Imagining a no-emblems version of DBD
Suggested changes:
Remove double pips
Killer pip: 3k+, of which at least 2 sacrificed and of which none martyred (read the rest for an explanation).
Killer black pip: 2k by any means OR anyone else DCs OR 2+ hatch escapes.
killer depip: 1k- OR you DC.
Survivor pip: Escape through an exit gate.
Survivor black pip: Survive for 9 min+ OR hatch escape of any kind OR death before 9 min OR martyred OR abandoned OR be the last survivor alive OR anyone else DCs
survivor depip: Sacrificed before 9 min OR you DC
Endgame collapse cannot start before 9 min, unless only 1 survivor remains. Prior to this, the top of the screen is a 9 min timer bar that both the killer and survivors can see. This is known as the entity's patience bar.
The patience bar disappears once 9 min have expired, or once only 1 survivor remains. If an exit gate is opened with more than 1 survivor remaining prior to reaching 9 min, the egc will be put on hold until the 9 min mark.
Hook progression is halted whenever the killer is within 16m of the hooked survivor and not in a chase. Last remaining survivor excluded. Different floors excluded.
Survivors on the second stage don't need to struggle by tapping space if the hook progression is halted.
When the killer leaves the 16m radius, the need to resume struggling is delayed by 3 sec. During this delay, there are audiovisual cues which give the survivor a heads-up.
If a hooked survivor passes into the next hook stage due to the 60 sec timer (i.e. not due to escape attempts nor failing to struggle), all healthy survivors not currently in a chase instantly get a lvl 3 stillness crow.
When a survivor is downed before the "safe hook rescue" event is triggered, the rescuer gets a lvl 3 stillness crow once that survivor is hooked again, even if this takes place much later.
If a survivor's hook progression has been halted by killer proximity for 60+ seconds total, OR if 1+ teammates have received a lvl 3 stillness crow for any reason during their time on the hook, the hooked survivor gets the option to hit their active ability button to trigger a death event for 5k BP, instant death by sacrifice, and a black pip. This choice is active as long as the survivor remains on the hook, and is entirely optional.
If triggered by the killer, it's called "martyrdom." If triggered by other survivors, it's called "abandoned" (this replaces the current "abandoned" event, which is related to DCs).
If anyone in the game DCs at any point, the match immediately ends.
Those who DC lose everything they brought or looted (items/add-ons/offerings), lose all earned BP in the game, and depip.
Others in the game keep everything they brought or looted (items/add-ons/offerings), lose all earned BP in the game, receive 2k BP per minute the game lasted before the DC happened, and black pip. The BP per minute is capped at 32k and unaffected by multipliers.
BP bonus for hatch escape increased from 2,5k to 25k to compensate for the fact that the last survivor alive already black pipped by default, and cannot pip from a hatch escape. This gives them an incentive to continue trying even if exit gates are not a realistic option.
Advantages:
Survivors won't be punished by a depip for being moried early, being abandoned on the hook by their team, or being hook farmed by their team.
Killers won't be punished by a depip for someone bringing a key.
Solo survivors who are left alone after being ditched by a swf with a key can no longer depip, as the last survivor always black pips at worst.
Survivors won't die on hook due to being camped.
Killers who camp excessively won't pip.
There are natural and straightforward incentives built in against camping and against neglecting to unhook teammates, as well as unhooking unsafely.
Survivors can only pip if objectives are actually being done, and they are actually trying to escape. No more "pip and die" strategies.
Killers won't be punished for playing too well (i.e. killing people too fast/efficiently for the emblems to keep up with them).
The patience bar lets survivors see how they're doing against the 9 min guaranteed black pip threshold, which rewards a certain degree of stealth early on, while at the same time making inactivity meaningless past a certain point. This should help prevent both excessively long and excessively short games. This may also go some way towards alleviating killer frustration with generators going too fast early game, while also alleviating survivor frustration that teammates are too scared to ever do objectives.
Killers who want to pip may mori a maximum of one person per game, which should make "sweaty" games more fair for survivors.
It will end the controversy around what is considered a "win" by various people, since kills/escapes will now directly correspond with pips.
Survivors can focus on surviving, rather than chasing emblem points.
Killers can focus on killing, rather than chasing emblem points.
Disadvantages:
Comparatively, it's more likely for a good killer to depip due to 3+ escapes from being matched against a strong team; than it is for a poor survivor to get fully sacrificed within 9 min by a good killer.
Survivors who want to at least black pip regardless of the strength of the opposition have an easier time doing so, since they can just hide until the 9 min mark if they are on death hook.
Conversely, strong killers can rank up fast by getting 3k+ after 3k+ against weaker teams, while strong survivors may have trouble ranking up since they can struggle to escape unless they get decent teammates.
This may make killer feel comparatively hit or miss, where you pip against average randoms "every time," and depip against a strong swf "every time." On the other hand, strong survivors who mostly play solo may feel their progress stagnates, and get the impression that they are forced into a black pip "every time."
Killers and surivivors may both feel cheated out of a win if they inadvertently trigger "martyrdom" or "abandoned," thinking they had more time before they had to act. Then again, 60 sec is a long window. Survivors can see hook progression, and no killer stays near a hook for a full minute outside of chase by accident. There aren't really any excuses.
You may end up in a situation where you're headed for a win and then forced into a black pip by a DC, even though you could still have pipped in that game. Yes, this can happen occasionally.
Then again, how much fun are we having in games with DCs? Even if we win? In the vast majority of cases most people would prefer to just move on the the next game immediately, while not losing anything they brought, and while receiving some BP compensation that is proportional to the time investment.
Griefing might potentially be taken to a new level, given that anyone can now DC at any point in order to get a guaranteed pip deny for everyone else. Then again, nobody will depip besides the DCer. The others get to keep their gear and earn some decent BP as compensation for their time. Nothing is lost but the pip. With harsh enough dc timeouts, this shouldn't turn into a rampant problem.
These changes do nothing to address the problem of people killing themselves on hook. Not really a disadvantage, but still a non-improvement.
Currently, a teammate can screw you over by being afk or running at the killer after being unhooked, resulting in an "unsafe" unhook for you. While taking on a different character, this problem remains unsolved even after the suggested changes. Again, not really a disadvantage, but still a non-improvement.
Conclusion:
The advantages could potentially outweigh the disadvantages.
The advantages serve to smoothen out the most frustrating and punishing extremes of the game; while also making the game more directly aimed at achieving vs. preventing the core objectives of:
generators/exit gates/escapes.
This will make the gaming experience feel more intuitive as well as more consistent for most players.
The disadvantages may make solo survivors feel they have less power to impact their own rank than killers. Then again, the changes also create more incentives for survivors to actually cooperate and try hard to escape, as opposed to running around and cheesing certain emblems.