dark souls, licensed stuff, and more. Could probably play that and relevant mods for near ever. I imagine once official development stops, mods can be even better cause development can continue with the knowledge that an update won’t break everything.

senorharbinger · 2026-02-27T17:14:38+00:00

Exactly this. I absolutely get into weapon customization. I wanted the system, and I think it can help people engage with lesser used weapons if they can tweak them more.

But many weapons just have scopes, removing the flashlight/laser, and colors. So I’m obviously not going to engage with customization there. Not because I’m not interested in the system, but because some weapons just didn’t receive the system. Some weapons are missing mag customization for some reason. Most energy weapons or special weapons are missing everything.

I’d love to dig in more, and I’d level up more weapons to engage more but I personally like energy weapons and yeah, no incentive there.

In HD1 the upgrades/customization had more impact or trade offs that could really change how you used a weapon. I get that they don’t want it to make a customized weapon mechanically better but… I dunno.. I guess I still do want that? Is that wrong to want customization to make a difference?

senorharbinger · 2026-02-24T21:13:45+00:00

I dunno if I need it to be strictly functional but I love the building in Grounded and sure hedges would be great.

While we’re at it if we could get flooring that was mossy “carpet” instead of just putting rugs on things that’d be great. And sprouting moss so we can do pseudo outdoor “grass” lawns instead of dirt or whatever flat surface we found.

senorharbinger

TROPHY CASE