Dead by Daylight's Biggest Problem: Maps
While Dead by Daylight certainly has its issues, its without a doubt that maps have always been a pretty big issue. While there are some pretty decent maps out there that all killers are pretty decent on, those are in the minority. What happens the majority of the time is you either get a map that the killer you've chosen thrives, or is absolutely terrible.
Thing is, its not as simple as the devs looking at each map one by one to make it more balanced, (but obviously that is the case for some) but more the diversity in killer powers. Lets use Lerys as an example. Its not too big or small, has a few strong loops and pallets, and A LOT of LoS breakers and is generally pretty cluttered thanks to being an indoor map. This is perfect for a killer like Wraith, very mobile, quiet and can easily get the jump on a Survivor. The same can't be said for a killer like Hillbilly how ever, who can't use his power very well to traverse the map and is pretty restricted when playing on this map.
The point of this post? Possibly bring light to the situation and maybe have people throw out ideas on how this could be fixed. I'll go first: Each killer has their own map/realm pool. Doing this would make killers have much more consistency throughout their matches, making stats much more accurate and easier to tell if a killer is truly underperforming or not. These map pools could maybe be changed for certain killers each chapter/mid-chapter to keep things fresh for the onetricks, and hell maybe this could have some lore implications for the Archives.
Now one issue that you maybe thinking of, is some maps would barely be seen because some killers aren't played nearly as much as others. And to that I say you're right, but it might not become such an issue. For the most part, weaker killers are the ones that aren't played as much and a large factor as to why they are weak is because of their map dependency. A killer like Trapper would probably be picked a lot more if people knew there isn't even a slight chance for them to be sent to a map like Lery's, RPD or Eyrie.
Comments
Eh, who choses what is a good map for a certain killer?
Your example of Trapper isn't great, because Trapper can work really well on Lery's and RPD, due to the narrow corridors that can block survivors in dead ends if they're in chase. Bottle necks that force them into traps.
I think most people's issue with maps is actually maps offerings. RNG isn't a huge bug bear unless it's used by your opponent in their favour. But I'm not for abolishing map offerings, I think they're very useful, particularly for certain killers and certain killer builds.
For map offerings. I feel like the only decent solution is to make sure each offering can result in multiple maps. Like the original realms that have five maps per realm, each offerings should have maybe 3-4 different variations. Once that is established, make sure within those variants there are at least one 'survivor sided' option and at least one 'killer sided' option, one 'open' option and one 'less open' option.
This way, there's still an RNG factor at play in terms of who benefits the most. You're playing the offering mostly for the aesthetic, and maybe a bit for the indoor/outdoor choice in the case of certain killer builds that gain value out of LoS blockers or lack thereof.
So what offerings/realms would need changes?
MacMillan/Autohaven/Coldwind - more or less fine as is.
Crotus Prenn - it would be nice to get a third map in this realm, probably one for Blight.
Haddonfield - two additional variants, one slightly bigger, one slightly smaller, maybe stick a bus in the road to block LoS a bit more.
Backwater Swamp - a third map with a main building in the centre.
Lery's - two additional variants, perhaps with larger outdoor areas where the exit gates are.
Red Forest - a Twins related map would work here.
Springwood - rework variants IV and V to be a little more killer sided.
Gideon/Midwich/RPD - when it comes to licensed maps there's probably a limit to what they can do, but more RNG on the tiles couldn't hurt.
Yamaoka - could easily gain one additional variant.
Ormond/Glenvale/Eyrie/Garden/Borgo - honestly, would require far too much work to make it right, you cant even lump these together under one offering because they're almost all survivor sided (besides Dead Dawg) and they each have very different aesthetics. Ultimately they'd have to just focus on existing realms from now on instead of adding to the roster.
I have more issue with lack of maps/variants as opposed to map sizes. I can't understand why they've not used the base templates of maps to create new variants. Half the work is already done, it only needs a few new looking buildings/themes. Backwater could use another one, Sheltered woods and Rotten fields are dull and could use say an abandoned theme park, graveyard, church etc.
Yes! Why keeping with the new realm with only 1 variant? Crow, Garden, Square...
They could add another variant of Red forest for Blight, a variant of Crotus for Twin...
In return, Shelter wood, Rotten field, Wrecked yard should gone.
Doesn't have to be an amazing map for a killer, just something that doesnt completely neuter their power. Dredge on Swamp, Trickster on Gideon, Billy on Lerys just to name a few (Could also rid maps that are too strong for certain killers, such as Nurse on Autohaven). Its not like these would be final either, as the map pool could change every chapter/midchapter to keep things fresh
As for map offerings, Im not for abolishing them but Im also not for them either. Your idea to have multiple realms in one offering, one thats killer sided, one survivor sided and then 1 open and 1 less open Im not too much of a fan. One of the reasons for my suggestion is to remove maps that favor one side, and one thing that is a factor in that is the variety in killer powers.