Just yesterday, we brought you word of a commemorative cape being issued to all Helldivers 2 players in honour of the tragic loss and subsequent triumphant liberation of the Automaton-infested meme world, Malevelon Creek. But there's a darker side to this all-too-human story of victory, and what was supposed to be a symbol of remembrance has become a flashpoint for a militant faction in the community; veterans of Malevelon Creek, dubbed "Creekers", are being targeted by cowardly comrades for wearing the Fallen Heroe's Vengeance cape into battle.
To fully appreciate why, you need to understand the strategic situation necessitated by Operation Swift Disassembly, which appears to be on the brink of eradicating the Automatons for good (despite some surprises). But while Major Orders required players to focus on liberating specific planets in line with Super Earth's direct commands, a significant portion of the player population continued to fight to free the symbolic but strategically unimportant Malevolon's Creek. Given the ability to dictate a Galactic War effort, leave it to gamers to repeat the mistakes of terrestrial World Wars.
These "Creekers", honoured by Super Earth and given capes, are seen as being rewarded for their un-Democratic actions, undeniably heroic though they might be. As IGN astutely notes, no evidence suggests any of this has affected the game's meta-narrative so far. Still, watching the community grapple with events as they arise is fascinating. As ever, the Helldivers community continues to produce high-quality memes:
