phobias / banning killers you don´t want to face
One of my friends gets really disturbed by the Onryo. He doesn´t have a phobia or some other mental health struggles but something about this killer really scares him. So I wondered what people with real phobias do, who also want to enjoy the game because not every killer bothers them.
To DbD community members with certain phobias killers can trigger like:
coulrophobia (fear of clowns / Clows), hypochondria (fear of illness / Plague), trypophobia (fear of bubbles / blight), emetophobia (fear of vomiting / Plague) and others or people who experience serious motion sickness because of clown´s blurring power - how do you deal with these killers if you get them in your game?
To everyone: would you think banning a/a certain amount of killers you don´t want to play against in the lobby would make your game experience better? For example if you don´t want to face nurses and spirits, you can just ban them as a team and don´t get in a lobby with a nurse/spirit player.
I would love if you share your experiences / thoughts with me!
Comments
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While it would be cool for accessibility issues, it would also be a major problem if a large group of players just took advantage of it to ban nurse and blight just because they’re tired of them.
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I am afraid to lose
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I think people would just use it to stop playing against Nurse/Blight or other good Killers.
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If people would use it to ban Spirit then that’s the end of DBD for me.
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Personally I think it would make queue times even more awful. The game is meant to be scary even if it may not be so much anymore.
Sure this will sound a bit heartless but I don't think the devs should focus time on trying to be all coddly with people who can't handle something in a video game. If anything it enhances the fear factor in game. If it's to rough then just don't play I guess?
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This is pretty much what would happen, and why any sort of system to block killers by survivors wouldn't work and would only be abused.
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Yeah people would just use it to cull unwanted killers from their roster simply because those killers were strong.
Its a horror game I say embrace your phobia.
I'm waiting for some kind of arachnid killer, people are particularly scared of spiders.
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I was terrified by the ring in early 2000's when I was younger but not anymore especially sadako in dbd looks smol and adorable and derby she's funny more than scary.
Ban won't work in DBD because everyone will perma ban nurse.
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Sounds like a horrible idea really, there's no way people wouldn't abuse such a feature to get low tier killers only.
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"Oh, yes, I'm latrophobic. Can't handle nurses. Very convenient, I know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"
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Bird momma genuinely freaks me out. Her animations, the noises, the presence. I hate her so much. Even after I've played as her and against her so much I still get a sense of dread when I go against her.
Sometimes when I'm in a chase I'll be doing great then I'll get a rush of "oh God make it stop please just go away!"
Dunno why, I don't have any issues with any other killers or horror in general.
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terrible idea
1) if you have phobia, avoid horror themed games, exploiting fears is their whole focus
2) some killers would become literally unplayable
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That's weird , I think she's hot.
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If you have a phobia of a character in the game, I suggest playing a different game.
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I can see where you're coming from because I too thirst greatly for the killers, just wishp I could meet you there with her but I cannot.
I don't even think she's sapient or sentient enough to consent anyways.
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People would use it to ban Killers they find 'unfun'. And then those Killers would have massivly inflated queue times.
Also; what happens if 4 people in a lobby ban 4 different Killers? An SWF could basically dodge the 4 best Killers.
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I have a DH and DS phobia so I want to ban those perks. Do it BHVR.
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Yeah it’s not gonna work because people would just abuse it as others already pointed out.
though I would like some accessibility setting where it can be implemented for different phobias (like an Emetophobia setting where Plague doesn’t make vomit sounds and graphically it gets adapted to something neutral - think how Grounded made the arachnophobia setting - of course it would need to be implemented in a way that it doesn’t give an advantage)
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Do you also go into a circus and then complain when you see a clown?
If you want to play a horror themed game you gotta deal with it.
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Not everything is meant for everyone. If scary horror characters freak you out, maybe you shouldn't be playing a game where you get chased around by scary horror characters.
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Nurse needs to go.
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Way too abusable.
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Caw
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A popular treatment for phobias is exposure therapy, so if anything DBD could help you 😊
But no, survivors should absolutely not be allowed to ban any killers.
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I think you just have to deal with them, at best you can ask the devs to use a specific mod to help you out. There is plenty of mods available that dont alter the gameplay but do cover up certain issues. Like removing the bottle nausea effect in favor of even less vision(the nausea effect is meant to disorientate, literal blindness would be the closest compensation for such an effect), or removing Clown's make-up.
Now, mods are a very thin line between optimizing personal game experience and mechanics that are abusive. I really do think it would be nice if DBD added a filter for phobia's, but at the cost of something else. I think its quite fair for Plague's vomiting noises to be completely silent, so you dont hear it coming, nor do you hear it if you were playing the killer. And you could say that its unfair, but its practically impossible to change certain visual/audible designs without creating a massive benefit for people who dont have the phobia. It's one of the reasons why color blind mode took practically forever. Because how do you create a colorblind mode that doesnt give players without colorblindness a free perk? You cant really demand to see a doctors note. So you have to revisit all the important indicators and alter them in a way that cant be abused.
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It’s a…horror themed game 😂
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i'm not really sure. i mean on one hand accessibility is very important, but on the other how much can you really do for a horror (themed) game? it's literally supposed to provoke fear. i'd really rather see the opinions of people who actually experience said phobias before anything else.
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I felt bad for a Twitch streamer when I looked back on her VOD because I was playing Clown and she had a fear of Clowns. Felt terrible afterward.
I can understand where people are coming from with phobias and disliking facing killers for that reason but others would easily abuse it to ban killers they don’t like. It will never happen :/
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No.
I'm sorry to say it but - no.
This speaks to a wider issue within media, but especially horror gaming right now.
The entire point of horror is to be scary - and yes, this means that sometimes you'll poke at people's phobias, intentionally or unintentionally.
And here's the thing.
Almost everyone has something that could be defined as a phobia. Be it clowns, spiders, clowns, blood, deep water, high places, fire, clowns, snakes, knives, needles, wide open spaces, dogs or clowns - there's always going to be something. And while it can be admirable to try to make your game accessible, once you start hacking and slashing content in order not to scare anyone, you wind up...well, not scaring anyone.
And that's how you end up with weak horror. Or at least with something so bland that it leaves no impact. The Resident Evil 2 remake did this, removing the moths and spiders for this exact reason - and while it was certainly a competently made game, it lacked the edge and grit of the original.
Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but my policy has always been - if you think this thing is going to upset you - maybe just do something else? That's the glory of gaming and horror; there's something out there to fit every taste.
This too.
I have an acute fear of needles (well, it's more of a bodily penetration via injection phobia, trypanophobia to be technical) to the extent that my wife has to basically sit with me when I'm getting a blood draw, but seeing injections in the virtual world never bothered me.
The closest I can get to a phobia of this nature is a pretty severe fear of deep water - especially with limited visibility - but I'd never demand that Subnautica changes to make it easier for me to enjoy. I actually find that sometimes it can have a pretty solid therapeutic effect - sort of a self administered version of graduated exposure therapy.
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I have a fear of teleporting and bouncy bois.
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A fun aside - I spent most of my adult life in Japan, and bird phobias are insanely common (ditto moths) over there. I spoke to a few of my friends about it, and apparently it's because of their capacity for sudden movement. They are like little feathery jumpscares waiting to happen XD.
I'd be curious as to whether The Artist freaks Japanese players out.
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I mean it is a horror game so I fail to see the problem.
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I have severe vomit phobia, but I still deal with Plague when I go against her. It took me a while to actually get used to her when she first came out, but I faced my fears and eventually got over facing her. It would be nice to have this option, but it would be abused. If it bothers you that badly, don't play the game.
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If you can't handle horror, do not play a horror game.
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I dont think im arachnophobic but i cant stand see spiders even in video games i hope we never get a spider themed killer
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Never heard of someone having fear of bubbles 😅
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"No its obviously for my phobia, nurse, blight and spirit are my worst triggers"
I bet this would be a very common phobia if DBD did this test lol
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I love how everyone instantly names Nurse and Blight but doesn´t elaborate on whatever other good killers might exist.
We need more variety on the top.
The only solution for Phobias would be to change the perception of the person. Say, for example that someone has a phobia of clowns. Now in order to not block every clown, how about we just change the player modell of the clown. Just for the person that checked the phobia box next to said killer. So instead of the clown, he´ll see a generic humanoid being (sorta like that one doctor skin). That way he can still play against clowns without the fear of triggering the phobia.
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This would never worked.
It would cause top tier killers being perma banned with forever que times and Survivors waiting in also forever que times because: 1) many killers would stop playing, 2) they would refuse to play some no-banned killers.
This would create a new top tier meta of non banned killers where Survivors would be sick of seeing the same Artist, Hag, Bubba, etc. And got tired and then.... etc.
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I have a fear of clowns but was actually okay with Clown. Wraith used to legit scare me, I'd pretty much go into a state of anxiety when I'd hear it was him at the start of the match. I never DC'd but it was damn close in the beginning. The more I played against him though, the easier it got. And now I'm actually pretty much okay. Still a bit on edge but I can handle it and play well.
If I was still reacting badly then I'd probably just accept that maybe the game wasn't for me. But a bit of exposure therapy did me well so lol
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I have a fear of rabbits. I hope I don't have to face huntress ever again.
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OP here ;)
I´ve read through all of your replies and I´m really thankful for them. I knew a system like this would get abused to ban killers you just don´t want to face. And yes, queue times would be awful ^^. The post was meant to be a thought experiment on how a game can manage to be enjoyable for people who experience a phobia that just one killer triggers without telling them "go play smth else". I was just curious because I don´t know anyone to ask but you guys and I personally don´t have any issues with the killers.
Some of you had way better ideas like changing the player model only for the person who suffers from a phobia or changing clown´s blur for them through an option. This is a really cool and good idea that wouldn´t even affect the other survivors and can´t be abused very much. I know something like this is very certainly not coming to DbD because it means tons of work but I really like the idea.
It was so interesting to read how they affect your game experience and how you some of you managed to overcome your fears after some time! Thank you all so much for your replies and I´ll read through all of your future answers aswell.
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As the Killer, I'm afraid of what Dead Hard can do. Can I ban that perk so it can no longer scare me?
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How dare
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That's actually really interesting to know, I would've never guessed.
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I really hope we do, and spiders freak me right the hell out. Because Iike my horror games to be...you know, scary?
You know, I hope that the hemophobics never get a solid advocacy base, or else we're back to 90s era 'if there's blood in it, it's getting banned' :|.
Yes, it's pretty interesting.
Although Japanese crows are a different breed. I remember once I had a bunch steal an entire tube of Pringles from my bike basket as I rode, and later - after I hocked a rock at them to try and stop them from stealing my entire backpack - I came outside to find maybe 500 sitting on every tree, telephone line and rooftop...just watching me.
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They can add some activable options to change how you see or hear some killer:
- Default skin for Clown without make-up
- Alternative color and sfx for the Plague's vomit
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Abusable.
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I agree with your scentiment. Anything to make a game more inclusive is a good idea.
Unfortunatly I think a majority of players would use such a function to avoid killers they don't want to face simply because they don't like them... making the game impossible for certain killer mains.
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