Hello Dramanauts, 
I have for you today, a dossier. A package containing the assorted information required to understand and appreciate drama in niche topics that I enjoy. The subject of my post for you is: Armored Core 6
Recommended listening for this thread:
Introduction to the Drama 
For those unaware, Armored Core is an incredibly niche mecha action shooter from the wildly popular game developer FromSoftware. You play as a mercenary that pilots an Armored Core, a cutting edge mech and take on missions from corporations in the pursuit of massive profit. Warcrimes, 1 on 1 Duels, Giant Boss Fights, and more await. You may recognize FromSoftware as the company who created the massive Dark Souls franchise and its derivatives.
Armored Core's last release was over a decade ago, and the announcement of AC6 breathed new life into the once dead franchise. Old and new fans alike were hyped for the new game, but discontent was stirring. A strange lack of gameplay and the deliberate hiding of game mechanics created a sense of unease in the assorted fan discussion boards. The big question was about to get its answer... Is it SoulsLike?
Souls Like 
The veteran fans were affraid that their beloved franchise was going to be gentrified by the addition of mechanics commonly associated with the Dark Souls franchise. From the limited trailers and developer interviews, longtime fans tentatively hoped 
that the franchise would stay true to its roots. Previous games featured insanely clunky controls, manual aiming, massive customization, and debt. Lots of debt. Veterans feared 
that the identity of this game would be sacrificed in order to appeal to a much, much larger fanbase.
An example of veteran cope:
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14arn4y/ive_never_done_something_like_this_before_but/
So what exactly are the changes that the dinosaurs are complaining about? In short:
Hard Lock On/Turning Speed
Estus Flask Expy
Big Telegraphed Attacks
Simplified Customization
I'll give a brief desription of each point to give further context to the coming drama.
Hard Lock/Turning Speed 
In all entries prior to AC 6, turning speed is a key stat to design your mech around. This is no longer the case. A key gameplay skill was keeping your opponent in front of your robot. Now that the camera and mech automatically snap to your enemy, this major skill check is almost entirely removed from the core game loop.
Estus Flask 
Another core gameplay feature was that damage you take during missions is mostly permanent. You must attempt to complete a mission with the AP (health) that you start with. Certain games had minor ways to replenish health and ammo during a mission, but are exceedingly rare. This is no longer the case. A robot can heal at any point in the game, very similar to the Estus Flask from Dark Souls. Yet another major departure from the previous entries.
Big Telegraphed Attacks 
Boss fights are common in the franchise, but the new way to approach them is substantially different now. Referring to the linked gameplay trailer, you can see the boss mech wind up its chainsaw arms and slam down at the player. This was not how bosses worked in the past, which is yet another SoulsLike addition to the game.
Simplified Customization 
This one is less important as the others in my opinion, but is still a point for veterans to cope and seethe about. It appears that the types of parts that you can customize your mech with has been reduced. The fewer categories make it slightly easier for new players to approach building a mech which understandably makes the longtime fans sneed.
Gatekeeping 
Naturally, the long standing fans are clashing with the new blood that the souls franchise brought in. There is shit flinging on all sides as new fans gloat about their soulslike influence while dinosaurs lament the casualization of their beloved mecha franchise. Some choice threads to spectate:
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14akgr3/in_defense_of_those_complaining/
PLEASE understand why us Armored Boomers are upset
https://archived.moe/m/thread/21797331
Thousands of replies from new and old fans absolutely malding, coping, seething, and just a tad of dilating
These were never meant for YOU
Colonization 
At this point, the old fans have been almost completely outnumbered by new fans of the franchise. As unfortunate as this is for oldies, the result was inevitable. Just for some context as to the size disparity of the Armored Core and Souls franchises, the best selling AC game is Armored Core 2 at a respectable 790,000 copies sold. Compare that to Elden Ring's 17 million copies. That many copies? In how many years? 
https://screenrant.com/best-selling-fromsoftware-games-ranked/#sekiro-shadows-die-twice---5-million
Screen ๐คข Rant ๐คฎ I know but proves the point
The economics of the situation guaranteed that Armored Core would get with the times and become the Armored Souls and Mechiro that the fans so dearly wanted. Now that the takeover is basically complete, we get the typical threads you'd expect.
We MUST protect the honor of small indie dev! Just buy the game!
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14aovhi/what_vaatividya_did_for_armored_core_was_a/
I will deepthroat the entire shaft of muh heckin favorite Dark Souls YouTuber!!!!!
Total Oldfan Death has been achieved
What NEXT? 
It seems that the bickering is losing steam, and the Armored Core subreddit is entering a state of equilibrium. Topical memes are being posted again and the general hype for the new entry is returning. The old guard have been thoroughly defeated, coming to terms that their favorite mecha game is permanently changing.
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14art59/august_25_is_almost_here_3/
GOTY would be incredible, but mecha is still repulsive to western audiences
Completely accurate assessment
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14a94gx/i_was_bored/
Newfans doing a victory lap on the oldfans
At this point, we can only wait until August and see how the game is first hand.
My Take on the Matter 
Armored Core is going the way of souls. Is this a good change? Or the total destruction of a niche beloved franchise?
Truthfully, I think the changes are good. I believe that we old fans have extreme rose colored glasses for the ancient and archaic control scheme of the PS2 era games. Note that those games did not even use twin sticks despite being on the console for several years.
The games are going to be fun and my extreme hopium 
is that the mecha genre in the west gains much more widespread approval.
What do you think?
These changes have sparked a wave of discussion. Do you think the changes are great? Or are you coping about your favorite robot game getting gentrified?
Most importantly, Are you going to play Armored Core 6?
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I hate Mecha I hate Mecha
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!downmarseyrs
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got it king
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SIEG ZEON
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Gundam BA2 > Tekken 3
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honestly never saw the appeal of tekken tbh
but yeah this game's fire 
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Extraordinarily bad opinion and you should feel bad
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I see effort post
I chud it
Simple as
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carp can you somehow stop this
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This keeps happening
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I think it's kinda funny to imagine a chuddy basement dweller unironically screaming about some super niche nerd drama for 20 minutes straight
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Yeah but no one can read it
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I read the whole chudpost just fine
but I get it, it gets annoying
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Yeah that's what makes it funnier, wasn't reading it anyway
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Wouldn't be too far from the truth
Trans lives matter
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He can sneed
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nypa
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BIPOC
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I find it curious you list simplified customisation as the least important point. As a very casual mecha fan, build autism is usually what everyone obsesses over.
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Good point. We saw very little of the customization in the gameplay and @TheIllusiveMan think there will still be giga autism in customization in this game. Just not too the extreme that the other entries had. Hence, @TheIllusiveMan think it is not as alarming as the other points
Trans lives matter
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very true, the customization aspect is integral to other
series like Ace Combat as well
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Thank you for you're patronage!
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This is another example of why your favorite thing should never become mainstream.
One of the threads you linked had this comment and while the user is obviously sarcastic here I unironically agree with this sentiment:
There is only one solution: Don't fricking play it.
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You're dead on with that. I fully support gatekeeping in all cases. Also that comment, so close to understanding
Trans lives matter
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It's funny how common this sentiment is across hobbies. I'm pretty sure every time BMW have released an M saloon or coupe over the last 20 years the last gen retroactively becomes "the last true M car"
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The problem is that the Venn Diagram of people who love AC and people who love From's Soulsborne stuff is a fricking circle
This isn't like asking PC g*ymers to not buy the new FIFA game, it's borderline sadomasochism
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I thought souls games evolved to the boss having one big telegraphed attack then 10 different fakeout versions of that move
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there's never been a more overrated series than dark souls.
there's never been a more r-slurred and overused phrase than souls-like.
DARK SOULS DIDN'T INVENT HARD GAMES. DARK SOULS GAMES ARE SHIT. THE GAMES ARE ARTIFICALLY HARD BECAUSE OF THE SHIT AND CLUNKY COMBAT.
god i hate these games so much. i hate the dark souls
community 
so much. 
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The combat isn't shit (unless you're talking about ds1 pvp lol), it's simple. that's the appeal. there's no flashy giga-autism 50 button combos you have to memorize, it's quite literally just getting good @ reading the enemy via experience. It's simple, which is why people like it.
If you somehow can't handle the world's most simple combat you're genuinely just r-slurred
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it's quite literally just roll around like an r-slur and sometimes swing the sword.
it's simple, yes. but it's also clunky slow garbage.
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Eh, there's more to it than that, even in just the first game, but you can reduce basically anything to that so I don't really see your point
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Imagine thinking souls-like refers to the difficulty
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rdrama is the Dark Souls of internet forums.
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welcome to the internet, where any hard game is described as souls-like.
like hollow knight. it's nothing like dark souls, but it's described as a souls-like.
https://g*merant.com/hollow-knight-vs-best-soulslike-games/
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That's the thing, souls like does not refer to difficulty. A few of hollowcel knightcel important elements are enemies that revive when you rest at bonfires, repeated estus self-healing, and lose your souls if you die but retrieve them if you can come back. All these core mechanics are souls mechanics.
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@TheIllusiveMan agree, soulslike is so god darn overused. However, @TheIllusiveMan think this case is appropriate cause both games are from the same company so the comparison makes sense.
Trans lives matter
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I'm a For Answer supremacist so I'm very wary of AC6 due to the gradual flanderisation of FromSofts own games by themselves. I actually didn't like Elden Ring all that much since it has all the "soulslike" excesses, repeated bosses and zones etc..
This looks like a strange mix of 3 and 4 imo and I'm dreading the Elden Ring normie filth getting filtered and seething at From to change for the AVERAGE GAYMERS. The average gaymer is subhuman and deserves nothing but scorn and beatings until they learn to not buy MTXs and battlepasses.
Cautiously optimistic
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Gen 4 is the only gen @TheIllusiveMan haven't played. Going too try it out once @TheIllusiveMan wrap up @TheIllusiveMan's current AC3 playthrough. Also optimistic for 6 and average gaymers are truly the scum of the planet!
Trans lives matter
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4 is deepest customisation in the series and has the fastest speed. The multiplayer was insanely sweaty with how tuned the builds and how intense the speed was, your camera and even screen could barely follow at times. It was awesome.
The missions were cool and the Arms Fortresses were pretty fun imo. Although the best fights were definitely the end game Raven fights.
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seriously, they even managed to keep the psp AC games more hardcore than this.
Actually thinking back on it, a lot of psp's more popular games in the west (crisis core, AC portable, peace walker, birth by sleep) were basically mandatory claw grips to play well
Honestly though, as fun as they are, custom robo and armored core kind of ran out of ideas besides customize then arena fight.
Also, no one really talks about it, but a lot of the shitty ai issues in AC 3-5 were really prevalent in dark souls 1 and 2...
I don't really get the complaints about turning though, like you weren't basically just kiting enemies in a circle every mission from like the 3 hour point...
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The garage will be the defining point for this game. If they cuck the garage in amount of variety and depth then
4 took it a bit far even for me with like 4 thruster modules to decide turn dash and directional acceleration lmao 
There's also the "boss" enemies they showed where it's a single enemy in a arena. In 4 the Arms Fortresses were mobile bases FULL of enemy mechs that spawned from them to patrol and hunt you down. The lone bosses were against the other Ravens. It reminds me again of unwanted influence with Souls from their telegraphed attacks and boss arenas.
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I've not played an AC game before, but as someone who's been into soulshit for over a decade i've been getting annoyed with the samey-ness of Call of Souls Fantasy Warfare so i'll side with the AC boomers on this.
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You aight soulsboy, welcome too AC
Trans lives matter
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How terrible! They decided to add gameplay and level design!
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I'm not interested in getting neurodivergent over the details, if mecha shit comes out, I'm going to play it.
AC, Steel Battalion, Mech Warrior.
Giant death robots are a good thing.
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Armored core cucks be seething at battletech gigachads
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Both are better than Gundam.
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Mechasisters, this was supposed to be OUR game!
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Please keep your child grooming cowtools off of this wholesome cat forum
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What about Lost Planet?
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We donโt have any Mass Effect Marseys do we
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If only I were an artcel
I'd love to have The Illusive Marsey
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yo i aint reading all that but you put a cat that turns in your post and i'm all for it. hit me up if you wanna suck my peepee some time. i'm just joking, i just got social anxiety even from typing this. good day and have a nice evening
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So, is this like Fortnight?
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Forever bashing my skull in for not knowing about the armored core series but being a huge fan of zone of the enders
Still one of the top tier intros EVER
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you did a great job writing this and i am proud of you
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Thank you,
@ass_load_of_cum
Trans lives matter
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Based posted
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Armored Core is a soulslike?
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Good
, friend. Looking forward to AC6 as a longtime Souls fan and mecha newstrag. Hopefully they donโt frick it up (but itโs From so it should be fine).
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I don't doubt that the game is gonna be great, just very different to what we are used to.
Trans lives matter
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We don't care about the pretexts you've collected that justify to yourselves why your particular targeted harassment behaviour is justified; It's still a witch hunt, and it's still disallowed by Reddit sitewide rules, and your witch hunt is the kind of thing that gets picked up by those who do evil and given another pretext to go harass other people.
You are building a weapon that breaks Reddit. Reddit admins will not allow it.
Snapshots:
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14arn4y/ive_never_done_something_like_this_before_but/:
undelete.pullpush.io
archive.org
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https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14akgr3/in_defense_of_those_complaining/:
undelete.pullpush.io
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
https://archived.moe/m/thread/21797331:
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14abjup/armored_core_was_always_supposed_to_be_like_this/:
undelete.pullpush.io
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
https://screenrant.com/best-selling-fromsoftware-games-ranked/#sekiro-shadows-die-twice---5-million:
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14at5pk/why_are_people_in_this_community_so_threatened_by/:
undelete.pullpush.io
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
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https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14aovhi/what_vaatividya_did_for_armored_core_was_a/:
undelete.pullpush.io
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14ac1bj/at_this_point_there_are_more_people_complaining/:
undelete.pullpush.io
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14art59/august_25_is_almost_here_3/:
undelete.pullpush.io
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14ak2c0/we_get_to_fight_drug_addicted_space_hippies_with/:
undelete.pullpush.io
archive.org
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https://old.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14a94gx/i_was_bored/:
undelete.pullpush.io
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Mecha board on 4chan?
Bro how many boards have they added since jap moot took over?
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I hate soulsborne
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Frick, don't dark soul armored core
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