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New “Pay To Revive” Feature Comes To ‘The War Z’ Just As It Hits The Top Of The Steam Charts
If Hammerpoint is aiming for the shadiest launch week, they’re doing a bang up job of it. Not long after a group of players took to Reddit to vent their frustration toward the developer after they posted a misleading list of features for the Steam version of the game, now the dev has slipped in some suspicious microtransactions in the latest patch. The game recently reached the top of the Steam charts, undoubtedly fueled by its low price and abundance of buzz. Unfortunately, that buzz is quickly turning negative.
The game already costs $15, so adding a “feature” like this right now seems like a pretty awful idea (and a wee bit greedy). Enough fans are plenty angry already, and now it looks like that’s only going to worsen as Hammerpoint continues to turn this into a game that’s horribly unappealing to newcomers. Having skipped Day Z (until the standalone version releases), I was pumped for this game, but now I’m not sure how long it’s going to last.
There’s already a bandit mindset that seems to be prevalent among many players who have been with the game since its closed beta went live back in October (this is an issue in similar games like Day Z), and now that it’s being turned into a “pay to win” game that punishes players who don’t want to spend extra money in-game I’m worried this will turn into a game that isn’t welcoming to new players. Plus, charging to revive your player in a game you already paid for is just ridiculous.
To make the situation worse, Hammerpoint seems to be permanently banning users who are bringing up these issues.
This screen capture was taken by user IAmFluffey after they were banned by Kewk, Hammerpoint’s community manager. There’s no way of knowing exactly what got IAmFluffey and other users banned outside of the poorly written “user us only hear to spread hate and not contribute to the community” message that came with the ban. Obviously, the dev doesn’t want people spewing hate all over their message boards, but permanently banning a player who seems to be bringing up valid points feels a little harsh.
Oh, and in related news, The War Z servers have just been bumped to support 100 players (the max was originally 70, even though the Steam description said otherwise). Curious timing, no?
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The best part about engaging with collaborative genre fiction on the internet is that anyone can get in on the action, with worldwide accessibility often resulting in absurd story beats that wouldn’t be possible if any single person was responsible for the entire narrative. And while Kane Parsons’ Backrooms film is definitely the young filmmaker’s own unique take on the infamous creepypasta, it’s fun to see other creators join the Backrooms sandbox now that the big screen adaptation is getting ready for a record-shattering opening weekend.
As if cleverly timed releases like Puppet Combo’s The Backrooms game weren’t enough (not to mention that Scary Movie poster poking fun at Parsons’ flick), McDonald’s official social media accounts have now released an analog horror video of their own celebrating the liminal terrors of the McRooms – complete with a familiar purple surprise at the end of the footage.
While it’s funny enough to see the world’s most recognizable Fast Food giant engage with internet-borne Found Footage thrills seemingly out of the blue, the video is actually referencing a long-running gag among the Backrooms fandom where creators jokingly talk about there being a fully functional McDonald’s restaurant hidden somewhere in level 0 of the infamous liminal labyrinth.
Now, would it be too much to hope for a moist-carpet-flavored McShake to tie in with the film?
Backrooms is now playing only in theaters from A24.
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