Death Stranding 2 players reach "breaking point for hating signs" as devious porters place speed boosts in inconvenient places: "I ran over a quokka because of one of those signs... I was devastated"

Death Stranding 2 players are using the game's in-game sign systems to inconvenience their fellow players, proving the spirit of Dark Souls never left.

Death Stranding 2 has been in the hands of players for a bit now and everyone is discovering all the weird stuff in the game and all of the cameos Hideo Kojima included in the game, like Hideo Kojima. One of the series' best mechanics has returned, the asynchronous multiplayer elements that allow you to help out fellow porters by leaving structures, tools, and signs around the world. But, where there is help, there are always a few people ready to hinder your journey.

One of the things you can put down in Death Stranding 2 are little signs. These range from helpful things like warning you of obstacles ahead, to little buffs that can aid players, plus there's one that plays a fun little song. One in particular is a speed-up sign, which, when driven through, will boost you forward in your vehicle. Anyone who has played Dark Souls will know players use the message sign to mess with you constantly, from the classic "invisible wall ahead" leading to nothing, to the more sinister ones that lead you into pits or the mouths of mimic chests, so I'm sure you can put together what a sign that actively moves you lets tricksters do.

Players on the Death Stranding subreddit are naturally calling out these monsters. With users posting videos of the ways players' speed up signs have sent them straight into a wall and damaging their cargo, depriving them of that S+ ranking. And sometimes it's worse than some ruined cargo, as one player recalls "I ran over a quokka because of one of those signs! Got docked 100 likes. I was devasted [sic]."

While I haven't seen it, in my mind the natural extension of this is going to be players leaving the speed up signs at the edges of cliffs and sending their fellow porters into oblivion. And this really makes the question Death Stranding 2 poses – "should we have connected?" – even more thought provoking.

Death Stranding 2 is actually Australian Truck Simulator in disguise, and it's because Sam Porter Bridges is not a man: he's a truck.