Killer anxiety let's talk about it
I've been seen a lot of creators make videos lately so I figured i would make a post here.
I want to start by saying I've been playing dbd on and off for around 6 years now, I started a little after the clown release and I have killer anxiety. There's many times I load up and get to the killer screen and just stop or maybe sit there trying to find a killer and start thinking of all the stress. That bully squad that was on point and just made that match feel like crap or the match that I ended up having a bad first chase and the game steam roll out of my hands so quickly and then I just close the game out because nah I don't really want to deal with it I'll go play thing else.
I have agree with refined that I'm maybe not be the devs intention but it's most definitely there responsibility to fix the problem. If your game is actively giving one side a real form of anxiety there needs to be some form of change. I think that more attention should be brought to this subject.
I know I'm about to get the loud minority of survivors coming in here and saying how dumb it is and that the killer role is easier them it's ever been but just because the hill your trying to climb is now a 80 degree angle now instead of 90 doesn't make it easy.
If you all want leave your stories here get them out we can try and have an actual discussion.
Comments
Survivor is less stressfull becuae you arent alone on many things but as killer you are and all your mistakes are making bugger impact then survivor doing mistakes like for killer game can be way worse if he misses just one m1 or m2 hit compare to survivor missing one skillcheck.
As you said above if you missplay a lot then everyone gets cocky and if you do something its 4 against 1 in getting called bad etc. so this makes killer more stressful then survivor.
Soloq sucks I know it but I would say playing m1 killer that isnt that good is more stressful and harder then soloq because even in soloq there are teammates that can carry you but as killer nothing carries you just you alone, theres no one that will save you if you do something wrong.
I used to get more anxious while playing killer, and i still do sometimes. While queuing for a match i see pink shirted Ace with flashy yeah..my heart does get a bit faster, but ive tried to stop caring that i need to be the host of the game and keep everyone happy.
( This event has aged me 20 years while playing killer though )
Its not the killers job to make everyone happy. I tunnel now if i need to tunnel. I slug now if i need to slug. It doesn't matter how i play this game there will always be salty survivors in this game.
I always try to play "fair", but quite often i have to tunnel/slug due to unhooked person bodyblocking me with their 15 seconds of immunity + DS+ DH.
Same goes while you play survivor. No matter how well you play there will be salty teammates and salty killers.
As a survivor i always try to be on gens, unhook, heal and i love the chase so i dont mind taking the chase, sadly soloQ is what soloQ is so don't expect everyone to play to your standards
Try doing your best as a survivor, and play the best you can as a killer, even if it requires tunneling. Lets forget the rulebook and try to enjoy the game we all paid for.
I wouldn't say i get scared necessary but I've seen alot of stuff playing through the years . I would say it's almost like ptsd not saying that's what it is but I play alot of the lower tier killers so some maps can just kill me or even perks.
IIt Would go something like I boot up the game click on killer and then start thinking about the some of the crazy bs like maybe get a decent squad on like garden of joy or that bully squad the kept hit me with flashlights making sure I had 0 hooks stuff like that start going through your head and you start going man do I really want to q up into to that
I think it ultimately boils down to which side of the game you most enjoy (or at least would most like to enjoy) as to whether you feel "anxiety" when playing or not. I hesitate to use the word anxiety because I've struggled with that for most of my adult life and feeling angry about something that happened in a video game for half a day doesn't compare to my worst bouts of IRL anxiety (if that makes sense?). But I can't think of a better word so I'll go with it anyway.
For myself, that's the Survivor side of the game. More often than not, I'm expecting something to happen in a majority of my trials to ruin my experience and it makes me hesitant to queue up. As a SoloQ player, you don't just have the Killer's behaviour and tactics to contend with but also the behaviour of your teammates as well. Survivor on DBD can feel like 1V4 just as much as playing Killer, except a worse experience because you have much less say or agency over how your games will go. For some players, that takes the pressure away but for me it only adds to my frustrations. Ironically, play while you wait has helped me enjoy Survivor again because an early exit or bad Survivor experience just means I get to play the role I'm currently enjoying more at the moment a bit sooner.
I don't really suffer from Killer anxiety for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I don't really play the role as BHVR intended. I hardly ever camp, only slug if provoked and only really tunnel accidentally (because I forgot who I last hooked) or opportunistically (because I chase who I see). If you refuse to take advantage of the Killer tactics that the game is balanced around, then you can't complain too much if you end up losing a few games you otherwise should be winning. That's on me. I also don't like how free these tactics can sometime feel and I would like to believe I've earned my wins and not to have been gifted them by tactics I consider to be a bit cheesy / overkill against some teams.
I also have a grindy, attritional play style based around territorial defense that may not be much fun for my opponents but I nevertheless enjoy. (as a Legion main, I need to find a way to push my opponents closer together to be able to apply pressure with my power). So I'm not usually worried about losing gens. When only a couple gens remain is when the game really gets started for me because I've (hopefully) been left with an advantageous cluster of easier to defend gens. It helps to know my Killer of choice is hated by much of the player base anyway, so I never have to worry about being liked by my opponents. It doesn't matter how I play, I'll still get occasional abuse in the end game chat simply because I play Legion.
On Killers that I'm weak with, I often run my anti-bully squad build (Starstruck + Lightborn + Agitation or Iron Grasp) to shut down any Survivor shenanigans. Or I know going in I'm likely to lose with some Killers and I just accept the risk that Survivors might decide to clown on me (I love ranged Killers but oh boy am I terrible with them). There's also the exposure therapy of having played many, many Killer games by this point. In my experience, the more you play the less you eventually let these things get to you. I'm also, generally speaking, just a lot less invested in my Killer games because it's not my preferred role. All these things together combine to lessen my Killer anxiety. The only recent Killer anxiety I experienced was as a Legion in 2V8. I couldn't get any Frenzy chains going and that felt pretty bad because I was letting my partner down badly by not spreading injuries (the only thing Legion were good for). But I guess I don't have to worry about having that experience again…
What does put me off playing Killer some days is the sustained focus that you need to play the role. Sometimes I just can't be bothered with that.
Or they could lean into stuff that isn't just optimal gameplay. Like why get rid of sky Billy, stop adding a thousand LoS blockers and invisible walls so I can go for crazy long range shots again as huntress and not animation locks.
I think part of the problem is killer has no other option then to play the game optimal if you want to do fun stuff BHVR tends to patch that out. This is just an idea and I do agree with you that people do tend to take survivor less serious. I will say playing survivor optimally isn't very fun I don't really want to watch a bar fill the whole match.
I do think the devs can hit some of the pain points to help with the killer role. They did it to help survivors combat tunneling and camping they need to do a little for the killer as well. Killers got 10 seconds more on gens that's great but then they added 10 seconds to hooks and that totally overwrote the gens. Killers got buff to some of the base kit but then they went and slowly buff stuff about survivors that undid the buffs. Oh faster animations we'll add more pallets so the break speed increases doesn't matter because they have to break more.
Ah I see, I can kinda relate to that but I think I'm rather exhausted on the thought of that and during the time I play than having the feeling of wanting to avoid it entirely. Also my response to situations like that ranges from ether being so exhausted that I just except losing but still trying, or I tryhard completely and see if I can overpower that if I play as efficient as possible.
I think your describtion would fit better to playing survivor for me, I really lose the interest in playing survivor at the thought that I might make mistakes and let my team down. Also I get panic, so I breath faster, my mind races and such...
Ah well probably not the best time to explain that right now, I'm mentally a bit scratched right now. I try it later again maybe :D
If your game is actively giving one side a real form of anxiety there needs to be some form of change. I think that more attention should be brought to this subject.So others have already addressed the idea that this is 'one sided' quite well. I personally find the survivor side far more stressful.
But on the note on anxiety and stress: those are elements that the game goes for. Its meant to be a heart pounding experience that mimics the intensity of a horror movie.
Is that bad for some people? Sure. But I don't know how you make a game be stressful and anxious for the people who want that but avoid it for those who might have a problem with it.
They did it to help survivors combat tunneling and camping they need to do a little for the killer as well.Except these were elements that were boring, not anxious. I remember the games of face camping killers where the three other survivors just did gens and left. They were (and some still are) just bad design game elements.
Boring elements have been removed from the killer side. DH when killers had to do the dumb head nod for every player. Gen tapping. Even things like 80 second OTR for body blocking and FTP+BU have been removed because of killer complaints about how these things felt.
However, this is very different than a lot of complaints in the thread about balance issues. If the anxiety is that you might lose, even that you might lose badly, that's just a part of competitive games and neither side is unique on that front.
"My anxiety for the role only gets restrictively bad when I'm going through a rough patch with my mental health, something entirely external to the game"
And this is such an important point. Because is it the game specifically causing people anxiety, or is something from their personal life that they're bringing into the game with them? Ultimately, the devs aren't our therapists. From @vol4r summary of the video (which i haven't watched) it kind of seems like the original cc was wrapping anxiety around his desire for killer buffs. Anyone who genuinely experiences anxiety would know that isn't a solution. Anxiety is too complex an issue to slap a fix on.
The way anxiety triggers differs for people and with reasons in this post shows that. This makes it hard for the devs to do something about it.
I for example only have anxiety playing killer as the entire outcome is dependend on me. If i have a bad game i just basically wasted my life on that match because i didnt get to do anything or have fun.
There are 2 reasons why i dont have anxiety at soloq surv.
1. The responsibility of the match outcome is spread over 4 people.
2. Because soloq is considered pain to begin with i dont have high expectations when i enter a match. I litterly go in a match with the expactions that i get sacrifices.
I don't have killer anxiety cuz I'm not narcissistic.
I don't expect a 4k.
I'm ok with losing.
Yes, I'm frustrated when survivors act like jerks when they win.
I don't have some complex that forces to get the 4k.
I just want to play in a fair way.
I play killer less than survivor based on life.
I don't have the time investment.
I'd rather a chill survivor match cuz I only have 15 minutes to play than a boring try hard sweaty try hard trash match.
Some of us have jobs and lives.
I can't devote that time to boring entertainment.
It's easy to eat dc when you don't have the time.
I'm disappointed in the quality of players.
You don't actually gain anything from stomping. Learn basic math.
You're being downvoted by the people who are addicted to the game.
No I downvoted him because of the stuff in the end of his post. I would agree on the top most ones but he went off the rails in the end. The lives and job part is idiotic statement in itself for example as everyone has a life its hard to not have one. It also makes him sound of what he claims others to be in most of the statements he did in the end of his post.
He got a downvote from me because the statement "I don't have killeranxiety because I'm not nacissistic" is straight up an insult to people that have it, and it's rather sad that you seem to agree to that.
I could also say something to the 4k part, to the part with work and live (I worked 9 hours yesterday btw and the day before 10, in both cases I had time to play still), calling it "boring entainment" and still doing it is also wild.
Also coming to a post with people that are scared to play one side or another and telling them that you're disappointed in them (which he essencially did with the sentence "I'm disappointed in the quality of players") is straight up diabolic.
Because its not about having anxiety.
If you are feeling anxious about a game you are making a choice to play said game.
I have anxiety and seeing these actual narcissist try to use an actual mental issue as a shield because they dont like to lose in a video game is legit sick and twisted.
You don't have anxiety, you have an ego. And worse people like you weaponize actual anxiety is actually offensive.
everyone has a life its hard to not have one
No… I do not agree with this statement. The fact that this is even a conversation.
The idea that turning off the video game is not an option proves that.
First of all I don't even have it, I have that for survivor if even but for making mistakes that in turn makes people upset because they lose.
And second I think both of you are talking about the medical term, I'm german and I just translate it as fear not as the medical term in that case - could this be?
You don't have to agree when its just the reality how the whole existence works. Also don't know what "The idea that turning off the video game is not an option proves that." has anything to do with my statement or even proves anything?
I do not understand the concept of killer anxiety at all.
On the survivor side, I get it. I almost exclusively play killer because of a mix of worries abot playing survivor (mainly about sucking so bad that I'll actively lose the game for the entire team) and a part of the killer roster I dread to face.
But, what on the killer side can cause any anxiety? Losing? The imaginary number called "MMR" going down? I dunno. Maybe I just do not care that much to be anxious before the game even starts.
Don't get me wrong, I do get angry when every single thing decides to just go against me, but I cannot recall being anxious.
I wanna also add if killer mains didn't take the game so seriously and apply the mentality you have on survivor on killer, you'd enjoy the game more.
Current content creation is all about trying super hard as killer, HAVING to win, win streaks of different flavours. If you tried that hard on survivor you'd also be stressed tf out.
Try memeing as you play, nod when you get interacted with, stare at a hatchet that went wide as huntress, turn slowly when you get blastmined to the survivor on the hook who did it.
The magic of DBD is the interaction with players on both sides, it's what keeps me playing, I just think people who are using the buzzword are taking it way way too seriously rn.
The cure to killer anxiety is to just play to win. Don't worry about the survivor rule book. Proxy camp/slug/tunnel at your leisure. You're still going to lose some games, but that's just how it goes. You'll still feel more in control by playing to win though.
A lot of people are conflating it with anxiety disorder, not just the sensation of anxiety, and it's resulting in some really presumptuous things being said about people that get anxious when wanting to play killer.
To the thread in general, clarifying some things because this is getting derailed hard:
Personally, I would have found it quite nice to discuss with some other people how they feel, how I feel, what we have in common and learn to overcome this silly little hurdle together. Instead, we've got accusations and insults. Thoroughly disappointing.
I don't even get where those people got the idea this had something to do with the disorder. Even from the topic I would think its about person feeling anxious of playing killer. Some people seem to just want to jump to conclusions and start the name calling but that is nothing new on internet.
I myself can understand why some people would feel anxious of playing killer in this game. In the end its you against four other people so its already a numeretical disadvantage. Then it can be overhelming to start playing the game from the other side if you have got used of playing the survivor side. I have to admit that even I have sometimes felt like I don't want to play killer for variety of reasons. Sometimes it can cause me to just decide to play something else but still its usually just me not feeling to put the effort into this game at that time.
Hopefully you get better answers after this because in the end the topic has merit to be talked about and people should read and comperehend what person is trying to convey and not be hasty of writing a responds that has nothing to really do with the topic.
It would have been nice yes, but I honestly expected it a bit.
Well in general after hearing a bit about it now I can understand what people mean by having anxiety to play killer. While I don't have it really for killer, I think I might have something similar for survivor - some people are scared because as killer they have to manage their mistake fully on themselfs, I'm scared to play survivor because I generally hate if people have to deal with my mistakes.
Well I hope this discussion gets less insulting now :D
I think what hasn't helped is it's being treat like a new buzzword to push us vs them baits.
Because I'd love to talk about how some days I feel like damn I'm gonna miss all my shots coz I've taken a break, it's the same when I queue up for solo survivor for a break, sometimes coming back to the game when so much has been added is intimidating.
But as I keep saying it's not exclusive to just DBD for me, Overwatch/Marvel Rivals I take breaks from too and have the same issue.
My coping mechanism is usually to stream to a close friend on discord and just laugh at the mistakes I make and make clips, just make a nice social hangout from it as killer or survivor (my friends dont like playing horror but love watching it)
I finally found what caused me so much killer anxiety. While I still have some mostly due to pallet density and playing mainly m1 killers what really got effected by it hard my biggest anxiety trigger is hooks. Hooks for killer shoukd be a reward for winning a chase but it feels more ike a punishment with the 70 second hook timers base kit bt ant camp making 2 floor maps so annoying because I cant use my power below or above them and the 31 perks survivor have that turn on from being hooked or carried to a hook that are all very strong liek deliverance shoulder the burden deadhard ds babysitter self preservation off the record resilience and sabo builds. I just with hooks didnt feel like a punishment for killer
I'd be willing to say that well over 80% of the 'killer anxiety' people are describing is attributed to the desire to win the match, or at least get within reach of it. Despite this, people are subconsciously driven toward playing killers with lower win-potential to sort of justify to themselves that losing the match wasn't their fault, it's the game's fault, because BHVR won't balance the character to be as strong as X, Y, or Z meta killers.
Might be harsh to say it, but if you don't play to win, if you lower your expectations to being a loss in most of your matches, I bet that most of your stress or worries playing killer will fade away. It's definitely easier said than done, because I've caught myself playing for fun and getting caught up in wanting to win half-way through the match. But if you can change your mindset, chances are you won't care whether or not the survivors flashlight save 18 times in a row in the same trial. You won't care that you get Head-On stunned every time you turn a corner to hook a survivor. And you won't care that the Sable player you could've hooked 12 times over is Tea-baggin' it at the exit gate before they escape. I've found that the less I care, the more pleasantly surprised I am when I do win in those matches where it looks like I'm getting hopelessly bullied.
Changing your mental and being in control over your own reason for playing, your own state of mind, is sometimes all you need to not be upset by feeling a lack of control in the game. Because that's why losing frustrates most killers, it doesn't feel like you're in control, the 'power role' of the game. Its also why a lot of the killer matches I have to try-hard in still frustrate me even when I overwhelmingly win. Feeling in control is something you subconsciously chase after when you play killer, and not getting that feeling can crush your mental if you let it.
For me, killer anxiety comes from a few places. By far the largest one is the abuses you receive, win or lose, as a killer. In a surprisingly large percentage of my games, survivors will end up being toxic, whether in game, or in the post game chat, or even going to my steam profile. Doesn't matter if you win or lose, if you play "nice" or sweat, it happens, whereas I almost never get any abuse when playing survivor.
The second is the gameplay of killer. You have everything resting entirely on you, with four other people to watch and that adds a lot of stress, on survivor the pressure of it all is spread across those three other people. You also have no downtime. Every second of the match you need to be putting in effort whereas on survivor you are only in chase about 1/4th of the time, if that, so you have a lot more time to "relax" when you are healing, doing gens, ect. You also have a lot less leniency on killer I find. As a survivor I find it a lot easier to come back. One bad chase as survivor? Pretty easy to come back from if everyone is playing well, especially with the current perks and pallet density. One bad chase as killer? You could end up losing 2-3 gens and it can feel impossible to come back from it unless survivors make several big mistakes in a row.
Another thing that causes the anxiety is the uncertainty of what type of team I will go up against. With MMR being so loose, your teams can range from incredibly casual players just messing around to have fun, to players pretending the game is a tournament. Not to mention bully squads, who just go out of their way to make the game miserable with no intention to win. When you aren't sure what to expect going into the game, it makes things more stressful.
All this, and the killers I enjoy being just generally weak, has led me to very rarely playing killer anymore and just switching to survivor. Does survivor suck too sometimes? Sure, soloqueue is awful at times when you get people who don't even want to play the game or are just throwing. But the feelings on survivor is more mild annoyance than anything else, whereas the feeling of anxiety is much stronger and worse for me personally on killer.
I think people who dismiss the notion of ‘killer anxiety’ need to realise that the anxiety isn’t coming from a place of “I’m worried about playing killer in case I don’t get my 4K”. It’s coming from a place of “I want to play killer but the thought of being mocked, bullied, abused (the latter two, particularly in endgame chat) is putting me off.”
It’s not just about a fear of playing badly- it’s a fear of playing badly and being picked on for it. We can have a discussion on why certain people are more bothered by this than others BUT invalidating these feelings is not the right thing to do.
End game chat is the crux of a lot of this, but DBD is a game where it’s very easy for players to determine when their opponent is outmatched and make fun of them for it. Again, people will question why someone spamming crouch or emoting bothers another person, but it comes from a feeling of being powerless and rubbish- MMR is massively to blame for this. The casual, after work/school gamer who wants to get a few rounds in as their favourite horror character will be matched with players beyond their skill and far more determined to sweat.
Also not to go full ‘us vs them’ but a killer is four times as more likely to get griefed simply due to the nature of the game. In any one session playing a killer it’s likely you’re going to get grief just for existing.
When you put it all together, it’s not hard to see why the thought of playing killer is anxiety inducing for a lot of people.
I read about 70% of these comments thus far -and here is what I can say -
To start off- I will be perfectly clear, I AM a Killer main because when I like being able to capitalize on mistakes of my opponents + I simply love being able to chase a survivor as they run away (yes I am completely mentally sane, dont judge 🤭).
When I play killer - I notice that I very much have to "sweat" (I made a post about this a few days ago) in order to get a 3k/4k (or sometimes just to get a 1k if I am facing a full sabo/flashlight team). Sometimes after a game I can notice my heart rate actually going down from that match, because I was simply extremely stressed the entire time.
Using the official DBD stats (over the past 30 days) I have a 68.15% kill rate (though admittedly this is somewhat skewed poorly b/c I have let survivors who were nice escape for free). Depending on the killer I can have anywhere from a 64-78% kill rate.
I also have about a 46% escape rate. So in both categories (as killer and survivor) I am exceeding either the 40% escape rate/60% kill rate
Now I say this because I want to demonstrate that I atleast want to believe I know what I am talking about when I say the following: Survivor is overwhelmingly less stressful to play then killer 9 times out of 10.
To prove my point - I personally admit to listening to early 2000's/2010's white girl music when playing as survivor 😅(basically making me unable to hear killer radius) and honestly I can sit there and vibe w/ few cares. When a killer does approach - I just pop a sprint burst or lithe and I am zooming (usually the killer drops chase, if they dont then I just loop them for aprox 30 seconds before I get a slap and go down). I refuse to believe that I am the only survivor that does this (albeit they may have better taste in music than myself). As killer - I don't play music b/c every small sound que is information I need; I need every small tiny advantage I can manage to get to be able to down a survivor and hook them. If I make a mistake - I am immediately punished for it and that feeling of dread just washes over me.
I dont honestly ever feel much of any dread when playing as a survivor, maybe some annoyance here and there but never any genuine dread. But when I play killer - I can feel dread when I get stunned for the millionth time, get blinded while carrying a survivor, get told to **** myself in the EGC, etc.
TLDR: I have experience w/ the game + perform well enough to speak on these topics : playing as survivor has from my experience been a relative breeze w/ very few mental struggles whilst playing killer requires myself to accept that I am going to feel dread eventually at some point most of the time.
when im on survivor i have the heart beat active and jsut jam out to music which i just can not do on killer sense every second matters. i have watched so many video about pharmaceutical science while playing survivor and retained most of the information. while on killer i physicly sweat and my heart reats can reach dangerous bpm (i have a tracker for health reasons.
ya the toxicity on the survivor side is wild i dont know why its liked so much by the toxic players i think its becasue its 1 vs 4 so they are the majority so feel they have the right to do it.
I rarely feel anything negative playing survivor if only because killers generally just do their job and might even be nice after the halfway point if it looks like they've already won/lost.
Load up killer and the instant survivors feel like they have an advantage it's flashlight clicks and teabags the entire rest of the game, a 4-out and "ggez" in chat. Literally never seen survivors be like, "Yeah, we'll give you one kill" the way killers will often let people out.
"Might be harsh to say it, but if you don't play to win, if you lower your expectations to being a loss in most of your matches, I bet that most of your stress or worries playing killer will fade away"
It's not harsh to say, it's honestly the truth. Once you accept that it's just a game and the outcome means nothing, you stop caring. And if someone can't not care, and it's causing them actual stress, then take a break or quit the game. Literally self care.
If you feel anxiety then it is time to take a break.
Pretty much the first paragraph, yeah.
It's a 5-player game each match and it genuinely feels like the other four people just don't want you there. I don't mean like, "Oh, this is my opponent, I'm going to beat them." like in a fighting game or something, but more that they legitimately resent your very presence in the match. Which seems nonsensical because without a killer there's no game, but that's how they act.
The biggest incetive for me to play survivor is long killer queue tbh. I play about 50/50 and am not ashamed to say that I mostly play better killers - First, Twins, Krasue, Springtrap… however I do agree that killer shouldn't be mocked for just having fun either. I don't sweat and got some random hate messages from survivor players about uninstalling and my mom, well I just type "ok :)" and leave, but it's not very nice tbh. If I play "fair" and don bring the classis sweaty meta shouldn't be survivors happy to have a short room to breath? If they are toxic and I tunnel someone out to give them the attention they so desperately ak for they complain. They are easily never satisfied. I hate tunneling killers, true. I'm getting sometimes tunneled 6 games in a row and because I don't run DS I mostly die for other to escape but it doesn't feel rewarding. Something that people have to understand is that losing is normal and if you want to win 100 % of time then one of the side has to be blatantly overpowered to the point where there is no reason to play the other side. I do believe and i think that everyone who has some sense has to agree is that this game isn't fairly balanced across the killer roaster neither around survivor perks. You won't win on Badham with Skull Mechant and some chill build if you don't sweat while playing killers like Jason or Ghoul itself gives you massive advantage over most other killers. Pure example is map Forgotten ruin, Jason just ignores the map levels entirely and as Nurse or Dracula can both do it too they are very resitricted in doing so. Killer like Huntress who has to go all the way down or to the portal will never be evenly competitive there. The same with trickster's delusion. That map is horrible and it's very hard to play it as survivor unless the killers are First, Huntress, Nurse or Trickster. I will make a thread about this map shortly. I believe map and it's rng shouldn't have massive impact on the game outcome. It's like when you spawn on Fallen Refuge and you know that you will most likely lose.
Again, people will question why someone spamming crouch or emoting bothers another person, but it comes from a feeling of being powerless and rubbish- MMR is massively to blame for this.It's not that most people are questioning this, its questioning why people think this only applies to the killer.
Some people feel anxious playing only killer. Some playing only survivor. Some for both. Some neither. Everyone has their own elements that they might cause stress/anxiety, but despite what people say we still get lots of 'well how I feel must be universally true' arguments.
Also not to go full ‘us vs them’ but a killer is four times as more likely to get griefed simply due to the nature of the game.That one is probably the most unique. However, given the 60% KR target the killer is far more likely in a position to grief than survivors are. Sure they have more capability in end game chat, but the killer has more capability in the game.
When you put it all together, it’s not hard to see why the thought of playing killer is anxiety inducing for a lot of people.It's much more about uniqueness. There's no example I've seen where others can't explain why it actually the survivor side of that example that causes anxiety for them.
The game has made killer less stressful than it used to be. Old DS and DH were very frustrating. Before EGC, end games could take forever if you refused to quit. Hatch standoffs were dumb.
If you want to "win", then this game will devastate you. If you go into every match with an open mind and try to have fun no matter the outcome, the game can be enjoyable.
I have played 2700 hours and took many breaks from DBD. Somehow the game keeps going, so I am back again. I play 1 killer match and take a break win or lose. Stand up, drink water, use the john. It helps.
My hot take is EGC should be shorter, or the killer should have a way to end it after a door is open.
If you feel anxiety while playing Killer, you take the game way too seriously and should take a break. Taking the game less seriously and especially learning that you cannot win every time and that there will be some games where you lose badly is key.
Playing the victim card a bit less would also help a lot.
you cant nessecarily control what makes you feel anxious even if your not taking it seriously. You really shouldnt dismiss peoples anxiety but "just dont do x if you feel that way" as it doesnt actually solve anything other than saying dont do something you like doing.
Oh, I can and I will.
If you are playing like your life depends on your 4K, then you are not really at the point where you do something you like doing. At this point you are taking it too seriously and should reflect that. You are losing in a videogame. This is not a big deal. If you get anxiety from that, you really, really, really need to do something about it. (And it is not on the Devs to do something about it.)
I'm going to agree with @Aven_Fallen with a little more explanation:
If the game is not just stressful or unpleasant, but actively harming someone's mental health, they should talk to a professional and stop playing.
If the issue is just general stress or the prospect of losing, trying a change in mindset is pretty normal advice.
If the issue is just general burnout, then its time to take a break.
All of the above would not just apply to this game but any type of activity.
Exactly. If you dont enjoy something to a point that you get anxiety, it is a big sign to change something. This is not always easy, e.g. quitting a Job you dont enjoy is a hard thing to do.
But taking a break from a game? This is easy compared to many other things.
Why are you only equating killer anxiety with a fear of losing?
This game could induce anxiety for many different reasons beyond just wanting a 4K. To reduce the discussion to that is really narrow sighted.
I mean, sure, there is toxicity, but outside of Slurs I find it really silly to be annoyed by toxicity. Especially from the role who wants to play a ruthless Killer. Like, you can teabag or hump me all you want, I dont care. Same I dont care if you insult me. After all, the people who are toxic towards someone online are just random people on the internet and it should have no impact at all on someones life.
(Obviously there are factors which can change that, e.g. heavy racial or sexual slurs which might be triggering for some people. Or if someone is already struggling with mental health in a way that they take it more negative if someone is toxic towards them in a videogame, but then I would argue that this person really needs help and maybe should even consider not playing any onlinegames because toxicity is in every onlinegame.)
Sometimes I have anxiety in lobby but then I remind myself it's game and it's not end of the world whatever happens in the match. Important is to not take the game too seriously. Accepting you lose sometimes is okay.
The biggest weakness for me playing killer is it being solo role so even I have good success I don't enjoy playing it alone. And that really can't be fixed so there is always going to be some anxiety.
"you cant nessecarily control what makes you feel anxious"
This is absolutely correct. It's also why expecting a bunch of game developers to fix it doesn't make sense. Anxiety is complex and individual and there are qualified people out there who can help us pick it apart. Considering the nature of DBD, I think a bit of stress or anxiety is normal. If it's causing someone genuine mental health issues then Aven is correct that people need to step back. Because no one involved in this game is qualified to (or even from a legal standpoint, liable to) take responsibility for every individual player's state of mind.
being stressed by itself is not a mental health issue nor is anxiety. anxiety is a normal thing to feel. when it comes to any activity that someone is invested into or cares about whether it be regarding job performance or your next up to bat at your softball game.
To say that you just shouldnt do something if you feel anxious about doing such thing isnt a real solution. and i dont think a solution of preventing people from doing various activities of life due to a feeling they can not control is a good idea at all unless it is something actually medically serious and your having panic attacks and stuff like that but thats not whats happening (presumably) with anyone in dbd.
associating anxiety with "playing like your life depends on it" is not understanding why people feel anxious and you are thus misrepresenting it.
I also never stated anything about the devs or that anyone should do anything at all so no idea the purpose of that part of your comment.
being stressed by itself is not a mental health issue nor is anxiety. anxiety is a normal thing to feel. when it comes to any activity that someone is invested into or cares about whether it be regarding job performance or your next up to bat at your softball game.Anxiety as a mental health issue is a very serious topic.
If we're not talking about, then what's the big deal? Anxiety becomes just another form of 'I don't like this'. Which goes along with other arguments about not liking something - boring, unbalanced, lack of theme, etc. And discussing all of that is fine, there's nothing wrong with not liking something and wanting it to change.
However, when we look at the anxiety issue as people have been laying it out there are two problems, to use your softball example:
1: Some people like the anxiety and stress associated with coming up to bat. That's a huge reason people play competitive sports. However, they aren't for everyone, if you don't find the experience of going up to bat ultimately fun/rewarding, you should seek out a different activity (this can be expanded to a basic statement on any activity - there will always be some people who don't like something).
2: If the experience shouldn't be stressful, let's say a casual softball league where records aren't even kept, and someone is still stressing out to the level they aren't having fun, then one of the first pieces of advice would be changing a mindset to a more casual level as @Aven_Fallen has been recommending. And if that doesn't work, we're back to 1.
In sum, that's the problem with the stress argument (again if we aren't talking about a mental health condition). Like many competitive activities, some people are actively seeking that level of stress. DbD is modeled after horror movies, capturing those feelings of stress and worry isn't a flaw, its a goal.
Sorry but anxiety does not mean the person hates the thing or would not want to do it. Like reading some points here just makes me see how clueless some people are. Also to state to someone who has anxiety of something to not do it then is not a fix. These people want to get over the anxiety and do the thing they feel anxiety of. Otherwise they would be doing what quite many peoples "fix" here is that they would not do it. Like is it so hard to understand that people with anxiety want to overcome it not live under it? Those who proclaim the so called "fix" are not helping anyone.
People should try to give advice to how to deal with it not tell them "Don't bother as you clearly have no fun doing it as you have anxiety". Like if they are here asking help and talking about it clearly indicates they want to do the thing they feel anxiety towards and want people to assure them or help them to overcome it. Telling them off is not helping.