Before I begin to talk about this rather simple idea that have been brewing in me head, I'd like to explain the context a lil. Killing Floor has been a relatively simple game: go into the floor, kill loads of Zeds, earn money, get rich, buy bigger gun to kill bigger Zeds, so on so forth.
With enough enjoyable flavors ticking to the player's liking, namely the game's implementation to gore and animation, etc; this gameplay loop could be fun enough for anyone to devote hundreds - if not thousands - of passionate hours for filling every progress bar or trying every possible feat there is - which in our case are things like perk levels or face-washing Scrakes left and right with a pair of DEagles.
That said, fatigue eventually happens one way or the other; after a long while, which in my case is 1600+ hours of playing over the course of 3 or maybe 4 years, the gameplay experience has staled so much that the game pretty much spans out the same despite variances do always happen along the way.
Although I'd like to be content enough to say that variance is all what's needed to keep the experience rolling forward, but I couldn't, I honestly can't play a game like this regularly for the foreseeable future - for its existing formula of core gameplay can only extend that magical 30 seconds of adrenaline as much as thus far, albeit it's safe to say that future content release will lure a long-term player such as myself back into it for another whirl.
Killing Floor 2 has a solid core gameplay that iterated upon its first, for instance: the addition of sprinting granted a new layer of maneuverability for players to dance with Zeds. But I honestly believe something about the game's core gameplay gotta have to change or "evolve" (depending what level of intensity we're talking about) or develop new feature, in order for this game to retain players to play it outside of timely quests or players' momentary bloodlust - simply because its current set of complementary attractions slash selling points: the versus mode, the cosmetic, the seasonal event, have been proving finite both for bring up the player count and holding it. I hope stats like this is a factor fair and objective enough for everyone to agree here, that is "the game's future is not in seasonal event or cosmetic or anything of this matter".
The experience in retrospect isn't so interesting nor cohesive for said goal about retaining players - not just because those exotic elements are mere cosmetic that barely have anything to do with the core gameplay - and not only because each session is inconsistent enough that makes it difficult for players to come back for a specific scenario ticking with their liking, but also due to the difference between encountering the classic dual Fleshpound, or a squad of Quarterpound, or intensified streak of Scrake spawns for those onslaught moments - isn't a fundamental factor like environment that can actually induce a certain corresponding type of gameplay - as it would pretty much still revolves around with high-tier weaponry and headshots. The variance, the refreshment, the alternatives, or whatever term we're looking at, is really that minute and lacking in context of the topic at hand. In short, one could say "there is just not much about it, it's the same routine same loop and the variances are noises not refreshments".
Till this day, I've tried to suggest many things ranging from splitting each perk to 2 paths so the game can more effectively cater more playstyles, or just a buncha of stats suggests about weaponry in general in effort to improve the weapon meta. However, since the progress hasn't been very prominent, so I suppose either those are really that far-fetched or I was suggesting to change something that TWI have been holding really dear for anyone else to mess with in any significant manner.
Anyhow, I'm afraid this wall-o-text is gonna end without a conclusion for my own sake, given I'm feeling I had left enough crumbs so any further devotion might as well be mere annoyance.
With enough enjoyable flavors ticking to the player's liking, namely the game's implementation to gore and animation, etc; this gameplay loop could be fun enough for anyone to devote hundreds - if not thousands - of passionate hours for filling every progress bar or trying every possible feat there is - which in our case are things like perk levels or face-washing Scrakes left and right with a pair of DEagles.
That said, fatigue eventually happens one way or the other; after a long while, which in my case is 1600+ hours of playing over the course of 3 or maybe 4 years, the gameplay experience has staled so much that the game pretty much spans out the same despite variances do always happen along the way.
Although I'd like to be content enough to say that variance is all what's needed to keep the experience rolling forward, but I couldn't, I honestly can't play a game like this regularly for the foreseeable future - for its existing formula of core gameplay can only extend that magical 30 seconds of adrenaline as much as thus far, albeit it's safe to say that future content release will lure a long-term player such as myself back into it for another whirl.
Killing Floor 2 has a solid core gameplay that iterated upon its first, for instance: the addition of sprinting granted a new layer of maneuverability for players to dance with Zeds. But I honestly believe something about the game's core gameplay gotta have to change or "evolve" (depending what level of intensity we're talking about) or develop new feature, in order for this game to retain players to play it outside of timely quests or players' momentary bloodlust - simply because its current set of complementary attractions slash selling points: the versus mode, the cosmetic, the seasonal event, have been proving finite both for bring up the player count and holding it. I hope stats like this is a factor fair and objective enough for everyone to agree here, that is "the game's future is not in seasonal event or cosmetic or anything of this matter".
The experience in retrospect isn't so interesting nor cohesive for said goal about retaining players - not just because those exotic elements are mere cosmetic that barely have anything to do with the core gameplay - and not only because each session is inconsistent enough that makes it difficult for players to come back for a specific scenario ticking with their liking, but also due to the difference between encountering the classic dual Fleshpound, or a squad of Quarterpound, or intensified streak of Scrake spawns for those onslaught moments - isn't a fundamental factor like environment that can actually induce a certain corresponding type of gameplay - as it would pretty much still revolves around with high-tier weaponry and headshots. The variance, the refreshment, the alternatives, or whatever term we're looking at, is really that minute and lacking in context of the topic at hand. In short, one could say "there is just not much about it, it's the same routine same loop and the variances are noises not refreshments".
Till this day, I've tried to suggest many things ranging from splitting each perk to 2 paths so the game can more effectively cater more playstyles, or just a buncha of stats suggests about weaponry in general in effort to improve the weapon meta. However, since the progress hasn't been very prominent, so I suppose either those are really that far-fetched or I was suggesting to change something that TWI have been holding really dear for anyone else to mess with in any significant manner.
Anyhow, I'm afraid this wall-o-text is gonna end without a conclusion for my own sake, given I'm feeling I had left enough crumbs so any further devotion might as well be mere annoyance.