Choices and Cooldowns in Dead by Daylight
When playing a killer in Dead by Daylight, a very core part of your fun playing the game is developing, building, and mastering your playstyle. Choosing how you play, when to use your power, builds, addons, and much more really makes every killer a unique and fun experience. However, recently BHVR has taken a new approach to powers that I believe to not be beneficial, fun, and doesn't hold true to the powers from killers beforehand.
It all started with the release of the Spirit. With Spirit, came the introduction of a power with a cooldown. Ever since, they've released only two killers who do not have any sort of ingame cooldown to their power: Plague and Oni. Every killer they've rebalanced added a cooldown as well, including the upcoming Doctor changes.
Now, how is this a problem? Surely if a power is too strong, it should be given a cooldown. That is correct, but that also outlines the problem. The new powers for killers are too strong, oppressive, or unfun to be used whenever the player wants to. That gets rid of a lot of choices the player can make. Instead of thinking "when can I use my power to be most effective", you have to think "when will the game let me use my power again?'.
Think Ghostface's Night Shroud. If Night Shroud could be completely deactivatable and activatable at will, it would be fairly oppressive, especially on closed maps. However, what if Ghostface's Night Shroud had a downside instead, while being able to be activated at will of the player? Like, lets say, it makes Ghostface go 4.4m/s (haven't really thought of it balance-wise, just proving a point). Now, you have a choice of when Night Shroud would be beneficial to you, and when its a detriment. You can choose when to use Night Shroud, allowing for more freedom, strategy, and (objectively) fun.
Like Doctor's Punishment and Treatment Mode. In Treatment Mode, you have obvious benefits and downsides. You move slower, you can't attack, yet you can block survivor vaults and increase the survivor's Madness. And there's 0 cooldown, you have complete freedom to choose between your Modes and choose which situation each Mode benefits you in.
How should these be fixed? As an avid player for well over one thousands hours, my message to BHVR is don't be afraid to give killers downsides! Making a killer strong and slapping on a cooldown can be unfun for both sides. Nurse is one of the strongest killers in the game, and for 3 years she had an enormous downside to her power, yet was and still is the strongest killer in the game. Giving killers weaknesses to open up skillful counterplay opportunities if they're power is strong enough to make up for it is much, much better than giving a killer an uncounterable, unfun, and oppressive power balanced by a cooldown. Give killers their entire kit on demand, and don't make every killer just a standard m1 killer. It'll add unique killers and unique playstyles. Give the players more choices.