On DBD Toxicity
I've been giving a thought to a few elements of the game and its community. The objective is to help other players have a more enjoyable perspective. It's a long post, but I will try to summarize a few contentious points. Feel free to discuss the specific points or the whole post, but please read it whole if you're willing to comment.
1-DBD promotes toxicity.
DBD is an asymmetrical game, with a rich power structure. Any killer in the roster is stronger than isolated survivors, but survivors CAN work together to overcome the former. Despite efforts to introduce challenges and rituals that promote playing both roles, the average DBD player still has their favorite, with some not even playing the other side at all. There are compelling reasons to play killer. Maybe you don't wish to coop, want to have more time engaging with other players, want to make use of killer's power, like the fantasy. Same for survivor, maybe you want to have some peaceful time at gens every now and then, relates to the character, with to be part of a team, etc. Unfortunately, it's easy not to experience the highs and lows of the other side.
TLDR: Not all players want to experience all facets of the game, and that is fine.
2-They called me toxic!
I've seen many presenting anecdotal evidence that the opposite role IS hostile whilst forgetting that whichever side they main is more susceptible to the opposite action. As killers, the only times we experience tunneling/camping/slugging is when we do it. Same for a survivor teabagging/flashlight spamming/hookbombing and whenever we do it, we rationalize, justify, and find excuses.
In a way, it's easier for us to forgive our own intentional or unintentional decisions that harmed someone else (the axe forgets, the tree doesn't), but the more hours you put on the same role, the easier is to experience other players' toxicity and negative experiences create longer-lasting distasteful memories. Telling yourself that "they're just being salty" or "they cannot handle losing" is easier than revisiting your actions. However, if you strip yourself of the rationalizations, justifications, and excuses, SOMETIMES you can find reason in their argument. Don't forget that the other side is integral for the existence of the game and you NEED them to have fun. You don't need the toxic players there, though.
TLDR: When faced with accusations of toxic behavior, truly reevaluate your actions.
3-They are toxic.
It's no secret that some people enjoy trolling, hacking, lag-switching, bullying, or just want to set the world on fire. The mechanisms to combat this behavior outside of a match are not clear or clearly effective, leading to an alleged feeling of freedom of consequences. Games like LoL have a tribunal, but DBD is still young and has much to improve.
While we wait for those improvements, make use of the reporting tools we have. Remember to provide video evidence by uploading the videos and attaching the link in your post-match report. Finally, some people will make use of whatever is in their arsenal for personal advantage, just don't let that ruin your day.
TLDR: Make use of the post-match report if you feel wronged.
4-Everything is fine until it isn't.
The average killer enjoys a unique position in the DBD food chain: SWF sweat squad preys on them and they prey on SQ. That leads to interesting and, somewhat, mirrored dynamics are seen in most video and text evidence of toxicity.
The first common trend is the killer reports on sweat squad toxicity, which generally starts with them ignoring gens and harassing the killer until a few hooks happened. After that, they shift their strategy to optimally repair gens and escape while the killer tries to not lose momentum. It's hard not to believe that the main objective of those teams is not to win or escape, but to make the killer feel impotent.
The second trend is survivors reporting killers slugging/camping/tunneling after the killer started losing control of the game, which usually leads to counterclaims of gen rushing. In both cases, the killer building or losing momentum respectively is the tipping point for any side to take more serious measures to win. No one escapes or 3/4k always, in fact, we can learn more with our losses than with a streak of victories. But if your objective is solely to win, prepare to be frustrated whenever that doesn't happen despite you and the other side using tactics deemed scummy.
TLDR: players become desperate when losing control of the game and change their style accordingly.
5-SWF is toxic.
On a personal note of a SQ main who plays killer regularly: SWF doesn't grant unfair advantage, comms do. Not every SWF is a sweat squad, but all sweat squads are SWF and I understand killers' frustrations towards the tool. Killers have no team members to share the responsibility or the possibility to engage mostly in parts of the match they enjoy the most.
If you join the queue as a killer and want to win, expect to patrol gens, chase survivors, deny resources or actions. As a survivor, you can restrict yourself to stealth, repair, be chased, rescue, or engage in any combination of those with some input of the killer and, as long as your team pulls their weight, you can expect to escape. SWF brings consistency as teammate selection and allows survivors to build role proficiency and, as SQ player, I don't think that's bad. Concerns arise when teams are capable of high coordination due to comms.
It is subjective to classify the use of voice communication software in DBD as an unfair advantage. Along with audio equalizer and other tools, they blur the line of fairness and I wish there was an open assessment of the community and devs regarding the use of external tools. In the meantime, please discuss with the community and provide impartial input.
TLDR: Not every SWF is a sweat squad. The community values your feedback.
6-Some strategies/perks are toxic.
In high-level competitive DBD, every bit of advantage is used. It's easier for a killer to win by tunneling and turn a game into a 3v1 with only 3 hooks instead of 9. It's also easier to build momentum by slugging, to secure a kill by camping, and to defend 3 close generators. It's also easier to draw the killer's attention away from your teammates by flashlight spamming or teabagging, to gen rush and secure escapes, to bring a dark outfit, and blend with bushes.
My intention is not to go in-depth as to why each strategy is valid or scummy, but to reassure you that the higher you climb the ranks, the more you should expect others to take every small advantage they can. You can find justifiable uses for each of the aforementioned tactics, but you can also find killers slugging at 5 gens and 4 survivors bringing BNP. At this point, DBD is no different from any other competitive game.
Some perks have a contentious history along with the community, and many meta are considered game-changing. The devs have been working to bring those more in line for the last 4 years. The game may not be perfectly balanced right now, but it is more than it was at any point in the past. Remember: moris required 0 hooks, DS was always active, NOED was permanent, and Self Care healed at 80% speed.
TLDR: Expect people to bring their best setup and the devs to bring balance.
Finally, instead of trying to forgive/forget/give the other cheek/fight back, I think it's more valuable to remind ourselves why we keep playing the game: because of the good experiences we had. If you faced toxicity, remember that, if you're still playing, it's because your average match is enjoyable. Don't embrace their toxicity as yours, just be happy despite their efforts.
Comments
I agree with mostly everything you said here. I don't get mad at teabagging or flashlight clicking. The only toxicity really plaguing the game is the hatred of survivors vs killers. I don't deserve death threats because I played a way that you guys didn't like.
I agree. The asymmetric nature really does make it hard for one side to sympathize with the other, especially on the survivor side, where your fate is determined by teammates. It's easy to get frustrated when you get beat by something you don't understand.
That being said, I think a bigger factor is that the community is just filled with awful people. Of course, other games also have the issue where people think "strategist" is pronounced "cheater" and "outplayed" is pronounced "robbed by noobs," but nowhere near the level in DBD. Here, toxic players come straight from Chernobyl. These are issues that can't be fixed by the developers; awful people will be awful people, and always find a reason to ######### and moan about how the game isn't spoon feeding them victories. It's a shame too, since DBD is really a wonderful game.
I don't think the community is filled with awful people, but the few that exist are quite vocal in their chronic lack of empathy.
Aw nice, a post all about me, you shouldn't have!
(Do not take this seriously, this is literally a joke post-)
I mean honestly the ######### matchmaking is usually what bothers me more. Most of the matches are horribly unfair; and the toxic things on top of it are usually just only tilting because of the balance in power in that game in the first place.
Yeah, but now you have 2 less perks to worry about that have been in the meta for god knows how long.
It ain't much, but it's something instead of nothing.
Oh sry, I forgot the 23 on the title :D
Have faith, bro. They are working on it.
I don't have faith it will be any good in all honesty. It's not entirely their fault either; because queue times are already long sometimes, and to make it fair it will be need to be stricter....which means even longer queue times, to a point I doubt it's actually possible to pull off.