General thoughts on this game as a NEW player and why I think this game will not last, unfortunately
**skip to 3rd paragraph if you're not interested in any background**
I've read a bunch of posts on this game and the trend I'm seeing is, the posts are usually from very experienced players. Seeing as most of the posts have to do with game development making changes- trend seeming to cater towards new players (of course if this is true it would make sense considering it's not a well known game and the player base needs to grow from a business perspective). I thought I could offer some perspective as a new player.
I really enjoy the concept of this game. It's not the most polished game at all, the mechanics are wonky/glitchy, it's a very easy game to understand, the skill caps are not complicated to learn, but it's a really cool game none the less. I've been gaming since Mario Bros. on Nintendo came out (just to get the "date myself" out of the way). I gravitate towards "well made" games- I'm not really genre specific, e.g. sports games: 2K, Madden, Big Show. MMORPG's: WoW. RPG's: Chrono Trigger, Witcher III. FPS: Wolfenstiein PC, Goldeneye, Halo I. Strategy: Civilization. When I find a game that I think is worthy of my time I pretty much go all in (I want to be the best) it's just the way I am; I read everything I can, I watch videos, practice etc. Right now that game for me is Dead by Daylight.
I really WANT to like this game and it's a shame that after today I'm probably going to move on and invest my time somewhere else. After 3 days of playing this game (as a killer- which is what I WANT to play, I don't find survivor appealing at all) I've noticed some things that I think are going to kill this game (pun intended) and ranking up to 9 with Legion (who apparently is a crap killer to play with).
Once I hit the green ranks almost all of my matches were against 1-4 survivors. Before this turns into a rant, allow me to clarify a couple things right off the bat. I have no problem with people playing in coordinated survival teams (I realize it's a huge advantage, but I believe it's a necessary feature from a business to enjoyment for survivors stand point, and frankly if I were making business decisions there would be absolutely zero chance I would get rid of it). I have no problem with survivors "looping" (they have to have some way to defend in a chase, and of course I realize there have been map changes and pallet reductions before I started playing). I don't have a problem with most of the perks survivors use (makes the game interesting). It doesn't bother me when survivors do the "teabag" thing, or flashlight click- hey if you want to act like a douchebag- knock yourself out, it's a video game! All of these points are not mechanically "unfair" to the killer. I do believe the killer has a responsibility to well...catch the survivors, and should expect the survivors to throw everything they can at the killer. If the killer decides to chase one person for an entire minute, then it's their fault for getting baited and not cutting their losses and patrolling generators (after all, survivors only have one way to win- repair generators ). If a killer "face camps" (you don't need to be an experienced player to know that's just poor etiquette) then the killer should be punished by generators being completed while they're wasting time standing there.
- Matchmaking: I have read a lot of posts talking about changing the matchmaking system (and I realize the developers HAVE changed it multiple times, I can't speak to how it was before). My opinion is I don't believe based on what I've read or experienced, it's necessarily "broken". I think there HAS to be a shortage of people playing as a killer at the higher levels (green to red is where it's obvious) based on the code of how it finds matches (6 ranks thing, then after a period of time of no matches, moves on to the next best thing). When you queue up as survivor you're waiting 5-10 minutes versus a virtually instant queue up as a killer. A few google searches combined with my own experience playing the game- the answer is not rocket science. Something is driving people from playing killer at higher levels... If this is true then the question has to be, why are more people playing survivor and not killer at the higher levels?
- Generators: When you reach a high enough rank as a killer you realize (if you're playing against competent players) you will lose the majority of your matches. To be clear, I have absolutely no problem at all being outplayed, or outsmarted (that's kind of the point of playing a multiplayer game- my skill and wits against yours). I do believe as much as people complain about looping, the advantage is the killer's. The killer is faster, or has abilities to compensate for speed. What more really needs to be said on that, the mechanics answer the question. In such a simply designed game, the only reason you can't catch anyone as a killer is because (in this limited case) you actually aren't "gud" enough- and I am "A-OK" with that. I'm not ok with two generators being completed within 30 seconds of the match beginning. To put it simply...I suppose I wrote all this just to say that. I know there are a variety of perks you can use that will somewhat mitigate this issue, but can't you see the design flaw in that? I have to bang my head against the wall being mechanically disadvantaged playing 200 matches or so to get enough blood points and money to buy characters (Cannibal, BBQ) until I get the "right perks"...well...WHAT IS THE POINT in having 50 perks it every killer is forced to use the same 4-7 perks?!? It's asinine. WHAT IS THE POINT in having however many killers there are, if you finally just come to this conclusion: "well #########..I guess I need to learn how to play Nurse/Billy/Spirit, wish I would have known that before spending three days playing Legion, or wasting money on Clown, Freddy, Oni etc". Oh...I get it. Either it's intentionally designed this way so that I spend money buying characters that I'll never use simply to get their perks in a desperate attempt to save a dying franchise, or this game is poorly designed. As you're sitting there after losing another match you stood no chance at all due to no fault of your own you come to the realization that you've been "bamboozled". It's really unfortunate too. This game is so cool. The concept is gold. The game play is "good enough". What a shame.
Comments
Forgot to mention, before I see the replies: