Not Map Voting, but Realm Veto!
I've seen several different posts of players asking for some kind of map voting system in matchmaking, whether to bolster the map rotation or improve the chances of dodging a map that someone doesn't want to play on. However, there have also been good arguments about why this wouldn't work effectively (every voting situation would be a 4 to 1 against killer, likely introducing high bias towards survivor-strong maps).
So what if we considered a Realm Veto system instead?
Killer would control this system (but survivors would still be able to have some input).
After a lobby had locked in everyone's loadouts and the offerings had been burnt, the killer would have 10 seconds to select one realm out of three presented. This realm would be BLOCKED and a map would be randomly selected from one of the remaining two realms. If killer selected no realm to veto, the map would be randomly chosen from ANY of those realms.
Map offerings would still come into play, albeit in a slightly different fashion:
-These offerings are now SECRET and no longer increase the matchmaker's likelihood of preferring one realm over another.
-Map offerings burnt by the killer REPLACE one of the three base realms shown to them for the veto.
-Map offerings burnt by survivors SUPPLEMENT the realm pool, meaning killer would now have 4-7 realms to choose between depending on how many of these the survivors used.
-If any of the burnt map offerings do not match the realm chosen for the trial, they are returned at the end of the match.
-A successfully burnt Map Offering (whose realm is chosen) offers all players 10,000 bonus BP (per offering if there were duplicates) at the end of the trial.
With a system like this:
-Killers would be allowed to avoid specific realms that would feel extremely unplayable with their current character without giving them the ability to hand-pick a map where they would have an overwhelming or unfair advantage. Ideally this should give a better chance of providing all players with a reasonably balanced playing field to have a fun match.
-Due to killer only being able to veto a single realm, there will always be 2+ other options (at base, 2-10 maps depending on remaining realms actually), meaning that the "survivor biased" maps will not fall out of play (although I admit this would make it possible for a single one to basically disappear if killers consistently blocked it).
-Could allow for the frequency of specific realms/maps being veto'd to be trackable for the map design team, who could then better identify which realms are being blocked the most (or least) as possible maps worth further attention.
-On the off-chance that the matchmaker gets stuck in one of its weird loops of constantly re-using the same map over and over in sequence (I personally encounter this issue frequently with Backwater Swamp - Pale Rose), that realm could be blocked to force a new map into rotation.
I'm open to constructive criticism on the idea, but I feel like this style of map "selection" would allow for players to have a little more control over their upcoming match beyond pure matchmaking RNG. It also gives the killer a little bit more weight (which I feel is warranted for the "power role"), while still allowing survivors to throw in with a shot at affecting the outcome.
Comments
eh i would honestly just like to not go to autohaven 600 times in a row unless an offering is burnt.
Bump, for the daytime crowd.
In an Identity V tournament I was matching they could veto characters, so it may work. But then again it may get to a point some maps are never used at all.
Perhaps make an additional offering that works as the opposite to the map spawn ones already in place, so the offering would block a realm instead. That way it won't be overused.
I can understand where you're coming from, but I'm personally not fond of the current system. I don't think there is a strong case for holding to it beyond that A: doing nothing is easier than implementing something new (and therefore a cheaper/simpler development option) and B: the potential for variety is theoretically at its highest with such pure RNG in the current matchmaker (although this is something I'd rather see toned down to improve the chances of a fun match and lessen the odds of one side getting an absurdly large advantage or handicap). I think more realms/maps being added to the game would improve this system just like it would with the standard one, so I'd hardly call that a point in either methods' favor.
It is not fun to have RNG occasionally throw your killer under the bus and place them on a map where their power becomes so heavily restricted as to be virtually unusable (Oni on Lery's, Huntress in the Swamp, or Pig on the Game as some examples). Would it not make sense to have the individual role have at least a little bit of extra influence to avoid winding up in these "guess I'm rolling without my power" situations? Even just being able to see which realms remained on the table would allow killer to mentally prep/strategize for what they may be about to face.
Map offerings existing to "make leveling up slower" was also a reason why I think successful ones should offer a BP bonus and others should simply be returned unburnt. Might even create an incentive for killer to try and predict which realm(s) were added by the survivor team so as NOT to veto those for the guaranteed bonus. Heck, if all four survivors burnt an offering for the same realm and it was chosen, everyone would be getting 40,000 post-match BP; that's more than a base perfect game (and would certainly help with the grind).