Live service game developers do their best to keep you returning with new content and goals to reach. Because once you’ve completed everything, the reason to continue playing wanes. This is why we end up with battle passes in live service games that revolve around seasons. The issue with Helldivers 2 is that once you’ve bought everything, there’s nothing left to spend it on.
I wouldn’t mind the lack of a money sink so much if this weren’t a game that expects you to keep playing. In the case of Helldivers 2, once you reach that 50,000 Requisition Slips limit, you lose everything over that amount. That’s frustrating to think about especially if the developer adds a purpose for all those lost slips later on.
In contrast, I understand that having no limit can lead to other problems. Such as immediately unlocking new content you have the money for. But, what’s the issue if we’re already putting the time in to earn those currencies anyway? This can all be solved with a money sink or more ways to spend our money. Even if they’re useless features that revolve around flavor text without changing anything.
Sticking with the theme of Helldivers 2 and how players love to immerse themselves, people would gladly donate their money to the cause. It fits with the battle passes being called war bonds that you can spend medals on. However, instead of medals, give us a different form of war bonds to purchase. Myself and I’m sure plenty of others would eat up reaching goals that lead to flavor text similar to major orders.
I’d love to spend Requisition Slips on useful features too, but that gets more complicated. As a fan of player-run game economies, I know it’s not an easy thing to balance. And while this isn’t some giant MMO economy, it’s still not simple. Sure, having consumables or small buffs you can purchase would be a cool feature. However, that can throw off the difficulty and lead to more annoying meta-heavy players.
The last thing we need is more Helldivers 2 players killing each other for not having the right loadout. Or kicking them from the game because they didn’t pick the right buff. With that said, that doesn’t mean we can’t hope for more cosmetic options to spend Requisition Slips on. While all armor aside from helmets and capes provide buffs, it’d be nice to customize them further.
I wouldn’t expect heavy changes that require remodeling armor but more so different colors and patterns. With the recent level cap increase, you could tie colors to levels as well. This doesn’t create a situation where you have to reach level 150 to unlock the best stratagem. Instead, it’s just a simple goal to chase for cosmetic reasons.
One issue I can see with providing cosmetic choices for Requisition Slips is reducing the value of Super Credits. And in doing so, you may end up with fewer players spending money to continue supporting the live service machine. Theoretically, players will still buy the armor they want for the different buffs they provide. However, there are bound to be players that buy an armor because it looks cool. If you can customize the armor you already own, you may be less likely to jump at buying a new one.
Going a step further, the developers likely wouldn’t want to tarnish the Helldivers 2 universe with flashy cosmetics. So you have to get it just right that you don’t break the atmosphere. As opposed to going the opposite direction with over-the-top outfits that you see in battle royale games. I’m not looking to run around Helldivers 2 with the Rainbow Six Siege pizza outfit. Even though we all know if Super Earth demanded it, we would happily do it.
Another path I’d love to see the developers at Arrowhead Game Studios take is ship customization. While we already have major ship changes via the ship module upgrades, it’d be cool to see more. Regardless of whether that’s sticking dumb stickers around the ship or changing the look of certain areas. Perhaps making it so we can buy little furniture additions that are already in static locations. That would make it a bit easier even though you still have to do it right.
I don’t think this is an easy fix by any means but I hope someone at Arrowhead is thinking about it. Additional customization would be lovely, but even just donating to the cause would work for me too. That money sink would make it hurt a little less when losing all of my currency.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.