It's Fine To Enjoy Helldivers 2 In A Normal, Non-Grindy Way

Learning that players in Helldivers 2 are beginning to farm has propelled me years into the past. The first game I ever tried in earnest to min/max was Stardew Valley. Yes, really. I started playing it again during the pandemic. I’d quit my job right as the pandemic started spreading, hadn’t been able to find another one because of all the turmoil, and spent the better part of a year holed up in my room playing video games. I felt like I was wasting my ཧlife away, and was grasping at straws to feel productive in any small way. I took up some hobbies, and I read some books, but mostly, I played games.

This is not a great way to enjoy most games, especially Stardew Valley. I didn’t care about the villagers or their damn birthdays, I was trying to make as much money as possible. I consulted guides to f💖ind out which seeds were the most efficient at making me coin. I optimised my farm for maximum output. I was committed to becoming the most productive independent farmer that Stardew Valley had ever seen. Then I fell off the game completely becꩲause I wasn’t having fun.

I turned a game into a job. Well, more of a chore, since nobody was paying me to be maximally efficient in Stardew Valley. Nobody cared how fast I finished it or how much money I ඣwas capable of generating. Nobody cared if I was grinding in a game, and more importantly, I didn’t care. I turned a leisure activity into work because I felt like othe♛rwise I was wasting my time.

Leisure Isn't A Waste Of Time

Realising that nobody cared ab💎out my performance in that game but me shifted my perspective on games. Now, when I play a game, I am not interested in grinding if it compromises how much I enjoy playing it. I don’t want something I do for fun to turn into a chore, especially considering that now I play games for work 🐠which makes gaming in itself a sort of labour. Why make it worse for myself?

That’s why I am so perplexed by the phenomenon of farming and optimising in Helldivers 2. The brief summary is that players are finishing the Eradication section of campaigns then dropping out to find another one. This helps them get more medals faster, which then allows them to unlock more items in the Warbond, the game’s battle pass. It also ends up leaving squads down a player for the second mission, making it a lot harder for them to secure a win. Every lost campaign is time wasted by players who might have won if they hadn’t been ditched, and entire community-wide defense campaigns can be lost because people aren’t contributing. That affects the meta-narrativ𒁃e of 𒁏the game’s galactic war.

It's Okay To Just Have Fun

Helldivers 2 is fun because it doesn’t make you do the typical live-service stuff. There are no useless progression trackers, and no need to hoard a hundred different resources. There’s no need to log in every day to get rewards. The battle pass has n𝄹o timer on it, so you can go as slow as you want. So why recreate that grindy experience for yourself for no reason? Why throw out the intended experience of the game just to max out your upgrades? Why grind for hours every day in a way that isn’t enjoyable just to become as powerful as possible? There’s nothing to do after maxing out your level. There’s no reward for your efficiency. Sure, some people probably get satisfaction from being able to say they’ve done it, but then what? What’s the incentive to keep playing after they’ve obliterated the gameplay loop?

There will always be grinders, but I’m asking you to consider that it doesn’t have to be like this. Hell🐬divers 2 is a gem because it has an online experience that is designed to be against grinding, griefing, and all that other stuff people hate that is prevalent in every online game. You can and should enjoy playing games instead of turning them into more work.