Helldivers 2 is now back on track following the prolonged period without patches, and though things are now generally fine, the infamous Spear launcher is causing crashes left and right. Arrowhead Games acknowledged the problem via Discord, and the community is not happy about that.
Notably, the Arrowhead Games community manager confirmed they’re investigating the Spear as it seems to cause crashes for entire fireteams in combat. It’s good Arrowhead is looking into it, of course, but the issue the community has now is how it’s communicated. The bug isn’t prominently highlighted elsewhere. Those who simply aren’t in the loop with the recent goings-on in Helldivers 2 might’ve heard that the Spear was recently buffed, for example, and if they’re not in the game’s official Discord, they’re going to crash the game for their whole squad without knowing why. Not great.
The Helldivers 2 community wants a better way for Arrowhead to communicate
This isn’t the first time that the Helldivers 2 community has asked for Arrowhead to communicate via something less transient than Discord, of course. Time and again, Arrowhead Games’ staff discussed ongoing problems, concerns, and/or simply engaged in dialogue with the players themselves to share helpful information only for it to stay on Discord because it wasn’t shared anywhere else.
It’s not perfectly clear, of course, what the best alternative to Discord might be, but many players have proposed using the game itself as a news platform of sorts, either by adding a dedicated console to the Super Destroyer that players could use to get up-to-speed, or by repurposing the integrated news system to announce bugs, updates, and other such items.
It would be easier still, of course, to simply rely more on other social media, Steam, and the PlayStation Network to announce news and get more players informed of what’s going on in the background. Whatever options Arrowhead ends up settling on, the community’s requests are clear: Discord shouldn’t be the sole source of Helldivers 2 news at this point.
Now, it’s worth remembering that Arrowhead has been – slowly but certainly – making Helldivers 2 way less obfuscating over time. For example, the latest major update straight-up displayed the planetary supply lines that have been in place from day one, but weren’t actually visible outside of the game’s API. This shows a willingness to improve, but Arrowhead clearly still has some ways to go before the community is happy with its efforts.
