Learner Queue? Aiding the new player learning curve
I think DBD needs a designated area for people to learn how to make decisions with 0 info.
DBD's difficulty in soloq and the desparity from SWF advantage boils down to information. A discord call lets you know the killers location 90% of the time. A solo player has to guess.
A large population of players are people, like me, who play the game solo. For me personally solo survivor is a unique challenge. Killer is its own unique solo experience.
The thing is, there is a population of people who want to have fun, not sit and practice like the videogame is an esport. This leads to players jumping over learning fundamentals right into flashlight saves and looping and flashy overly altruistic plays. DBD looks fun when you dont take DBD seriously. A flashlight save is miles more fun than sitting on gens.
So, hence my pitch for the Learner Queue:
★ Survivor
• Basekit Bond, buffed to mapwide
• Basekit Visionary
• Basekit Dark Sense
★ Killer
• Basekit Bitter Murmer
• Basekit Predator
• Basekit Agitation
★ Learner Queue stipulations:
• Brand new accounts only have access to LQ
• No MMR
• 0 perks for either side
• 20 LQ games as one role unlocks the ability to queue normally with that role
• Players are locked out of LQ after 50 games accumulate per role. 50 surv, 50 killer. ( The reason is to provide players the option to stay in LQ longer if they feel the need to practice fundamentals longer ).
• You still earn BP and Shards at normal rates, leveling up characters and character choice isnt restricted either.
Ok so why suggest LQ at all?
The answer? DBD is hard.
DBD does not hold your hand. Dont know the map? Figure it out. Dont know where gens are? Figure it out. Dont know where teammates are? Figure it out. Dont know where - you get the idea. Some perks are designed to alleviate those pain points. Deja Vu, Bond, Windows of Opportunity, etc but take space away from more drastic game altering perk choices - the meta.
LQ, in my eyes, could be a good starting point to lead your players into learning the fundamentals. Fresh install Meg wont be getting dropped into a 5000 hour killer lobby.
Thats another focal point: how long are games on average and is 20 LQ matches too many or too little? I dont have data so Im going to fabricate numbers for the purpose of example. Say an average game is 10 minutes, in LQ you would have to assume longer as people dont understand the game yet. Say a LQ game is 20 minutes long. 20 minutes × 20 games = ~6.5 hours but thats NOT accounting for time spent looking in the store, reading killer powers, reading perks, etc. So, just guessing, it could take someone about 8-10 hours of playing LQ to unlock normal queue.
IMO, 6 hours of in-match time is not enough to absorb DBD fundamentals BUT you cant also restrict the audience who doesnt want to play DBD like that.
People load up DBD to just play their liscensed character, to grind for p100, to achievement hunt. Some people dont care about fundamentals or meta and a forced LQ could actively dissuade new players.
My LQ stipulations are built with those players in mind. 6 hours of game time is pratically nothing. To a new player completing 20 matches might take about a week, 2 hours a night or so to just hop on and hop off. After that, theyre free to play normal, unrestricted DBD queue and then MMR does its thing from there.
Does it suck youre forced to play LQ if thats not an aspect of the game youre interested in learning? Sure. At the same time though a few hours of learning basics never hurts because
DBD is hard.
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