Really? I never got that message. I only started really paying attention maybe two weeks before release and never got that impression.
I've never been watching their stream but I caught the information around multiplayer test period. They said they would be doing what they're actually doing.
If you look at the big picture, 90% of the player base is solo players that do the campaign and stop playing once done. They are the targeted audience at the moment. From a financial perspective Relic needs to hook them up so they later buy each extension full price when they come out.
Multiplayer is a niche area of the game. It's important for us multiplayer gamers but we're not generating enough revenue to pay for the development of the game. We serve as marketing for Relic, so new players don't feel they are buying a dead game, so there is a community and some events that keep the game alive.
Just look at the numbers, we bought the same game as solo players and we're playing the game on daily base since 2 months unlike solo players who already left it and the result of it isn't more revenue for Relic. More sale = more revenue, there is no way a cosmetic shop can generate the same amount of money
AT THE MOMENT unless going the forbidden pay-to-win way. So it is understandable that from a financial perspective Relic focus in on selling the game, not building a multiplayer community
So Relic, as they said, will release the multiplayer layers later, probably after/around Console Release.
So now the other question is do we need all those multiplayer things right now? Imo we don't need all of them at the moment seeing how the game is imbalanced.
1- Do we need a proper ladder? Only to see people just abusing the shit out everything imbalanced they can to get on top? Imo no.
2- Do we need replays? Yes and somehow we have it already but on that point I agree with everyone here, that should have been a day1 feature.
3- Do we need cosmetics and badges? Imo no, those are insensitive to play multiplayer and their finality would probably be degraded by the fact the game isn't balanced (see 1-).
Until we don't have a correct multiplayer balance, talking about ladders and other stuff is pointless because balance is the core element of multiplayer.
Relic Entertainment
