Why do we prefer balance arguments instead of self improvement and should we continue with that?
Disclaimer:
Pls do not participate if you just try to flamebait or insult other people i want to have a nice talk about the mindset of our community and why we have that particular mindset. Stay civil, please do not generalize people in it, might not be a simple question but lets try anyway.
Hey guys,
so you know this is not my first and probably not my last online game that I play, I've seen quite a few communities and the thing that stands out the most i guess, is the diffrent mindset that we have. At least to me it seems that balance discussions are alot more frequent than for example discussions or threads about how to improve in the game.
Usually in the games that I played noobies would ask how to get better, veterans share their experience and what they learned so far in some kind of compendium so that people pick up on it and improve. Be it about mechanics in the game or just general advice, for specific situations...
While I see stuff like that for example with the spirit thread and how to counter her, for one thread like this another 10-20 pop up about buff/nerf/change/don't change x/y/z and i sincerely wonder why? Please note i just use that as an example and do not want to have a discussion about spirit.
Maybe I am wrong and it is not the way that I actually perceive this kind of stuff but it is strange you know? In other games there exists cheese/lame stuff as well yet here we do not label is at such but refer to something as broken or even being op. Why is that? I really don't get it. It is just baffling to see people ask for changes on something instead of asking how to deal with that? Is there someone to blame if so who or am I just wrong? Do you think this benefits the community and the overall health of the game in the long run if we keep it the way it is?
Thanks for your time reading and i am excited about your answers
Kind regards,
Endstille
Comments
Because quite frankly just asking for changes is well. It's easier. And as humans we always take the path of least resistance or something like that
Most of those threads (I imagine) are made after a frustrating game. Also half the time when I see people ask for advice they're mocked and told to git gud. When so often that's the response is it any wonder they go straight to buff this or nerf that?
I already know that I have a long way to go to git gud, so I try not to use my personal experiences as a benchmark for balance changes I would like to see.
Purely a theory, but it's much harder to pinpoint what balance actually is with the asymmetrical nature of the game.
To give an example, say you're playing an FPS and have the choice between two guns, both teams can choose whichever gun if they want. They both have the same stats except for damage- one has more damage. It's very easy to look at that and say, "This one is better." It's like comparing apples to apples; you can easily figure out which one is better.
Here, on the other hand, you're not comparing two guns. You're comparing a survivor and a killer. You can't look at a number and say, "This one is better than that one." They're two completely different things, and it's like comparing apples to oranges. This means you have to judge based on your own experiences and (to a lesser extent) statistics. Some people will say X is OP, others will say X is fine.
Since there is no clear cut choice, it's way easier to distance yourself from it and say that it's a balance issue instead. Again, going back to a symmetrical example, if the other team is using the better gun, I can just switch to that better gun. If I'm having a hard time against The Nurse, for example, I can't just switch to Nurse to match their Nurse.
TL;DR: Comparing apples to apples is easier than comparing apples to oranges. You can't look at numbers side by side to say which is objectively better, so a lot of that comes down to subjectivity, and it's way easier to disagree about stuff.
On a personal note, I try hard to look for where I can improve when I play. It's really easy to fall into a spiral of "I lost because of this" and gloss over what you did wrong. I find that there's very few times where I could not have possibly played better.
DbD is in an unbalanced state. If somebody is rightfully complaining about an unbalanced game mechanic and gets told to just "git gud", that's nonsense.
On the other hand, there are also a lot of complaints that are not justified.
You have to look at these complaints case by case. Generally saying everybody should just "get better" is as wrong as agreeing with every demand for buffs + nerfs.
It's difficult to get a "right" viewpoint on balance. Mine is wrong too probably lol.
They aren't mutually exclusive. I can always improve in chases as a killer, but I can also call out overly safe tiles when I see them. It's just that the balance arguments become a bit obtuse in an asymmetrical game. 20 safe pallets on Coldwind is fine at rank 15 because most survivors won't run them correctly or efficiently. It's problematic at red ranks when many survivors can squeeze every bit out of each tile and get gens done in 5 minutes. Clown is fine at green ranks. Red rank survivors just drop the pallet early, teabag, and run to the next one.
This is an interesting question.
While people will throw around "balance" and "core mechanics" around freely to get their point across, the deeper meaning of those words is more difficult to comprehend.
In the end what people are trying to fix in dead by daylight are the many mechanics and situations possible that make the game frustrating for players. While Mcote mentioned that frustration is good for a game in an interview, he failed to understand that the kind of frustrations players feel is where the issue is.
Back in the day, during a chase as a killer you'd come up on a survivor nearing a pallet and go for the swing. You'd of course miss because the survivor would zip to the other side.
This created negative frustration in killers due to the core mechanics of the game.
Today, this has been fixed to be more fair. Missing a swing like this is frustrating, but in a positive way.
When Killers (or myself at least) call for balance to core mechanics and improvements to weaker killers and perks, it's to alleviate the negative frustrations I feel due to them.
You can use this example and apply it to other issues that currently exist.
There are frustrating mechanics that favor one side or the other that the community has called for fixes for a very long time.
From exit gate locations to the gen rush, there are frustrations that can be addressed which will create balance in this asymmetrical game.
A lot of people have an easier time placing blame on external factors, rather than accepting and improving upon their own shortcomings.
That said, "balance" in any heavily asymmetrical game is a pipe dream; this has been true going back to the arcade days, Street Fighter II and whatnot. Every change has unforeseeable ripple effects that then necessitate changes, which have unforeseeable ripple effects that then necessitate changes, and so on and so on for eternity.