Dev Update January 2022 Summary
Greetings. Thought I'd try my hand at this.
First up, we have a Patch Optimization plan. I have noticed that patches have been getting a bit bigger (30-40 GB on Series X) so, hopefully this will help tone that down a bit in the future. Overall, good change. (would like to see the words Console Optimization tho.)
Secondly, we have SBMM Improvements.
I don't like SBMM, but if we are stuck with it, we might as well make it better, right?
So, firstly, they are planning to adjust how Backfill is calculated. Currently, it weights speed of finding a new player over fairness of match. They are planning to strike a better balance between the two in the future.
Next, they are planning to adjust how Disconnect Penalties are handled with regards to MMR. I'm honestly not sure what this part means, whether it applies to the person DC'ing or to their teammates who are unfairly screwed out of a potential win.
Additionally, they are planning on adjusting how Extended Breaks affect your MMR. Currently, your MMR is not adjusted after taking an extended leave of absence from the Fog. Now, they are planning to ease you in a little more gently, I'm sure many returning players will appreciate that.
Finally, in regards to SBMM at least, we have General Improvements.
I'll admit, not quite what I was hoping for, but it's alright. Right now, the game detects what server you have the best connection to and will only match you with players who are also connected to that server. They'd like to expand that so if you have a good connection to multiple servers, you can play with people from across those different servers, instead of being limited to only one.
In regards to the SBMM changes, they note that these are difficult to develop and as such, they may take some time to implement.
Now, for a change that is on the radar, but not coming with the next PTB.
Solo Survivor Improvements. The Devs acknowledge that Solo Q is inferior to premade groups and can have significant impact on the quality of the match. They would like to remedy this and are very aware of the issue. The Devs gave a very brief example of something they are looking into (which may not come to the game, it seemed to just be an example of the sort of changes they are hoping to make, they specified everything was in the very early stages) which would be giving Survivors an icon to represent what action they are currently doing, ie, getting chased, healing, unhooking, doing a gen, ect ect.
I think that's a great first step, but I would also advise against changing Solo Survivor before Killer. They need to receive changes at the same time. Else one side will be left out in the rain for however many months and honestly, despite the fact that it would be justified, I don't wanna see the Forums if that happens.
Next up, we have the new Beta feature.
This one is actually pretty exciting. You get extra BP for testing out new features that the Devs want feedback on. Great idea, solid implementation and the best part? It's on Console too!
Additionally, the Wiggle Update arrives.
Now, instead of wiggling your controller stick, or mashing a button on PC, you can simply hit Skill Checks to wiggle. This is definitely a good accessibility feature and definitely something I'll enjoy!
Finally, the Toggle Interactions mode arrives as well.
This is another great and simple accessibility feature that I am sure a lot of people will appreciate. If you decide to toggle it on, you no longer need to hold a button to sprint or do gens.
Lastly, the PTB will be arriving on Wednesday, January 5th.
Part II to this Dev Update will release tomorrow Tuesday, January 4th.
In my opinion, solid update. Not precisely what I wanted to see, but certainly nothing I have any issue with and nothing that gives me any bad indications for the future.
Comments
They didn't un-nerf Billy and it's been years worth of complaints.
Yeah but you see a Billy thread every three months
Deathslinger you see 3 threads a week
When Billy first got hit with it, you saw about 15 threads a day for months.
He was a lot of people's favorite Killer to play as and against.
I'm excited about the wiggle.
Yep so killers should just enjoy playing against what will basically be 4 man swfs every single round in the meantime. Sounds like a great idea 🙄.
Ah yes, as if every Survivor will sweat every game every day
The main thing I want to know is will the new patching setup stop me from having to take 10 minutes on an m2 drive to update 50mb of the game. Also someone reading this - No - Nothing is wrong with the drive. It is genuinely how the game chooses to update sometimes.
4 average survivors do not need to sweat if they have decent coordination/communication. Play safe, split up on gens, stack 2nd chance perks, and coordinate and you can escape. Let's not pretend that if survivors get more information that would otherwise require voice communication, survivor efficiency isn't going to go up. It will. If killers get nothing to compensate, it just means even more difficult matches for killers (and over time it will get even worse once it gets fully baked into the survivor meta).
It's still SoloQ, teammates are still going to be hiding in corners
For solo queue, please make the hiding in locker icon entertaining so we have something to watch while we one-hook.
Also, please include a 'I just don't give a damn' icon for survivors that are on gens 10 meters or less away while the killer is 32 meters or more away from a hooked survivor.
So, in all honesty... all of this does look pretty good but none of it was what I was hoping to see.
Does the patching system they currently have need work. Yes. Am I glad they're fixing it? Yes. Was that what I wanted to see? No. I wanted to see gameplay related stuff. Even though the patching system is bad, you don't need to interact with it very often and never directly.
Does SBMMR need work? Yes, honestly it needs to be replaced. However, I usually play DbD at night Eastern Time when SBMMR goes on holiday in favor of not making queues terrible so... this probably won't actually affect me much.
Is them buffing Solo Survivors a good thing? Yes. However, I literally never play solo Survivor so... I don't really care.
Is that beta tab system cool? Yep. However, this does kinda feel like it'll mostly get used to test UI/input changes so... cool but eh.
Is the new system for wiggling better? I mean... probably? But... I personally didn't have any issues with how wiggling works.
At the moment I'm just sitting here hoping that part 2 has actual gameplay changes that are coming and isn't also disappointing.
Everything this post says 100%
Agreed, I don't want more hud icons that I can't turn off. I haven't had major problems when I play solo queue and like the suspense of not knowing what other survivors are doing and having sudden changes like gens popping or survivors getting downed across the map without warning
Part 2 of the developer update will consist entirely of announcing the removal of blackface Bubba
Thanks. I'm out of the loop currently because I'm playing different games.
I am pleasantly surprised by some of the things they are implementing.
Not that you'd catch me complaining about that,
Been waiting for changes to close the gap between Solo and Premade, this is very good for all sides because the game can then be balanced properly for killers and all survivor types.
This is great news, but we still need a way to fix face camping because it ruins the game for survivors and is a form of griefing if the killer decides he hates someone.
Devs, it took you this long to understand that swf breaks the game? I'm not coming back for this. I'll stick to Endwalker.
Respect+
Thanks for the tldr.
I wasn't speaking about the HUD, but about the wiggle mechanics/toggle option.
This patch isnt that big that it needs to be 2 part, just saying
But you forgot it's a killer. If it was a survivor, it would've been addressed. Killer? See you next year.
There is a ptb tomorrow so it'a highly likely there are going to be some gameplay changes.
Would be weird to have a ptb if nothing drastic changed
Any news on making killer fun again?
Can we buff dead hard to make it so it just lets you escape the trial please?
Let's wait for Part 2 for the "How Will We Make Killers Worse But Make Them Think We Are Giving QoL Changes And Buffs But Secretly Doing Shadow Nerfs" post later today.
And foolish one they are bluffing DH to instantly freeze the Killer in place forcing them to get BM and Trolled......what are people even teaching these players these days.
Reading this and it just keeps getting better...
These update notes made me super happy. 🌟
I would love to see an arcade playlist mode that changes rules each week. Id love to see no perks one week.
We would see real fast how much 2nd chance perks carry survivors, thinking theyre actually skillful.
Yea that's been suggested alot actually because it would really see what perks on both Killers and Survivors need balancing and what Killers need Buffs, QoL Changes, or Nerfs.
Fair point, I think options for all would be good, I don't want the extra HUD hints to be forced on me if I'd rather not know what other survivors are doing
Why your post is edited by a mod? Huh...
Because the title initially was "Dev Update January 2021" and Mandy corrected it.
Lol I see. Happy new year!