I don't like The Skull Merchant Proposal, and I probably won't like any other suggested proposal

DragonMasterDarren

So after reading through SM's proposed rework and thinking it over some more, I've come to a few conclusions, mainly being that I just don't like the idea, at all. Pixel Bush has a video going into more detail about why the proposal sucks but here's the main reasons I am not a fan.

1. The drones on paper just feel like they're going to be a nightmare to balance, give them too much speed and they become a stronger Victor that can ignore survivor resources, give them not enough and they get looped around a rock, either option sucks royally.
2. The power just makes zero sense in concept, Skull Merchant is a hunter, her Drones are scouting cameras designed to keep tabs on her prey and debilitate them when she goes in for the kill, why is her proposed power ramming the drones into people? First of all, that's stupid, second of all, that makes no sense for her character.
3. I really do not like the idea of just completely removing Scans and Claw Traps, they've been with SM since the beginning, and Claw Traps setting up for double-taps was one of my favourite parts of SM, removing them just feels wrong.

Ignoring all of that though, this power concept is something I don't care for for a simple reason, lets just assume this goes through and comes to the live servers with minimal issue, it won't matter.

This is the unfortunate cycle Skull Merchant has been in since she got added.

1. Skull Merchant exists, and does things
2. Survivors, instead of attempting to learn counterplay, or learn how her power works, instead have a fit, go AFK, DC, Hookicide, whatever they feel like, then go to Twitter and complain for reasons that are either fair, unfair, or the result of people not bothering to read patch notes for 20 seconds and thinking Chess Merchant is still in the game despite that playstyle being dead for almost 2 ######### years now
3. This leads to Skull Merchant's kill-rate exploding beyond reason because most of her matches are free 4ks due to players throwing the match
4. BHVR, looking at the statistics, break SM's kneecaps, causing her to be barely playable garbage
5. BHVR then reworks SM
6. Repeat from Step 1 until the heat death of the universe

This cycle is why I just can't be bothered feeling either way for anything Skull Merchant related, what is the point in being excited or annoyed by a killer rework if the end result is just going to be ending up in the same place a year later? I have said this since her 2.0 version, the version of her that was overall healthy despite her problems, got sledgehammered, It's not going to matter what BHVR does with SM, because there is nothing they can do to make the community like her. BHVR has three options when it comes to this

1. The option I'd prefer they do and think they should do more frequently, tell the player-base to shut up, get good, and read the patch notes for a few minutes, they are freely available of multiple platforms, just ######### read them it is not that hard or complicated
2. Go back to the SM Cycle for another couple of years because "Oh we'll get it this time"
3. Delete her entirely and replace her with something else

We wouldn't be in this position if Tools of Torment got delayed and her 2.0 version was what we got instead of Chess Merchant, but that's not the timeline we live in, we live in the timeline where Twitter Appeasement seems to be the name of the game here, because that's just what this complete shitshow of a patch history reads to me.

It's just…I'm tired of this, I really am, going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth over and over again in a infinite cycle isn't fun or thought provoking, it's just boring, and unfortunately that's what pattern recognition is telling me is going to happen. We're just going to be here in a year's time because we have already been in this exact same place two different times for two completely different reasons. Her first version sucked, we all knew her first version sucked, but her second version was fun, it was interesting, it did things nothing else in the game was able to do, and BHVR decided to throw all of that out, in proposed favour of another ######### Dash killer, just…I'm sick of it, I really am.

G'night

Pulsar

Clearly, the vast majority of people disagree with you about her second iteration.

She is not going to get reverted to a version that we already know was despised. I do not know if this rework is the right one, but it is better than doing nothing at all.

It is true that a rework may not matter. People's opinions may not change and BHVR (plus those who abused SM) may have done too much damage to be undone. That would be disappointing.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

BlackRabies

People are gonna hate her no matter what they do with SM. Her 2.0 version was maybe her most healthy state. I don't like these proposed changes either as it completely removes her identity. She's a trap/stealth killer not a chase/projectile killer like Twins and Artist. Not counting SM we only have Trapper and Hag as trap killers, Artist kinda. Maybe rework Trapper so he just yeets his traps at survivors heads or Hags curses sends out bugs? SM trap style was my favorite since Trapper and Hag are too easily shut down.

Really idk what to do with her either. Maybe just revert her back to her 2.0 version and improve it further. Maybe start with making the haste/hinder more noticeable and telegraphed that there's a big speed difference.

jesterkind

I think, ultimately, BHVR have to just let whatever her next iteration is be her last. Give it balance updates like any other killer, obviously, but if reworking her from the ground up to fix every issue she has doesn't work the second time it's clear that the community's opinion on her can't be swayed through changes.

Because of that, it's especially imperative that they not go through with the destruction of her core identity like the design preview would do. Can you imagine if they went through with it, effectively deleted SM from the game, and people still hated her? The risk's far too high, in my opinion.

Her next rework can simplify her, that's workable. It can shift her power away from exerting pressure over loops, that can work. I don't mind her being more straightforward and I don't mind her getting some kind of out-of-chase ultimate ability or some such. She just obviously needs to stay true to her identity, and they need to stop trying to cater to people who hate her if it doesn't work this time. Let her fade into obscurity as a killer people broadly don't like if that's the result of this next rework, that's better than her continuing to eat up time and resources that could be spent elsewhere.

QwQw

Yeah, as soon as I saw the rework announced I knew Pixelbush would give his thoughts. I think he hit the nail on the head with how bad this rework is going to be if it goes through. Both because the last thing we need right now is yet another dash killer, and two because it completely changes her playstyle and is not thematic to her character at all. It's the same thing that happened to Freddy way back when.