Visit the Kill Switch Master List for more information on this and other current known issues: https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/kb/articles/299-kill-switch-master-list
Do better BHVR - The Baba Yaga skin
Watching this skin get released is sad.
As an Eastern European (Who lives OUTSIDE of Russia), I feel heavily conflicted about the Baba Yaga skin. It makes me happy to see a bit of acknowledgement towards Slavic folklore, as Baba Yaga had some significance to me, especially with my parents warning me to behave or they'll feed me to her (lol).
But why is it that Slavic/Eastern European representation is always just 'Russia'? Especially when most of the Eastern European/Slavic countries to this day, have conflict with Russia over what the country did to them.
We have 8 Americans, 1 Nigerian, 1 'Anglo'-American, 2 African-Americans, 1 Russian, 2 Japanese, '4' Canadian, 1 Babylonian, 1 Irish-American, 1 Scottish, '2' French, 1 Korean, 1 English and 1 Chilean..
Before anyone comes in here, saying that this game isn't about lore - I agree. But it is nice to see representation, or acknowledgement towards one's culture, or even the impact that the culture has on the design of the killer.
Baba Yaga could've been a concept for a whole new killer in itself - and probably would've been a better idea than squeezing a whole 'deity' into a skin. Seeing people hate on the skin because they hate her unique sounds and/or design, is pretty disheartening too as this is the only nod that we, Slavic people, get towards our culture.
Whilst writing this post, I wanted to make sure that I had all fronts covered, and went ahead to read on the lore of the killers that weren't simply classified as 'American'.. Those that are of only one nationality, seem to be alright as they somewhat explore the country that those killers originate from, but those that are doubled with American?.. Lazy lore writing.
Comments
-
There are no crows in South America.
9 -
Well this skin and the lullaby made me love huntress and become a huntress main. It might not be exactly 100% baba yaga but i'll take it.
3 -
I forgot about this - lol, but it simply reinforces my grievances about the laziness of writing one's backstory.
3 -
I'm happy that you like it, that it made you play the killer - I've witnessed a lot of hate/dislike for the skin though, which makes it harder to be happy about the skin
0 -
I am a killer but i never liked playing huntress before. Now i love her. The old lullaby was driving me insane.
1 -
I know how you feel we got German folklore ripped apart and slapped on the one Asian girl half the player base simps for. And it's not even good representation cause all they did was lol look it's a hood and it's red xD.... Bhvr should realize that sure these tales are known all over the world but they are part of some countries history and identity so either do the right or take your dirty little hands of my tales
7 -
Personally I feel doing that was actually intentional.
5 -
I agree. It's particularly bad that they clearly just made a skin and named it Baba Yaga. Almost none of her well known features are present at all.
Nothing about her is any form of duality like Huntresses mask is. She's known for riding a pot using a broom like an oar. Granted the pot would be hard to implement but at the very least they could have made her axe look more like a broom.
It's literally just a random skin and only named Baba Yaga because nobody knows other Russian monsters.
4 -
Baba Yaka has many appearances throughout folklore. It is mainly known in the russian way.
I mean we have some f-uped stuff in germany too that could make awesome killers.
0 -
I think it would have been better if they made her power completely different.I love the skin and new audio, but yeah it should have been a different power.She could work like Nurse with levitation because she floats in a giant pot and some other type of power not sure tho.
0 -
And why is it mostly known in the Russian way? because companies like BHVR tie it to Russia rather than to other Slavic countries.
1 -
I think so too. I could be reading it wrong, but I just assumed from the story that they might have been supernatural as they saved her on the bridge, and then straight up jumped a grown man at the end.
3 -
I thought those crows were representing Entity and it made sense they were always around Carmina, especially in a continent where crows dont live
4 -
I am from eastern europe as well and I couldn't care if I'm represented. Also slavic.
I also think this skin is dope and I'm glad we got it. Couldn't care less if it represents anything.
Just my 2 cents to show that not everyone is offended by this and is slavic.
2 -
Exactly, there is nothing representative of that culture.
Look at how lazy the design of Slinger is.. an IRISH-American killer... whose lore is about being a cowboy.. And the only acknowledgement you get is a skin.. in the rift.
Personally, just find it insulting that they use RUSSIA to represent East Europe/Slavic people when most of these countries genuinely hate or have political issues with Russia, just look at the conflict between Russia and Ukraine right now, like what?
1 -
Okay and I acknowledged that to some people, like yourself, it won't matter. But to others, it does and it would be nice to put in actual effort for those that care than to half-arse it.
2 -
The only other time baba yaga is mentioned in a game to my knowledge was tomb raider there isnt much that can be done properly about a folk tale character in a skin. I am actually surprised huntress got the mention rather than hag who is a witch even tho she isnt eastern european.
0 -
Thanks for being civil about our differences. I respect that.
1 -
But that is the issue - instead of attempting to shine some light on folklore that is specifically Russian, they use some from an entire culture that spans several countries and slap it on as Russian...
Could've even put a little chain with her shack that has chicken legs, somewhere on the skin.
2 -
i don’t think it’s fair to say they are using Russia to represent Eastern Europe. We may very well get more Eastern European characters later on. And tying a folklore character to current politics/events is also unfair to the origins and the culture of the folklore characters. I mean. BHVR is not supporting Russia here in any way.
It’s literally called the Modern Tales collection, it doesn’t need to be exactly like the origin story. And it’s got not ripped apart by giving Min the outfit. At all. Actually I find it pretty disrespectful that someone thinks in that way, as if Red Riding Hood is owned by the Germans…
And next to it being a red there is also the wolf on the back.
also we got a Gretel cosmetic for Meg (which is interestingly her second cosmetic being tied to Germany…)
2 -
I'm personally not surprised, as this is what often happens - slap a Russian character in a game, tie them to everything slavic-related and call it a day.
1 -
Wait you mean you didn't like your representation of Oktoberfest being an American girl and an American girl??
1 -
How is it not fair to compare if we are going onto 6 years, and not one killer has been that has been released after game-drop has been of Eastern European descent but Huntress - not to mention that in those 6 years, we had SIX american killers drop - not accounting for any other DLCs that are of any other origin (or tied with being American).
We are getting a 3rd Japanese killer, the next killer will probably be American too. It took them 5 years just to explore South America..
How is it NOT fair to criticise them for trying to capitalise and make money off cultures whilst not properly showcasing said cultures, if not being ignorant of them?
1 -
I do think they had a way to big focus on American characters. But they do have great variety overall, and it does not seem like they are stopping now.
i wouldn’t count licensed characters btw, as they are using obviously well known characters from pop culture.
also… Is Huntress even confirmed to be Russian? Genuine question, i don’t remember if it’s been confirmed from which country she comes..)
and.. they are still limited in the characters, even if every single character was from a different country/descendant, there would be countries/cultures missing. And they shouldn’t just take a list to add new cultures. I would feel more offended by that tbh.
(BTW I am actually with you on the topic, that Baba Yaga could have been represented better because it’s an actual different character like Krampus or Minotaurus; I just found the notion of them representing Eastern Europe via Russian character not fair)
2 -
And a German man.
as far as I know, you don’t need to be German to take part in Oktoberfest.
1 -
The national representation is related with the markets the game is sold in.
And you should not count the killers from videogames or movies, their nationality do not depends from the staff.
In the last killers they tried to diversify countries but you can't pretend to have 1 killer for each country.
0 -
I just wish that it wasn't Meg and Kate I'm being honest, we could've had some really cool skins for lesser-used characters, or just anyone else in general (outside of Feng).
0 -
Huntress has been confirmed as Russian, from her lullaby being a traditional Russian one to this.
2 -
Oh. Yeah. thats understandable.
But Meg having now two ‚German‘ cosmetics (Oktoberfest and Gretel/Modern Tales) could hint towards her having German ancestors/maybe being directly a German immigrant in (Canada or USA?)
but. Meg, Nea, Min and Kate do need to take a big step back from cosmetics. It gets tiresome.
could still be another Eastern European country as it’s referring to the Russian Empire which had many Countries under their control back then? I mean.. yeah it’s likely she is Russian..
0 -
Yes, she is confirmed to be Russian.
Licensed characters still need to be considered, because there are several of other horror franchises from other countries - with many potential characters. If we want to look at licensing, that becomes a separate issue as Pinhead is the FIRST non-american licensed killer (this is not considering Demo, Nemesis and Pyramid Head as they aren't human) - and he came out after 5 years of the game being here.
To be honest, if you just took all the killers that they made X-American, and fully focused on the other nationality, that would make 4 killers that are completely from different countries. Why is it that the nurse has no bibliography of her being in England, fully living in America but sporting Victorian attire? Unless i am stupid, Hag and Doc aren't specified in their ethnicities either as they are assimilated as 'American', with Hag's village holding onto parts of 'their culture' which doesn't seem to be mentioned.
But until they give me a reason to believe that they are actually trying to showcase Eastern Europe, this is their only attempt and it's pretty appalling. Also, i didn't mention the political side of things as a way of 'BHVR MAKE A STAND', but the fact that Russia is our representation despite the conflicts between Russia and several eastern europe countries.. yikes..
1 -
Why is your argument about every country when i never stated every country.. I said Eastern Europe, and Slavic countries. That is an array of countries that are in either category.
0 -
The majority of characters are either American, have American descent or for no reason at all, lived in America. BHVR isn't even in America. Some kind of jealously of their neighbours maybe?
1 -
I never talked about the Oktoberfest stuff I even think they are pretty nice
0 -
You ask for a killer that is related with your country and cultural heritage, the same way another person from another country can do the same.
0 -
Thats what I thought to about Meg getting a second German relate skin it woulnd be that uncommon
0 -
Putting a wolf on an red outfit with a hood doesn't make it better I know it's the modern tales series but that just sucks in my opinion and I don't know if my comment gave you the impression I am upset that Feng got the cosmetic for her being Asian (she has just to many skins) but that Wasen what I aimed for.
And well little red riding hood kinda is owned by Germany which doesn't mean other nations don't have the right to use it i think for every old tale goes the same no matter wich country its from. If you do something related to it try to keep the spirit and try to be close to what it should look like all that new modern interpretation of old tales especially the Grimm tales always tend to lose its spirit somehow.
But hey maybe that's just me looking at it to sternly cause I literally live where most of these old tales "happened" live half an hour away from sleeping beauty's castle and since I'm a child I'm a big fan of these tales in particular the really old kinda dark versions
0 -
I am also living not too far away and grew up with those tales.
but because of that I actually like some of the new/modern interpretations, eg Megs Gretel outfit which got an undercut (because sidecuts and undercuts for women are still an overused thing for BHVR… -.-) but it kinda fits and you can still see the relation to the origin. I would actually be upset if they tried to make a very close interpretation of it (and then of course fail at doing so).
i also very mich like Fengs cosmetic, with her hoodie and the chibi Wolf, it’s very much fitting for her character. And yeah I misjudged you there, so sorry for that. I agree she got way too much cosmetics in general already..
0 -
I like the grettel thing to but the Feng outfit makes me kinda angry I don't know why but that personal preference stuff I think I would spend money like an idiot if we got skins for the old school tale outfits (if they where good wich bhvr surely somehow screw up)
0 -
I think they pickde Baba Yaga because she's largely known to the rest of the world as Russian, and they were looking specifically for something Russian because Huntress is. It's unfortunate they chsoe something with more varied origins, but like I said, I don't think they gave a damn about what her lore is, they just wanted a trendy name so they could slap it on and call it a legendary skin akin to Krampus and Minotaur.
0 -
I didnt ask for my country, i didnt even specify which country i am from. I am asking for a killer from a region in the world that represents the culture of multiple countries - from a country that isn't literally having political and historical conflict with the majority of those countries.
Please direct me where I specified which country im from and asking for that country to be represented.
0 -
Ok then you would like an eastern Europe killer?
0 -
If I remember correctly Huntress is Russian that’s probably why
1 -
Yes, that isn't a Russian as using Russia to represent Slavic or Eastern European countries is possibly the WORST decision to make, and worst kind of representation.
0 -
Maybe we should just make all killers and survs naked, with no representation to anything, either it's wrong, people are offended, don't like it, like it and that's cool and thumbs up but mostly anything and most skins are very much jumped upon, just leave everyone naked, that way we have no skins, no nothing, no money spent, no one complaining, just have butt ass naked everyone and if not slap all the same undewear on everyone.
0 -
I very much have Irish blood in me, I have Irish relatives, I am not going to have a say so about skins on the killers and survs, so as a one who has Irish blood in me and with such culture, let it go, let it least Devs may not get it right but hey ho giving it a go and bringing things into the game maybe see it as a good then negative.
0 -
No.
If you are fine with it - good for you, I'm not fine however being represented by the country that occupied mine, and killed many of my people whilst trying to deprive us of our culture.
0 -
Right. Because not any of us have ever lost or been killed by any other Country. When did it become such a crime someone trying to e,brace anothers culture if they dont get it 9 to a T dont have a go, clearly your issues are further and deeper then a costume on BHVR nd clearly should be addressed away from this. Please don't bring this into a clearly game based forum, if they get it right or not least know they are not aiming to hurt people. If you feel this strongly about it then go further and beyond BHVR.
0 -
They should've done it as a Nurse skin, she floats already so would've been so easy to have her floating in a pot and be closer to the lore.
0 -
Or how about you get out of my thread?
I told you, if you find no issue with it, good. But myself, and clearly other users feel conflicted by it - and believe it or not, we are allowed to feel conflicted by a lazy attempt to 'show' our culture. Stop trying to disregard the feelings of others on something that isn't personal to you, or isn't continually done throughout media.
We are allowed to criticise and give feedback which is why the forum even exists - so if you truly have nothing productive to say, then just leave.
0 -
That's the first time i've heard this opinion, interesting tho
0
