I'm a casual who put a lot of hours into the game, enjoying it over a few seasons. Then they decided that what the community wanted was more difficulty, even at the lowest levels, and it has ruined the game for me. I used to just fire it up and shoot my way through a bunch of stuff, having fun.

Now everything is a slog. I find myself having to get serious about getting through the most basic levels, instead of just running through it like a madman.

As a consequence, I now play no more than a couple hours a week, and I've even skipped weeks entirely lately.

You'd think this would resonate with someone, but I've heard nothing but complaints about this change. High-level, serious players aren't in favor of it because it makes low-level content slow and boring, but doesn't actually engage them any better than before. New players find it difficult when it should be teaching them the game. Mid-level players like myself get nothing from the increased difficulty, either.

And yet they persist, adding even more modes that strip the point of levels from the game, and homogenize all the content.

I'm hoping they smarten up next season, but I'm not real optimistic.