Epic Games’ Twitter account announced the nine classes in Raven2 and suggested the players go through the guide to discover their style of play. One might just say, in the context of an announcement, Raven2 could be a new feature that players might find interesting. Twitter’s response from the gaming community, however, told a different story altogether. It was an entire mood, and the mood was mostly… doubtful. With a pinch of salt.
The tweet can be rephrased as: ‘Raven2 defines by class system. Nine to be exact! Our guide is useful, after which you can figure out what suits you the best.’ The link took you to a guide that included some visuals that probably gave an idea of the classes. At first, it looks like a promotion. But the replies? They tell a different, more engaging story, one that is more interesting than any class guide.
Immediately there was confusion over what Raven2 really is. One comment by Pixel Throne called it an ‘extraction shooter’ and while it is a genre, it still does not really explain Raven2. Still another user, bustifulninja, argued: “This is not an extraction shooter. Actually, look at things before you make comments.” So from the very beginning there is a discourse going on. Is it an MMO? An auto-play mobile game? A Korean gacha slop-fest? The replies are assigning all these tags to it. attrnce expressed the general vibe perfectly when he said it was “the most Korean MMORPG to ever Korean MMORPG.” And if you are familiar with that kind of game, you know already what it implies: gorgeous graphics, grindy mechanics, and perhaps even a gacha system as well.
Speaking of visuals, that was where it began to get really thrilling. A large number of users simply concentrated on the character artworks and made comments such as, “Chick in the gold heels is hot af,” by laze91, “nice character design! love them,” by max スター, and “They look awesome,” by Turtle Lasagna. Thus it is evident that the art department is doing something right. Nevertheless, some other players interpreted it as a criticism. LogOfOne1 remarked, “All budget went into making a honey trap instead of making a decent game lol.” PhilTheStampede even more bluntly stated, “If only good games had hot bitches.” Ouch! The point is, great-looking characters distract from what could possibly be a not-so-great gameplay experience.
And that gameplay experience is what the resistance is all about. The words “auto-play”, “gacha”, and “pay to win” are constantly coming up in these comments. QinZenos put it simply, “Auto-play AFK Game.” brruho_o branded it as a “dogshit gacha with autoplay and pay to win.” ClubGamjng called it a “crap mobile game.” For many hardcore PC gamers, especially those who are keeping an eye on Epic’s store, those are battle cries. An auto-play, gacha-heavy mobile-style MMO is the complete opposite of what they want to see on a big PC storefront. It is like living in a different world altogether.
Then comes the aspect of the Epic Games Store. This is not taking place in a vacuum. Synwithyn’s response was straight to the point and merciless, “too bad its epic, doa.” (“doa” in this case means dead on arrival). Kailas Lim’s tirade was even longer: “You want hot characters? Pour your money into gacha game you looser. How about i never buy from your stupid store.” So for some people, the fact that Epic is behind this makes the whole thing even worse. It is not just about Raven2; it is about Epic’s choice, or rather the lack of it. Some players are still complaining about the exclusivity deals, and now they feel they are being pushed to accept a genre they loathe.
Amid all the negativity, there were a few positive or neutral voices. gitgud111 said “Looks great” and showed his excitement to play it. A few users dropped standard “GM Epic” hellos, which is just Twitter being Twitter. But they could not overshadow the majority of dissatisfying comments regarding the game mechanics.
One very telling comment was from TakiOneLove, who shared a more personal, weary perspective: “Graphics are amazing. But after losing a couple of characters after A LOT of grinding, I am not inclined to keep playing.” That is the case with many. It is not just a supposition. It is the sense of investment and loss, the grind that feels to be of no use, and the systems that are viewed to irritate you into spending. That’s the kind of experience that might make someone consider playing on another platform like Xbox or PlayStation instead.
