Outriders Players Are Blaming Streamers And YouTubers For Recent Class Nerfs

Developer People Can Fly's upcoming update for Outriders came as a shock to players. The studio announced it will nerf some class abilities, particularly bullet skills. This change got the community talking, with some blaming livestreamers and YouTubers for allegedly "ruining games" by solo-ing all the endgame content.

Next week, the Technomancer and Trickster's bullet-based skills--Blighted Rounds and Twisted Rounds, respectively--will be modified so they are less exploitable. This includes things like increasing cooldown timers and reducing damage buffs. As a result of these nerfs, the Outriders subreddit lit up with criticism. A few pointed fingers at content creators, particularly livestreamers and YouTubers, whose entire livelihood hinges on attaching themselves to a game and making videos about it.

"Dear PCF, no life streamers [sic] DO NOT represent us or our progress," Reddit user _superchan wrote. "Nerfing builds is a TERRIBLE idea."

Redditors say that because content creators make videos for a living, they have more time to dedicate to farming gear, fleshing out builds, and discovering exploits. Those with lives--like family, kids, and work--aren't spending as much time with the game. The nerf, players suggest, pushes casuals away by upping the difficulty and funneling them into one playstyle instead of letting them find more "creative builds."

"You guys need to understand that not everyone goes online and watches videos on Outriders or guides or tricks or anything like that," Reddit user Queasy_Cut wrote. "Most people have lives outside of the game like work, kids, and family that we can't spend everyday farming for legendaries to get a certain build working. The game is turning into a game where instead of doing 'creative builds' we're stuck farming a single legendary/weapon that we need to complete the build to get a gold run cause there's not a lot of viable options to complete the run on time."

Some players are offering ways People Can Fly can adjust Outriders so classes don't have to be nerfed. One said if "you adjust the mods [then] problem solved." Others say the AI's "ridiculous accuracy" needs tweaking.

But at the end of the day, Outriders players say the studio should get to know and focus on everyone who is playing the game, not just the privileged few who can play video games for a living.

"STOP USING THE STREAMERS AS A BENCHMARK," Queasy_Cut wrote. "Get to know what most people are doing instead of people that are literally playing games for a living."

If you're new to Outriders or preparing to create another character, check out our guide on all four classes to determine which is right for you. We run through the similarities and differences between each class, the role the play in the game, and some best-use scenarios. Also check out our day-one Outriders guide, which goes over things like how to farm for Legendary gear and why the Trickster is the best class for solo-play.