Yeah, my fears were realized on the H3H3 DLC pack.

[HUNK]

I do not hate H3H3 as I am not a fan of their content but at the same time. What the hell is this writing? In the interviews and live streams of Ovk with H3H3 the two new characters were meant to BE characters not just self inserts. Which it has been... I dont like the real life memes of the work that they have done in their lives. This goes against the Lore friendly promises that I watched in the livestreams.

I remember the Hugh Mungus debacle that I respect Ethan did attempt to raise awareness of and help the man with his fiances. HOWEVER, that doesnt mean to make Ethan and Hila completely canonical with their wooden delivery of their voice lines as they do not sounds like they are legit Heisters.

I mean, if the game wanted to include them. I would have accepted some Youtuber related thing that H3H3 productions help the Payday Gang. Be something that is mildly grading, but this reminds me of the Alesso Heist.

I know I can be a prick toward Overkill but this is my favorite game series and I genuinely hoped that the H3H3 productions duo would have been included in the best way possible. Heisters that stand out distinctively and fun to work with in the game. Like Bohdi, Scarface, Jacket, Jimmy. Granted I know they arent the pillars of what is considered good since my view on the matter is completely subjective. I just think that Ethan and Gila are not bad people nor terrible of an inclusion.

I remember back when the fanbase was lost their minds when the Goat Simulator Heist was a thing. However, I will defend that crossover because it lead to the creation of a wide open map that I enjoy playing, the music was great and the voice acting of Vlad as well as the cops were done in a way to justify this whole situation. It isn't far fetched that criminal organizations use animals to smuggle drugs and contraband. This was Lore friendly because only Vlad would use such stupid goats in the first place.

The Point Break DLC was one that I liked because it was done in a way that was very MurkeyWater focused in how the Payday Gang gets to poke those mercenaries in the eyes and Beneath the Mountain is a very cool concept to me and I thought it was executed well. The Ex-Presidents Perk deck was fun when it was paired with the old headshot armor skills before the rebalance. I still use it time to time because it gives the game a different flavor. Bohdi and the content were Lore friendly.

Jimmy with the Hardcore Henry heists were included as a way of us going to Russia and fighting the Russian Mercenaries reskins and was later updated to have Russian voices. The map is close quarters and the stealth heist is still one of the few that I actually like to stealth.The Maniac Perk deck was done in a way that lets damage anchor players support their dodge based teammates.This is lore friendly since Jimmy sought out the Payday Gang.

Even for how much Overkill can get lynched by the fans on what they decide to include into the game. I will say that on some of their better inclusions that are LORE friendly and attempt to spice up the game. I will appreciate and still continue to do so.

What annoys me about this is that execution of this crossover just feels like it was done so poorly in the writing and how the duo dont sound unique in how they dispatch special enemy units and Ethan memeing it up in stealth... I dont think I will play them much as I gave Overkill the benefit of the doubt when I purchased this. The perk deck is centered around vaping... yeah, right Overkill... the two new Heisters will not completely meme it up.

[MingNexus]

Better hope these two ain't going appeared in Payday 3

[BreakinBenny]

Originally posted by James Bodhi Johnson:

Better hope these two ain't going appeared in Payday 3

They won't.

There is time and place for "Kick H3H3", but not now.

[bruh]

Hopefully pd2s lore will end on a "crew gets massacred and only original heisters survive" because there are just so many trash heisters

[Shirosakura]

Originally posted by ok:

Hopefully pd2s lore will end on a "crew gets massacred and only original heisters survive" because there are just so many trash heisters

Nooooo don't kill sokol I really like him despite his story flaws.

[clay gamer]

Originally posted by ok:

Hopefully pd2s lore will end on a "crew gets massacred and only original heisters survive" because there are just so many trash heisters

god i hope that happens

[OVKHuman]

Originally posted by HUNK:

I do not hate H3H3 as I am not a fan of their content but at the same time. What the hell is this writing? In the interviews and live streams of Ovk with H3H3 the two new characters were meant to BE characters not just self inserts. Which it has been... I dont like the real life memes of the work that they have done in their lives. This goes against the Lore friendly promises that I watched in the livestreams.

I remember the Hugh Mungus debacle that I respect Ethan did attempt to raise awareness of and help the man with his fiances. HOWEVER, that doesnt mean to make Ethan and Hila completely canonical with their wooden delivery of their voice lines as they do not sounds like they are legit Heisters.

I mean, if the game wanted to include them. I would have accepted some Youtuber related thing that H3H3 productions help the Payday Gang. Be something that is mildly grading, but this reminds me of the Alesso Heist.

I know I can be a prick toward Overkill but this is my favorite game series and I genuinely hoped that the H3H3 productions duo would have been included in the best way possible. Heisters that stand out distinctively and fun to work with in the game. Like Bohdi, Scarface, Jacket, Jimmy. Granted I know they arent the pillars of what is considered good since my view on the matter is completely subjective. I just think that Ethan and Gila are not bad people nor terrible of an inclusion.

I remember back when the fanbase was lost their minds when the Goat Simulator Heist was a thing. However, I will defend that crossover because it lead to the creation of a wide open map that I enjoy playing, the music was great and the voice acting of Vlad as well as the cops were done in a way to justify this whole situation. It isn't far fetched that criminal organizations use animals to smuggle drugs and contraband. This was Lore friendly because only Vlad would use such stupid goats in the first place.

The Point Break DLC was one that I liked because it was done in a way that was very MurkeyWater focused in how the Payday Gang gets to poke those mercenaries in the eyes and Beneath the Mountain is a very cool concept to me and I thought it was executed well. The Ex-Presidents Perk deck was fun when it was paired with the old headshot armor skills before the rebalance. I still use it time to time because it gives the game a different flavor. Bohdi and the content were Lore friendly.

Jimmy with the Hardcore Henry heists were included as a way of us going to Russia and fighting the Russian Mercenaries reskins and was later updated to have Russian voices. The map is close quarters and the stealth heist is still one of the few that I actually like to stealth.The Maniac Perk deck was done in a way that lets damage anchor players support their dodge based teammates.This is lore friendly since Jimmy sought out the Payday Gang.

Even for how much Overkill can get lynched by the fans on what they decide to include into the game. I will say that on some of their better inclusions that are LORE friendly and attempt to spice up the game. I will appreciate and still continue to do so.

What annoys me about this is that execution of this crossover just feels like it was done so poorly in the writing and how the duo dont sound unique in how they dispatch special enemy units and Ethan memeing it up in stealth... I dont think I will play them much as I gave Overkill the benefit of the doubt when I purchased this. The perk deck is centered around vaping... yeah, right Overkill... the two new Heisters will not completely meme it up.

yeah I agree, its sort of messed up, the content is basically trash, the reason this DLC will even sell is if we have H3H3 fans and/or to be "good" at OD aka using the "meta" of a "good" weapon (its really just gonna get nerfed because everyones gonna find it OP)

[Gun Metal Grey]

Originally posted by ok:

Hopefully pd2s lore will end on a "crew gets massacred and only original heisters survive" because there are just so many trash heisters

Overkill should do a voting on "Who will die and not make an appearence on PAYDAY 3", some fans will be triggered but my popcorn is always ready

[lexilogo]

I can't agree more on the whole lore aspect. I'm very disappointed that they're quite literally Ethan + Hila, rather than original characters who share their names + voices + general personalities. They're ACTUALLY the youtubers from the channel, which is stupid on a whole number of levels.

I mean, firstly, I understand that over the years the payday crew's level of anonymity has lowered, which only makes sense. For example, the FBI know that Rust's real name is Tom Bishop. However, I still have serious issues accepting that Bain would recruit two people who are essentially celebrities, and more than that celebrities who regularly upload things online. It just seems like asking for trouble.

Second, how the hell did they qualify? Okay, Hila worked in the military for two years (not all that special, but it's acceptable), but Ethan's just a guy. The excuse the game gives is that they need the money, therefore they fight fiercely for it, but... Really? Could ANY poor person qualify for the Payday crew? There's a hell of a lot of people who are in more desperate need of money than H3H3 productions.

Third, why does Bain need, or even want a PR guy? How does Ethan/Hila being public supporters of the Payday gang help Bain at all? Wouldn't this screw H3H3 over more, seeing as they now publically support an organisation that regularly engages in mass murder of police, destruction of public/private property, nuclear weapons smuggling, animal abuse, drug dealing, torture, assassination and cruelty/murder of random, innocent people? And even if Bain wants PR people, why do they need to be heisters? Wouldn't it make more sense if they got paid for their PR abilities and let the actual professionals do their jobs?

Fourth, I'm pretty sure their money needs would be satisfied pretty damn quick while working for the payday gang. Even one job would generally set someone up for life, and with that their combat abilities would likely also vanish. (as it's apparently directly linked to their lack of money)

[Crowbaria]

Originally posted by ok:

Hopefully pd2s lore will end on a "crew gets massacred and only original heisters survive" because there are just so many trash heisters

Not a good idea
Some heisters could die but the slightly more fleshed ones should not
Also this makes me wonder what they'll do with wolf in payday 3
Will they kill him off or hire a new voice actor?
Dragan might betray us
"Jacket"'s fate would most likely be left unknown
Etc

[Copy & Cat]

Yeah they did a piss poor job at handling them, doing the oposite of what they said they were gonna do

[Malidictus]

Ethan and Hila's writing is immensely disappointing (enough that I had to attempt a re-write of my own), especially given Overkill's assurances that we'd get Payday characters inspired by thereal people. We didn't - we got just a transplant of the real people, instead. It frustrates me so much because there's a very evident lack of care, to say nothing of effort, in integrating them into the Payday Gang.

I don't see the point in discussing the fiction surrounding H3H3 because the fiction isn't the problem. The premise is. Rather than create original characters with both the skills, motivation and connections to be part of the Payday Gang, Overkill just slapped Ethan and Hila in the safehouse without even an attempt at tying them into the story. The most they did was a half-hearted "Hila was in the military' and "Ethan's broke."

Storytelling has never been Payday 2's strength, I get that. We all get that. Even so, it's never been quite THAT low-effort, or this transparently handed off to someone who seems to have lacked the time and motivation to try very hard. There's a distinct "style" of writing (for lack of a better word) I've noticed ever since the Heat Street heist. It's a style indicative of someone who just now started out writing out of obligation. Even if this person had good ideas for an interesting plotline, they clearly lack the time, opportunity and experience to actually put it together.

Look at Heat Street, for example. The writing for that has absolutely no subtlety of any kind. "Hi, I'm Locke and I'm acting shady. I'm involved in a story arc that's been developing for some time and I'm going to give you random bits of information to get you started. See you for my sudden but inevitable betrayal!" Or look at some of the latest FBI files, specifically the one about the Alaskan deal. The beat cop who pulled Locke over HAD to mention that he has a weird "Australian" accent, wore a camo jacket and a berret, all of it as a reference to us the audience, no matter how awkward that sounds in a report.

Ethan and Hila are a symptom of a larger problem - one that's evident in all parts of the game. It seems that ever since Overkill announced Payday 2's sunset in 2018, the team got cut down significantly and has been working with a skeleton crew since. The content we've gotten in the meantime reflects this. Ever since that point, the writing quality took a major dip into this new style of essentially writing storyboards and passing them off as the finished product. I'm usually pretty quick to spot this phenomenon, but I guess it took the H3H3 pack to finally see the pattern.

In retrospect, I don't think there was a scenario where Ethan and Hila would fit in with the Payday Gang given how the writing for the game had been handled for months before. There's still a chance to salvage it by putting a concerted writing effort into the FBI Files' Internal Memos. I don't see that happening, however, and it's not going to fix the memes and the vaping and the exceptionally low production qualities of the two of them. I'm not even an H3H3 fan - didn't know they existed before Overkill started talking about them - and I'm still sorely disappointed in how they were handled.

[Ralph]

Originally posted by ok:

Hopefully pd2s lore will end on a "crew gets massacred and only original heisters survive" because there are just so many trash heisters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXJvOJNUlCs

[Crowbaria]

Originally posted by Ralph:

Originally posted by ok:

Hopefully pd2s lore will end on a "crew gets massacred and only original heisters survive" because there are just so many trash heisters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXJvOJNUlCs

But what about august?

[Ralph]

Originally posted by Retro Raider:

Originally posted by Ralph:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXJvOJNUlCs

But what about august?

Just keep Medic Bag Man, MEDI, Pickle and Wanker.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by Ralph:

Originally posted by Retro Raider:

But what about august?

Just keep Medic Bag Man, MEDI, Pickle and Wanker.

Frankly, the majority of the "original" cast are dull as dishwater. Houston is a blank piece of printer paper, Wolf's story is at least as stupid as Ethan and Hila's with some of the worst voice acting I've run across and Dallas looks and sounds like a generic movie character. The only ones I found even remotely interesting are Chains and Hoxton, largely on the strength of their writing and the quality of their voice actors. It's obvious the majority of the team wouldn't make it into a sequel, but I'd personally keep the likes of Clover, Bonnie, Duke, Sydney, etc. Pretty much the ones which aren't based on existing intellectual property, really.