Next step, hire a seasoned and reputable community manager. Step 3, either shut down, or HEAVILY limit employee talk back on your discord going forward because it has ONLY caused bad things during each drama session.
Yes, the situation would be much much better if Arrowhead just said:
We understand and empathise with the frustration many of our valued players have expressed over the recent policy changes regarding PSN accounts. We strive to make sure our game provides the best experience possible for our players and this policy change is an important part of that. Rest assured we are working hard to ensure that the transition will be as smooth as possible for all our players and have a world class support team standing by to help in the unlikely case of any issues. Lastly I want to thank players for their continued support as we enter this new and exciting chapter for Helldivers 2.
See? Much better than actually interacting with your player base as though they are human and you actually care about them.
“We have received further reports and questions concerning the changes made to our Helldivers 2 product on PC, and we would like to clear the air on these matters. Please refer to our knowledgebase article for Helldivers 2 for more details.”
The article:
"Why is a PlayStation Network™ account required for Helldivers 2? In order to deliver the best matchmaking and gameplay experience, a PlayStation Network™ account must be used when playing Helldivers 2 on PC.
I bought Helldivers 2, but the PlayStation Network™ is not available in my region. Will I be refunded? We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused, and we are working hard to bring PlayStation Network™ services to new regions around the globe.
Will my personal data be safe if I link my Steam account to the PlayStation Network™? Rest assured, your data will only be used in accordance with the Sony PlayStation Network™ Privacy Policy.
I didn’t need to use a PlayStation Network™ account before May 2024, why do I need to now? Prior to May 2024, a technical issue was preventing the PlayStation Network™ sign-in applet from correctly functioning in PC releases of Helldivers 2. This has since been fixed, and you should now be able to play with other consumers who purchased the PlayStation™ 5 release of Helldivers 2."
They should be paying me for these top-notch PR non-answers.
That’s fair, I haven’t followed everything the devs have said on Discord but the stuff that’s been posted here seems fairly reasonable. Still in general I vastly prefer game companies that have the actual developers interacting with fans over the hyper sanitised corpo speak we typically get.
I don’t think Spitz or the CM position in general should be the focus of the discussion at all. He’s a human, and he’s got a tough job right now and a lot of people venting their frustrations at him, directly. Him having a snotty attitude after having this fiasco dropped on him is a bad look to be sure, but hardly the issue. He’s not in charge of making decisions for Arrowhead or Sony, he’s just the mouthpiece.
Next step, hire a seasoned and reputable community manager. Step 3, either shut down, or HEAVILY limit employee talk back on your discord going forward because it has ONLY caused bad things during each drama session.
Yes, the situation would be much much better if Arrowhead just said:
We understand and empathise with the frustration many of our valued players have expressed over the recent policy changes regarding PSN accounts. We strive to make sure our game provides the best experience possible for our players and this policy change is an important part of that. Rest assured we are working hard to ensure that the transition will be as smooth as possible for all our players and have a world class support team standing by to help in the unlikely case of any issues. Lastly I want to thank players for their continued support as we enter this new and exciting chapter for Helldivers 2.
See? Much better than actually interacting with your player base as though they are human and you actually care about them.
/s
“We have received further reports and questions concerning the changes made to our Helldivers 2 product on PC, and we would like to clear the air on these matters. Please refer to our knowledgebase article for Helldivers 2 for more details.”
The article:
"Why is a PlayStation Network™ account required for Helldivers 2? In order to deliver the best matchmaking and gameplay experience, a PlayStation Network™ account must be used when playing Helldivers 2 on PC.
I bought Helldivers 2, but the PlayStation Network™ is not available in my region. Will I be refunded? We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused, and we are working hard to bring PlayStation Network™ services to new regions around the globe.
Will my personal data be safe if I link my Steam account to the PlayStation Network™? Rest assured, your data will only be used in accordance with the Sony PlayStation Network™ Privacy Policy.
I didn’t need to use a PlayStation Network™ account before May 2024, why do I need to now? Prior to May 2024, a technical issue was preventing the PlayStation Network™ sign-in applet from correctly functioning in PC releases of Helldivers 2. This has since been fixed, and you should now be able to play with other consumers who purchased the PlayStation™ 5 release of Helldivers 2."
They should be paying me for these top-notch PR non-answers.
I see you haven’t seen some of the “fanning the flames” comments some of their community people have said, in this incident and in past issues…
That’s fair, I haven’t followed everything the devs have said on Discord but the stuff that’s been posted here seems fairly reasonable. Still in general I vastly prefer game companies that have the actual developers interacting with fans over the hyper sanitised corpo speak we typically get.
Is this about that community manager who dared to have an opinion about more women’s representation in games (on her personal Twitter)?
I don’t think Spitz or the CM position in general should be the focus of the discussion at all. He’s a human, and he’s got a tough job right now and a lot of people venting their frustrations at him, directly. Him having a snotty attitude after having this fiasco dropped on him is a bad look to be sure, but hardly the issue. He’s not in charge of making decisions for Arrowhead or Sony, he’s just the mouthpiece.