Why is Killing Floor 2 not as popular as it should be ?

[Varlak]

The first killing floor was awsome but since the graphic were so out dated that I always tought it was the reason for not beeing a well recognized game.

But Killing Floor 2 graphix are fine and its IMO one of the best FPS of the past few years. Sure tis not a perfect game, it has some balancing issue but it still so fun to play and unic.

There is a lot of FPS that aren't half as fun but have 10 times the player bases KF2 ever had.

 

[infntnub]

In general it's hard to compare KF (or L4D) with other FPS games, because it is PvE.

Just my opinion, but I think the masses tend to flock to PvP games with teams much larger than 6.

That's the impression I get from the COD/BF type games that seem to always dominate the FPS market.

 

[Reclusiarch]

I agree with you, but sadly I can't think as to why this title is not getting that much recognition.

 

[Zakxaev68]

Zombies and sci-fi equal crazy science.

I can point to certain important topics, that piss off people straight away. Times that question was asked, we talk:

[-] different vision
[-] generic level design
[-] faster pace
[-] less atmosphere of an outbreak,
more like ''monsters broke the cage" the way game introduces its new concept to the players
[-] no lore explained through different means possible, map descriptions serve for lore book in original
[-] redundant features taken from other games - prestiging for skins, weapon upgrades mean nothing to the player in current state
[-] matchmaking
[-] removal of listen servers (REMOVAL...)
[-] soundtrack - one majority likes it, other majority hates it
[-] lootboxes
[-] refuse to add classic stuff people loved (bought for the original)

Enough / enough. Right?

 

[Reclusiarch]

Zombies and sci-fi equal crazy science.

I can point to certain important topics, that piss off people straight away. Times that question was asked, we talk:

[-] different vision
[-] generic level design
[-] faster pace
[-] less atmosphere of an outbreak,
more like ''monsters broke the cage" the way game introduces its new concept to the players
[-] no lore explained through different means possible, map descriptions serve for lore book in original
[-] redundant features taken from other games - prestiging for skins, weapon upgrades mean nothing to the player in current state
[-] matchmaking
[-] removal of listen servers (REMOVAL...)
[-] soundtrack - one majority likes it, other majority hates it
[-] lootboxes
[-] refuse to add classic stuff people loved (bought for the original)

Enough / enough. Right?

I can only agree with Listen servers.

Besides, he's not talking about "KF1 diehards" but gamers overall, so most of what you complain about is not applicable or has so little relevance that doesn't change anything

 

[Zakxaev68]

Is still in context to "Why is Killing Floor 2 not as popular" - I don't complain for nothing, rather I
less support controversial ideas, play both games, what else to complain for, lol; both fill own gap.

 

[Reclusiarch]

Is still in context to "Why is Killing Floor 2 not as popular" - I don't complain for nothing, rather I
less support controversial ideas, play both games, what else to complain for, lol; both fill own gap.

Fair enough, but I still don't think any of that has an effect on gamers overall.

PS: TWI GIMME MY FLIPPING LISTEN SERVERS!!!!!

 

[missing_trigger]

I can only agree with Listen servers.

Besides, he's not talking about "KF1 diehards" but gamers overall, so most of what you complain about is not applicable or has so little relevance that doesn't change anything

Quite a lot of "diehards" left after summer sh*tshow. And even still - people play from update release to the next one(me included). While some people may consider lootboxes as a bad thing (and Im not trying to say otherwise) - TWI makes them even worse with outright selling precious items from in game store, which may push "whales" from the game too. I have several friends who bought the game, but played for like a month. Some of them don't like how slow updates are, some want official objective mode (and no - airship is weak for a objective map) and server shenanigans is still annoying. And generaly - is obvious that the game is still hard and obscure for new players. Idk how other TWI related games is going - never was interested in them, but by blog posts and news it's looks like KF2 is getting a small attention, compare to other games.

 

[Reclusiarch]

Quite a lot of "diehards" left after summer sh*tshow. And even still - people play from update release to the next one(me included). While some people may consider lootboxes as a bad thing (and Im not trying to say otherwise) - TWI makes them even worse with outright selling precious items from in game store, which may push "whales" from the game too. I have several friends who bought the game, but played for like a month. Some of them don't like how slow updates are, some want official objective mode (and no - airship is weak for a objective map) and server shenanigans is still annoying. And generaly - is obvious that the game is still hard and obscure for new players. Idk how other TWI related games is going - never was interested in them, but by blog posts and news it's looks like KF2 is getting a small attention, compare to other games.

A game doesn't need tons of updates all the time to be interesting, it needs a good foundation and variety of content (this game has it). And regarding difficulty... Dark Souls is ultra popular (I don't give a damn about them, but still). Lootboxes on this game I really have no strong feelings since you can recycle them for actual cosmetics (and I loathe lootboxes overall, they are the current bane of gaming), plus giving the players the option to actually pay for the item they want I feel is a great one.

I'm not saying the game is perfect, don't get me wrong, nothing in life is... but people are extra harsh with this title for some reason.

 

[Zakxaev68]

To better evaluate missing_trigger, one link says it all:

http://kf-wiki.com/wiki/Updates

Small updates = frequent rollout = more players, big updates = peak player stats = same cycle ##

 

[infntnub]

I believe it was mentioned before on this board that it would be best for the game (from an overall population standpoint) to offer more frequent, but smaller, updates.

However, based on the history of KF1 and KF2, that just doesn't seem to be the way the dev team operates.

In a wave-based game it's easy to have things begin to feel a little stale so having something new tossed at you every month or two goes a long way to help maintain interest.

~edit~

I also think it would go a long way to boosting/maintaining a higher gaming population (and adding to overall exposure) if TWI would allow 1 free weekend a month. There really is nothing to lose by doing this and it would constantly help welcome new players to the world of Killing Floor.

 

[thresher3253]

I say something simpler: nowadays everybody are for battle royale or crafting survival PvP games. Even big players like Call of Duty and Battlefield jumped in the battle royale genre with their most recent installment. Maybe it's just time to accept that a game like Killing Floor 2 simply does not have that big of an audience to begin with.

Maybe i'm just provoking, but stopping tailoring the game toward the most skilled players who can finish HoE games blindfolded anyway would help.

 

[Yey97]

More Objective maps (and better ones) would be nice addition. But there should be many Objective maps to keep game interesting.

 

[Deleted member 87733]

i could use a huge map pack to change it up a bit, boring playing same maps over and over again and knowing every corner while walking backwards.

 

[infntnub]

i could use a huge map pack to change it up a bit, boring playing same maps over and over again and knowing every corner while walking backwards.

Custom maps fill this void for me pretty well - it was a similar situation in the first game IMO.

Community creations really do a good job of keeping a variety available to the players.

Thank you to all those guys who donate the time to keep us entertained

 

[pie1055]

I was talking with a friend not too long ago who had heard of KF1-2 but never played them. His perspective seemed to be that the series is just another zombie shooter and it got me thinking from a different point of view.

There's a hell of a lot of zombie shooters out there and KF2's main gimmick is that you play Co-op PVE against hordes of zombies. Sure you can emphasize how good the gunplay is but if you're looking to play a FPS where you shoot zombies/zombie-like monsters there's hundreds to choose from and Killing Floor only has the one gimmick. A lot of times "core" or "hardcore" players view gimmick as a term with a negative connotation but when it comes right down to it gimmicks are extremely useful at getting people interested in playing games outside of their comfort zone. I'm talking players who just happen to see Killing Floor while at PAX or browsing the steam store or wherever.

If these kinds of players see Left 4 Dead chances are they'll notice the well-developed characters and an interconnected campaign. With DayZ you have to worry about other players in a massive map potentially forcing you to restart all of your progress. With CoD zombies you have other game modes included like a campaign or PvP sans zombies altogether. Metro has an immersive atmosphere in post-nuclear bomb environment and Resident Evil has its own pedigree of game/level design that comes with its label- the list goes on.

IMO Killing Floor does shooting zombies very well but there's little for it to occupy your time with otherwise so once it wears out its welcome there's not much else to do but put the game down and do something else. I'd also argue Killing Floor has some problems with rhythm- you're so frequently engaged in shooting zombies that the experience can become tiring. Sure trader time alleviates this but it's also on a timer, something that further increases pressure rather than relieving it. All other sources of downtime are in a menu outside of gameplay.

Despite the amount of legitimate flak it gets for other things Destiny does variety and rhythm much better than Killing Floor. If you're tired of shooting other players in a competitive environment you can do a strike or work with other players to do a raid. If you're tired of shooting in general there's still plenty to do at the tower or wandering around in a patrol mode and even if you're doing nothing you're still in the game's world- not a menu or game lobby. These opportunities to get away from the more active parts of the game let players relax and gives them time to recuperate for the next session of gameplay. At the same time since the player hasn't gone back to the title screen or a game lobby they're not as tempted to just quit out of the game. Lastly there's a greater chance a player will be interested in at least one of these activities rather than only having one to choose from and it not suiting them.

If Killing Floor is to gain a much larger audience my suggestion would be to offer features that contrast the intense zed shooting action with opportunities for downtime or less intense zed shooting action. Maybe make in-universe maps/levels/explanations to visit your dosh vault, customize weapons, select and customize your character, target practice on live zeds in a safe environment, or start a match. Some of these things are offered by the community through the workshop but that cannot replace how powerful the features would be just sitting on the main menu of the game when a player boots it up for the very first time.

 

[Zakxaev68]

pie1055 led me to think, why trader was forced to a timer. Why no "When you are finished, press F4 to ready" for wave start. So as to allow for choosing better loadouts, discussing tactics/upgrades, share dosh, having a short break, offer some extra freedom for players. Biggest con: lets players use the upgrading system better (once revamped).

 

[thresher3253]

pie1055 led me to think, why trader was forced to a timer. Why no "When you are finished, press F4 to ready" for wave start. So as to allow for choosing better loadouts, discussing tactics/upgrades, share dosh, having a short break, offer some extra freedom for players. Biggest con: lets players use the upgrading system better (once revamped).

Trader is forced because otherwise the game would stop after the first wave because of that guy. Besides, there's already an option for skipping trader time.

 

[Zakxaev68]

Then kick votes come in handy. I mean, skip trader only trashes on other players. Endless mode could use a session pause button. Tiresome even when you need to go to the bathroom but you can't, sirens on your back. Hehehe.

 

[RuneVivi]

Stuff said

He's onto something....