this post was submitted on 06 May 2024
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Helldivers 2
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From what I've read elsewhere AH was aware of the PSN account linking long before the game's release. Also just because Sony is backpedaling because of the negative reviews, I don't see that as a reason to change my review. Even if the gameplay is widely praised, I think the negative reviews explaining what shitty practices were at hand should stay for future potential customers. I doubt Sony is done doing stupid stuff like this
Duh.. That's what we wanted.
I agree. But the attempt was made, why change all the reviews to pretend like it didn't happen?
Because we got what we want? I don't get what's so confusing about that.
I guess for now. Can't imagine Sony is done trying to push account integration for all future titles but I guess we'll see
So change the rating and leave the review?
They worded it like the weasels they are
That’s kind of how negotiations work.
Negotiations?
Did they ask customers before making the change? Did they prevent sales in countries that don't support PSN?
That wasn't a negotiation, that was them taking a decision and going back on it when they realized people were angry and started refunding the game. You're not negotiating with a hundred billion dollar company, you're hoping they'll feel generous enough to give you a candy before they strike back again. The wording of their announcement makes that extremely clear.
So to provide a little context. Arrowhead was negotiating with Sony at the time when the announcement was made and everything was uncertain. The developers basically asked us to voice our opinion through leaving ratings/reviews which we were happy to do. Arrowhead was then able to use this as fuel for their negotiations with Sony to prove that players were dissatisfied with this decision. Sony backed off and now we can continue to support the game by flipping our reviews back.
Besides, if you don't put your review back to the way it was before, you wont have ammo for the next bad decision that Sony tries to force onto Arrowhead.
If you really don't want to put your thumb back up, at the very least you could just delete your negative review.
I urge you to reconsider. That review hurts Arrowhead way more than Sony... which is unfair to the team that put their heart and soul into the game.
It is very clear that the CEO cares a lot about this game, and I'm sure many, if not all of the devs that worked on it care a lot about it... And that to me means a lot more that trying to "stick it to Sony". Yes, the CEO knew about the account linking but he wasn't aware of all the limitations that come with it (i.e. the country limitations). SONY is also responsible for the countries the game is being sold in.
I'm not convinced AH was unaware of what account linking would lead to. In the 6+ months they knew about it, not one person realized PSN access wasn't available in all the countries they were selling to? I think AH did a good job appearing shocked and betrayed by Sony, and sure there are plenty of devs that likely didn't stand by that decision, but erasing all of the reviews that warn potential buyers of the bad practices doesn't seem like a smart idea. I think they are capable of regaining genuine positive reviews and community trust, but it shouldn't be overnight
Localization and regional sales are typically some of the very last tasks in a game's development cycle, and six months is a lot of time for a memo to get misplaced. Configuring the Steam page's region settings for the game very likely happened in the last couple weeks before release, and somebody very likely applied the wrong default settings (likely using settings Sony would normally use for games that don't require PSN).
Not that that makes it okay, but it's not like there was some secret conspiracy at AH/Sony to hide PSN linking and intentionally sell to users they're guaranteed to issue refunds to. This was a combination of bad business decisions, poor communication, and most likely a dash of human error.
You're probably right, thanks for the reply
Shoutout to you, thanks for being a reasonable Lemmy user and not losing your cool despite receiving a few downvotes!
"Oh no, it hurts the guys who signed a contract with Sony where they agreed that PSN integration for PC was ok! :("
Signed the contract 6-7 years ago. PSN requirement was added 6 months before release...
And they didn't break the contract even though it had been altered
And they released the game to regions that don't have access to PSN
Sony would have won that legal battle and AH would cease to exist.
The devs could move elsewhere, but backing for people who fought capitalism and lost is less favorable than you think. We probably would never get another Magicka. And definitely would never get another Helldivers, let alone Helldivers 2.
I'm all for overthrowing the system, but AH doesn't have the sway to do anything but hope they can continue making fun games. And I hope they do. That gives them more sway, one game at a time.
I mean working on a game for 6-7 years and breaking contract over that is a bit much to ask. And Arrowhead (DEVELOPERS) are not in control of where the game is sold. Sony (PUBLISHER) is in control of that on Steam. The CEO stated that on Twitter/Xitter
And it was their choice to have Sony as a publisher.
Sony owns the IP, so no it really wasn't.
AH wasn't just aware... The game did require linking at launch, just like the Steam store page has said was required since day one. It was a requirement, enforced, and not hidden at all. The shitty PSN servers were part of the overall server issues at launch, so the linking was temporarily made optional while that was all sorted out.
AH just didn't do a good job at making it clear that the linking was mandatory, and only made optional temporarily. That could have been because they were told the issue would be fixed quickly, and the reality was it took much longer than planned. Wouldn't be the first time for Sony there. Sony and PSN server issues go hand on hand.
Sony, as the publisher, however also did not prevent sales in non-PSN regions as they should have from day one.
Yes Arrowhead was aware that it wasn't fully set up because in Sony's own terms it was always optional to link a PSN account while playing on PC. That is until they announced this forced change and rewrote the terms of service that same weekend.