DBD Problems and Potential Fixes 1/10 Splitting Up
This is a series of recommendations to hopefully change the game for the better. I am posting each section separate, but a lot of them are connected and work much better understanding the other changes. Some are more Killer sided, and some are more Survivor sided, but overall I think it levels the playing field in a positive way.
If you want to read the draft I am posting the sections from you can follow this google doc link.
These are different avenues of buffing desired behaviors, and nerfed undesired ones. BP is not enough of an incentive, there must be mechanical rewards and punishments for gameplay acts. I don't quite care for credit, but I wouldn't want someone to steal the ideas and credit themselves. So because of that my name is Mark, and I am currently not a content creator or streamer. I am just someone who enjoys the peaks of the game, and hates the valleys.
With that said, here is part 1.
Splitting up is better for Survivors than working together.
Grouping up is much more valuable for the killer than the survivors, as you can pressure more people with less effort. Everyone who tells you how to counter Legion is simply to “play the game the right way and split up”. Ideally you should incentivize the riskier play, rather than the safe one. This current base mechanic disincentivizes grouping up.
Proposed Solution:
Remove the penalty for “coop” gens, but make it riskier by making the gen louder and brighter with more people repairing it, and make a loud noise notification on Good Skill Checks made by teamed gens, with a corresponding sound like a car engine failing to start (if this is too good in lower skill brackets then maybe the Loud Noise notification every X Good Skill Checks instead). The basekit 20m gen audible distance would add 10m per survivor after the first. This may also need an additional 10s for 100s on gens, but teamwork can pump gens out faster than before. An alternative that I would prefer is to further alter gen efficiency to .85/2.0/3.3/5.0 (individual values .85/1.0/1.1/1.25), with an exception for solo gens, which can only be 1.0.
In a fringe case where all survivors spawn together at the start and pop a gen in 18s/20s, the killer knows the location of all 4 because of that. If that is still too punishing then perhaps halve gen speeds for the first 15s/30s/first injury/first chase of the match. For the gen numbers check the table in the google doc. (My personal preference is Coop 90s, as it punishes soloing gens fairly.)
One final thing to note is there would be a symbol to indicate you are within audible range of currently progressed gens. This would not work against completed gens. This would be both for hard of hearing/deaf players, as well as a backup measure for when the terrain is bugged and audio isn’t audible at the distance it is supposed to be.
Corresponding Perk Changes:
Technician would subtract 5m of noise per additional survivor, and Surveillance would add 5m of noise per additional survivor. In addition Technician removes loud noise notifications from team good skill checks on your gen. Surveillance would also be buffed to reveal survivors within 8/12/16m of the gen you kicked. This would be the same reveal as a rancor gen pop. I think the base distance is good enough, but an alternative is to need the survivor having worked on the gen in a past time frame and reveal regardless of distance, and use the time frame or reveal length as the perk tier benefit.
I would also buff the perk Discordance to give the highest number of survivors above the gen in the timeframe in a cool stylized Entity Claw Font/Roman Numerals/Arabic Numerals. (In order of personal preference)
Prove Thyself would also be changed. My proposed change to the perk is that Great Skill Checks made while teaming your gen gives 1% bonus additional progress, and similar to the event toolboxes, it makes a little firework display, so everyone else knows you hit the Great. It doesn’t have to be the same fireworks, just some form of feedback, maybe the character whispering awesome/nice/got it. This applies to the gen entirely, not on you exclusively. The Co-op bonus BP for the perk owner might no longer be necessary, but I am fine with keeping it.
This overall change would encourage various gen related perks being used by survivors. This would include Corrective Action, in addition to the perks mentioned above. With more gen perks being used there would be less chase perks being used. With more people co-operating on gens, more chaos would be caused by a killer disrupting said co-op gens. Also the killer will be made aware when people are grouped on gens through the loud noise system.
Comments
Doesn't really matter how loud and bright a gen is if it's done while you're travelling to it. I'm sure blights and nurses would love that though.
Yes but the gen on your side that you weren't planning on checking out is more obvious now. Also killers far from the middle power bracket are dealt with in section 8 if you would care to check out the google doc. Alternatively you can wait until the forums approve my post of that section. (I accidentally hit the automated spam block.)