So, after what feels like forever, Dauntless is finally available to the masses… at least, in theory. The game is simply fantastic, a real joy to play… if you can play it…
Yeah, day one of Dauntless’ official release was a little rocky. Day two was actually worse somehow. Don’t get me wrong, I want to love this game. In fact, I DO love this game. When it’s working, this game is the perfect thing to scratch that Monster Hunter itch while we wait for Iceborn. The graphics and art style are just gorgeous in motion, not to mention wholly unique for a game in the Hunting genre, so it’s a very refreshing change of pace. The action is fast and smooth, even with my crappy internet.
So what’s the problem, you might ask? Well, I’d like to tell you I’ve spent the last couple days grinding away at quests and building armor sets and generally having fun, but in reality, I’ve spent most of my time just…. Waiting.
Currently, it’s commonplace to have to wait anywhere from 12 minutes to 2 or even 3 HOURS just to log in. Luckily, I haven’t had to deal with that much, though, I am lucky. Kinda. I have (almost) consistently been able to make it into the game without much trouble. The problem I’m personally seeing has to do with Ramsgate, the main social hub of the game.
See, you would think that once you get there, you would be home free. But no. It’s just the beginning. Many, MANY times, I have queued up for a hunt, only to sit there for over 8 minutes (my record is 20, by the way) while the game matchmakes, or attempts to, more accurately. In comparison, when the game was actually in FULL working order (which didn’t last long, but yes, I DID see the promised land!) the average wait for a hunt was between 20 to 30 seconds, about on par with load times in Monster Hunter World. In any case though, the the Hunt itself shouldn’t be shorter than the time it took to matchmake into it. That’s a problem.
“It’s a free to play game” I tell myself. “It’s day one of a wide release AND it happens to be one of the pioneers in true cross platform play” is something else that keeps crossing my mind as well. When you think about it, this is a massive undertaking and it makes me wonder if this “tiny” Indy developer might have bitten off more than they could chew.
“So maybe it’s just online matchmaking. I just wanna practice combos and learn the monsters at my own pace. Let’s go solo for a bit,” I said, as if a light bulb went off. Nope! Due to the “always online” nature of the game, even if you wanna go solo, the game STILL has to matchmake. To fight a low level Gnasher, all by myself, I still had to wait almost 10 minutes for the game to say “ok, you can go now.” This makes me weary of the eventual Switch release. I keep thinking of how the “always online” functionality all but crippled Mortal Kombat 11 and, all of a sudden, I’m not looking forward to it. If I wanna hunt on the go, it looks like I should keep Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate handy. This game is practically SCREAMING for an “offline” mode.
It sounds like I’m being overly harsh and that I don’t like the game. Quite the opposite, actually. I can see past these things, because I still see a solid foundation here. When the game works, it’s utterly fantastic! I see the potential in this game, I really do. Also, it’s worth noting that these servers being so full, it still means there’s plenty of people who see that too. I guess they didn’t see these sorts of numbers coming. If Monster Hunter World has taught us anything, It’s that the West is hungry for this type of game, even if the numbers have never been that great in the past. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.
Hopefully, Phoenix Labs can figure this out sooner rather than later. I’d hate to see a game with so much going for it crumble under its own weight by driving away its fanbase with a bad first impression. Also, they should be commended for being so transparent with these issues in a moment to moment basis. It’s great to see, even when things aren’t going great, they are still answering questions on Twitter and giving updates as they come. It’s a rare thing to actually SEE that a developer gives a shit and listens to its fans, and not in a “we’re listening” kind of way, like Bioware and Anthem, let’s say.
I very much look forward to the days where we can hunt far more than I wait. I trust that that day will come sooner rather than later. I want this game to succeed. Just bear with them for now, and don’t give up on the game!
Happy Hunting!… Eventually!
Anyway, that’s my little rant or whatever you wanna call it. I kept this one a little more serious. If you wanna see what this site is REALLY all about, then poke around the site a bit or head on over to our channel BrainShart Studios on YouTube.
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