Difference between revisions of "PayDay 2"
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Since its release, more than thirty downloadable content (DLC) packages have been released, all of which require further payment. These DLCs build upon the game, introducing new characters, storylines, and weapons. In the past, these DLCs have been received negatively, with many players claiming it to be “pay-to-win”. In 2015, players outraged as the "pay-to-win" system were able to circumvent microtransactions to obtain DLCs through the use of hacks.<ref>[https://www.vice.com/en/article/bmvg3q/payday-2-players-are-hacking-their-way-around-microtransactions 'Payday 2' Players Are Hacking Their Way Around Microtransactions]</ref> In addition to the use of physical currency to buy virtual goods and hacking, other ethical considerations for Payday 2 include its graphic depictions of domestic terrorism and excessive violence. | Since its release, more than thirty downloadable content (DLC) packages have been released, all of which require further payment. These DLCs build upon the game, introducing new characters, storylines, and weapons. In the past, these DLCs have been received negatively, with many players claiming it to be “pay-to-win”. In 2015, players outraged as the "pay-to-win" system were able to circumvent microtransactions to obtain DLCs through the use of hacks.<ref>[https://www.vice.com/en/article/bmvg3q/payday-2-players-are-hacking-their-way-around-microtransactions 'Payday 2' Players Are Hacking Their Way Around Microtransactions]</ref> In addition to the use of physical currency to buy virtual goods and hacking, other ethical considerations for Payday 2 include its graphic depictions of domestic terrorism and excessive violence. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Overview== | ||
| + | Payday 2 follows the Payday Gang, a group of masked criminals, as they commit crimes around Washington D.C. The members of the gang commit these crimes for other people and are rewarded monetarily. They receive crime requests through an application called CRIME.NET, a network that provides the Payday Gang a list of crimes people want them to get done. Because of its success and reputation, the Payday Gang has grown from a group of four to now a group of 22 members. Descriptions of the founding members are listed below: | ||
| + | |||
| + | *<b>Dallas:</b> A 44-year-old American man. He is oftentimes seen as the leader of the group and wears a mask with the American flag on it when committing crimes. | ||
| + | *<b>Chains:</b> A 37-year-old American man who is a 10-year army veteran. During heists, he wears a white, blue, and pink mask. | ||
| + | *<b>Hoxton:</b> A 32-year-old British man who wears a pink and white clown mask during heists. | ||
| + | *<b>Wolf:</b> A 34-year-old Swedish man who wears a white and red demon mask during heists. | ||
==Gameplay== | ==Gameplay== | ||
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If the player chooses to do the heist in stealth, their goal is to accomplish the objective without drawing attention from civilians and security forces. If the player is detected, they will be forced to finish the mission loudly. | If the player chooses to do the heist in stealth, their goal is to accomplish the objective without drawing attention from civilians and security forces. If the player is detected, they will be forced to finish the mission loudly. | ||
| − | If the player chooses to do the heist loudly, their goal is to accomplish the objective and | + | If the player chooses to do the heist loudly, their goal is to accomplish the objective and stay alive while fending off waves of security forces. This option leads to a lot of gunfire and many casualties. |
===After the Heist=== | ===After the Heist=== | ||
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*<b>Death Wish:</b> 13x | *<b>Death Wish:</b> 13x | ||
*<b>Death Sentence:</b> 14x | *<b>Death Sentence:</b> 14x | ||
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| − | |||
==Ethical Issues== | ==Ethical Issues== | ||
Revision as of 08:42, 12 March 2021
Payday 2 [1] is a cooperative first-person shooter that was developed by Overkill Software [2] and released on August 13, 2013. In the first month of its release, the game sold over 1 million copies.[3] Throughout the years, the game has remained astoundingly popular. In the fourth quarter of 2019 alone, Payday 2 garnered $7.84 million in sales.[4] Payday 2 is a sequel to PAYDAY: The Heist and is currently available on multiple platforms including Windows, PlayStation, Xbox, and the Nintendo Switch.
Just like its prequel, Payday 2 takes place in the Washington D.C metropolitan area, where the player is given the freedom to choose which heists they want to commit. There are a lot of different heists, and players can either perform these robberies alone or with up to three other teammates. Unlike its predecessor, Payday 2 expands upon character customization, weapon variety, and map interaction.
Since its release, more than thirty downloadable content (DLC) packages have been released, all of which require further payment. These DLCs build upon the game, introducing new characters, storylines, and weapons. In the past, these DLCs have been received negatively, with many players claiming it to be “pay-to-win”. In 2015, players outraged as the "pay-to-win" system were able to circumvent microtransactions to obtain DLCs through the use of hacks.[5] In addition to the use of physical currency to buy virtual goods and hacking, other ethical considerations for Payday 2 include its graphic depictions of domestic terrorism and excessive violence.
Contents
Overview
Payday 2 follows the Payday Gang, a group of masked criminals, as they commit crimes around Washington D.C. The members of the gang commit these crimes for other people and are rewarded monetarily. They receive crime requests through an application called CRIME.NET, a network that provides the Payday Gang a list of crimes people want them to get done. Because of its success and reputation, the Payday Gang has grown from a group of four to now a group of 22 members. Descriptions of the founding members are listed below:
- Dallas: A 44-year-old American man. He is oftentimes seen as the leader of the group and wears a mask with the American flag on it when committing crimes.
- Chains: A 37-year-old American man who is a 10-year army veteran. During heists, he wears a white, blue, and pink mask.
- Hoxton: A 32-year-old British man who wears a pink and white clown mask during heists.
- Wolf: A 34-year-old Swedish man who wears a white and red demon mask during heists.
Gameplay
Payday 2 can only be played from the first-person point of view. The game consists of a series of heists that a player can do alone or with other people. Each heist has a specific objective, which is oftentimes to steal a certain amount of money, an artifact, or useful information. Security guards, police, and FBI are common enemies that prevent the player from accomplishing their goal.
Before the Heist
Prior to the start of a heist, the player is able to choose the difficulty level of it. As the difficulty level increases, the game accounts for it by introducing more and stronger enemies, indestructible security cameras, and stronger safes that make it harder to achieve the objective. Currently, there are seven different difficulty levels:
- Normal: No enhancements are made to the enemies or the environment.
- Hard: The number of enemies is slightly increased.
- Very Hard: The number of enemies and the health of the enemies are slightly increased.
- Overkill: The number of enemies is slightly increased and the health of the enemies are increased.
- Mayhem: The number of enemies is increased and the health of the enemies are significantly increased.
- Death Wish: The number of enemies is increased, the health of the enemies are significantly increased, and headshot damage on enemies is decreased.
- Death Sentence: The number of enemies is increased, the health of the enemies are overwhelmingly increased, and headshot damage on enemies is decreased.
During the Heist
When performing a heist, the player has the option to do it stealthily or loudly.
If the player chooses to do the heist in stealth, their goal is to accomplish the objective without drawing attention from civilians and security forces. If the player is detected, they will be forced to finish the mission loudly.
If the player chooses to do the heist loudly, their goal is to accomplish the objective and stay alive while fending off waves of security forces. This option leads to a lot of gunfire and many casualties.
After the Heist
If the heist is finished successfully, the player is brought to a results screen, which displays information such as statistics and rewards of the heist. In regards to personal statistics, the player is able to see information like how many enemies they killed, the number of headshots the player got, and how many civilians they killed. Rewards are broken up into two categories, cash payout and experience points.
80% of the cash payout from the heist is sent to the player's offshore account. The money in the offshore account can be used in the future to buy contracts for new heists and upgrade one's character. The rest of the cash payout is sent to the player's personal bank account. This money can be used to buy and customize weapons, purchase resources that may help during a heist, and cover expenses for killing civilians.
Experience points help the player level up and gain new skills. The amount of experience points a player gains from a heist heavily depends on the difficulty of the heist. The harder the heist, the more experience points the player gains. The experience point multipliers are listed below.
- Normal: 0x
- Hard: 2x
- Very Hard: 5x
- Overkill: 10x
- Mayhem: 11.5x
- Death Wish: 13x
- Death Sentence: 14x
Ethical Issues
Hacking
Unlike many other games, Payday 2's anti-cheat system does not ban cheaters. Instead of punishing them, the anti-cheat system simply places a red label titled "cheater" next to the cheater's username. As a result, there is less of a deterrent to cheat, as the repercussions are not as severe. Hacks include unlimited ammunition for the hacker's weapons, prevention of cops from shooting in the current heist, and teleportation. Because Payday 2 is a multiplayer game, hackers can ruin the game experience of other players, and those players are helpless as there is no system in place to keep the hackers accountable.
Promotion of Violence
Upon its release, the violence in Payday 2 has been criticized by many parents. Violence is highlighted in Payday 2 through gunfire, blood splatter, and cries of pain. The game provides little to no restriction on what the player can do with their weapon. Players have the ability to shoot anyone and anything, often with limited and unrealistic repercussions. For instance, players can shoot innocent civilians and are penalized with a deduction in their spending cash. Due to all of this, Payday 2 has an ESRB rating of Mature 17+.
Pay-To-Win
In Payday 2, players can purchase downloadable content (DLC) packages, which provide new characters, heists, and weapons. While several DLCs are merely cosmetic and do not impact the gameplay in any way, other DLCs provide a variety of weapons which are noticeably stronger than their default counterparts and are only unlockable through spending money. An example was in 2015, when there was an update to the game that introduced safes, which were only openable through drills, which cost $2.50 USD. Within these safes contained rare weapon skins that not only looked different but also provided boosts to how powerful the weapon was, such as increasing its damage. This divided the playerbase into players who were able to spend money and those who didn’t and created a power imbalance, as the former would have an easier time with more powerful weapons.
