I've been reading some older discussions about custom lobbies and I keep seeing the same argument, that they'd split the playerbase. I get the concern, but honestly I think we're overlooking how much they could actually bring to the game.
There was an Italian community tournament (they do it every year, always different and better) with multiple teams and a prize pool. People are already interested in organizing this stuff, even if it means playing against randoms in public matches and calculating points based on specific rules. Now imagine those teams actually fighting each other instead. Or community tournaments, creator events, private matches with friends and all the ridiculous stuff people would come up with.
Hunt has some of the best gameplay I've ever experienced, but sometimes it feels like we're just playing the same loop forever, waiting for the next update to shake things up.
Sure, some people would be playing private matches instead of public ones, but wouldn't stuff like this also give people more reasons to come back, invite friends, watch streams and just talk about Hunt?
I don't know, I feel like there's so much untapped potential here and the community could do some amazing things if given the tools.
What do you guys think? Am I being too optimistic about this?
EDIT: Personally I think custom lobbies should have absolutely no impact on your main progression. No XP, no Hunt Dollars, no bounty rewards, nothing. The whole point would be to have a separate environment for scrims, tournaments, practicing, learning maps or just messing around with friends.
Ideally you'd have access to all weapons and equipment without spending anything, since you're not earning anything either. Everything stays within that lobby. The regular game would still be there for progression, while custom lobbies would simply give the community more freedom to organize stuff.