GSC Game World recently announced the Update 1.6 for Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and it appears this update is about loot. The studio went so far as to tell us they are fully aware of the insane loot-grabbing that players do to carry away everything they can from every stash in the Zone. Therefore, this update will include the rebalancing of all loot stashes out there. Vegas odds? Will you even look hard enough, or will you miss the trigger? Update 1.6 is coming soon, with an hourglass emoji in tow, as if there’s nothing else one could do but wait.
But players do have some views. So many that they let loose on the replies! That’s always the fun part!
Right on time comes the truth from MythicMyMan: “Guys, it’s still way too much of each item without enough variety. Same issues🤷♂️”. Oof. That probably stung quite a bit. Following coldfoot8: “Still a big lack of loot variety. Get repetitive quick.” Which means the community is worried that just changing stash content does not suffice – more loot variety is desired in terms of item types, not just in terms of item count.
On the more serious note, rhaegar259 states, “It would be better to reduce the number of consumables in boxes, especially tons of food looks stupid and unrealistic.” Meanwhile, FleaByte cuts in with heavy sarcasm, “aww I really enjoyed finding 3 sausages and a bottle of vodka every 3 minutes.” Okay, that made me laugh a little. But they’re right – spotting the same food items again and again is breaking immersion in a game that’s meant to be about survival in a hazardous zone.
But it’s not just loot-related; players bring up everything and anything they want to be addressed by the developers. wunder_ow puts forth simply: “I just want the game to run well, please.” HALZY90 takes it a step farther along the lines: “still the game run like a shit…. When will you fix it ?” So performance is yet once more the topic of conversation for many.
Then the requests: Tuggernut4 wants some slider adjustments for difficulty, pinpointing the weight limit as “Nothing is a worse mechanic in gaming than that. I beat the game how its meant now I would like to just run around and screw about.” A fair point – after finishing the game, you want to mess around with no restrictions most of the time.
Bartek05495570 has ideas about side missions: “I hope you will focus on adding a large number of side missions that will be extensive and will have an interesting story to tell.” It then sort of branches off with other players into discussions of assassination missions and randomized content to keep ideas fresh after actual finish.
The tech talk for engine upgrades gets involved, too. Ciras167 wonders if the update will bring the performance improvements suggested by the new engine version, while BindTheNight and M0REC0RE5 are debating if engine upgrade means better performance. People are really paying attention to the technicality side of things.
But then, of course, the console folks need to know when they’re going to get their hands on it. TheJasperRaster straight-up asks, “When are we getting this on PS5?,” which… yeah, is an entirely different conversation.
But perhaps the best input is from that same Ukrainian player, uhem_, who suggests two little things: unique weapons can get their attachments changed, and aim went through optics as seen in the trailer. Add those, and the game becomes the best. Small quality-of-life changes tend to make the biggest difference.
What’s intriguing is how much they focus on discussing what they want to see beyond just the changes in loot. They are thinking endgame content, performance, additional features-which displays how much invested Stalker community has been in creating this into the best game.
Speaking of mods, lots of folks are talking about it. whotftookbryan recommends Stalker Gamma and Stalker EFP mods to fellow players: “Gamma was everything I dreamed of and more.” The modding community speaks loud and clear.
Update 1.6 is apparently coming soon, but judging by the player responses, developers might want to keep tabs on these other suggestions as well. Stalker fans know what they want and speak loudly and clearly. From performance fixes to more varied loot to endgame content, the wishlist is quite long. Yet the fact that everyone is still engaged is a promise-people really care for this franchise.
Anyway, let’s wait and see what Update 1.6 actually brings. Hopefully byfar greater than just differently quantified amounts of those very same sausages and vodka bottles. The Zone deserves better. And those players who waited for this game for years deserve better on their Xbox.
