Ignoring all the hype (and hate), Highguard needs a lot of work

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Setting aside all the noise around this game, the reality is that it's poorly optimised, poorly balanced, and its core game loops have not been nailed down yet. Progression, looting, weapon variety/rarity, map design, destructibility, character and kit designs - it all feels like a first draft. Highguard may one day be great (and I hope it gets there) but right now it feels like it would have benefited from an extensive closed beta testing program that would have identified and ironed out these issues before showing this game off to a live audience of 100m people.
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