When it comes to game development teams, they often try to fill up their worlds with all kinds of things to help it “stand out” or simply “have fun” with certain things, and then hope that players enjoy them. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t get a little “too clever” with their ideas, leaving fans confused about what in the world is going on. In the case of Borderlands 4, that’s exactly what happened with many features, including ones that should’ve been the most basic to use or understand. Then, there were the “Balloon Silos,” which players are trying to help make sense of.
This was going down on Reddit, where players were sharing information on the balloon silos, what their true point was, and how to make the most of them in-game. If you don’t know, these silos will launch you into the air, which can help you in certain ways, if you’re clever enough. What many don’t know, because Gearbox Software didn’t explain, is that these silos aren’t just meant to help you “get up high” for things like recon, but you can use them to glide around and get to areas you couldn’t get to on your own.
As players noted in the thread, the direction you’re launched is based on the direction you’re facing, which is both good and bad in their minds:
“I wish the silo balloons weren’t so directional. Should just shoot you straight up, but just higher in the air more like the Zelda towers.
It sucks when you fast travel to one and realize it’s pointed the wrong way so a different fast travel is probably better once you account for how much distance you lose turning around in the air.”
Others made it clear that because of Gearbox’s lack of explanation, they didn’t even know what to do with the silos at first when they found them in Borderlands 4. One noted:
“i was stuck forever until I looked it up. Even after that I only read “use the balloon,” which I thought meant I was going to ride in an actual balloon basket.”
Another stated:
“It took me until yesterday to find out that you can still steer the balloon glide without activating your own glide pack.”
One even noted that because he used the silo “improperly,” due to not understanding how it worked, he died multiple times! That’s definitely not the intention that Gearbox Software had, and that goes to show you that you need to explain things like this in-game.
