The general state and balancing of the game
I want to talk here about the state of the game. It will conclude the balancing or rather the lack of it, the players of the game mostly focusing on the tribes and the Quit the game at slightest inconvenience players, BHVR and their use of DATA and what other things come to my mind here. I should also tell everyone that I am a 50/50 player. I play, Killer, SoloQ and SWF. So no im not entitled this or this even if it may sound otherwise. I am only stating what I think would be best for the game.
You should also consider this is motstly a rant, about my own feeling and frustrations about the game.
Balancing of the killers and perks in general
I will start with the balancing. I would like you to understand that is my opinion. And if you think otherwise I would like you to tell me your perspective, in a civil manner.
Lets talk about perks. I will, write here what I personally seen or experienced.
Exhaustion perks:
Exhaustion perks have been here for many many years, yet they were barely ever touched, while being Meta for the whole time. Every single game I play both killer or survivor There will almost allways be 1 exhaustion perk per player on the survivor side. And frankly its start to get tiring. I understand why they play them there is no reason you should not use them. They are low effort high reward. All you need to do is press WASD and shift and boom value and then wait for some time to repeat. I dont see a reason why perks with almost no requirement should be this powerfull. In my opinion they are straith unhealthy for the game in the current state. They should be toned down either by giving less haste at least by 10% or keep lessening it to a sweet spot where it will be not miserrable to play against, while being still usefull when you need them.
Vigil:
Like why? Why is this perk still here unchanged? It litteraly guts every single status effect the killer can give, while also buffing strongest perks in the game PASSIVELY!!! You cannot tell me this perk doesnt need changes. You run Hubris oh well I have a story for you because I have VIGIl and in time you catch up to me your perk is effectively useless. There is no reason for this perk to affect every single status effectt in the game unconditionally by 66%.
These are the largest offenders by a landslide.
Anti-tunnel perks:
Anti-tunnel perks are not completly problematic as long as you use them as intended, DEFENSIVELY, but the problem is that people just use them offensively. Putting killers into just lose lose scenarious. You want to go for the Unhooker? Well how about I take hits with my invincibility, you want to switch to me now oh well now you have to chew through Decisive Strike Deadhard and unbreakable. Like what is the killer supposed to do there is no counterplay no interactivity just lose lose situations with these kind of players. Why not make them like Deadhard? Deadhard can be used limited amount of times, cannot be paired with strong perks like exhaustion perks since its also a exhaustion perk (unless you play it with syringe or bloodrush) and it can be outplayed by the killer. Even tho Deadhard was extremly strong and popular back in the days, now its in an actually balanced state. But ofcourse its easier said then done. Like how could we even balance this. Im not sure my self.
Shoulder the burden is one of the anti-tunnel perks I dislike. And its not because I love to tunnel or anything. Its just a win more perk. I have been struck with it when I was not even tunneling. By a certain point in a match the killer has to get one of the survivors out or they will face inevitable defeat unlless survivors do an extreme mistake. And this perk will just derail anything you have planed for, That is if the perk is used correctly. I see why it is a good perk. It prevents the one of the most hated playstyle in the game. But that doesnt mean it only punishes that one and only playstyle.
Slowdown perks:
Even tho I dont think slowdown perks are problematic, because all they do is just give you bit more time in the match. Its sad just seeing them or needing them almost every match just to keep up. Slowdown perks are an outcome of the current meta. People dont take them because they are strong, but out of necessity. Because again all they do is give you bit more time. But they also have conditions to be met. If you compare an Exhaustion perk with a slowdown perk it not even close. Both are meta perk, but lets see the requierement. Lithe You fast/medium wault a pallet/windown and you gain distance that the killer will ahve to slowly gain back (Unless playing mobility killers like Blight, Ghoul and such) while Pain resonance you have to find a survivor get close to them, hit them, catch back up hit them again, pick them up and carry them to one of the 4 scourge hooks. Its a massive difference between requierements. I cant stress this enough. Everytime someone complains about slowdown perks its allways someone running full meta builds like Sprintburts, Vigil, DS and unbreakable. Killers should not need a perk to play the game variety is this game strongest suit, but the stale meta keeps burying it into the ground deeper and deeper. I want to play fun niche goofy builds. But the meta of this game will punish me for it. People should just be more aware about the fact that there is more perks then just Pop, DS, Sprinburts, Vigil. This game is so much more then this.
Ofcourse there are many perks that need changes I cannot name them all that would take way too much time and my own sanity. Like buffs for perks noone uses. There are over 300 hundred perks, but yet you keep seing the same perk over and over on both the killer side and survivor side. And just because BHVR is scared to buff them or they straight up just dont care. Whats the point of the perks if noone plays them? I know its not easy to balance 300 perks that could combine in a way that could break the game or etc. But at least show us you care. Just please buff some niche perks to make them actually viable and let us free from this meta hell.
New perks:
I serioulsly dont know what BHVR is thinking. They keep adding perks that are just the same perks with different coat. And I cant even blame them there are over 300 perks and its hard to think of a new and unique effect. In my opinion they should revise their thinking about perks. I think they should stop making 3 perks per survivor/killer and reduce it to 2 and to make it more consistent take 1 perk from every survivor and killer and make them a general perk. Mainly prioritizing perks that could help newer players, like Windows, Rookie spirit and such and throw some fun perks and some actually good perks as well. In this PTB is a survivor perk Cross-examination does every single aspect of stealth uncoditionally at the same time. Are we serious?! Then whats the point of Lucky break, Iron will, Distortion, Light weigh. Whats the point when you can get your self a perk that does everything at the same time with the activation being be chased in loop by a killer. I seriously dont know what they were thinking.
I will end this section here since its getting way too long. But if you have your own opinions about perks mentioned or not please share us your opinion.
Playerbase:
There are lot of wonderfull people in this comunity. But why are most people just miserable. I would find more empathy in a CoD lobby then in a post game chat in DBD. And I get it this game can be frustrating. But does that justifie a death treath to a person who just wants to enjoy the game? Have just people lost basic empathy and dignity. You can be angry over whatever happened to you, but you should keep it to your SELF and yourself ONLY. People should realize the world doesnt revolve around them. I get angry lot of time, but I do not spill my anger on people just because of a pixaleted game. Just be a decent human being its not that hard.
Disconnects:
I dont get these people, They wait in a lobby start a game and then disconnect at slightest inconvenience. Why do they do it. They ruin the game for the other 4 people. If you feel miserable playing the game then just dont play it. Take a break, go outside on fresh air, play a different game to relax or just mae your self a cup of tea. What kind of self destructiong mentality do you have to do this. BHVR should punish those people. Give them a ban for few days so they can cool of and return when they feel like now maybe I will enjoy the game. I do this my self. When I feel frustarted with the game I just dont play it for few days a week. And when I return I actually have fun again. Everyone should do this with any game.
I think this is enough said. I dont think I have to talk about cheaters we all should have same opinion of them, but BHVR should just hardware ban them. And I apologize if something I said felt personal I do not point to you specifically. I wrote in to make people who actually do it to realize something about them and perhaps change for the better.
And now lastly BHVR:
I do think that BHVR did a PRETTY GOOD JOB SO FAR. In their efforts to improve the game. I do think they are quite creative with the things handed to them. With Jason I wasnt expecting much. But for me I think they delivered quite well. But I do have to say that the marketing could have done better job I mean 13 hours staring at a shack in the woods? I dont know man. I think it was not a bad idea, but it wasnt executed quite well. Maybe if they didnt announce it and make people watch 13 hours for something to happen. If they just started the stream without telling anybody it would have delivered much better. But i do believe they will improve more and more by time. I also think they should take more time. I get it they have a tight schedule an have a lot work to do, but they should in a near future slow down and instead of pumping out new content, they should just let it cook bit more in the oven.
But ofcourse there are areas where is much to be desired. One thing is directly tied to balancing and that is their DATA collection. BHVR has means to collect lot of data about the game and playerbase. But they lack the knowledge how to use it and especially the knowledge what the data actually represents. Lets take the kill rates Nurse is one of the lowest kill rates in the game. Does that mean that Nurse should be buffed? Ofcoursed not. At least that what BHVR knows here. This game is mostly a knowledge check. If you know you have much higher chance of winning if you dont youre just cooked. And thats where BHVR dont deliver. They fail to teach the playerbase how to actually play their game. And it looks like BHVr doesnt know either. The problem here is that DBD is a game mainly played by Casual players. Casual players will not go out of their way to check a turorial how to improve in the game if they do they cannot be considered a Casual player anymore. What isnt directly said or writen in the game the Casual playerbase will most likely not know. A casual player will not know how to counter Ghoul. I do, but they will not. And BHVR has so many fantastic people that could help them with it. Im sure that many content creators who spent so much time playing and learning the game would love to help teach players about the game they love so much. Even competetive players would love to share their knowledge about the game. BHVR can use their help to create comprehensive or simple guides on how to play or play against certain killer or loop specific loops directly in the game.
Well this is everything i wanted to pur out of my heart. If you read this to the end I thank you. I wish everybody a wonderfull day and if you do have some things to say please share them with us. We as a community should cooperate to make our game feel better for everyone who loves and enjoys it.
I would also like to say that I stand behind everything I written here unless prooven othervise.
Also I would like to mention that I started to write this at 2 AM and ended it at 5 AM so please if you see grammatical errors or some nonsense I written please do take it with a grain of salt. I wish you good morning, day and goodnight.
Comments
Here’s the reality of why neither sides’ meta can change:
Survivors: even with meta builds and swfs taken into account, survivors still lose 6/10 games.
Killer: even with meta builds and swfs taken into account, killers still win about 6/10 games.
So the question you have to ask yourself is what is an acceptable win/loss ratio for killers to have? Keeping in mind that harshly nerfing survivors would result in even more losses/undesirable games.
Well I would say that we shouldnt be completly pessimistic. While its true that players will most likely win 6/10 games, its not because of good balancing. I believe that if BHVR actually taught its playerbase on how to play this game it would make a difference. I would say that 60% killrate is a good goal that BHVR they set up for them self. While I do understand why you would think that my ideas for changes are harsh, I would like to say that some things has to change before these ideas for exhaustion can actually happen.
The playerbase does actually know how to play the game despite content creators shouting the opposite. The average survivor is average just like the average killer player is, that is how averages work. There is no way to force a more casual player to learn but at least half has learned and the result on the survivor side is continuing to lose more matches than you win. I truly think that killer mains, talking about content creators here the vast majority of whom are killer mains, are just perfectly happy to blame their teammates for their losses on survivor without any further thought put into it.
What this actually tells us is that the skill floor required to do well on survivor is higher than the skill floor required to do well on killer. Obviously in both cases it depends on what killer is being played as/against where exactly that floor exists but outside the D tier we are looking at the survivors having to play better than the killer to win. Even four man swf lose more than they win unless all four players are on the extreme high end of survivor skill and playing in an extremely coordinated manner. In solo queue your choice is be good at the game AND run meta or accept that you will lose the majority of your matches and even then you will still lose more than you win.
The game just tends to snowball, so when a killer is winning it can look like the survivors are bad even when they are decent and the same goes for the killer. A single hit can be what loses the game for the survivor side. There isn't a single mistake that can actually lose you the match on the killer side so the killer is more likely to snowball and then think the survivors were bad.
Perks are going to have different requirements because each side plays differently, they engage in some of the same things but in completely different ways. Your example of gen regression is embellished, if you can't down or hook a survivor then you won't win the match with or without gen regression perks (and deadlock literally requires you to do nothing). Both sides have perks that activate for doing nothing or almost nothing and some with ridiculous activation requirements.
Exhaustion is problematic when you are facing ghostface but necessary when you are facing blight and its similar for anti-tunnel. Use anti-tunnel aggressively against ghostface and ghostface becomes likely to lose but if you don't play like that against a decent blight the survivors are practically guaranteed to lose. This is the thing truly keeping lower tier killers down, the disparity in strength between killers. The survivor role must be balanced such that it can face the strongest thing killers can do and possibly succeed even in solo queue and that isn't something that occurs even now. Solo queue will lose the majority of their matches against S and A tier killers so long as the killer is decent even while being decent themselves and that extends to many of the lower tier killers as well. The solution starts with decreasing the strength disparity between killers, then we can rebalance survivor around this new more even strength level.
The problem with gen regression/block is that its very existence makes it necessary to run. Slowing down the game is the strongest thing you can do as killer, doubly so since the longer the game goes on the stronger the killer is. So long as these perks exist the game must be balanced around the possibility that a blight will bring a full loadout of gen regression perks. The only solution is to delete these perks from the game, nerf them into non-existence, or create a maximum number that the killer can run (like how exhaustion prevents stacking multiple exhaustion perks). Once again the game would require drastic rebalancing if any of that occurs.
My basic conclusion is that its killer disparity that is the biggest problem, not perks or anything else. That isn't a great state of affairs but at least when you are playing killer you can choose which killer you want to play and if you are aware of how strong a given killer is you can decide how difficult you want your match to be. Survivor doesn't get a choice and has to be prepared to go against the strongest killer running a full meta loadout. If tomorrow BHVR implemented a system where I could setup multiple loadouts and get different ones based on the strength of the killer I am facing with different restrictions on perks I would be OK with that but I don't see that happening.
Why is it all about win loss ratio's with you people the game should be balanced enough where the better player wins and it simply isn't
I think @FerrousFacade covered a lot of the issues elegantly, and @SOULWARRIOR71K did so succinctly, but I wanted to add on two things.
You simultaneously complain about the ease of exhaustion perks and also survivors using DS/Unbreakable. Now to get value out of the latter, survivors have to commit half their build to it, get into the correct situation, and not just be successful on the body block but time it correctly (too early and they aren't offering much help, too late and the killer can wait out DS).
This seems to be a common complaint - if survivors perks are too easy, bad, but if perks allow the possibility of timing and skill to pull off, also bad.
Staying on DS though:
Anti-tunnel perks are not completly problematic as long as you use them as intended, DEFENSIVELY, but the problem is that people just use them offensively. Putting killers into just lose lose scenariousI never got why this gets referred to as a lose lose scenario. By this standard, everything in the game is a lose lose scenario.
Survivor drops a pallet? Break it and they gain distance, not break it and they might be able to use it later.
Killer tunneling a survivor? Get off a gen and lose gen progress, or get in the way and bodyblock while giving up gen pressure.
That's just what the game is, a series of tradeoffs that both sides are making. It's not different in this scenario. The survivors is sacrificing gen progress to make a risky play to try and buy another survivor time, while also sacrificing one of their perks that they might need later. The killer is having to make a trade off between multiple possibilities (getting around the bodyblocker, switching to the DS target, letting him burn out his unbreakable, waiting out the DS).
That's just what the game is, and I can't get being upset about the trade off strategic game while also being upset about the ease of a Sprint Burst.
Because it’s an asymmetrical game with many variables that don’t just boil down to the better player wins. This game was never designed with the intent that either side could become so good that games just become predictable one sided affairs. By design, the killer is supposed to kill 2+ survivors on average. And for the most part, that’s what happens. Perks, maps, RNG etc add in just enough chaos to make games feel winnable on both sides. You don’t need to 4k every game. You don’t need to 4 out every game.