SWF is not a problem
This needs to be said over and over again because it keeps popping up in this forum over and over again.
SURVIVE WITH FRIENDS IS NOT A PROBLEM IN DEAD BY DAYLIGHT
And allow me to explain my reasons as to why:
- The majority of people playing SWF are casual players playing with their friends
I don't have actual statistics of this, heck, I'm sure not even BHVR has stats on this. But I am certain that most people who play with friends aren't out to bully the killer every game they play. They are there to chill and have fun with the game, it is a party game after all. Most people come to this game because they think it would be fun to play a horror game with some of the most iconic characters in horror with their friends.
No, DBD has not been and will never be a horror game for anyone with enough hours on it. Anything above 50 hours and you most likely won't even be scared of the killers anymore. Nor the environment and atmosphere. So you cannot use the excuse that survivors "shouldn't be on comms" to keep the "horror atmosphere". That just doesn't work like that. If survivors want to play with friends and talk to each other while they do so, like in every other game, they can.
And even if they are on comms, not all of them will be coordinated. The information is useful and valuable, yes, but will most survivors use it to their highest potential? No. Of course not. Some survivors still bumble around, not paying attention to the information their teammates are giving and are still surprised when the killer is after them.
I've been in comms with everyone who are at red ranks (ranks don't matter, I know), and everyone got wiped because we weren't coordinating as a team, we kept fooling around having fun. Which is what most survivors do anyway.
Of course, that is not to say there aren't people who just want to win, win, win every single game. I know some people who are like that and thankfully I don't play with them as often anymore.
- SWF Death Squads are not as common as you think they are
One of the reasons people hate SWF is because there's a possibility that 4 survivors with the best gear and the most meta build possible will kick through gens and run them around the map like there's no tomorrow. These are what people refer to as the SWF Death Squads or the Depip Squads.
Here's the thing. The chances of you meeting these kinds of survivors are very miniscule. Unless you are playing late at night or early in the morning, you won't find these kinds of players because your lobby will most likely be filled with partial SWFs or solo players.
Don't believe me? Play just 10 games as any killer, in any rank in at a normal time of day in your region. Screenshot their loadouts and ask them if they are an SWF. You'll probably find that most of them aren't, or that they aren't bringing the best items or the most meta of perks.
People only use Death Squads as "the worst SWF has to offer", and that is true. But they overexagurrate how often they appear in your games. You probably won't even find one every single day you play this game. Heck, you probably won't find one in a month. They are that uncommon.
- It's what is keeping Dead by Daylight alive
Want to know how I got into Dead by Daylight? A couple of friends invited me to play the game and I just so happened to have owned it through Humble Bundle. After that, I got hooked and addicted to the game. Breaching more hours than even the most enthusiastic player in the group I was playing with.
SWF invites new players to come and play the game, it's what keeps new players coming, it's what keeps BHVR afloat, it's what enables the devs to create more and more content for us veterans to enjoy.
The more players that come into this game, the less longer the wait times will be, the more variety of players there are, the more killers that play the game, the more people who play the game casually.
If you're asking to remove SWF, you're just asking people who play the game seriously to snipe solo lobbies until all their friends are in the same game. You're basically asking BHVR to remove what is essentially keeping the game alive in favour of...... Nothing. Because the game will continue to be played like normal by anyone who really wants to play this game with their friends.
And with no SWF, people will no longer play the game because they won't be able to just chill and relax with their friends. They won't be able to just play a couple of rounds, whether or not they win or lose, and just have a laugh. And the players will dwindle fast.
Just a quick reminder that the forums is NOT an accurate representation of the whole Dead by Daylight playerbase. Some people might be fine or even get excited with the changes the entirity of the forums dislike. So don't always assume the majority opinion of the forums is the majority opinion of the playerbase, BHVR has their own statistics (ones they don't release because they know how their playerbase reacts to stats of any kind), and they can discern what needs to be changed and what doesn't.
And while I don't always agree with their changes, they literally educated themselves in this. They are professionals in this field. We as players may think we know more than them at the current time, but they have to think way far away from that.
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I'm pretty sure I am not going to be making many friends with this thread. Considering how this forum often is. But I needed to say something about this because it's getting a bit ridiculous with all the people saying that SWF should be removed when it wasn't a problem in the first place. It's just perceived as one.
Comments
I agree about SWF vs Solo Que. If you lose one or two survivors you don't mind because in the end we all got points and it was fun. In the SWF not only did they deny you points as the killer but they normally are not nice about it after.
I play only solo ques and have had a few games where the poor killer just had a bad game and did not get anyone and I have actually let him kill me or try to get him to follow me to do some pallets and smack the gens I repair. I hate to see a game ruined for others and do not want to see us lose players because of toxic players.
I also find it funny though because in Solo Ques people Tea Bag and that bothers me when my teammates do that. Just take the win and be nice and gracious. I feel like toxic players and the toxic people I see in forums are typically people who act tough but giving the chance in real life would never be that way but their screens give them fake courage.
I don't have a problem with SWF teams personally, but there's no denying that they are a huge balance issue in this game (and need to be dealt with).
You openly admit that the game is unbalanced and your excuse literally is "well it doesn't happen that often". You know the balance of the game should prevent this from happening in the first place. I am not saying to remove swf or to put handicaps on them but the game has to be balanced around it so stuff like that can not happen.
You argue on the level of nurse defenders who wanted to keep 4-5 blinks + omega, argue well not everybody is a god nurse and thus we should keep it as is. No the addons needed change. Just as now survivors do need change in order for the game to be healthy. It is even worse to see community manager or devs defend it with the same words "oh people just wanna goof around" but when confronted with videos as by the survivor main who made a very clear video about old hex ruin, showing why it doesn't need a nerf they become silent.
Basicly what you say is, well as long as not all people are doing it, it is totally fine. Yikes.
I second that. I can't even believe some of the stuff I see. Like dude,I'm a rank 15,you were most likely going to win anyways. I wouldn't mind even a troll squad if they had skill based matchmaking or something else. They don't even match by rank tbh. I'm a 15 killer and see reds all the time now. Very rarely see someone my rank. If I see 3 or 4 bloody party streamers,I know I'm boned from the start.
I disagree. You can tell a good few of the times. It's not every single time or anything,but there's some hints,subtle and otherwise. Not trying to be mean at all,but I'm sure you realize you can only take 4 perks. You can't counter everything. Solo you can get a teammate that's a potato. The advantage could be as simple as "bring a toolbox and each do a separate generator while I run the killer through a God loop and we'll switch". Easier to coordinate for unhooks for sure. A good killer might be able to realize some of the things going on,maybe. Is it "unfair"? I guess it depends. To say there is no advantage just doesn't seem right to me. If I play any game with a group of friends and can communicate I'm going to have an advantage,as opposed to just some random guys where I have no idea how they are going to act or if they will even do ANYTHING. The thing is,it's a moot issue anyways. There's no way to fix it. You couldnt stop PC players from voice chatting period. There's too many apps. They could remove it and face backlash,or buff the killer somehow and get the same backlash. Rock and a hard place.
Of course it's a problem. Solo survivors don't bring out their broken BS. With SWF everybody wants to use their items since they're with their buddies. Toolboxes, BNP, Instaheals, purple flashlights, and of course the coldwind offerings. Everytime a coldwind offering. Hmm why do swf always use that particular offering? could it be because the maps are heavily unbalanced? no surely not. The devs couldn't care less though. Too much effort to rework them.
Maybe it’s because of my region then. I’m from Saudi Arabia and most of the time I go against Saudi people. Most Saudi people are so extremely competitive that they rarely play solo.
Knockout still buys time.
Like knowing a postal code vs knowing a street address
That's where my main point stands.
It's a slight advantage, but it isn't "unfair". My quirk was against people who said it was an "unfair" advantage.
I do think it is unfair in a way...but like one on four is already unfair I suppose. I think some people just get upset because it doesn't feel like it's equal ground already. Anyways it's a moot issue. Nothing can be done about it.
The argument that the devs didn't intend for SWF to be that way because there isn't in game chat,doesn't hold much water... considering it's on platforms that ALL have party chat,and one platform that has a multitude of ways to communicate. There's plenty of games that don't have in game chat. Even cross platform ones... people just make a Discord or whatever.
I personally think it CAN be a pretty big advantage,but I don't necessarily disagree with you either. It really depends. A team of four guys you've played hundreds of hours with,or just you and a buddy you met the other day. Maybe you convinced your friends to play when they never have before. Too many variables to say it's always a huge advantage. I will say the bully/troll squads aren't fun though. Especially since I'm a low rank player.
Swf groups should be given some sort of debuff depending on the size of the group.
I'm not sure why you're lying to yourself by saying that most SWF in red ranks are casual; this is obvious bullshit to any killer main.
Also, the devs are "professional" in creating the game, but they have NOT optimized their gameplay. I would trust a killer or survivor with 2k hours about game balance.