Addressing the Elephant Vol.1 Comp DBD
Today is the start of a small little blog series I'll be doing here on the forums in which I'll be addressing major issues in the game. These issues could be about the game itself or its community and my goal is to offer an unbiased viewpoint and journalism about the state of the game and it's community. Today's entry is about competitive dead by daylight. In the following paragraphs I will be talking about the following; intricacies and rule sets, how the playstyle differs from casual play, why comp DBD is looked down upon by casual players, and the unfitness DBD has for a competitive scene.
Comp DBD is completely different from casual play as I'm sure you know. In comp rule sets differ from tournament to tournament, most of which tend to be more survivor leaning/sided. Most score systems go off of hook stages and kills for killer, and generators completed and escapes for survivor. No not all tournaments are equal and not all of them have these score systems like this, but most tournaments follow that score system. In most tournaments survivors are only allowed to bring yellow or lower items and add-ons and no perks are banned from both sides, unless specifically stated in the tournament or if perk bans are ever allowed from team to team like in some games like League of Legends. But for the most part no perks are banned. On the killer side it goes from killer to killer depending on the strength of their add-ons. Keeping all of this in mind, let's move on to the next section how does the playstyle differ?
In comp DBD, the objective is to... Well do the objective as fast as possible to secure points for your team. For survivors this means obviously doing gens and keeping your teammates alive to deny the Killer of getting points. This leads to our first change in gameplay the chase. In comp Play When a Killer finds a survivor you will find that the survivor seems to drop pallets really early, this may make you think that the survivor is playing inefficient and may not be a skilled but that's not the case. In an unfortunate case of fact playing super safe and preserving your life works in comp play. The survivor can drop as many pallets as they want as long as their teammates are all doing the objectives. This knowledge causes survivors to play extremely safe and always take the safest option regardless of how entertaining that is to watch. As a side effect of this, you never really get to see the skill of the survivors or the Killer, you simply see what lot of people have said to be "how low ranks play". But the difference here is that low ranks don't really do gens. Most casual players gauge somebody's skill off of how well they can waste a killer's time using the least amount of resources. This means dropping the least amount of pallets for the maximum amount of time waste. These are the type of chases that most people would say are entertaining. On the killer side of things the super safe play style of the survivors forces them into a box where they pretty much have to camp, tunnel, and secure three gens to have any chance at getting hook States or kills. Some Killers like a nurse will have a much easier time. But any other killer will be forced into the box. This leads me to the next section, how does the community view the comp scene?
A majority of casual players that I've talked to prior to writing this have said similar things. That they don't think there's much skill in comp play. And I honestly can't disagree, but not in the literal sense. All the players are really skilled but we don't get to see that skill because of the way they have to play to win. The skill of comp DBD comes from game knowledge and map awareness as opposed to actual mechanical skill which is more entertaining to watch and easier to demonstrate. Most casual players look down on the comp community because they see this as a party game that shouldn't be taken as seriously, and though I can't disagree I also can't agree. Dead by daylight has a grey area where the game changes identities based off of not only the person playing it but the play style and temperament of the person playing it. Someone who views this game as a party game won't care about winning so much and worries more about fun and enjoyment. However, someone with a more competitive mindset maybe somebody that's came from traditionally competitive games like COD may take that competitive mindset into this game as well. They will not see this game as a party game and they will be trying to improve and be better than the competition which is where the comp scene stems from. But, unfortunately a game like DBD simply isn't fit for this type of competition.
DBD being a 4v1 asymmetrical horror game is inherently unbalanced. Unfortunately there's no real way to fix this that won't change how the game is played drastically. The maps are done on a seed system that can't be influenced in the custom lobby and most maps in the game aren't really balanced for competitive play. The way the game works makes gens fly by in a competitive scenario because the survivors can get away with playing safe. On the flip side, Killers like nurse in the right hands can overpower a competitive team and make the game look easy. Though a lot of add-ons are banned some add-ons on some Killers can flip the game on its head with one usage. This game is inherently unbalanced, and that's okay. As Scott Jund once said,"... People will play a fun unbalanced game, but people won't play a balanced unfun game..." And that's the point I'm trying to make here. We all love this game, or else we wouldn't be playing it. Sure the game has some issues but we have fun nonetheless. The comp scene isn't going anywhere, I think we realize that. But the least we can do is respect how each other like to play the game. This game isn't a one way to play game. It's unbalanced, it's quirky, it's buggy, but that's okay because we have fun. Do I think DBD is fit for a comp scene not particularly. But the least I can do is have respect for the people who put thousands of hours into the game that I love to be the best at it.
Thanks for reading if you reached the end. If there's anything I get wrong let me know and I'll make an edit. If there's anything you think I should add also let me know. I'll be trying to do these once a week so ideas on topics will be appreciated. Good luck out there in the fog <3