The weapons in monster hunter are more than just normal weapons in a video game. They aren’t like guns in call of duty or spells in world of warcraft, weapons in monster hunter are an expression of how we hunters want to enjoy the world and the hunts. Many of us have been playing the franchise for long enough that we’ve experienced every weapon and settled on one (sometimes two or three) weapon that really resonates with us and playing other weapons feels like we’re missing a part of ourselves.
When this game first released, there were only 6 of the 14 weapons. This was okay because we had a new world to explore and even though some of us didn’t have our mains, we could trudge through knowing we’d get our weapon soon. The game is now over half a year old and we’ve only gotten 3 of the missing 8 weapons. The world we’re exploring is no longer new to us and those of us without our weapons now feel bare. With no communication on when our weapons are going to be released, a lot of us are feeling very disheartened and I know several people that stopped playing because of this. No amount of quality of life updates can account for simply not having the weapon that fits you in the game.
I have a friend that mains dual blades. For the first three months, he barely played and didn’t even get the story finished. Once dual blades released, he’s been playing daily and is almost HR200. I have another friend that mains switch axe. He started playing a good amount at the start, but when switch axe didn’t release in December, he couldn’t bring himself to play any more. I, myself, am an insect glaive main. I’m HR210 and have been playing sns in order to build up materials to max out insect glaives when they release. I’ve been playing with the hopes that my weapon releases soon, but as time goes on, I’m feeling more and more like my switch axe friend. I don’t know how much longer I can enjoy this game without my weapon.
You have all been excellent at taking our feedback into account and I appreciate it. Your quality of life updates have been extraordinary. I ask of two requests that I think are very important for the health of the game and retaining/growing your playerbase:
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Release new weapons faster than once every 3 months. Don’t treat them as part of your big updates, treat them like the important asset to the players that they are.
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Provide us with a roadmap of when each weapon can be expected to release. It’s fine if it needs to be updated due to technical reasons, but communicate that with us and keep us updated on when we should expect our weapons.
The game you’ve provided to us has been amazing and I love it, but it becomes harder and harder for me to justify playing it if Insect Glaive’s release date feels like it becomes further and further away.