Exploits and communication regarding them
Hey there. I'm not too great at making topics like this but I'd like to preface by saying I haven't made this with any ill-intent - I just really wanted to open up and give my opinion on something that has been bugging me recently.
So the past few patches have introduced a couple of interesting exploits for both killer and survivor and for some reason BHVR has given a tacit 'okay' to using them and in one case: saying people won't be banned for using them.
My working theory is that they don't want to hand out bans for these things because they either don't believe people should be banned for using these exploits or, rather they don't believe they can prove that the players are intentionally exploiting.
In either case, I feel like this kind of communication regarding exploits is a big mistake and while it will only make the game worse in the short term (due to inevitable fixes), it still can lead to the game being completely unpleasant with no recourse for the people affected by people using these exploits. It also sets a really bad precedent that as long as an exploit can't indefinetly prolong the game (Red Forest and Gas Heaven exploits for example) then it's not a priority and can be left until its fixed.
We've seen this with the Wake up! exploit, The Pyramid Head exploit as well as the recent Breakdown exploit and even the Jflick exploit. I am by no means equating these to one another, I'm simply saying that developers acknowledging an exploit but implying/out right saying nothing will happen if they abuse it, is an extremely unhealthy attitude.
I understand why the BHVR might not want to tell people that they will be banned for using a certain perk or using certain settings on a killer, because perhaps to them the bug existing in the first place is their fault and players shouldn't be punished for it. It's not necessarily a bad point and I'd agree people who don't go out of their way to exploit shouldn't be banned. It's common sense.
But it seems more and more people are catching on and abusing the breakdown bug in response to this - be it because they feel like it or that they want to send a message to get it fixed faster.
in conclusion, I feel like BHVR should make it clear that if you go out of your way to exploit something, then there is consequences to it. Maybe you feel they do that already, I will respect that point of view.
Comments
Perks/Addons that have gamebreaking bugs should be disabled by the devs like they do with maps. If they don't have a system to do this, they should work on.
As for exploits like JFlick or Stretched Res, there's no real way for BHVR to know if someone is using them as they are done outside of the game.