Around 70% of Helldivers 2 players want the shooter's chaotic ragdolling physics tweaked, according to the results of one recent dev-run community poll.
Helldivers know the feeling all too well. An enemy bot chucks a grenade, a beefy bug rams into you, a friendly diver accidentally sets an orbital barrage too close - and then your unlucky grunt goes flying, limbs limp, like a ragdoll. It can simultaneously lead to some of Helldivers 2's whackiest, most memorable, and most frustrating moments.
Arrowhead Game Studios community manager Thomas 'Twinbeard' Petersson posted a poll to the Helldivers 2 Discord today, October 2, asking the community how they felt about ragdolling. At the time of writing, 10,000 people (15%) say "It's great. Don't change a thing." 7,300 people (10%) reckon it's just "OK." And the rest had varying degrees of problems with being flung across the map.
In fairness, only 2,000 people (3%) said that they flat-out "hate" ragdolling and want it removed. But over 70% of 69,400 votes were split between options that called ragdolling "too much at times," or argued that it's particularly "awful" and "not great" against certain enemy types. 5,700 votes (8%) for "would be fine if less for Striders, Hulks, and Fortresses" stands out.
Of course, the poll was only open to those who are a part of the Helldivers 2 Discord, and is therefore not totally representative of the entire player base or their attitudes toward ragdolling.
Regardless, it's a noteworthy question since Arrowhead has been working on a Helldivers 2 redemption arc these last few months, which kicked off with a massive patch two weeks ago aimed at making the co-op shooter more fun again. If the team's adjusting weapons, armor, and enemies, ragdolling may well be next in line.