The Unknown's Cosmetics and an Appeal to the Devs
So, the Unknown has barely released and we are already seeing cases of it being used for transphobia, as described on a recent thread by @Iron_Cutlass :
@Iron_Cutlass said:
The new Killer has outfits that cater to men and women but I’ve seen a lot of people intentionally using these outfits with names (often using slurs) specifically targeted towards attacking and harassing trans people.
I’ve had 3 matches already where people have done this and targeted me for using a Trans Pride charm, I’ve sent reports but it feels like nothing has really happened from the reports. Furthermore these people also harass me in the post-game chat or leave awful comments on my profile if I have already left the match.
I wish people were nicer and didn’t ruin the new Killer this way. :(
I’ve seen a lot of awful posts on social media as well (especially DBDTwitter), and I’ve basically had to take a break from the game altogether or only play Killer to avoid this stuff, it’s really bad.
I understand this thread of mine is perhaps being written earlier than necessary, after all at the time this is being written we've received no official word from BHVR. However, I believe it is important to make haste this time, because of two reasons:
1- The lack of a license being involved would allow for a hastily action.
2- We may very well see those cosmetics being removed. This is, of course, based on the only other example we have: Smart Face.
Now, I am not sure how many were here for that; some Forum members got banned, others joined, and it all happened a while ago. As someone who was here, trust me when I say that it isn't exactly pleasant to revive this topic. But due to the similarities, I believe it is needed.
For those who are unaware, Leatherface's masks were not removed overnight and everyone was immediately okay with that, no. As a matter of fact, the whole thing was a massive debate in the Forums with several discussions, threads and even polls about it. A lot of feedback was given, but in the end it did not seem to matter that much.
Obviously, no one was opposed to racists being banned from the game. There is no excuse for racism, as there is no excuse for the cases of transphobia being currently reported. Awful people do not deserve to play DBD, and BHVR was absolutely right in removing those players from the game.
Another issue, however, was the removal of the cosmetics themselves, not only Smart Face but all four masks available. Picture for reference:
That was never acceptable. Some awful people chose to act in a disgusting manner, and it cost everyone else some of the best cosmetics in the entire game. They were an unique type of unlockable, something that no other killer had and, to this day, something that no other killer has. They perfectly made the connection between Dead by Daylight and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
And yet everyone paid the price for the actions of awful people who shouldn't be here to begin with.
Now, once again we have a situation of cosmetics being used in a disgusting way. And I would like to leave an appeal to the devs for the situation to be handled in the proper way this time:
Please improve your report system, make sure each and every transphobic player gets punished and banned, but leave the cosmetics alone.
Comments
Oh my god that's very bad. I hope BHVR do something about it.
Thank you for the feedback, my dear friend!
It is good to see ya here, wish it was under better circumstances.
I'm happy you agree with what I said here, my friend. It seems the skins aren't going anywhere and BHVR is aware of the problem. Hopefully those people get banned as soon as possible.
BHVR when they removed the bubba masks basically said that cosmetics are the source of hate. So people are only going to be looking for cosmetics that they find offensive and request them to be removed because BHVR told the community they will remove "problematic" cosmetics.
Even before the Unknown, I've seen posts bringing up some cosmetic and saying how it references something offensive.
Yes, but there are remedies outside of removing or changing skins. If they are so bold to say slurs then they can be ban. If they do that on a Steam profile then they can lose that account.
You could say, we are removing the tools. But are you? They are still able to play and tunnel every game. Only thing you changed was denying non-pieces of ######### the ability to enjoy their purchase.
Exactly.
No solution is better than removing those individuals from the playerbase. It is an effective solution which has no consequences for those who have done nothing wrong. As it should.
Thankfully, it seems the danger has passed. At least based on the VA's recent post. But I hope this thread remains relevant for a little while, for archiving purposes.
Its always so annoying when people try to derail the convo to "well in COD lobbies" like yes, we get it, people are awful in all gaming communities, doesnt mean we have to accept it.
The Unknown cosmetics I use are mixing the plaid shirt from the male model and the hairs from the female one, it'd suck if sets became linked in some way so I couldn't do this and I hate the idea that people might think I'm transphobic just because of the cosmetics I chose.
I don't understand how this explanation makes him "lose" his argument.
Your logic still applies to the ongoing online issue with DBD and that is what he was comparing the cod lobbies to.