Solo should have the same level of info as SWF
If solo has the same level of info as SWF, all survivors are SWF, since the only inherent advantage SWF has over solo is said level of info. Solo doesn’t mean bad. SWF doesn’t mean good. It only means level of info difference.
This means BHVR no longer has to juggle balance between solo and SWF in ways that end up with things kept weak to not be oppressive to solo/things that are useless for or against SWF. SWF is unavoidable and trying to remove it would kill the game. So, rebalance around all survivors being SWF instead and adjust/buff/etc killers/the rest of the game as necessary.
Preset Message Ping Wheel
- Preset messages, so people can’t free-form type toxic nonsense.
- Short cooldown between pings so people can't back to back endlessly spam them. 1-3s or so?
- Example messages: "Killer nearby", "Killer left", "Do this gen", "Hex totem here", etc.
Example of a click-and-drag system it could be like (source image is from Apex Legends, a game with a brilliant ping wheel design):
Status Indicators
For things that don’t need a ping. Eg, an icon in UI so survivors can see if another survivor is healing or being healed, blessing or snuffing, repairing, opening Exit Gate, chase icon indicators, etc.
Comments
the most important thing this game needs right now is buff solo survivors. it will create healthy gameplay. playing solo now literally feels like a 1v1 game
Would you prefer the ping to just be a UI-Message, a Map marker at the survivor location, or where they're looking at?
I'm pretty much more a fan of the ping approach than just spoonfeeding the info via automatic UI. Comms never did generate info from nothing, so it wouldnt be closing the gap but just buffing. But if that's what survs need, then who am I to deny them.
In another thread people were suddenly claiming that ping tools wouldnt be buffs because they werent automatic and you wouldnt be able to trust randoms to use them. But using tools provided to you is a skill issue (I cringe at that buzzworld lol)
(Can't wait for "buff all killers to Nurse level" buffs after we buffed "solo" to "swf" lol.)
I think the Glass Bead add-on for maps that creates a light pillar could be a decent option. Alternatively a ping marker with distance indicated like how most games do it. Example:
Non-location specific messages could be in a UI message on the left beside the survivor icon stuff. For example, "Killer left/MIA", etc.
What’s your thoughts? The only reason I suggested automatic UI is cause people in voice will usually say things like "repairing/blessing/healing" as they do it to let the others know anyways and so pinging it every time just seemed like a chore.
I don’t think every killer needs to be buffed to Nurse levels, but buffing solo like this would allow for help for weaker killers and for killers/perks held back to not be too oppressive versus solo/stuff that’s basically useless for or against SWF. Eg, Blindness is basically irrelevant because only one person in a SWF needs to spot something to call it out, and they can call out slugs and hooks anyways.
The location marker would probably buff swf more than solo, while only adding messages ( like in IdV) would be "not enough" to close the gap. for some people. So it'd probably be better to add the location marker / ping.
As for my dislike of automatic info? it's mostly a pet peeve or nitpicking because it'd be compensation for something that swf doesnt even have access to; comms currently are as much a chore for relaying that info as would be pinging that info. But like already mentioned in my other post, I wont complain if those action/location UI elements get added.
But It'd boost survivors rather effectively if they were to ping a location and the devs would make it reveal the aura of the thing they targeted. and if the ping says "focus generator" while doing a location marker, it might as well reveal a generator's aura if that marker is within 1-5m of that gen.
As for the Killer compensation, I used the "buff all killers to Nurse level" argument because we're discussing the equvivalent of "buffing baby nurses to match god nurses" on the survivor team. I reckon I fell for the Swf= good players trap, but that happens when you only have 1 character on a faction thats equivalent to the best of the other faction.
While other Killers definitely can never reach Nurse power level, I'm sick of the "TOP KILLER OP; PLS NERF; repeat a month later" -trend. I'd rather see all current B-D tier killers buffed so they'd be of the power level of current A-B tier Killers.
EDIT: im kinda amazed there werent many replies yet, did your name scare them away? lol
That's pretty much my mindset. Even if it ends up buffing SWF too, it would be a shift of the game itself that allows for equalizing survivors a bit more to make balancing around it not such a polarized difference between solo and SWF.
I think pretty much all killers minus the S-tiers could be buffed to A-B tier if these sorts of changes were made, since solo would also have much more ways to communicate. Imagine how less oppressive Pinhead would be if solo could now also communicate things like "Going for the Lament Configuration".