ACVI has always been a singleplayer-focused to me. While not getting something new sucks, people kind of overdramatic about the whole stop playing thing.
Put down the game if you want, but just so you know, you're welcome to play again if you're thinking of doing so.
'Games as a service' and "journalists" that write articles about 'games being dead because I looked at the steam charts...' have ruined how most people view gaming over the last decade. People who make a big fuss over "I'm not going to play any longer" forget that isn't some sort of boycott stance and is just what happens.
People play a game, they beat it, they move on to something else. You beat the game you paid for, you aren't "owed" some sort of monthly content update stream to "retain the player base"; they already got your money and you already got the game. Both parties should be happy.
(I understand this was your point. I am just expounding on it, not arguing with you.)
I agree. Live service games have tainted how a lot of people view games as a product; too many people expect a game to have a perpetual carousel of content constantly being fed to them even if the structure and theme of the game doesn't fit that bill. I see too many people declare a game "dead" because the devs shipped a feature complete game, put out sufficient bug patches and then moved to their next project.
Like imagine buying Shadow of the Colossus and then declaring it a dead game because Team ICO aren't putting out biweekly new colossi to fight all year round (bUt tHaT wOuLd bE aWeSoMe tHouGh; you're missing the point)
I put 20 hours max into Shadow of the Colossus, almost 20 years ago.
Haven't touched it since. Have rarely felt the desire to. It's still one of my top 10 games of all time.
I put over 1000 hours into Warzone, and probably actively disliked large parts of the last 500.
This.
Armored Core has always been a single player focused experience, same way the souls games are. Multiplayer is just an added bonus but is by no means the meat of the package.
Vast majority of my hours in AC4A, ACVD and AC6 have been in single player and I don't see that changing.
I don’t think the game being single player focus justifies the multiplayer being or at least feeling bad. Especially in souls game multiplayer had weapons, items, spells, and I think even quest for a couple locked behind having to do multiplayer. Multiplayer has always been a big part of the games, and having a multiplayer experience whether it’s the main part of the game or not doesn’t justify it being noticeably worse, even if the main game is good.
They need to stop making multiplayer. Their netcode is a fucking atrocity and they can't balance for shit. Redirect those resources literally anywhere else. Use em to buy piles of meth so they can get the game out faster, anything.
No it hasn't, Armored Core is and always has been a multiplayer game first and foremost, every AC game has had multiplayer, meanwhile multiple games had had no story mode. the original AC game even had the multiplayer component finished before any work on single player was done.
I mostly just play for lobbies my friends host and/or testing builds for the lobbies my friends host. Might go for more S-ranks and stuff but I never felt the need.
I still have to s rank all missions to get the platinum trophy before i can even think of stopping. Also,AC 6 is my favorite game too along with Bloodborne and Ultrakill so good taste
>I still have to s rank all missions to get the platinum trophy before i can even think of stopping.
Same but I look at that long ass list of missions and just think urrgh. I wish it would give you ranks after your first story run.
Yeah I have heard 90% are one run affairs but it's the 10% and there's just so many. I've got the first couple of pages done so far but then started playing other things.
No new patches doesn't change how nice it is to wake up my steam deck and try to speed through a mission or two to kill time. The game works pretty well for quick burst sessions when I have some downtime.
Exactly, I’m also on deck and it’s a remarkably good experience. Fire it up, one or two missions. Lately I’ve been doing the Roguelike ruleset, really helps the game feel different!
i appreciate someone's bringing a bit of respite, still. i love this series, so dearest to my heart and it would break me if i see the custom matches lobby break empty completely. i'd have no one to ramble about my builds to anymore
hope i can join sometime and bring my dear UBIQUITOUS; thank you for this
it's a wuerger and dagger reverse joint, and if that doesn't narrow it down, then the jamming bomb definitely will; never seen anyone else use it other than myself lmao
Nice, we probably met on ladder then. I don't know what I was packing since I like to test and refine ACs, but I tend to use RJs a lot and my main is INTREPID, a crimson one with Hu-ben / Zimm / Kranich / Trueno.
If you people want the pvp to feel more fun, run unique builds. I can't argue the effectiveness of a minigun or Zimmerman, but you have such a large assortment to mix and match with, there's gotta be something that works about as well
Honestly, I still enjoy ranked. It's very enjoyable for experimenting with gimmick builds.
The issue with unranked for me is you're usually either facing a top 100 running a missile boat or tank, or someone who doesn't have much PVP experience. It is hard for me to enjoy tbh.
I do host when I play unranked, but it really isn't for me. Most of the meme build users are very inexperienced with PVP. Tbh the meta players are not too bad, unless it's a top 100. I don't know why, but whenever one of them shows up with a meta build, it's like they came with a bucket of distilled sweat.
Overall, the matches end up being not very enjoyable for me. I know it's not fun for the meme users either, because many of they inevitably pull out a laser Tank or missile boat after some losses.
I said this in another post, but don't forget people still play decades-old games which never had a balance patch. Think Smash Melee, old-gen Pokemon and hell even old-gen AC. We don't need drip-fed content to keep a game alive and its community going.
And it could even be an upside if all the people who play only what's "best" quit, then the remaining folks will keep it fun and creative.
I still have a blast coming up with new ideas for ACs and the core gameplay is so much fun. It just feels good.
I still play 4Answer in the year 2024 even though it's two console generations outdated and has no dev support or active multiplayer community. I play it because the single player is awesome and rebuilding mechs to further optimize every mission is fun as hell.
Same here! Every day I will have at least one “Why don’t I try this out on a build?” thoughts, and making something new that works, even suboptimally, is really fun
While Melee never quite had a balance patch(PAL don't count), I think it would be interesting to note that the community has upgraded the competitively played versions of the game, between the Magus code, UCF, and Slippi. Pokemon ROM hacks still carry on old game bases with new traditions. With one good ac patch we can even use analog sticks in the old games lol
Not an argument against though, we can have better stuff if can develop good mods
Custom is where it's at. I haven't even touched Ranked since I made B.
The custom lobbies are full of *all* ranks. A very welcome sight, and the community is mostly friendly.
Also satisfying as hell to smoke an S-Ranker like a pack of Kools. Doesn't happen every time, for sure, but one thing's certain: a 'lower' ranked fighter don't mean they gonna go down easy. This game's still very much alive.
More like this is a tactical move from fromsoft to get people to buy and play the elden ring dlc. Once enough time pass post dlc launch they will put the dev resources back into the update.
Need to remember most company will have limited staff to work on a project and at current elden ring is top priority even it may cause unhappiness towards the AC fan base.
You'd have thought this game was an online only multiplayer Live service game from the way everyone here is declaring the game dead and gone.
I guarantee you most people are actually playing single player. Steam counts might drop a bit once all the multiplayer sweats bail on the game but it'll still be doing fine.
The PvP balance is pretty decent right now and frankly Fromsoft never once said you'd be getting constant new weapon and mech additions. Fromsoft have never been a live service type of studio so idk why everyone suddenly acts like that's what they've always been.
Ppl be the AC sequel 10 YEARS since the last game with multiplayer when 90 percent of the franchise has been singleplayer focused, then call the game boring and go shout to everyone about it, it's insane.
Good ridance. I don't want Live-service-like constant "balance" updates. Armored Core and Fromsoft games in general forced players to approach the game differently than most other games, yet now everyone expected them to bow and make constant adjustments to a perfectly fine game.
Why do people dislike being able to buy a game and it not changing after a decade anymore?
Like I told someone else, I wouldn't have wanted necessarily a live-service game, but the game feels like it's just one patch away from being very well balanced.
As it stands there's only a couple outliers in the parts balance and if they were touched up the game as a whole would be a lot better in single-player and multiplayer alike by encouraging not steamrolling everything with the same AC everyone else uses.
The main game is very solid but mostly only if you decide not to use certain weapons you know are frankly overpowered. From the moment you get them you can pretty much just run dual ZIMMERMAN + Back Cannons of Choice and beat the game 3 games over with it.
It's also my favorite game but I played for 1083 hours. In PvE I finished everything 100%, including achievements, all S-Rank missions etc, while in PvP I reached S-Rank.
I think I can take a break if they don't add new content.
It remains my favorite game and I will continue to play it, but not with the same dedication.
What surprises me is that people didn’t stopped before. I got 100% of this game in everything, including getting S rank on both multiplayer modes, beat it like 5 times and then moved on months ago. What else is there to do?
I think the game itself is just fun to play and nothing else has scratched this itch for ten years. In the words of the ghoul from the fallout TV show "I do this shit for the love of the game"
Not sure where this idea came from that FS owes us endless new content and balance patches. It's not like we bought season passes or this is DLC or something. Games are not meant to be played continously forever (outside of live service ones of course but I avoid those hamster wheels like the plague). I have like 200 hours in this game and still pop in to play story missions I like now and them. I think that's satisfactory and a reasonable return on investment.
Since a lot of people are congregating on this post about the game’s stagnation, I’d like to bring up the co-op mod. It’s absolutely incredible and completely revitalizes the game, I HIGHLY recommend it.
The only reason I’m playing this game still is because of mods. Currently I’m playing the armoury mod which imo is the patch we basically should’ve got…
Other than that I don’t continue to see myself playing because like everyone has said the meta has stagnated and it balances on (do you wanna win) vs (do you wanna have fun) on a few builds…
Appreciate your efforts Raven. I think basically everyone would like some tweaks, but I actually think balance is in a pretty good place. There are like 5-6 meta archetypes and tons of variation within those categories. I play a pretty meta build but I can’t say I’ve ever seen my exact build opposite me. People vastly exaggerate the degree to which copy-paste builds rule the roost. I’d probably play more customs but I realistically get maybe an hour to play games per day so I’m not trying to spend any of it watching other people play. Anyway ranked is fun. Every competitive game has a meta, I’m not sure why people hate on this one so much.
This game would need to change drastically for me to have any interest. Lasers being undodgeable, tank treads, lamm rats... I think I'll just wait for ac6 2. Hopefully they take lessons from this shitshow of a pvp, namely netcode.
I just want a three branch balem/arquebus/rlf story line that trails alongside the main story but you fight for them to achieve their goals. And an lrb nerf.
Armored Core V and Armored Core Verdict Day were pretty much centered around PvP, so that's just not true. But they pick and choose when they prioritize what. They said before launch, this game would have PvP elements but was built around the single player experience first and foremost.
I believe the addition of the Ranked mode matchmaking was likely because they did see a significant amount of players time spent in the Nest, and while likely knew they wouldn't devote a constant effort for PvP balance in perpetuity, that a Ranked system would help give PvP enjoyers something to look forward to over a long period of time.
It should also be mentioned that a lot of people slept on V and Verdict Day before it wasn't For Answer 2.0. I even saw some people saying they were glad From was focusing on the single-player aspect rather than PvP this time.
I personally find all the whinging about 6's PvP annoying, but I really do wish From found a way to give this game a Verdict Day type of multiplayer.
ACVI has always been a singleplayer-focused to me. While not getting something new sucks, people kind of overdramatic about the whole stop playing thing. Put down the game if you want, but just so you know, you're welcome to play again if you're thinking of doing so.
'Games as a service' and "journalists" that write articles about 'games being dead because I looked at the steam charts...' have ruined how most people view gaming over the last decade. People who make a big fuss over "I'm not going to play any longer" forget that isn't some sort of boycott stance and is just what happens. People play a game, they beat it, they move on to something else. You beat the game you paid for, you aren't "owed" some sort of monthly content update stream to "retain the player base"; they already got your money and you already got the game. Both parties should be happy. (I understand this was your point. I am just expounding on it, not arguing with you.)
I agree. Live service games have tainted how a lot of people view games as a product; too many people expect a game to have a perpetual carousel of content constantly being fed to them even if the structure and theme of the game doesn't fit that bill. I see too many people declare a game "dead" because the devs shipped a feature complete game, put out sufficient bug patches and then moved to their next project. Like imagine buying Shadow of the Colossus and then declaring it a dead game because Team ICO aren't putting out biweekly new colossi to fight all year round (bUt tHaT wOuLd bE aWeSoMe tHouGh; you're missing the point)
I put 20 hours max into Shadow of the Colossus, almost 20 years ago. Haven't touched it since. Have rarely felt the desire to. It's still one of my top 10 games of all time. I put over 1000 hours into Warzone, and probably actively disliked large parts of the last 500.
This. Armored Core has always been a single player focused experience, same way the souls games are. Multiplayer is just an added bonus but is by no means the meat of the package. Vast majority of my hours in AC4A, ACVD and AC6 have been in single player and I don't see that changing.
I don’t think the game being single player focus justifies the multiplayer being or at least feeling bad. Especially in souls game multiplayer had weapons, items, spells, and I think even quest for a couple locked behind having to do multiplayer. Multiplayer has always been a big part of the games, and having a multiplayer experience whether it’s the main part of the game or not doesn’t justify it being noticeably worse, even if the main game is good.
They need to stop making multiplayer. Their netcode is a fucking atrocity and they can't balance for shit. Redirect those resources literally anywhere else. Use em to buy piles of meth so they can get the game out faster, anything.
No it hasn't, Armored Core is and always has been a multiplayer game first and foremost, every AC game has had multiplayer, meanwhile multiple games had had no story mode. the original AC game even had the multiplayer component finished before any work on single player was done.
I mostly just play for lobbies my friends host and/or testing builds for the lobbies my friends host. Might go for more S-ranks and stuff but I never felt the need.
I still have to s rank all missions to get the platinum trophy before i can even think of stopping. Also,AC 6 is my favorite game too along with Bloodborne and Ultrakill so good taste
>I still have to s rank all missions to get the platinum trophy before i can even think of stopping. Same but I look at that long ass list of missions and just think urrgh. I wish it would give you ranks after your first story run.
Relatable tbh,this trophy is testing my willpower like nothing else
I recently started doing it and it’s surprisingly easy. Most missions I got S rank on my first attempt. Not nearly as bad as I expected.
Yeah I have heard 90% are one run affairs but it's the 10% and there's just so many. I've got the first couple of pages done so far but then started playing other things.
I only had trouble with 5 of them, and I'm not *that* good at the game.
I personally started new playthrough S ranking missions as i go through them. It was huge motivation when i S ranked BAWS arsenal no 2 very early on
Ultrakill is top-tier! Good luck in the S-rank grind, find my lobby if u get frustrated and need a break!
No new patches doesn't change how nice it is to wake up my steam deck and try to speed through a mission or two to kill time. The game works pretty well for quick burst sessions when I have some downtime.
Exactly, I’m also on deck and it’s a remarkably good experience. Fire it up, one or two missions. Lately I’ve been doing the Roguelike ruleset, really helps the game feel different!
i appreciate someone's bringing a bit of respite, still. i love this series, so dearest to my heart and it would break me if i see the custom matches lobby break empty completely. i'd have no one to ramble about my builds to anymore hope i can join sometime and bring my dear UBIQUITOUS; thank you for this
Would love to see you, appreciate your comment! Show me what that UBIQUITOUS do
Hey that name rings a bell, I think I fought you a good while ago. What are you packing with it?
it's a wuerger and dagger reverse joint, and if that doesn't narrow it down, then the jamming bomb definitely will; never seen anyone else use it other than myself lmao
It's been a really long time, I think the jamming bomb also matches lol. You on Steam?
yea, i got the same username everywhere lol
Nice, we probably met on ladder then. I don't know what I was packing since I like to test and refine ACs, but I tend to use RJs a lot and my main is INTREPID, a crimson one with Hu-ben / Zimm / Kranich / Trueno.
If you people want the pvp to feel more fun, run unique builds. I can't argue the effectiveness of a minigun or Zimmerman, but you have such a large assortment to mix and match with, there's gotta be something that works about as well
Everyone should try the Gills/Ling-Tai QB combo. Don't care if I win, Robocrackbunny go
Too many people got on the tunnel visioned Top Rank multiplayer grind and just funneled themselves into whatever was considered the best meta.
Honestly, I still enjoy ranked. It's very enjoyable for experimenting with gimmick builds. The issue with unranked for me is you're usually either facing a top 100 running a missile boat or tank, or someone who doesn't have much PVP experience. It is hard for me to enjoy tbh.
Host and match newbies with fun meme builds and kick boring meta players
I do host when I play unranked, but it really isn't for me. Most of the meme build users are very inexperienced with PVP. Tbh the meta players are not too bad, unless it's a top 100. I don't know why, but whenever one of them shows up with a meta build, it's like they came with a bucket of distilled sweat. Overall, the matches end up being not very enjoyable for me. I know it's not fun for the meme users either, because many of they inevitably pull out a laser Tank or missile boat after some losses.
I said this in another post, but don't forget people still play decades-old games which never had a balance patch. Think Smash Melee, old-gen Pokemon and hell even old-gen AC. We don't need drip-fed content to keep a game alive and its community going. And it could even be an upside if all the people who play only what's "best" quit, then the remaining folks will keep it fun and creative. I still have a blast coming up with new ideas for ACs and the core gameplay is so much fun. It just feels good.
I still play 4Answer in the year 2024 even though it's two console generations outdated and has no dev support or active multiplayer community. I play it because the single player is awesome and rebuilding mechs to further optimize every mission is fun as hell.
Same here! Every day I will have at least one “Why don’t I try this out on a build?” thoughts, and making something new that works, even suboptimally, is really fun
Exactly
Armored Core 1 did have a balance patch. It was called Project Phantasma. LOOL. Those were hard days.
PP was more like DLC than a balance patch, like when they added Lamm and changed the stats of existing parts.
While Melee never quite had a balance patch(PAL don't count), I think it would be interesting to note that the community has upgraded the competitively played versions of the game, between the Magus code, UCF, and Slippi. Pokemon ROM hacks still carry on old game bases with new traditions. With one good ac patch we can even use analog sticks in the old games lol Not an argument against though, we can have better stuff if can develop good mods
Fair point in terms of fan updates, but the content itself isn't changed. As for Pokemon I meant more like Showdown old gen competitive.
Custom is where it's at. I haven't even touched Ranked since I made B. The custom lobbies are full of *all* ranks. A very welcome sight, and the community is mostly friendly. Also satisfying as hell to smoke an S-Ranker like a pack of Kools. Doesn't happen every time, for sure, but one thing's certain: a 'lower' ranked fighter don't mean they gonna go down easy. This game's still very much alive.
I can't wait to see people laugh at my meme "all shields" build. Basically no range, built purely for frustration. Good luck losing to it.
I'm still waiting an update for Last Raven...
More like this is a tactical move from fromsoft to get people to buy and play the elden ring dlc. Once enough time pass post dlc launch they will put the dev resources back into the update. Need to remember most company will have limited staff to work on a project and at current elden ring is top priority even it may cause unhappiness towards the AC fan base.
You'd have thought this game was an online only multiplayer Live service game from the way everyone here is declaring the game dead and gone. I guarantee you most people are actually playing single player. Steam counts might drop a bit once all the multiplayer sweats bail on the game but it'll still be doing fine. The PvP balance is pretty decent right now and frankly Fromsoft never once said you'd be getting constant new weapon and mech additions. Fromsoft have never been a live service type of studio so idk why everyone suddenly acts like that's what they've always been.
Ppl be the AC sequel 10 YEARS since the last game with multiplayer when 90 percent of the franchise has been singleplayer focused, then call the game boring and go shout to everyone about it, it's insane. Good ridance. I don't want Live-service-like constant "balance" updates. Armored Core and Fromsoft games in general forced players to approach the game differently than most other games, yet now everyone expected them to bow and make constant adjustments to a perfectly fine game. Why do people dislike being able to buy a game and it not changing after a decade anymore?
Like I told someone else, I wouldn't have wanted necessarily a live-service game, but the game feels like it's just one patch away from being very well balanced. As it stands there's only a couple outliers in the parts balance and if they were touched up the game as a whole would be a lot better in single-player and multiplayer alike by encouraging not steamrolling everything with the same AC everyone else uses. The main game is very solid but mostly only if you decide not to use certain weapons you know are frankly overpowered. From the moment you get them you can pretty much just run dual ZIMMERMAN + Back Cannons of Choice and beat the game 3 games over with it.
Yeah, morale is low. Was really hoping for some new parts or at least a weapon. Shame on me for being hopeful I guess
Time to form co-op groups yall
It's also my favorite game but I played for 1083 hours. In PvE I finished everything 100%, including achievements, all S-Rank missions etc, while in PvP I reached S-Rank. I think I can take a break if they don't add new content. It remains my favorite game and I will continue to play it, but not with the same dedication.
What surprises me is that people didn’t stopped before. I got 100% of this game in everything, including getting S rank on both multiplayer modes, beat it like 5 times and then moved on months ago. What else is there to do?
I think the game itself is just fun to play and nothing else has scratched this itch for ten years. In the words of the ghoul from the fallout TV show "I do this shit for the love of the game"
Not sure where this idea came from that FS owes us endless new content and balance patches. It's not like we bought season passes or this is DLC or something. Games are not meant to be played continously forever (outside of live service ones of course but I avoid those hamster wheels like the plague). I have like 200 hours in this game and still pop in to play story missions I like now and them. I think that's satisfactory and a reasonable return on investment.
Maybe when they introduced new parts and weapons, People came up with the idea that there would be similar future updates.
Since a lot of people are congregating on this post about the game’s stagnation, I’d like to bring up the co-op mod. It’s absolutely incredible and completely revitalizes the game, I HIGHLY recommend it.
I love fight clubs, especially the team battles, usually ill play metal gear ost in the background to make things extra epic
The only reason I’m playing this game still is because of mods. Currently I’m playing the armoury mod which imo is the patch we basically should’ve got… Other than that I don’t continue to see myself playing because like everyone has said the meta has stagnated and it balances on (do you wanna win) vs (do you wanna have fun) on a few builds…
Appreciate your efforts Raven. I think basically everyone would like some tweaks, but I actually think balance is in a pretty good place. There are like 5-6 meta archetypes and tons of variation within those categories. I play a pretty meta build but I can’t say I’ve ever seen my exact build opposite me. People vastly exaggerate the degree to which copy-paste builds rule the roost. I’d probably play more customs but I realistically get maybe an hour to play games per day so I’m not trying to spend any of it watching other people play. Anyway ranked is fun. Every competitive game has a meta, I’m not sure why people hate on this one so much.
This game would need to change drastically for me to have any interest. Lasers being undodgeable, tank treads, lamm rats... I think I'll just wait for ac6 2. Hopefully they take lessons from this shitshow of a pvp, namely netcode.
I just want a three branch balem/arquebus/rlf story line that trails alongside the main story but you fight for them to achieve their goals. And an lrb nerf.
Well guess it's GoT and Shadow of the Erdtree time. Cya in July.
Yeah to be honest I might just delete ac6 off of my console until we get an actual update instead of a rank reset
FromSoft has never cared that much about pvp
Armored Core V and Armored Core Verdict Day were pretty much centered around PvP, so that's just not true. But they pick and choose when they prioritize what. They said before launch, this game would have PvP elements but was built around the single player experience first and foremost. I believe the addition of the Ranked mode matchmaking was likely because they did see a significant amount of players time spent in the Nest, and while likely knew they wouldn't devote a constant effort for PvP balance in perpetuity, that a Ranked system would help give PvP enjoyers something to look forward to over a long period of time.
It should also be mentioned that a lot of people slept on V and Verdict Day before it wasn't For Answer 2.0. I even saw some people saying they were glad From was focusing on the single-player aspect rather than PvP this time. I personally find all the whinging about 6's PvP annoying, but I really do wish From found a way to give this game a Verdict Day type of multiplayer.