The change from PD:TH to PD2...

they're both pretty good games imo, i'd say most of my problem with payday2 is their ratio of free content to paid dlc content.. they crank out ~6x paid dlc for every one free dlc, so it feels a bit greedy after they've release so much paid dlc to me. but disregarding overkills greed in the dlc department, i'd still say payday 2 is better. it's newer and has far more content even without any paid dlcs, in the same regards a better engine, still updated very regularly, & certainly way more popular online so there wouldn't ever be an issue finding a group if you don't want to play with AI on your side.

basically that popularity difference is there for a reason. xD

Payday 2, of course. But very expensive with dlc's.

Payday 2. Buy the GOTY and the AK/CAR Mod Pack for the essential DLCs. Other DLCs are just fluff as extra playable characters, more weapons, or heists you can host. Nothing game breaking.

You can easily find people to play with in Payday 2 but there are not that much people playing the heist. Payday 2 has too much DLCs but the heist has most of the things free and based on level. The heist's diffuculties really hard even if they're on normal but payday 2 has more options to choose. Payday 2 without DLCs has more maps, jobs to do than the heist also it has better graphics, engine. You can get your money back by selling safes droping after games weekly in like 7-8 weeks in payday 2.

Payday 2 is the best of the two, I remember being obsessed with this game to the point I spent more than 200 hours in a month :D

PAYDAY 2 is definitely an improvement from the first one. Since you've already spent 100 hours on the first game, you get the idea on how tough the game is. PAYDAY 2 is more noob friendly, so to speak, with all the skills and perk decks, although Death Wish and One Down are pretty brutal. My advice is, wait for a big sale, get PD2 at 75% off, get a few essential DLCs and you're good to go. Can';t deny there's a shitload of DLCs but most of them are skippable and if you like the game, you can spend some to get the DLCs you like.

TL,DR There's really no reason to skip the game if you like the first one. Get it.

Also, they remade almost all maps into the game so you'll feel right at home. The others are coming eventually, it's just a matter of time.

Yes, it is.

Payday 2 is better, and it has a lot more content, even if you don't include any of the DLC. That said, the levels in Payday 1 were better than the levels in Payday 2 were at launch ( Payday 2 has slightly more randomized levels, but they were smaller and less involved. The big levels were introduced later on, and were more fun).

A lot of the shit thrown at Payday 2 was when their former publisher first introduced microtransactions, it was a total greed-fest. They since reversed course.
Yes, there are a lot of DLC, but most of them are unnecessary, and you can join heists you don't have, you just can't host them. The rest of the DLC is basically just new weapons or new characters, which aren't necessary.

I do recommend buying the GOTY version, when it's on sale. That way you get some of the DLC, including the ones many people think are essential. (I don't think so, but the extra content is worth the small increase)

First one is great, but Payday 2 is better in pretty much every possible way

Only in terms of content, now that they porter the original 6 or so heists from the first game to the second game, there's really not much point to buy the first game, you can even use a mod to make your UI and HUD look like in the first game, in the second one. The first game is a dead end and mostly a grind. Buy the second one, wait for a sale to buy the game of the year edition, cheapest it has been some month ago on 15 euros.

If Payday 2 is an improvement over the first game, then I can only imagine the first game was unplayable. (Please note that my dislike of the game is no way meant to disparage those who do enjoy it, any more than my dislike of certain platformer subgenres is based around anything other than my own preferences and perceptions.)

That said, for my friends who've played both, they tell me that the first game was a lot more polished and fluid and immersive (to the point that, even being well aware of my disgust for the second game, they indicate I'd probably still at least tolerate the first one), while the second game simply has significantly expanded game options. Do note that you need a significant amount of the DLCs to get an actual game- the "GOTY edition" has the amount of content you'd normally expect from a $20 game, while the base version of the game has content you'd normally associate with a demo or a F2P teaser offering.

Of course, I haven't played for a couple years now, perhaps things have improved to some degree. Either way, if you want the interesting maps and weapons and whatnot, you'll need to rely on the DLCs to get them. From what I can tell at a glance at wikis, reviews, and gameplay videos, PD1 and 2 aren't too dissimilar, other than PD2 [having been/potentially still being] more buggy and imbalanced, and having a terrible base game (at least at the time when I played). As long as you wait to get a good deal on the GOTY, rather than wasting your money on the non-upgradable base game, I'd think you're going to get gameplay close enough to what you're expecting from a sequel that the purchase'll probably at least give you some enjoyable hours of play- though whether the expanded content will outweigh the flaws in the long run for you, I couldn't say. :X

That said:

if the AI it's bad, if there's so many bugs, if the cheaters, if it doesn't include the "No Mercy" heist, if the DLCs and so many other things.

The AI is awful, stealth is awful, gunplay is awful, cheaters are purportedly rampant (by my friends who actually do public grouping), the bugs can be mission-breaking, and you definitely need the DLCs to get a functional game- they could have added twenty more free heists to the core game, and that'd still likely be true, given how integral the GOTY DLCs are to the experience.

From what I can tell from gameplay videos of Heist, it's a thoroughly better game [lack of PD2's thoroughly engaging cosmetic system aside]- but the character leveling and broader scope of content [after DLCs] of PD2 should give you a lot more variety to work with. Certainly, despite all its criticisms, many more people seem to rate the second game positively than not- which does indicate that my considerations are simply not important to the gameplay considerations of most players [and thus that the negatives of the game may not actually be much more emphasized than in the first game].
..of course, Steam also has very positive ratings for games like Coffin Dodgers and Gas Guzzlers, and those games are simply awful, mechanically speaking, so I'm not sure the rating is the most reliable consideration. :X

Well, PD2 seems to have a free weekend every half-year or so. You could just try and hold out until then.
It took me 14 hours until I had become thoroughly disgusted with the game, so a free weekend is a lot better of an option than relying on Steam's 2 hour refund window [within which you're still going "well.. it clearly has flaws, but maybe it'll get more fun..].
Of course, it looks like the game has added a Demo install link on its store page, now- so that should certainly be your first consideration. :)

There is a problem for me in PD2: no one is really worried about doing objectives right. It is just a "thing" that is there just to activate the next wave. PD2 turned into a big survival mode full of "day 1 heists". Everybody is just rushing the heist. There are no more strategies envolved.

i dropped.

in last half year i cant finish any hiest longer than 5 min on pd2 - only disconnects, same situation with my friends
long long ago game was stable and fun, now its only update simulator full of disconnects
in pd1 there was any, ANY disconnects in all gametime

Payday 2 is nowhere near better. The Payday 1 heists had flavor and character to them and they were challenging. Payday 2 was way too easy. You could easily shoot your way through anything and stealth was no longer as encouraged. They turned a game of choice and tactics into a casual fps.

First game's more challenging than the second, but the second's got more heist and variety than the first

I loved the overdrill in the heist
Kinda stopped playing PD2 after they announced skins, also having a 2 gigs of update every week is pretty annoying

I own both game and played PD2 first, and i have to say, once you play PD2, you can't go back to PD1.
The control and the UI in PD1 is far too non-human.

But PD2 do have tons of DLCs¯\_(ツ)_/¯

More stealth, more maps, more weapons, more fucking dlc too
Add me if you want to play

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