• @[email protected]
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    86 months ago

    I mean, I wasn’t logged in when it happened, but the two MOs were at 45% and 80%, with the children at 45% when I last checked less than 12 hours ago. So unless they somehow made up that big of a difference in under 12 hours, I don’t think this is the case.

    The more likely scenario is that the game itself probably forced a win condition on the children MO, despite the larger progress on the new weapon MO.

      • @[email protected]
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        6 months ago

        Well the mines planet currently has 74.4k players on it and its liberation rate dropped significantly to 39%. So I think that is enough evidence, at least to me, to suggest that the game automatically applies buffs or debuffs to objective completion without any regard for player participation. Most likely under the guidance of AH employees.

        Especially with all of the severely negative recent press surrounding Helldivers 2, Sony and AH wanted the easy W. And whats an easier W than rigging the outcome of player “choice” to be the morally correct one and it leading to a donation to charity for children?

        • Chozo
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          6 months ago

          So I think that is enough evidence, at least to me, to suggest that the game automatically applies buffs or debuffs to objective completion without any regard for player participation. Most likely under the guidance of AH employees.

          The defense rates aren’t static. Enemy forces have weaker resistance as a planet’s liberation progresses. We saw this demonstrated in the recent dark fluid missions where this modifier was scaled a bit more heavily than usual as the entire community was focused on a single planet. It results in a bit of a snowballing effect, where it’s initially very slow to liberate, but then picks up speed very quickly.

          Of course, Joel could be putting a finger on the scales, too. But I feel like whenever they give us a choice like this, they seem to leave that choice and the consequences of it entirely up to us. They tend not to give us choices at all for the things that play into the bigger narrative, which this mission doesn’t really appear to be.

          • @[email protected]
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            46 months ago

            74.4k people on one planet and its liberation dropping is pretty noticeable. Somehow in less than 12 hours the liberation progress was able to basically swap. I am not saying that there is definitive proof that AH is manipulating the numbers, and I agree with you for the most part, but surely you can agree the timing is rather convenient for some good press?

            Especially after the player count dropped by more than 250k, probably due to the Sony Account debacle, and now they’re catching more heat from their official Discord mods going on a timeout/ban spree on people who vomit reacted to furry art.

            Certainly I’d like to think it was all for good fun, but the timing is too convenient and IMO it kinda poisons the waters for the good feeling. Donating to charity is good, but they could have done that without “giving the players the choice,” so why didn’t they? Were they really not going to donate to charity if that MO somehow failed?

            • Chozo
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              6 months ago

              I’m pretty sure the charity donation wasn’t planned. If it was, that’s an awfully small donation for what would’ve been a big community event. If they had planned this, I’m sure they would have actually partnered with a charity and encouraged players to donate or something, to have had an actually meaningful contribution.

              I feel like you’re looking too deep into this. This looks more like the CEO just having a laugh with the community. Not everything is a conspiracy.

        • @perdvert
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          116 months ago

          Does everything need to be cynical and awful all the time?

          • @[email protected]
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            46 months ago

            No, I am only saying that in this particular case it is very convenient for AH and Sony for this to be happening, and in my opinion it seems like this instance was a PR stunt for some good press when the game needs it.

        • @[email protected]
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          36 months ago

          why would they need to force the game outcome to get the PR win? They could donate anyway and give a snarky tongue in cheek message about the players choosing the mines.

          The game outcome is practically irrelevant

    • @[email protected]
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      96 months ago

      What? The majority of bot players were on the children MO, Vernen Wells. I don’t think Marfark even progressed until MO players moved over.