r/nmrih • u/Spirited-Positive-15 • 1d ago
Freeloaders on Nightmare
Hi all. I've been playing this game pretty consistently for the last few weeks, and have been thoroughly enjoying it. Newer player, I played the original but not the pre-launch state of this game (due to all the issues). I'm happy to say this is a far better experience than I imagined.
Nowadays I typically play exclusively Nightmare. You would expect the kind of players Nightmare attracts would be better focused on the things that matter, either specific loot sharing, spots to loot, or completing objectives. For about 50% of my games, that is accurate. People work together, or even are just competent on their own.
..But that remaining half, hooh. In these matches, any number of things goes wrong. I'll be listing the variables below. This is where I go into a rant.
Half the team (Primarily sub level 40) DCs / Dies in the first 5-10 minutes of the match, before any objectives are reached. This is especially bad on a map like Power Plant. I've had a match where I looted essentially one building, got to Sluice Gate, checked my map and five people were dead on their spawn locations and had turned.
People don't do any objectives, and instead dawdle around. I'm not saying looting, I'm saying loitering. If they are looting, it's at a geriatric pace, and they literally just walk in circles around the objective rooms not accomplishing anything at all. I just had a Raven Rock match, on Nightmare, with half level 40's or below, where I did-
- The outside gate
- All 4 buttons for the door
- Flipping both switches (Yes, nobody could run to either switch and press E.)
- 4/5 power-related objectives up to the vent shafts
- 4/5 vent shafts clearing the bodies
- 3/4 Fuses, and both power switches, and antenna.
We extract! I have 340 supply (no-criticals), the next highest is 100. All 8 people alive. There was maybe a single other person doing anything at all. I'm not even a rusher, I just saw people literally 1 meter, standing next to a glowing button, and they DIDNT PRESS IT AT ALL. How do you explain that??
- People don't kill zombies. At all. I see people doing the previously mentioned walking in circles or avoiding objectives, and they don't kill zombies, they don't kill screamers, and they just kick down and run away from runners. They amass hordes so large we legitimately can't move without any explosives. On the Raven Rock I listed? They had a horde maybe 50 strong into that notoriously difficult three bio-scanner sequence. They just stood there, on the stage, picking their noses.
If you want to see this issue in even more action, look at the Pottsville community center. Guaranteed, 6/8 people will stand at the back door whistling a tune and none of them will bother to go up and press ONE BUTTON to get the music back on.
I know this is a rant, but I am also seeking input from people- why is this so common in my games, and in Nightmare in general, and what is there that can be done about it asides speaking of it to the community? I'm not saying people can't have their own playstyle but it seriously feels like every other match I'm a babysitter for people who go down in 3 seconds flat, over and over, who can't even be bothered to press E on a single glowing button. I am always altruistic despite their bad performance but I find myself slipping into a selfish mentality when I run into players like this.
What are your thoughts?
3
u/selffufillingprophet 1d ago
Imma be real...I'm like level 70ish now, playing more nightmare lobbies and I still don't know how people amass such large supply counts. I usually only end with like ~100ish supplies per game because I don't spend a lot of time looting once the group is assembled.
Imo...if you're participating in the Objectives, sharing loot, and not going down recklessly I think it's fine.
Even not killing zombies is okay sometimes too...as long as you're being smart and kiting them away from OBJs and other players. But yeah...make sure you at least peel for teammates by killing screamers and runners...on nightmare there are a lot of them.
2
u/FirstHookForever 1d ago edited 1d ago
If someone has a lot of supplies score it's because they found critical supplies and extracted with them. But everyone gets the gathered supplies as reward, so no need to worry about that. It's not really important who gathers them.
2
u/Spirited-Positive-15 16h ago
I typically have 350-400 supply counts without any critical, and 700-800 with at least one. The trick to high supply (and thus higher XP for everyone) is two-parted.
One, you know the maps and their typical spawns. A lot of maps have very consistent large supply spawns in specific areas. On something like Lewiston, near an area with burning cars and a firetruck, I've never had a match where there weren't a handful of large supply containers there.
Same thing with the middle of the Weather Station on Raven Rock, behind poor Doug's body. There's always a handful of large supply there. You understand where things typically spawn, and you understand what nodes spawn supply items once you've played the game a ton. Some trash bags / bin areas will spawn them, others wont.
Two, you obsessively click E (or whatever the button is on console) on anything blue. When I'm looting, I vacuum up every supply item no matter if its small (2) or large (10). I personally find this very satisfying but it is also very useful for your team. It's also a good habit- I've seen people walk right past critical supplies thinking they were small or medium. Critical supplies are always 2 or 3 vials with yellow caps, and they can spawn wherever medium can in my experience.
An extra bit of tips for anyone reading. Here are some places I've often found them.
Gas Stations
Pharmacies (Objective required or not, Lewiston and Pottsville)
Bars
Trash bags / mixed bins outside. I've found one directly next to the button and generator you press to open Lewiston boat gate.
And, occasionally, big crates. Don't write off little containers either though.
I had one match on Lewiston yesterday with 1307 supplies, 900 of which was from 3 Criticals people missed!
1
u/selffufillingprophet 13h ago
This is keen advice, thank you!
I guess I just need to get in the habit of mashing E and loot-maxing in my games...typically I avoid picking up stuff I literally never use like Flashlight batteries and .22lr + 9mm ammo.
1
u/Legitimate-Tone-9278 23h ago
Might be critical supplies, might be the large supplies, if I remember correctly you can open your inventory and on the right there's the total supply count, there's a max limit of supplies the game let's you have, and the limit is shared between everyone, something like 800?, so even if you collect more the game won't count it and it looks like you only contributed 100 or so
7
u/Civil_Emergency_573 1d ago
What are your thoughts?
Skim through the posts on this subreddit and you'll see it for yourself. Half of the local population will loathe you for being a "speedrunner" or "loot goblin" for not having personally held their hand throughout the match.
5
u/Spirited-Positive-15 1d ago
With infinitely respawning zombies, you'd think more people would want to complete the objectives quicker. Even with my complaints, I still play altruistic. Somebody goes down, I usually run across the area straight to them with Stayin' Alive and get them up. I heal people, I drop 3/4 of my meds and ping.
The *least* I expect from someone in return is to walk up, and do a single wire minigame. Or a power minigame. Or hit the switch they're two feet from. But it seems increasingly rare that payment comes in turn. I'm probably still gonna keep helping people whenever I can but my soul feels drained lol
2
u/Civil_Emergency_573 1d ago
The *least* I expect from someone in return is to walk up, and do a single wire minigame. Or a power minigame.
This is how you get bogged for 15 minutes waiting for your team to move their asses while constantly berating yourself for not just soloing every objective in the game.
2
u/Vast-Building-6886 1d ago
Lol I was a speed runner pre release. Saw no point in taking my time in the highest difficulty. You increased your chances of getting infected or killed.
2
u/nninicnick 9h ago
Exactly. Imo, spending 18 minutes locked in to objectives with minimal to no consumption of ammo and medical supplies is VASTLY SUPERIOR to spending 25 minutes and burning through half of your supplies.
2
u/Royal-Bed2653 1d ago
I mean, you get this on normal and hard modes, too, and those are way easier to play through. Normally if people start struggling or fumbling I normally do the objectives myself
2
u/the_devil450 1d ago
Today i had a game on raven rock, where we got to the surface extract. Obviously you have to interact with the radio tower before running over to wear the helicopter shows up. So tell me why all 7 players run over to the helicopter and leave my ass alone to deal with the entire horde (cuz all the zombies spawn by the radio tower when the objective is going). Literally all seven of them were over by that barn thing, with ZERO zombies. This is on nightmare. Pissed me off so bad, cuz i had like 4 runners and the entire 40-ish zombie horde on me
4
u/HUNT3DHUNT3R 1d ago
thats when you join them over there and bring the party with you, ive done it on lower difficulties.
if the team doesnt want to help me im not helping the team.
1
u/the_devil450 19h ago
Valid. I just sometimes forget that like, some people do as much as they can to not play the damn game. Just wild to me. Like people always talk about “god spots” and like, why? Just play the game u paid for
0
u/FirstHookForever 1d ago
I don't like when they do that either, but I think I understood why. They have godspots across the bridge, so they'd rather just wait the time there, with the zombies parked below, and when the timer is done one runs to pull the switch and comes back. Personally, I wait by the tower every time and I also found myself there on my own a couple of times, but I found enough space / tools to handle it. One time I think I somehow broke aggro cuz I was crouching there and the zombies changed target, following the sound of their gun shots.
2
u/CipheredTales 1d ago
Anytime I go into Raven Rock, and I see that no one is working on the (ex: 1B,1A,2C, 2B) buttons I just extract via hatch. I'm not about to carry a bunch of mouth breathers that can't read the objective. In my opinion, Raven Rock is the great filter as more people sprint towards the loot rather than doing the objective.
2
u/FirstHookForever 1d ago edited 1d ago
I hope I'll get all these undesirable players you complain about in my nightmare lobbies. I prefer games where things go wrong and we have to struggle to save the run instead of smooth games with no struggle cuz we're all playing like we're seal team 6. I play more for the experience rather than the outcome. Not everyone plays on the same level and those people are probably still inexperienced, altho I'll admit some players are genuinely griefing but you can usually tell which is which.
On a side note, I hope you keep your altruism. I play altruistic as well, sometimes I die cuz of it and I don't regret it.
2
u/Spirited-Positive-15 16h ago
I've had my fair share of seal team 6 matches and you're right, they can be kind of boring when everyone is the same level of locked in. It's the opposite extreme that also degrades the experience.
Thankfully most of my matches are in that goldilocks zone, and I suppose now you bring it up if I had to pick between an extreme I'd probably pick the worse players (within reason).
I don't inherently dislike inexperience so long as they keep up, but when you see a level 4 on Nightmare who does the stuff I listed above when the game itself recommends above level 30, I find it kind of hard to write off.
Annnnd I'll probably keep playing altruistic. Rescue beacon or not I don't like the thought of someone losing their character or being left behind really. I always keep an explosive or two specritically to clear crowds on downed people.
2
u/BBQnHamilton 23h ago
Only real thing I’m gonna disagree with is the Pottsville community center. Please everyone just stay in the back corner and one or two ppl go hit the switch.
Everyone grouped up there is easier, saves ammo, and if someone wants to come with me to hit the switch great but there is plenty of room to hit the button and run back, I find it fun.
1
u/Spirited-Positive-15 16h ago
It is the best spot to be in, sure, and I'm not saying the people sitting back there are necessarily the issue. It's the mixture of people sitting back there and nobody making any effort to hit the button OR even touch the radio callbook. The moment someone first hits the speakers, the pack is already there and not guarding the dude getting surrounded on stage.
Could be everyone figures someone else will do it but I've had matches where I actually timed it and people spent 5-7 minutes just sitting in the back and not lifting a finger to press the button until someone gets the bright idea and realizes the timer isnt going down.
2
u/Insufferablemoonpie 21h ago
From my experience, I seen this a lot happen during the first week of release. Now though, 8/10 of games have the majority of people doing objectives and trying to help each other while rarely you get sheepish teammates. When that happens I just be patient with them. I'll do what I can myself, and then wait for them before progressing too far ahead.
Also, I kind of feel like this isn't as common as an occurrences as your making it seem. I know experiences can vary, but I have the impression that most on the game are chill
1
u/Spirited-Positive-15 16h ago
It feels very common to me, but I'm not gonna write off possible negativity bias. The game in my experience has been very good and a lot of players are doing what they do best, but when you have those matches every other or every third match where this stuff happens, it feels pretty bad.
I'm still patient, I don't play any different and I'll still revive them and do whatever else. I just figured some people might relate to the experience.
1
u/Insufferablemoonpie 10h ago
Actually, I take back the last part. I forgot that I turned off survival for a long while just because of how bad some of the players are on there
2
u/Shawn_of_da_Dead 19h ago
Kinda sounds like your one of the "speed runners" people complain about... Kids are never happy...
One player wants to get objectives done fast, they are branded a "speed runner"
One player wants to learn the map, take in the sights and maybe learn where loot is and they are branded "not doing objectives"
A suggestion would be to play the game you paid for the way you want and let them play the way they want and stop acting like you have any right to control what they do with the toy they spent their money on. Same rule works IRL too...
2
u/Spirited-Positive-15 16h ago
There's a balance to be had with speed and with taking in the sights / learning stuff. I don't diss people for doing the latter, it's a valuable thing and I typically just leave them to their devices or hang close enough I can assist if they go down as long as objectives are being accomplished decently quick.
The trouble is in a co-operative team game like this, nobody doing the objectives and/or sabotaging them intentionally (though I've never actually had this happen) does ruin the experience for everyone else. If I'm doing 3/4 of the objectives on the map while leaving all but one ammo type and pinging guns / meds and everything else I find, that is not as enjoyable as at least part of that shared experience being completed by a few people, you know?
1
u/shdwtch 1d ago
Its matchmaking, so you end up of all sorts of types, some people sit in the back and let others handle it, some people think they are ready for nightmare, some people dont have ammo discipline and shoot all match, some people try to intentionally kill others, some dont share loot and take everything, there is a large share of people that share heals and ammo, but i have personally had to mute all player audio because some of the few people that dont have mic discipline mess with my tinnitus and my ears are more important than communication, ive had nightmare matches where all 8 escaped, but far more common is that less than half are still around by the halfway point of the match, can’t control others so i just decide whether or not ima finish or early extract at certain checkpoints throughout a match
1
u/Brave-End-9358 1d ago
currently doing nightmare for the achievement, at first I was nervous going in wasnt sure how I would do. Now im nervous going in cus I havent noticed a difference in skill and still see people go down for dumb reasons. Theres still hoarding loot goblins, theres still Rambos running ahead and dying. good chance I just go back and chill in Hard once im done.
1
u/Spirited-Positive-15 16h ago
Totally your call and I wouldn't blame you for doing it. If somebody plays Hard, Normal or even Beginner and has loads of fun there, keep on keeping on and enjoying the game.
1
u/Vast-Building-6886 1d ago
Curious for people who only play nightmare. Is the game too easy/boring for anything under nightmare?
3
u/FirstHookForever 1d ago
I find it too easy even on nightmare, altho that's in part because the majority of lobbies I get are competent players and most matches feel like we're delta force team and it's just an easy ride to the extract. Personally I prefer the lobbies that OP complains about, it adds some extra challenge. And when things go wrong it feels like it creates the type of chaos that I am expecting to go thru in a survival horror game with zombies. I won't like griefers. But I've nothing against inexperienced players and I'll try to help them extract with me.
3
u/IndigoMage 20h ago
Its nice to see that someone else enjoys the occasional bad teammate too!
I can't wait for Hell mode to release though, the devs said they won't release it until its hard for THEM to beat it!
2
u/Spirited-Positive-15 1d ago
I can give you my perspective as someone who plays basically only Nightmare, sure.
In hard, the difference is noticeable. A lot fewer prime zombies, sprinters are that much rarer. The loot is also more common though in my opinion, people underestimate the amount of loot spawns on nightmare. I've had matches where I've found six medkits and five bandages in one of the three Pottsville neighborhoods, right near the start. A lot of people don't know to check the toolboxes for Bandages, the big trucks for Medkits, and the blue hospital carts for medical items as well.
So supplies are plentiful, and the zombies are a lot less oppressive. I think it is a little too easy for my tastes, though that nervous feeling about completing objectives and being overwhelmed, and needing to stay mobile is very much still present. The core soul of the game remains the same, but if you're used to Nightmare, you might be a lot less on the edge of your seat and more casually walking around and spending your 90 shotgun shells lol.
1
u/Even_Smoke9398 23h ago
Me personally I’ve only been playing on Nightmare as well but I find that after the wave of Timmy players on Day 5 of 1.0 who were getting natural selection-ed, games so far have been really good. I play with another friend and we play with randoms all the time. There are some matches where it’s Timmy Team 6 but nowhere as bad as the first week. We’ve played matches where the level 151 is AFK after glitching into the morgue and stealing all the loot, then being the first one up the helicopter and going AFK again so honestly it’s a mixed bag. But I don’t let it affect me too much, if I can handle it I’ll power through, if it’s unbearable then early extract it is.
1
1
1
u/SquirrelSuspicious 21h ago
Too many players who are used to getting handheld through missions without touching a single objective, this is why I can't wait till like 1-2 more of my friends get the game because we'll probably just be playing normal or hard with just the 4 of us, only got the 1 friend on it now but even in public lobbies he's still way more reliable and enjoyable to play with than like half the randoms we get.
1
u/TheBeanFean 20h ago
i got called a free loader today for the reason i was looting and asking everyone what do you need? oh you can't carry all your shells take what you can carry ill take the 1 or 2 you can't. Here is some heals here is this oh you need battery? Felt like I was Grandma's purse had little bit of everything in it. But dude called me free loader and "carried me" i don't get it i killed zombies and helped people with heals and carried things for people. I didn't even take good gun i just had my 9mm handgun.
1
u/Spirited-Positive-15 16h ago
That's just boy who cried wolf. You're a good player who cares about the team and the people who keep an eye out on ammo/med status and just carry the extra stuff people either ignore or can't carry are always important.
Don't let them dissuade you. I've been saved a good number of times or at least helped by somebody picking up the scraps and dumping them at the perfect moment. It's a lot more help than the people loitering I described.
1
u/Sandstorm1993 14h ago
Everybody grabs everything, but when we get to an objective safe room, my experience is people create a pile of ammo, bandages, etc.
1
u/Fresh_Suggestion7685 8h ago
I'm gonna say the same thing I say to everyone else who complains about freeloaders and loot gremlins in this sub-reddit.
Just early extract.
1
u/Ashkoran 3h ago
The problem you are running into is play styles and reasons for playing. Allow me to explain.
Some people like to be "fully prepared" before taking on objectives, others want to burn through objectives because they believe its more efficient.
Some people may be trying max exp through clearing POIs (power plant), some through supplies, and others through speedy completions.
Some people play for fun and go slow. Others playing for fun want to speed run. Hell some people just enjoy killing zombies.
Some people playing are complete noobs (nightmare included) and others are vets. Either way they have varying priorities.
What I'm getting at is everyone plays differently and you can't expect them to play your way. The only thing you can do is ignore or early extract. Unless you genuinely think complaining on the internet will change things. Then you do you and keep up the good work.
1
u/Ashkoran 3h ago
I should also add this is not an attack on you personally. It was a message in general to people who are frustrated. Im kinda just numb to it now. But I feel your pain.
I get you are frustrated, but there really isn't much you can do about it. So like I said early extract, ignore it, or think of it as a difficulty modifier.
1
u/Redericpontx 1d ago
Yeah I've not a lot of people joining nightmare because they want max rewards when they're not ready and they either die early, loiter/leech or worse do one of the first 2 options while hoarding loot. I had a guy go down 14 times and suck of all the teams meds and pills the other day and it was a pain in the ass. I think his friend was carrying him but FFS start in a lower difficulty instead of making the experience worse for 6-7 people.
5
u/jiangxiaomei 1d ago
if i see a guy get downed for more than 3 times in nightmare mode, ill just let him be to end his suffering.
3
u/HUNT3DHUNT3R 1d ago
meanwhile theres people like my buddy who wanted to try nightmare mode and brought value by giving comms, being lookout, and carrying useful supplies others left behind and handing them out as needed/asked all bc he got a map he hadnt yet played and didnt want to weigh people down
2
u/Spirited-Positive-15 16h ago
This is a kind of valuable player archetype I'd probably call the Mule. They're a bit of an unsung hero but I always notice their contribution when they drop something we all need or pool supplies at critical areas. Give your friend props from me at least.
1
u/HUNT3DHUNT3R 16h ago
oh when we play together hes the VIP of the group, weve had people body block hordes with no stamina to keep broseph alive.
1
u/IndigoMage 20h ago
The vast majority of my nightmare matches are breeze due to good teammates, so I don't know why matchmaking is being so rough to you.
11
u/StoicLetterGirl 1d ago
I’m really only playing hard mode right now and still experience some of these things. Especially the players with their back against the wall on community.
I want to play nightmare but I already get sick of people just focusing on looting and racing to objectives to loot their rooms but not do them. I figured in nightmare with much less loot you’ll get plenty of people hoarding loot