Possible Competitive Option: Draft Mode
Before I begin, let me say that this is just an idea but I think it could end up being fun, and allow for different uses of perks beyond the standard meta. So! Here we go!
DRAFT MODE
To enter Draft Mode you would simply choose it as your option of game type beyond the standard play mode. Draft Mode would come in both Unranked (for practicing) and Ranked (for the attempt of gaining ranks and rewards each season).
When the queue ends and you are put into a game, the map that the game will be played on will be displayed and announced, and remain displayed in the background during the draft. Once everyone loads in, the draft goes as follows:
- A random Survivor is chosen as the Team Leader.
- Both sides get two bans to begin with. The Survivor team bans first each time.
- Whoever bans first gets to ban one perk available to the enemy team (Survivor Team bans Killer perks, Killer bans Survivor perks). Then the other team bans a perk. This is repeated once more until two perks have been banned on both sides.
- The Survivor team picks their first character. Whenever a character is chosen, they also get to pick a single perk. Players get 20 seconds to choose their characters and perks. It should be noted that once a perk is chosen, no other player can choose that perk. It is locked out entirely.
- Next, the Killer picks their character and perk.
- The Survivor Team picks two more characters and their individual perks.
- The next wave of bans comes, with the Killer choosing first this time. Two bans are chosen this time as well.
- The final survivor chooses their character and perk.
From here, the Killer will get additional bans in between Survivors choosing their perks. This is to compensate for the the amount of enemy players and the amount of choices/options they have, giving the Killer some additional power in the draft that they would normally not have once in a game. The rest of the draft goes as follows:
- The Killer picks their next perk, then bans a Survivor perk.
- The Survivors each choose a perk.
- The Killer picks a perk, then bans two perks.
- The Survivors each choose a perk.
- The Killer picks a perk, then bans one perk.
- The Survivors each pick their final perk.
- The Killer picks their final perk.
Load-Out Phase:
Once the draft has finished, the players are given 30 seconds to equip add-ons, equipment, and offerings. All forms of equipment, add-ons, and offerings will be available at this time, but the rarity and level of each one is worth a certain amount of points. The lower the quality of a chosen option will cost fewer points, while higher level (or rarer options) will cost more.
Each player has only 10 points to spend in this manner each game.
This method forces a power balance where equipment available is completely equal, but the method one spends them in is up to the individual.
Once the 30 seconds is up, the game's loading screen begins.
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So there you have it! My take on a draft mode. I think it's a solid foundation to start with. And I do believe giving the Killer more ban choices than the Survivors definitely helps to balance out the fact that the survivors not only outnumber them, but also get far more perk choices.
I considered giving the killer 20 points to spend in during the Load-Out Phase to also help with the power balance but I wasn't sure if that would be too much.
I'm very interested in to hear your thoughts on this mode and what changes you might make. Hopefully things can be productive and constructive.
Comments
A ban system in this game is pointless. It would go the same way EVERY time. Survivors would ban Ruin, killers would ban Self-Care. There would be no deviation from this unless they wanted a hilarious disadvantage.
edit: since they ban two perks they would likely ban BBQ as well, maybe sloppy if self care is somehow not banned. Sprint burst or dead head would get banned most matches too
Self Care isn't even in my top 10 for bans. This list is in no particular order but I'd rather ban al of these:
self care isn’t gonna be banned for being “OP” it will be banned in 99% of matches because then they can’t heal, everyone is stuck in a permanent 1 shot situation. It would happen nearly every match in this situation.
Before I begin, let me say that this is just an idea but I think it could end up being fun, and allow for different uses of perks beyond the standard meta.
It's almost like I addressed that in the very first thing I wrote. Weird, huh? Really productive comments so far!
Ban the same Perks all the time, with 1 varying here and there.
Someone will DC if their preferred Perk(s) are banned, leading to the match being cancelled.
And a personal gripe: This is a lot more lobby time.
I'm not liking it.
Even though you addressed it, it doesn't matter. The same perks would be banned every time. That's not fun. And the killer has way too many bans the way this is set up. PLUS survivors can't pick the same perks? There simply are not enough decent perks to justify all these restrictions.
A draft mode concept is cool, and I'd even be down with a couple bans (if you couldn't then ban those perks in your next match), but as designed right now I wouldn't play this.
I disagree. The same perks wouldn't be banned every time because:
1: Metas change
2: Perks change (especially in DBD)
3: The Killer's number of bans is actually less than is should be. A Killer gets 8 total bans while survivors get 16 total perks. Survivors get 4 bans and a Killer gets 4 perks. If we wanted things to be equal, the killer should get 16 bans. Instead, the Killer gets 8.
With only 8 bans, the Killer cannot ban every "decent" perk before Survivors choose most of them (because they still get to pick perks between his bans and during character draft) while the Survivors CAN ban most "decent" perks before the Killer can choose them (because they get to choose 2 before the killer has chosen their Killer AND before the Killer gets to choose their second perk). It looks like the Killer has an advantage here, but it's still actually pretty balanced in the Survivor's favor (this is also why I toyed with the idea of giving the killer 20 points to spend in the Load-Out Phase in order to balance out that survivor advantage).
4: Survivors can't pick the same perks because this forces players to create and optimize different builds instead all trying to create the top 4 builds (we'll say 4 since there are 4 survivors) and using those. Instead, it promotes build diversity and creativity all while still being able to be affected by a Killer's ban choices.
These new builds will create new Metas which will create new ban choices. And the cycles repeats itself as new ban choices creates new builds which creates new Metas which creates new bans..... etc etc etc.
There's a lot more to this than looking at the surface and judging it based on just how the game plays now. People would start out using their current game knowledge to try and draft/ban, but the fact that new builds and synergies would come from the perks picked in a Draft Mode means that the most "decent" perks would eventually become available again (or still chosen because the Killer can't ban them all) as Metas change.