I'm going to rant here in a way I couldn't over at the TWI forums without getting rep-assassinated.
Right now I feel like the biggest problem RO2 has is 1/3rd of its players are stodgy, uncompromising retro-gamers who want only thing one: a pure WWII military sim. They want absolutely no "game" in it.
And to me, RO:OST sucked. It was a game filled with tons of great ideas, trapped in this clunky, wooden frame. It exaggerated anything it could for the sake of making it feel "real." It was a game I couldn't get into, particularly because the clunkiness combined with ye olde timey weapon handling and a bunch of veterans who had done nothing but squat on the game for 4 years...all came together to make an experience that just sucked. When RO:Ost didn't do it for me, I simply said so. I didn't flame Tripwire or declare that realism sucks, and in fact it just made me more eager to see what TWI could do with money, time and experience on their hands.
RO2 is what I've wanted from TWI since I played RO:OST. It's fluid. It's updated with all the conventions that are undeniably good in FPS (mantling, cover mechanics, squad communication tools....) It still has most of their core ideals in it, particularly the tanking.
And it's recalling so many things from older games that I loved and that EA/Activision/everyone else won't do anymore. We have a commander again, we have shifting objectives and maps that change shape. We've got real objectives and counter-objectives...and the battlefield feels like it has a pulse. There's battlelines, you can see people coordinating to achieve something more than a simple flank. So many things that have been killed off in the process of making shoe box-sized maps and TDM as the first priority because consoles dominate the market sales right now.
Add to all that all the things I DO like that I can understand RO1 vets don't. I like stats. I like unlocks. They're not the reason I play a game, but they enhance my experience. To the RO vets, it's a mortal sin, compounded by things like day 1 unlocks.
Where TWI has really screwed themselves is they made promises to those guys about everything; the rarity of weapons. The amount of sway. This that and the other thing. I think TWI honestly believes they kept their promise. To the RO vets, they've lied through their teeth and continue to lie.
Then again, RO vets remember RO:Ost as almost perfect, basically only needing graphics and a few extra mechanics to keep them faithful for another 10 years or whatever. Instead they got a hell of a lot more than they bargained for, it's not a hardcore realism obsessed simulation and they're angry about it. They're so angry they've played probably 20 hours or less of the game. Meanwhile, the people that dig it have already clocked close to 100 hours including playing from beta.
I really just wish their "true and loyal fans" would put their forum accounts where their mouths are, and GTFO. I respect most gamers' right to squat on the title of their choice like unhappy trolls, but the RO vets are fucking absurd and getting more absurd every day they stay on the forums and repeat the same tired ass complaints. They still act like this is THEIR game, not EVERYONE'S game. They insult the very devs they used to worship, filling threads with vitriol and insults that border on pure trolling. (I don't care how much you don't like a game, questioning the dev's intelligence or basic ability is fucking trolling, even if it's TRUE) To them, having 6 more sub-machineguns per map, and 3 more rare German assault rifles available, shatters game balance. It's totally broken, will only be saved by gutting everything they don't like, and that's that. There is no "rest of the game", it's 100% defined by these problems.
Personally, RO2 is a better blend of arcade-y FPS and realism FPS than anything I've played in a while. Most review sites agree that it's hitting some sweet, untapped middle ground between the two, and we all like it, and would love it if it had released polished to a mirror shine. If the hardcore simulation/realism crowd doesn't like it, and the masses of modern casual shooters don't get it, GREAT! There has always been a middle ground of people who were sick with the polarization of the genre and this game feels like I'm coming home to the BEST days of Battlefield 2, Wolfenstien: Enemy Territory and others. When arcade and realistic weren't completely opposed to each other and could co-exist in the same game in great fashion.
For everyone here, who was present for Elemental's release and Stardock's fall from many people's graces....take Red Orchestra 2 as another warning about dev veneration if you still don't get it. They're not gods. They're not physical extensions of your gaming soul. They're people and they're not going to single handedly save the industry, OR you. They're never going to develop a game that is perfect, FOR YOU, and they're never going to stop changing their ideas, their opinions and the kind of games they make. They will over-estimate, over-promise, and under-deliver.
If anyone wants to have a dev they like but also a dev they don't blame for everything.....quit expecting the world of them, and play what they offer you....and stop holding out hope the game you continue to imagine in your head. Judge what they're offering you, and if you don't like, say so like an adult, and move on.
