Separate Solo and SWF queues
We all know that SWF is extremely powerful compared to a group of solo survivors with no voice communications, so why not separate the queues completely while not punishing the players who want to play SWF and simultaneously rewarding the players who want to play killer?
Solo survivor could stay the same as it is, but the new SWF would turn off pips for both killer and survivor. Now killers do not have to worry about depip squads or survivors abusing SWF to play with newer killers. The only potential problem with this idea is that most killers would not choose to go against a SWF versus a group of soloq survivors which would dramatically increase the wait timers for SWF queues. So why not add an incentive such as increasing the amount of bloodpoints killers receive by a percentage, say 75 or something in all of their SWF matches. Plus killer mains can play killers that they like who aren't necessarily strong because no matter what, their pips will not change. It would also present an opportunity for them to practice new builds and killers without any repercussions to their rank. The same goes for solo survivors that choose to go into the SWF queues; it presents a way for them to practice new perks and allows new survivors to practice the game before playing against people for rank. I don't know if it would also be possible to increase the solo survivor in SWF queues with some kind of bloodpoint increase, but that would also be an incentive for them to play.
Comments
I can't imagine any solo player that would wanna get in with a SWF group. SWF groups generally consist of one high ranked and 2 rank 20s who won't do anything but generators. If you get hooked they let you get to stage 2 or even die on the hook. If their friend is on the hook, and you are too, no matter how close to stage 2 or 3 you are, they will go for their friend who just got hooked. I think solo survivors would need more BP than killers to get lumped into a SWF group. You usually get screwed hardcore.
I disagree, plenty of people including the biggest survivor main streamers purposefully depip either by doing poorly in matches or dcing, both of which screw over the rest of the team. This is an easy way to play the game without needing to dc or to be an awful teammate because playing those matches won't affect your pips. Also a new player in any game would choose to play unranked matches before playing ranked ones, and SWF gives them that choice. I was honestly shocked when I first opened dbd and realized it doesn't present new players with any kind of learning options other than very basic tutorials and KYF; any other gamemode causes you to immediately get placed in the ranking system.
@morgallaala I see a lot of survivor streamers/youtubers staying in red ranks actually. But being paired with a group of brown rank and one red ranks is NEVER fun. Your idea is interesting, sure, but I can't imagine playing a game where I wouldn't pip or depip. I like the ranking system as it tells me how well I'm doing. Literally only receiving blood points is kind of boring imo. I mean it's good for leveling your characters, but you already receive blood points and I don't like being paired with brown rankers who will let me die on first hook.
Casual and ranked (solo only) queues would solve this problem.
I only problem i could see is it might split the playerbase up too much and make queue times absurd.
@CornChip and I can't imagine any killer queuing up for casual since they'd be guaranteed a SWF. If they ever tried it, it'd probably be a failed experiment unless they gave a ludicrous bonus to bloodpoints or some other incentive to play it.
The player base is not big enough for this or any split. If you have players choosing between solo/SWF or casual/ranked, you will see horrendous que times across the board.
Not sure what casual would look like. Are there rules vs camping and tunneling? Are survivors second chance perks not viable in this mode? If so, you might see 80 to 90% flock there. Would suck for ranked play.
Grow the player base, then think about game modes. Not enough of us to go around right now.
Almost every competitive game has a mode where you don't rank up, like league of legends normal queues and overwatch quick plays. Many players use these gamemodes because they simply enjoy the game casually, want to practice heroes or builds they aren't familiar with before playing them competitively, or want to play with their friends. Also their quick plays and normal queues still depend on the player's rank, so if dbd were to integrate this, no one realistically should get paired with a brown rank when they are red, purple, etc.
Since playing with their friends offers a huge disadvantage for the other team, both of the games I mentioned also have measures in order to prevent what's happening in dbd, which is SWF making the game unbalanced. League has only a solo/duo queue for LP and a separate system completely for teams, and overwatch does not let you play competitively with your friends that are 1000 points away from you. This is literally just an integration of successful balancing in other games.
@morgallaala Yeah, but League of Legends has a ton more to grind on, and you still "climb" with a "normal MMR"(League's normal queues don't depend on rank, they have their own MMR separate from ranked). DBD wouldn't place a limit on SWF(I've suggested it in ranked and people had a fit), meaning a red ranker will SWF with 2 brown rankers and then you're that solo player who's stuck in a game with 2 brown ranks and one red rank.
League was my example on how to work on the ranking system, but again, people have fits when they find out they won't be able to play with their brown ranked friends as a red ranker and bully killers/ruin solos experience. The only way I would ever play as a solo in a SWF queue would be if I were given double bloodpoints just for being in it. It's miserable.
It would completely break the game if you had separate queues, because no killer in their right mind would join a SWF queue. Yes, you proposed some solutions, but some players don't care about rank, and some players don't care about BP. The mechanics would need to be changed in a way that makes those things so valuable that players can't just disregard them as benefits.
Also, offering an outsized BP bonus for SWF-queued killers would have to mean a quantity so vast that it ruins whatever predatory game economy goals Behaviour currently wants to maintain. If they did this, as a killer player I would just stick to the solo queues for faster games and easier pickings.
I play LoL as well, I would hope MMR would be implemented in this too, but that would be asking too much at once. This is simply make two gamemodes, one that is ranked and one that is casual, and if you want to play SWF you HAVE to play on the casual mode. The casual mode is not just a SWF fix, it's a fix for many things. Killers and survivors can both use this gamemode to practice which is something seriously lacking in dbd. New players are forced into playing competitively the first time they play the game, and they are constantly paired with players who have hundreds if not thousands of hours and have legacy even though it shouldn't be like that. I know many new players don't return to the game because of this reason. Then players in red ranks who get bored of playing against the same killers (nurses, billies, and huntresses almost every single game because those are the most viable killers in red ranks) can pick a different gamemode where players are more inclined to play killers they aren't used to because their pips aren't effected.
@morgallaala I mean yeah, we do need this, I'm just saying no solo is going to queue up for a mode like this without some kind of heavy compensation, ESPECIALLY solo survivors who would be needed to fill in the ranks of SWFs. If this was implemented, I'd never play casual mode, unless I was with a friend.