We may be on the cusp of another DBD golden age.
With Elden Ring and many other games threatening to take a lot of DBD's player base, I'm actually starting to feel optimistic about the future of the game, and here's why:
Anyone else remember in early 2019 when Apex Legends, for a brief period, took over Fortnite. If you were in the Fortnite community at the time then you would know just how GREAT the game was. Somehow all these things that Epic said was "too hard" started magically happening. The community started rallying behind the game too, which is incredible considering how toxic the Fortnite community was at the time. For a brief moment, the devs took the feedback of the players very seriously, which was actually a good thing since the only people left were the hardcore fans. All in all, this was incidentally one of the best things that could have happened to the game, and is crucial in why the game is still sticking around half a decade later.
Now DBD is not even remotely as threatened as Fortnite was, but with a reduction in players comes a reduction of profit, and therefore is going to motivate the devs to get their act together. This is why I'm actually excited, as much as people joke about the devs being clueless, they definitely are not dumb, they know what we want and all it takes is one phone call from investors for things to suddenly start happening. The game will never roll over and die, and I'm certain the devs are far more receptive to feedback than we think.
Comments
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The DbD golden age is long gone, and doesn’t seem to ever be coming back. Unless they out of nowhere decide to revert the atmosphere of the game and make daring balance changes, and very soon.
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Our Golden Age is long gone, mate. The devs ruined everything that was even remotely connected to those good times, and are continuing to do so.
I don't doubt there is chance for a revival of the golden days, but not under the current leadership.
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I think you guys are seriously underestimating how much money motivates.
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What was the first golden age like? I didn't join until the Silent Hill chapter...
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Uh it was a thousand times better than this #########
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So what was this mythical DBD Golden Age actually like?
How? What made it so special?
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Money can be a very good motivator, but the devs themselves have not shown they at all care.
If we look at the responses the devs have had towards new games coming out that may compete with DBD, it has been bloodpoint events. We get minor adjustments every 3 months with sometimes getting extra minor adjustments on chapter patches which is far too slow for any meaningful changes that people want.
The devs are far too careful with making changes to the game when it desperately needs it and money isn't changing that.
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Ok that's cool and all but lets see:
- MMR existing
- Circle of healing existing
- Dead hard existing
- Unfun maps for both sides keep being put in the game
- Same said maps being horribly unbalanced
- As a consequence for bad map design, any killer that wants to be mid - high tier need some form of good antiloop
- The devs when changing a killer either nerfing them to bottom tier (slinger) or doing barely anything (trapper) - Spirit being one of the few exceptions
- W key meta being the most boring thing to be put in a videogame
- Trying to get 70% of the playerbase to play someone else other than blight/huntress is gonna be like trying to stop a crack addict doing, well, crack.
- Slow progress of updates
- The dude who's supposed to know how our matchmaking system works inside out doesn't even know what a "skilled play" is
- Absolute stubborness to go back on changes everyone agrees were bad/needed further work (billy, slinger)
- Even more issues (grind, new player expense, etc)
If we can get a "golden age" even through all of this then idk what I'll even do. It'll be a mirical.
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The "golden age" was before blight's time IMHO. The game has a serious problem retaining new players. For a game that's been going over 5 years, there' still no catch-up mechanic for new players to get on a level playing ground with those that have thousands of hours, every perk on every character and god knows how many items.
I don't even recommend this game to my friends anymore. Last time I did was 6 months ago, and my pal quit after 2 hours in. He's an awesome gamer, after grasping what's required to get the builds he wants and the way of getting there he uninstalled and I refunded him. We did play SWF, but there's only so much a Dwight with a single yellow useless perk can do during a match. Which is a shame, because he grasped the concepts pretty fast, it's just that he doesn't want to walk the trail of tears to get the perks he needs. In his words, "######### no".
To be fair, who wants to sit down and grind and grind and grind, all the while not even getting worthwhile rewards for the time invested, in matches that just suck the fun out of you? I don't mind the grind, as long as it's enjoyable, and that's a loaded qualifier. It's several orders of magnitude more enjoyable to me, who has everything, than to someone who's starting out with nothing. And unless there's a way to close that gap between old and new players somehow, I don't see much fresh blood sticking with the game. If you do, I salute you. Maybe I'm just jaded from all the time I've sunk into this game. Teachables need to go, buying a DLC needs to make those perks available immediately. You still have to find them in the bloodweb, but you no longer have to dump precious points into killers / survivors you're never going to play just for perks when you could really use those points to level a character you care about.
Here's another idea: A gamemode just like KYF, but with matches against randoms. A place for people to try out new killers / perks they don't have unlocked yet, can play outside of a ranked mode, and still earn some BP in the process. That would immediately improve the new player experience, because new players can try out whatever they want without worrying about miserly BP allocation, and get access to the content they paid for.
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Which maps are unfair in favor of the killer?
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It was...beautiful.
One of the best experiences the video game industry has ever provided us with:
Period.
EDIT: Figured it was best to change the image as we are talking about the golden age itself, and not just about one event that happened during those precious days.
Post edited by GeneralV on3 -
It's very clear that the devs aren't truly giving the game their all, if this were the case then they would've hired more people and allocated more resources to making sure content actually works properly.
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Midwich
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No mmr, no realm beyond, old Freddy, less balanced yet somehow more fun, the fog, old Billy etc.
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Dead Dawg, Midwich, Lery's, Hawki- oh wait, nevermind.
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I don't know ... normally, if the meta is stale or if there are glaring balance issues, there are things you can do to easily remedy the situation, ie just change numbers up or down on the PTB, monitor things for a week, adapt. In LoL, if something is too strong for too long, they change it, to give other things a chance to shine. Suddenly things might be stupidly overpowered that no body thought about, but then you change some other number and adept.
Changing numbers up and down to control the flow of the game is not hard, not even with the spaghettiest of spaghetti code. And numbers might not be the most exciting of changes, but it could easily be a constant change. Always keep an eye out what are the top 10 picks on each side and what are the top lowest picks and juggle those numbers around, in order to keep the meta somewhat moving and fresh. But instead of this you have glacial pace with the main meta unmoving and nerfs and buffs that no one understands.
They could even do a council thing and invite the top 6 or 8 contend creators to give feedback and work with the people, who have the deepest insight into the game and its mechanics, because they "playtest" it 10h a day. But instead people who really care, like Otz, make 8h videos of possible changes that would make the game more fair/exciting/fun, but not one hair of that gets even considered. This kind of behaviour of BHVR surely tends to make people a bit bitter, snarky and cinical about the future of their favorite game.
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Are you sure the game really was more fun back then bc of it's state and not nostalgia?
Not trying to be snarky, I have fond memories of when I started playing/earlier days when I was newer too.
If you took current DBD minus MMR and I guess Boons, is it really so bad? Also not playing devils advocate for either of those things.
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"Are you sure the game really was more fun back then bc of it's state and not nostalgia?"
Absolutely.
I can assure you that Haunter's memories are as fresh as my own. And everyone around here knows that, when it comes to Old DBD, GeneralV is our guy!
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I'm sure there's some truth to it
I just know how much nostalgia is also a factor in how people view things of the past, people yearn for better times
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There is nothing but truth to it :)
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I suppose a better question might be
can DBD ever reach that height again? Not popularity wise but I guess quality wise?
I'm sure many ppl don't think so but I dunno, the game must be doing something right in the big picture of things.
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The game will never be perfect, but I think it's in okay state. I'm still here and enjoying it.
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Yeah me too
Even if I think it's def in a v rough shape. Community interest and frustration is seemingly at an all-time high, it's not 100% the game itself to blame.
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Objectively speaking, yes.
It is not only possible, but quite easy. We just revert everything back to how it used to be during the golden days, make one or two QoL adjustments to avoid having some of the balancing problems and voila!
The game is perfect again.
The real problem lies when we question whether or not the developers would be willing to do it.
And the answer is disappointing.
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You're equating two games that are far younger and much more engaging in every metric and has a much better play experience compared to a six year old game that in a very comfortable and uncrowded genre. Elden Ring and DBD have even less overlap than DBD does with Fortnite or Apex. We're not about to experience a sudden golden age considering unlike the other games a "golden age" scenario looks exceptionally different depending on which side of the game you prefer to play.
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Saying the game should go back to how it was before is a naïve take, I have been playing Minecraft for about a decade now and I can safely say that while I love the older versions, playing them now feels very empty and clunky, that's what I imagine old DBD would play like now, it just wouldn't feel right without the QOL we've received over the past 3-4 years.
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I'm not arguing that there's going to 100% be a massive improvement overall, I just feel with the many new titles dropping soon, Behavior may be forced to get their act together.
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Do not refer to it as "naïve", mate. It is a personal and sincere opinion of mine.
And second, that is exactly why I mentioned one or two QoL adjustments would be needed. Going back to a better time, and the absolute majority agrees that Old DBD was a better time, doesn't automatically remove the possibility of fixing some of its problems.
Of course, those "problems" change depending on who you're asking. For me, there are none. For others, there are quite a few.
But you got the idea.
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Was there ever a "golden" age?
I started playing in 2018 but I watched some of the older stuff. Game was always a mess.
Still, I always kinda like it even with all the flaws. It scratches the itch other games don't.
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Yes, there was.
Though, the "when" will unavoidably change depending on who you are asking. The only thing every answer has in common, is that they do not mention the current mess we have.
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You said "one or two QoL adjustments would be needed" which I took as you saying that the game would be fine although a little clunky without them. Now I understand if you truly do think the game was better, but from an objective standpoint, the game has received a lot of technical, artistic, and visual improvements over the last few years. I couldn't tell you if it was the most fun on Earth, but I can research the many bugs and poor visuals that plagued the game.
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When I compare the current game with my experience from 2018, I don't feel the game is worse or better.
It makes me feel similar as back then. Some things have changed but the amount of enjoyment I get from dbd remains the same.
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As it stand the playerbase bleeds, new content and marketing pumps it back up, it bleeds again, pumps, rinse and repeat, but this is not a sustainable model. Eventually they’ll have to pull a finger out to keep the game “economically viable” but that may not happen for quite some time.
I’m not too fussed anymore. I do love DBD even though I think it’s a bad game overall, but I’ll be more than happy to drop it for a viable alternative.
I’m pretty hyped for Ash vs evil dead and chainsaw massacre.
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But you do not believe in the existence of a golden age, so it doesn't count.
What I am saying is that, for those who note the differences between their experiences throughout their years of playing DBD, their golden days are usually not related to the current mess of a game that we now have.
Well...to each their own.
Though I can safely, and without a shadow of doubt, assure you that such idea of mine of getting an improved version of the already perfect golden days would work.
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They didn't need to be called lazy to do that.
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From what I hear the DBD golden age was when there were 7-11 slushie machines on top of generators.
I didn't start till late 2019 so...
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Question: Do you think this game could enter a golden age assuming lots work gets done to make the game fun? EG: No MMR/MMR changes, certain balance changes (the deletion of Circle of healing), etc.
I really would not want old dbd back, it was hard carried by survivor's lack of skill making matches feel "fair" even though they weren't.
I personally really enjoy some of the newer killers both versing and playing, they add some variety in the game especially since most of them are super fun. That's probably the only reason I wouldn't go back.
Now that I'm thinking about it I would probably have artist deleted for circle of healing (and boons in general) to be yeeted from existence.
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The game was dark, mist offerings noticeably effected the appearance of the map, and hiding from the killer was actually possible and a viable strategy. It’s really funny because people on the forums these days are always writing topics about ‘gen rushing’. Well, now that all the maps are bright and every hiding place near most generators is gone, there are now killer perks that tell them exactly which gens survivors are on, and hardcore camping and tunneling... what else are survivors supposed to do?
A lot of players were obviously figuring the game out too, which is an element that can never really be brought back. And I don’t think there weren’t broken things back then (like instant gen pops with BNP and instant kill on first down moris), but overall it had this magical grasp on its players. I count myself one of the ones who had the chance to experience it.
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To be perfectly honest with you, my friend, my answer is no.
A true golden age like the ones we had, in my honest opinion, would require way more than just adjustments to the balance. For me, it is not just about which side should or should not have the advantage.
It is about the game around it too.
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As much as I would hope. This isn't Epic Games.
However you could very well be right. Like If you consider it, the last "Golden Age" change happened when the playerbase dropped around 30k, and right now from March to May of last year we had 55k players and gained players to 100k - since then; Dropped, recently consistently, down to 44k. At this rate end of March to June we would be at that 30k mark again, and then BHVR might go "Well ######### - guess they are right. We got to make the game more fun, less toxic, and stop the cheating".
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You speak of a great treasure, ya know:
Scorching Summer BBQ.
Widely considered to be the second-best event in the game's history.
Though I would advocate for things a little further in the past, this precious time is unquestionably within the game's golden age.
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The dark gloom in that image is spectacular.
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That it indeed is!
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My main survivor build is a stealth build, and I do just fine. Urban Evasion, Iron Will, Distortion, Spine Chill. I can't loop for #########, but I survive 80% of my games when I run that build. As a killer main, I would hate to see more survivors running those sorts of combos... I spend more time crouching around gens/walls/whatever than I do looping.
I don't know what the game was like before I started playing a year and a half ago, but stealth is still a viable strategy.
Yeah, from what I understand, "genrushing" doesn't have the same meaning that it had before toolboxes were nerfed. Moris are only useful for dailies and as counter to flashlights.
A lot of these are good points. It's not a forgiving game for new players. You're either going to die a lot or 0k a lot. It took months of regular play before I even felt comfortable.
The grind is bad, but there is a halfway good reason for it, and that's cheaters. It's a good thing that people who get permabanned for using hacks can't just buy another account and immediately be back to where they were, which frustrates cheating more than any number of technical measures that the devs do (or don't) put in place. That's the reason you can't buy bloodpoints, and it's a strong argument for leaving the grind where it is.
That is true.
I don't know if Dead Dawg is killer-sided, but I don't know if it's survivor-sided, either. It seems like a pretty balanced map.
Midwich and Lery's are killer-sided, and I would argue that Gideon's is still somewhat killer-sided even after the changes, on the basis of the fact that I win most of my games on that map as killer and lose most of them as survivor.
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DBD hasn't experienced a golden age. It's never been balanced good enough. We've been on the cusp of a golden age since the game first released. All the devs need to do is buff killers so they don't feel weak, and if need be, buff survivors to combat any unintentional OPness.
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I don't know about golden age but competition is definitely good. I seriously hope this game gets better cause it's been pretty ######### for a while.
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No
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unfortunately yeah. We are impatient lmao
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you don't get it, they're honestly unable to make the game decent.
they're not competent enough and the game losing players won't change that
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it absolutely wasn't, just ask any of these guys what made the game better to them and you'll understand who you're dealing with
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