Robert was currently being fiercely protected by the players in the latter half of the team. He was like a fragile, precious item, only allowed to advance a short distance with the main force after the vanguards confirmed that the dozens-of-meters-long passage ahead was completely free of threats.
This situation would undoubtedly be incredibly frustrating for commanders who liked to be on the front lines, fighting alongside their soldiers. However, for Robert, it wasn't entirely bad.
At the very least, being in such an absolutely safe environment for an extended period gave him ample time and energy to contemplate matters crucial to the Helldivers' development. For example, whether to plan and establish clearly defined regiment and battalion structures in advance; and to write a guiding paper on how players of various levels could most efficiently utilize their exp.
The former was not urgent; after all, until the Helldivers Company's forces truly expanded to the size of a battalion, no matter how thorough the plans, they would just be theoretical.
But the latter, the sooner it was released, the better. A detailed guide to Merit usage would help every player—whether battle-hardened veterans or incoming new recruits—more efficiently use their exp to enhance their combat power. And the improvement in individual player combat power would ultimately directly reflect on the strength of the entire company.
However, Robert knew very well that such an important document could not be rushed. He had to ensure that every single word within it could withstand scrutiny, was logical, unambiguous, and completely correct—at least, it had to be correct in the current stage of the game.
To this end, he needed to inquire about and collect data on every player's equipment usage experience. Currently, it was still early in the game, and players' curiosity and desire for exploration were strong.
Various types of equipment were being purchased for a taste, which made it convenient for Robert to collect data and avoid the awkward situation where certain equipment was not used, leading to a lack of practical experience to corroborate its effectiveness.
Just as Robert was immersed in his thoughts, outlining his paper, Name? Haven't decided yet subtly nudged him with an elbow, immediately pulling him out of his contemplation and instinctively putting him on alert.
"What happened?" he asked in a low voice.
Aside from this subtle movement between the two of them, the surrounding players all appeared normal, maintaining their alert formation as if nothing had happened. After all, if they were to make a fuss and gather around at this moment, it would be like using a loudspeaker to tell any enemies possibly lurking in the shadows: Our commander is right here, come focus fire!
Name offered no extra explanation, simply stating concisely: "Company Commander, check the forum. The official team has released a new announcement."
Upon hearing this, Robert's heart tightened, and he quickly opened the player forum on his retinal interface. Immediately, he saw the red, stickied post published by the official game dev, Terrabyte—"Urgent Announcement Regarding the Third Closed Beta."
Seeing this title, Robert's heart sank. Was the third closed beta going to start now? They were still in the game, carrying out a critical rescue mission! Whether they could save that Tech-Priest was paramount, as it affected the company's subsequent artillery support and equipment manufacturing. If the game forced an update at this moment, kicking everyone offline… the game dev better not mess with them at such a crucial juncture!
However, as Robert's gaze swept over the main text, his tense nerves instantly relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
The content of the announcement was clear and concise, primarily consisting of three points:
One, to provide a smoother gaming experience, this update will employ a non-stop update mode. Furthermore, starting from this update, all future version updates and content iterations will prioritize non-stop update methods.
Two, to ensure the integration experience of new recruits and maintain the stability of the current battle situation, the qualification distribution mode will be modified for this update. The one thousand qualifications for the third closed beta will no longer be distributed all at once, but instead will be distributed daily, ranging from 10 to 20 qualifications based on Earth time, until all one thousand qualifications have been distributed.
Three, to avoid hoarding and wasting qualifications, all players who obtain a test qualification must activate it and create a character within 24 hours of receiving the notification, otherwise the qualification will be automatically revoked by the system and re-entered into the distribution pool.
Robert read the announcement word for word, his worries long vanished, replaced only by pleasant surprise.
It could be said that every piece of content in this announcement was entirely beneficial to the players. The non-stop update completely resolved their biggest concern about mission interruption, ensuring that online closed beta players could freely control their game time, no longer having to worry about being forcibly kicked offline halfway through playing.
And the phased, small-scale distribution of qualifications minimized the potential chaos caused by a surge of new players. With only ten or twenty newcomers joining each time, it was entirely within the company's capacity to absorb them.
Each squad could take one or two, and the veterans could guide them hand-in-hand. By the time the next batch of new players arrived, the previous batch of recruits would have largely been tempered into battle-hardened veterans familiar with the battlefield.
In this way, the Helldivers Company could smoothly complete its expansion, transitioning steadily from a company to a nascent infantry regiment.
At least it wouldn't be like the beginning of the second closed beta, where the command system was largely dysfunctional, relying entirely on the players' immortal characteristic to sustain it.
The joy brought by this announcement had not lingered in his heart for long before his gaze moved down, seeing the specific time for the official start of the third closed beta at the end of the announcement.
The announcement stated: The third closed beta will officially begin on Earth time, July 3rd.
Converting this based on the in-game time to Earth time ratio of 3:1, the first batch of new players would arrive in a little over two days.
He glanced at the bottomless dark tunnel ahead of the team, feeling absolutely certain that this external operation could clearly not be completed in two days. At this intensity of combat and rate of advance, it would be normal for them to be out fighting for another ten days to half a month.
Thinking of this, Robert suddenly remembered a crucial question, his face involuntarily darkening somewhat—that is, would the new players come with a basic set of bulletproof armor and a lasgun, or would the Helldivers Company have to issue them?
If it was the former, then it would naturally be a cause for universal joy, saving countless troubles.
But what if it was the latter? Given the game's consistent hardcore style and emphasis on player community self-driven "tendencies," the latter possibility was likely very high. The official game team might only give new players a bare character, then directly dump the equipment problem onto the player collective to solve themselves.
If it was the latter… then as Company Commander, his exp would probably be significantly depleted again.