So, generally speaking....
I think things have been "ok to good" with the release. There's still plenty of bugs, crashes, failures to connect to the server here and there but it's mostly improved across the board for my friends and I.
Perhaps the two biggest black eyes of release are:
-The full crafting systems isn't like yet.
-The cosmetic cash shop is.
People are giving the game shit for two reasons. Firstly, that a core component of long-term gameplay progression (optimizing your gear) isn't live by release. And with the Cash Shop being functional, it rightly seems like their priorities are out of whack. And secondly, people are pissed at the design of the cash shop. Classic MTX currency with a pricing schema where you can't quite afford what you want in one package, timers on available cosmetics to buy, triggering people susceptible to FOMO impulse buying.
Fathshark responded to the criticism here:
https://www.gamesradar.com/we-got-that-one-wrong-darktide-devs-promise-to-tighten-microtransactions-amid-player-backlash/Basically saying that a) it wasn't their intent to be predatory and b) that one specific currency package wasn't in the game by mistake that fit in the current scheme to give people fairer options.
I have two thoughts on this whole thing.
First off, it is a pretty bad look to open your cash shop for business on release day when you're missing core parts of your game still. Should FS punish themselves financially for the sake of saving face? I think so. While it's only mollifying a small % of their playerbase that has an opinion about it, I think it would have acknowledged that, yeah, maybe the game has other priorities right now other than selling cosmetics.
To the second issue, how those cosmetics are being handled, I think people are largely getting bent out of shape over very little. I may not like these practices but they are bog standard, even for a game you have to buy first. Carnival money MTX currency, timers on available, pricing packages on currency that are obviously structured to get more out of you....for items that are purely cosmetic. Sea of Thieves has this same model. Warframe, a F2P game, has had all this for like 8 years.
Grimrock Deeprock Galactic has a huge offering of both free and MTX cosmetics, many of which I've never even bothered to look at.
So they definitely have the egg on their face that I was expecting, and then some more to boot. The game currently keeps vacillating between positive and mixed ratings.
Personally, I know that given time, the game will finish with the core outstanding items fairly soon, and then from there it has a lot of room to grow in many directions. After some balance changes to toughness and ranged and spawn behaviors, Heresy is hard as balls but a ton of fun. You really gotta work as a team and take your time or die screaming. Runs are anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes depending on the level and your team.
I'm really excited to see where the game can go from here. But for now, they absolutely have to get the crafting finished and
working, not first pass buggy BS, soon. I'm just stockpiling resources and crafting materials against the actual release, but it basically means I have nothing to really currently look forward to as I play. Which is fine, most of Vermintide 2 is and was like that.
Just a damn shame really. I'd have easily been happy to wait until 2023 for the game. It's a great game and has a bright future, I think. Just would have been nice to not punch itself in the face like this.