A Fair Compromise Between Players Who Use Anonymous Mode and Those Who Dislike It
There have been many discussions about Anonymous Mode, and I think both sides have understandable reasons for their opinions.
Players who use Anonymous Mode often say that it helps protect them from harassment, targeting, or unwanted attention outside of the match. I completely understand that, and I think having an option to protect your identity can be valuable.
On the other hand, there are also players who strongly dislike Anonymous Mode. Some of the common concerns are that it can be used by players who give up during matches, intentionally troll or grief others, or even use cheating software while making it more difficult for other players to identify them afterward.
Behaviour Interactive has already made it clear that Anonymous Mode is not something they currently intend to remove, so instead of asking for its complete removal, I think there may be a much fairer compromise.
I have been playing Dead by Daylight since the very early days of the game, and Anonymous Mode obviously did not exist from the beginning. It was originally introduced as part of Streamer Mode, but because the feature became available to everyone, many regular players now use it simply because they do not want their profile or username exposed.
And I think that is completely fair.
However, there is one part of the current system that feels one-sided.
A player using Anonymous Mode can still see the usernames and profiles of players who are not using Anonymous Mode, while those players cannot see the username or profile of the person using Anonymous Mode.
If Anonymous Mode is meant to protect a player's identity and prevent unwanted interaction outside of the game, then I believe that protection should work both ways.
My suggestion is simple:
If you enable Anonymous Mode, you should also be unable to view the usernames or profiles of other players.
In other words:
Anonymous Mode ON → Your identity is hidden from other players, but other players' identities are also hidden from you.
Players who do not use Anonymous Mode would continue to see each other's usernames and profiles normally.
This would create a much more balanced system. A player who wants complete privacy can have it, but that privacy would be mutual rather than one-sided.
If there is a problem during a match—whether someone is trolling, intentionally giving up, cheating, or behaving inappropriately—both sides would still have access to the in-game report system.
This way, Anonymous Mode can continue serving its original purpose of protecting players from harassment and unwanted attention, while also addressing one of the biggest complaints from players who dislike the feature.
I do not think Anonymous Mode needs to be removed.
I simply think that if you choose not to let other players see who you are, you should also accept that you cannot see who they are.
To me, that seems like a fair compromise for both sides.
What do you think?
Comments
I see it a little differently. As someone who dislikes Anonymous Mode, I don't think the right solution is for me to use it too just because I don't want anonymous players to be able to see my profile or username either. I think it would be fairer if choosing to hide your own profile and username also meant that you couldn't see other players' profiles or usernames.
It's a fair idea but 99% of the people complaining about Anonymous Mode do so just because they want to harass people, and this alteration would not enable them to harass people so they will continue to complain.
Yeah, I get what you mean. And after all this time, I can understand why regular players who aren't doing anything wrong would still want to use Anonymous Mode just to protect themselves.
But Anonymous Mode has been around for a long time now, and there have always been plenty of people who don't like how it works. Nothing has really changed for that side either.
That's why I don't really get responses like "just report them and let BHVR handle it" or "then just use Anonymous Mode yourself." That doesn't really address the issue people have with the system in the first place.
I understand why people want Anonymous Mode, and I don't think their reasons should just be dismissed. But I also don't think the concerns from people who dislike it should keep being dismissed either. At this point, I just think there should be some kind of change or compromise that takes both sides into account.
If someone is cheating, griefing or harassing, you can still report them. Anonymous mode doesn't change that one bit, it just makes it so you cant message them insults afterwards. Submit your screenshots/videos like you normally would and submit the ingame report.
I can agree with all 3 parts. The hiding of the profile, the the prevention of going to other profiles, and the prevention of talking to other players in the end game chat. From my experience i've seen both sides of anonymous mode, as i've had to use it before as my account name was a funny word that id used for over 13 years, and suddenly my account kept getting attacked and reported everytime id play killer, even by the survivor rulebook.
I saw the benefits of Anonymous mode but did not continue to use it for long. On the other hand i have met many anonymous users who actively play the game to antagonise people while feeling "untouchable" so long as certain things arent said. Which i can imagine is why allot of people don't like anonymous mode being in dbd.
So hiding the persons profile, would benefit the player using it as intended. Preventing them from attacking other profiles and antagonising people in the end game chat, would benefit the players that aren't fond of anonymous mode. I would also add an extra layer if the anonymous mode player could not see the chat, as i see many posts of killer players worried about toxic players in the end game chat and how to deal with the "killer anxiety". Disconnecting anonymous players from the chat entirely would allow players to have a more "complete" anonymous mode where they don't have to worry about interacting with toxic players, and players would not have to worry about arguing with toxic anonymous players.
We shouldn't change anon mode, because a handful of vocal people are upset they can't harass anon players.
I think the current specifications and intent behind anonymous mode are fine as they are. If I had to make one suggestion, it would be to make past ban histories visible even when using anonymous mode.
What is there to compromise on. Anon mode works fine. If someone is cheating, griefing, or other reportable behavior, then just report them like anyone else.
While there are some people who try to hide behind anon mode to be toxic, most just use it to avoid people stalking their profiles and leaving hateful messages or trying to contact them to be hateful.
The only thing anon mode does it make it so you personally can't contact them, so it is a bit odd that people are hung up on this if they aren't planning on harassing people themselves.
How is this at all unfair or one sided? If you don't want to be seen, just use anon mode yourself. If you don't mind being seen, then don't use it. I fail to see how this is somehow a problem.
If you don't mind being seen then why you are bothered by this. And if you don't want to be seen but don't use anon mode, well I would advise you just enable the feature BHVR gives you.
The system is fair, everyone has access to it if they want to use it, and no one can hide behind it to avoid perm or temp bans from cheating or harassing other players.
That being said, if BHVR did add a feature that players can enable to be anonymous only to other players using anon mode, as a sort of way for players to protect themselves from a misguided belief that anon players are all toxic, then I would be perfectly fine with it. That would be a real compromise.
I think OP offers a fair solution. I don't mind that!
In other games, Anonymous Mode only works pre-game and during the match. However, when The Killer's Perks are revealed is when the names should be revealed too. This is a fair compromise: your ID is protected during the Trial but after it should be visible.