A Hypothetical on Hostage Taking
Okay. Here me out, We all know hostage taking is bad. We all know things like slugging and letting people bleed out is not hostage taking and survivors refusing to complete objectives after X amount of time, X being whatever the hell BHVR deems is sufficient, is. This makes it very hard to hold survivors hostage and easier to hold killers hostage, save for one scenario:
The killer bodyblocks someone in an alcove/cubby/impassable terrain.
Fair? I think that's fair, but then I got to thinking. What if there are survivors who can still complete the objective? BHVR's stance formally noted, they have to do gens and escape - at which point EGC would kill off the remaining survivor. So, is it actually hostage holding? Or is it just claiming your one kill in advance?
This lead me to, what scenario gets one survivor bodyblocked but without an EGC? It's the pre-5gen two man slug where the first gets sacrificed and the second wiggles out but fails to reach hatch and then gets body blocked. I think that is the only way a killer can truly take the game hostage.
I think that's gnarly.
Sidethought: Please no 'us vs them' - very unnecessary. Just fun thoughts.
Comments
This has already been clarified in the past.
If it happens during egc, it's fair game.
If it's before egc and it goes on for a reasonable amount of time (team makes a judgement call given circumstances) then it is 100% bannable for taking game hostage/griefing. It doesn't matter if there are other survivors alive who can complete the objective. It's not a requirement that you prevent all remaining players from taking part in gameplay. One is sufficient for an infraction.
Can you show me where that exact infraction is explored? I never encountered that despite keeping up with those topics. Hence, making this topic.
Not really a fun thought, just a question. Whats with the uptick lately in ppl takin the game hostage? I frequently get down to 2 survivors and they just vanish....even when theres only 1 or 2 gens left. Ive been stuck in matches for 30-45 minutes checkin every locker til somebody slips up. What gives? And is that somethin they should be reported for?
Yes, you can report them for that.
Both of these mod posts in the same thread address it:
And also this mod post:
Damn. I Definitely missed these :(
Most people don't know the specifics of the rules because they're not made clear anywhere easy to find, and trying to search for valid information on bannable hostage situations within DbD can be a big pain in the ass. I've participated in a bunch of those threads, which is why I can quickly bring up those responses.
yepp that's 100% correct. If a killer is body blocking someone in a corner - it is completely irrelevant if other survivors are alive to do the objective, the killer is preventing that specific player from taking part in the game, and that's hostage taking (this is of course, if EGC has not yet started).
Is it that big of a difference if a player gets cornered and EGC starts shortly after?
No, if EGC hasn't started at all, it's hostage taking - irrespective of EGC starting shortly afterwards.
I have to be honest though. If there’s no survivor with borrowed time and the killer is face camping a hook, this is the same thing. I guess it’s on a timer but then so is survivors doing the objective against a cornered body blocked survivor, eventually they’ll start the end game collapse. Being basically told ‘you don’t get to play’ by being face camped is a massive issue and yet this and many other toxic play styles can’t be reported.
I mean I get it face camping and variants of bullying killer while making no meaningful attempt to win the game, yeah not easy to police that and if hopeful speculation of borrowed time being base kit among other things this may be an irrelevant issue but the way it’s worded here seems like a bit of a double standard.
I guess I sense people want some reassurances before they invest more time and sanity into the game. Im fairly new and play killer 70% of the time don’t care much for winning and try to make sure everyone has fun, provided their fun isn’t bullying me while making minimal attempt to win so I’m not speaking personally here, but some insight or thoughts on how the toxic arms race is being dealt with may go a long way.
The difference is, camping & tunneling can be considered part of the game. A killer body blocking someone in the corner is certainly not part of the game, and it's hostage taking.
Not to get all lawyer on you, especially because this doesn’t concern me but some offenders of blocking someone in may not see it that way. Lets just say other games have taught me that people can be very liberal with things that are theoretically possible in a game.
What if they don’t want to risk someone saving them with borrowed time and want to guarantee 1 kill? It’s doable within the game without outside assistance, is it not part of the game simply because you say so? Granted that’s the right you guys have but that’s a fairly dangerous position. Regardless I appreciate the reply <3.
All rules and boundaries of rule breaking are set by the people who make the game, so it very much is because they say so.
Technically it is because we say so. We also clearly say in the reporting system that Camping and Tunnelling are not against our game rules. We set the rules of our game, and what we deem as appropriate behaviour.
Yeah of course it just could be seen as being arbitrary when the two scenarios and outcomes are fairly similar. I can only hope that side of it at least will be addressed in gameplay.