Barrier to entry
Hi guys, new aspiring serial killer here. I want to love this game. I've put a number of hours (and dollars, ugh) into it, and though I'm nowhere near a veteran at level 45 and a rank of green 10, I've got enough time to confidently say I'm a committed beginner.
That said, this game makes it freaking HARD on someone just starting out. I'm not talking about gameplay, learning about looping, 3 genning, etc, I'm talking about just having the resources to have fun playing in the first place. I'm not so much complaining about the matchmaking (even though it's rough going against a prestiged red rank 1 and their 3 friends they convinced to play virtually every killer game) it's about the fact that I'm severely disadvantaged by game design before I even get a chance to try and compete against naturally superior players.
Now, I'm not new to gaming and I'm not new to grinding, but this is just absurd. It wouldn't be an issue if I were matched up against similar level players going through the same grind, but I never am. It's not just an odd game here or there, I am always against at least one or two survivors with a full suite of rank 3 optimized builds. Usually when joining a game like this late, I just commit to one class/character and grind them to a competitive level, but here I can't. I HAVE to thin out my attention to multiple killers to unlock teachables, so it's a tremendous amount of playing sub-15 killers with 1-3 base perks versus the pro swf team I'm invariably matched with.
It is 100% demoralizing to have at least one person just trying to use that advantage to meme on you every game.
I have a feeling matchmaking is busted partially because of this. New survivors don't want to bother with the absurd grind and just play with their one friend who's maxed out so not having perks isn't as big a deal (plus, especially with comms and how easy it is to loop well enough to put a lot of pressure on the killer, perks just aren't as big a deal for survivors).
Meanwhile new killers... just stop playing at some point as the game is largely stacked against the person that's supposed to be in the power role. When I play killer, I constantly feel like I am behind and not going to make it. I'm frantic when I can't find survivors and feel very stressed trying to end a chase quickly. When I play survivor, it's about toying with the killer and enjoying the chase as long as I can. I never really mind not knowing exactly where the killer is. I feel like that's backwards. I'm not saying I want to win every game as killer, I'm saying I don't want to feel like I am immediately losing when the game starts.
Nevertheless, I don't have a problem playing against better players if the playing field was a little bit more even. Why not just make all level 1 killer perks (for purchased DLC, even, to keep the PTW aspect alive) available in every bloodweb and just make the grind about getting rank 3s? Keep the slow Shrine drip for people who don't want to pay for DLC. Like I said, I'm not new to gaming; it's usually a "buy now to get it" or "grind forever to get it" sort of choice for this kind of game. I've never played one where it's both for very long.
I want to play this game. I don't want to just get dunked on for a year or so, having to play a bunch of killers I don't enjoy, just to get to a point where the playing field is level and it's fair and fun.
Comments
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Get one killer that you like and that has some decent perks, level it up. Many killers are perfectly viable with the base perks or even no perks. (I started with Bubba because of BBQ, not because I liked him)
Use the BP from just playing that killer to level other killers that are low level, weak, you don't like, etc. Then you'll start collecting teachables without having to start over repeatedly.
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Matchmaking is busted but fix should come this month. About the BP and perk grind, I don't see issue with it. I'm sitting around 160 hours and have teachables unlocked on multiple killers and I have BBQ at rank 3 on both Billy and Oni, which is the ones I play 99% of the time. With BBQ and BP offering grinding perks doesn't take that long. Unless you are really unlucky getting your perks from bloodweb.
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That's what I'm doing but it's a huge pain in the ass that I just don't feel when playing survivor. Plus the matchmaking issues only affect me when I am playing killer, I have never had an even match as killer whereas I have never once been matched out of my league as survivor. Since unlocking perks seems to be an easier fix than matchmaking, that's why I suggested it.
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I know the struggles with matchmaking. And I hope fix is coming this month and it actually gets fixed. Most of my matches are against players way out of my league.
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If they fix matchmaking then it's not as big a deal; at the very least I'd like to be in or around the same point in the grind as the survivors. But the core gameplay mechanic still seems busted. Just my opinion, I guess - I feel like I should be more nervous and scared as a survivor than as a killer but I suppose that's just how this game is.
I never feel like I need to grind as a survivor, perks are nice but whatever - I never feel at a severe disadvantage if I don't have the meta as pallets are available to everyone from day 1. As killer, I'm frantic looking for any advantage I can get.
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Yes I highly agree. The grind in this game, even after the update that made it less ridiculous, is still extreme. The fact that literally all the best killer perks are teachables is particularly problematic. You simply need to try and get the killers with good perks, whether you want to play them or not, which either takes a lot of play time, and as you said, all that play time you have to spend in matches where you are at a clear disadvantage, or you have to spend money on the killers to get their perks faster.
If the game had at least four or more really good killer perks that weren't teachables, thing would be at least somewhat better, but sadly that's not the case. NOED and maybe Whispers are the only real good killers perks that aren't teachable as far as I know.
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Yeah, it's kinda ironic that in a horror game I pick survivor when I just want to relax, and killer when I'm feeling like I want to be pushed.
Just kinda how it is, though.
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Well I wouldn't even mind that dynamic if it wasn't exacerbated by the grind inequity. If the game is harder as a killer - that's fine. More incentive to get better as a killer. What I don't like is that perks are SO much more valuable to killers than to survivors, who already have the advantage, yet the grind is the same or worse (at least I enjoy my survivor games, win or lose).
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