Haddie Kaur: How to mishandle a Survivor in every way possible
So by now it’s fair to say that Haddie is one of the least played original characters. But why is that you may ask? Well let’s look at Haddie’s short history in the game to see why she’s so unpopular within the community.
Even before her launch Haddie was being teased by BHVR through different tome stories. These tomes depicted different versions of Haddie which was already a pretty big mistake imo. If I liked one interpretation of Haddie and that wasn’t the one we got I’d be pretty disappointed for example. Otherwise it was a great idea to have a survivor being teased in the lore and a survivor who has a closer connection towards the entity.
Then comes Haddie’s launch. She releases with one of the most unique original killers being the dredge and the horribly designed yet cool looking garden of joy. Her three perks Overzealous, Residual manifest and inner focus are all Niche, Underpowered and quite frankly pretty boring perks. Since survivors are bought for only their perks 90% of the time this was already an issue. Dredge became the focus of the chapter as most killers do but to a much greater extent since he was such a departure from the norm
On the cosmetics front she wasn’t much better. She launched with the least cosmetics of any original survivor and still has the lowest to this day. Since her launch she has received 2 cosmetics and both of which have been time limited offers. One was through the anniversary event tome and the other as a prime gaming promotion. Her 1 store skin is a locked set which severely limits her cosmetic variety and potential for cool mixed sets
Now let’s say you’re a new survivor looking at the roster to decide a main. Haddie has the least cosmetics of a original survivor, 3 mediocre perks and a design that appeals to less people than most
So BHVR I only ask please give Haddie the attention she deserves since she’s one of the coolest original survivors you have created!
Sincerly one of the 2 Haddie mains
TL:DR: Haddie’s launch sucked and her future looks about as bright as adam’s or Jonah’s if not worse
Comments
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Who cares about how many people play a given survivor? They're literally just cosmetics.
It is 100% down to visual appeal and a bit of their vocals. Back story, perks, chapter, etc. mean absolutely nothing.
There's also the positive feedback loop of new cosmetics. Popular survivors get more cosmetic options, which makes them even more popular. There's no solution to this, because cosmetics make money. Why release more Haddie cosmetics if only 2 people will buy them?
Post edited by EQWashu on10 -
I mean statistically the longer the game goes on and Survivors get added the fewer players you will see running paid characters.
It's not like I see an ocean of Yoichi players out there, either.
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I like choosing between three 'technically not identical' heads. Also can somebody tell me what exactly is so aesthetically pleasing about Garden? It's just a big house and normal tiles with a red tint.
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Yoichi is very unpopular as well but I think that’s more so down to just how little people actually know his character. He’s an aged up version of the main character from a Japanese horror film.
That and his lack of cosmetics
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Perks play a part into who you buy and therefor potentially who you play. Not everyone has every survivor so they might main the character who has perks they want on.
The backstory matters though to a much lesser extent than appearance. Jeff’s backstory is the main reason I play him for example
Sadly the positive feedback part is right. I just hope Haddie gets some cosmetics down the line that aren’t time limited or locked as a set.
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Yoichi is also not even the main character of the original film. He's just an OC don't steal because BHVR wasn't willing to pay for Reiko's likeness.
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I liked Garden of joy’s boundaries and things like the upturned bus window. It’s not the most appealing but it looks pretty nice
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Eh.
Here's the thing.
A 'new' survivor doesn't really mean much beyond perks and a new skin. Thus, unless it's an extremely iconic character like Ada or is part of a challenge, people will play them a bit to get their perks/see something new, then go back to the survivor they have all the addons, cosmetics and offerings on.
It's why you see so many Dwights, Megs and Fengs running around and not many Jonahs or Yoichis.
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That’s definitely a fair point. My main issue lies in the fact that BHVR were clearly hyping Haddie in the tomes so she could have a big impact in the lore. They then proceed to release her with 3 pretty trash perks and 2 time limited skins alongside 1 locked set.
Why put in all that effort when you do everything to make people not want to play her?
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I don't think perks have anything to do with it, especially now where you can unlock them universally.
The only thing that's going to get people to play a survivor is either that survivor being iconic, or having some sort of actual advantage (Ace's noise profile).
There are exceptions, like Mikaela, but she fulfills an iconic archetype in that she's a 'pretty witch'.
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Perks are more so whether you buy the survivor in the first place. If you buy a survivor there’s more chance you will play them. Right now Haddie has 3 awful perks not worth buying
2nd point is debatable. Not many seem to care about the noise advantage since Ace himself is very rare to find (Mostly due to his mediocre perks). Characters like Kate, Mikaela and Yui are all played because they appeal to a lot of people through their cosmetics and Lore.
If characters like Haddie were to receive more cosmetics they would end up being played more. But to be honest I don’t blame BHVR for releases constant Meg and mikaela skins since they do make the most money
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I think you raise an interesting point about how they did her teaser lore with various different versions of Haddie. Personally, I think that's an aspect of the lore that's been mishandled. I think the only time I really thought it was done well was with Terra Arachna, where you saw a clearly different version of Falls City and characters from Nea's tome in a survival horror story. Otherwise, it just... disconnects things, I guess, to throw out a bunch of conflicting lore and then say "this all did and didn't happen at the same time" or "the backstory we just gave you is of an ~alternate version~ of your character." It gives any particular story way less impact and mostly comes out looking confused.
Also, yes, Haddie desperately needs cosmetics. I know for a fact that there's a black version of her Prime outfit that's seemingly vanished into the ether, and it was meant to release with her alongside that Prime outfit. Her Masquerade outfit is great, but that was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it release.
While people are correct that the more survivors exist, the fewer people will want to main a new one unless they're from a beloved licensed property, Mikaela Reid is a perfect example of how good perks and good cosmetics can attract a significant fanbase.
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2 out of 3 of Haddie's perks are not bad at all! Overzealous grants repair speed boosts for as long as you play safely. Making it a great addition to a gen jockey build!
Residual Manifest guarantees flashlights from chests and removes killers aura reading for 30 seconds with each blind. Great for flashlight warriors!
Inner focus is the useless perk because it is just simply not as good as other more useful perks like Bond, Empathy, Alert, or Kindred.
It all boils down to her not having enough cosmetic options. Her very limited cosmetic options are simply boring and very bland compared to the other female characters.
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Locking her cosmetics behind prime gaming was dumb, I wasn't able to get any of them because I don't own a credit card. "But the free trial!" you still need a credit card. I would honestly play her a lot more if they gave her new cosmetics and released her prime cosmetics in the shop. She's a unique and underrated survivor in my opinion.
Post edited by Tsukah on2 -
My Boi Jonah is doing decently well actually
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Haddies "recolor" heads aren't even good. The recolor of lipstick/jewelery is barely noticeable. They should've either recolored her white streak or recolored her hair and left the streak white or recolor both. It's sad how little effort they've put into her cosmetics.
They should release all the prime cosmetics in the shop (this coming from someone that owns the prime cosmetics). Wait 6 months to a year max and then put the cosmetics in the shop so players have access to more cosmetics, especially on the characters that are lacking in cosmetics. Honestly do that with all rift, event, and prime cosmetics - including charms. As a Zarina main I want more people to have access to her rift cosmetics so maybe more players will start playing her and we get more cosmetics for her.
We have this terrible loop of survivor characters rarely being played so BHVR doesn't bother with cosmetics BUT those characters are generally barely played BECAUSE they not only lack cosmetics they lack unique cosmetics. It's at a point where BHVR should stop adding new survivors because they only give attention to handful of the same survivors and the other ones are left to rot. They should just do a survivor perk pack for original chapters for lesser amount of shards, then require players to go through 50 levels and prestige a random survivor character 3 times to unlock the perks on everyone.
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Those survivors become more popular because they have more skins.
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adam and jonah both have some really good perks
unlike haddie
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All new survivors besides her launched with 2 green cosmetics so there should realistically be a second one. Now that Haddie has more or less failed to attract a playerbase it’s unlikely she’ll receive much attention which sucks
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Adam has 1 solid perks and Jonah also has 1 solid perk. Jonah has got a tome already though so that’s a pretty good boost to his popularity
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Exponential can be a decent situational combo and Overcome is great. Adam has Deli & Pebble/Autodidact are both lots of fun goofs.
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Residual manifest is fine but even for flashlight users it’s effect is pretty negligible except maybe against I’m all ears but at that point just run distortion
Overzealuos needs a hex to actually be significant which are already rare in this meta. Even then 1 injure and it’s gone completely
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Adam’s teachables are super fun! Jonah’s are pretty boring though imo but overcome is pretty strong
Haddie’s perks just feel too situational to be used at all consistently
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Almost all the perks on both sides are situational but in my experience hex perks are pretty common actually. Also Pentimento is a common enough killer perk that also respawns the hex. To each their own though I suppose.
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Yeah I really wish haddie got some more love. I mean how long has it been since she has gotten any cosmetics
Also her perks need buffs if they ever are going to stand a chance and be used
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They had chance to make cute Indian girl survivor but what we got is Nea's grandma. So i am not surprised she is not popular, she is lame almost like Jonah.
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i main yoichi lol but fair i guess
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To me the only reason why I don't play her is the way she looks. She is just not pleasing to my eyes to say it in a friendly way.
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Pretty much this ^
I have 1 survivor main, with all my unlocked perks.
Im working on number 2 because i like to have more than 3 builds and i cant remember them all.
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I would love to play Haddie more but her base cosmetic does not look good at all. The prime cosmetic plus the anniversary event tome cosmetics are cute but months have gone by without any new cosmetics for her and it's very disappointing.
I had high hopes that she would get some love for the Halloween event since her character is connected to spirits and such through the lore, which would really fit the spooky season but nothing...
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Not every woman in the game has to be downright beautiful. Even then Haddie looks pretty decent (Just wish her hair was actually white like it should be)
Agreed on Jonah though. So much wasted potential with him
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Honestly I’ve been seeing tons of zarina lately. Probably because she’s got some great cosmetic choices now compared to launch
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Yeah I don't get the hate for him either and to be honest I don't feel his lore is that bad either
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This is pretty much it right here. Haddie just doesn't stand out in beauty and uniqueness like most of the other female survivors do. Regardless of how people feel about it doesn't change the fact that beautiful female characters sell in video games and entertainment in general. I see Kate, Yui, Feng, Meg, Jill and Mikaela all day but I can't recall the last time I saw Haddie on my team. In fact when the chapter released I think I only had Haddie on my team 2 or 3 times.
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You said yourself in this post why it matters, and why people care. Some people like the lesser used characters and would like to see them get some attention on the cosmetics side, not go in the bin of forgotten survs.
And really the die is cast in this regard pretty early in a surv's release. I think each new surv should have a number of cosmetics release at or very shorlty after their initial release. It's pretty obvious that you can directly tie a survs popularity to their cosmetic options, and if you release a surv with one or two underwhelming cosmetics and then ignore them for 6-8 months, of course no one is going to play them.
And I think this the gist of OP's point, and it's valid.
Why even create these new characters if you are just going to let them rot on the vine? Might as well have only ever released 5 or 6, if they are the only ones who get any attention.
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Yeah, but you ever see or been in a four man Yoichi squad? :P
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they also call him a cold hearted war criminal even when he was tricked into doing said thing against innocent people. like yun-jin is worse than him
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But it is video game, beauty is important part to sell characters. But you can sell with different abilities too.
Dwight is not handsome but his costumes are usually so troll and funny. So people are buying them.
Nea is very ugly but her cotumes are so badass. She is selling very well.
Jeff is great option for metal music fans.
Haddie... She just has nothing special. She is badass in lore but her cosmetics are terrible. Her hair is terrible. Look Zarina, she is maybe not so pretty but she has a lot good costumes. Especially the AoT skin... There is zero reason to pick Haddie. Her costumes are boring, Youchi and Jonah have same problems.
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i wish haha if i had friends to do that with i would
Yoichi feels the role of asian male, which aside from jake park there's only like 1.. he's also quite handsome (yoichi)
Jonah also feels the niche of an under represented group, so they have that going for them, so i imagine that's how Haddie is for that group (indian)
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Yeah, it's really all about the cosmetics. If you release a character with underwhelming cosmetics and then just ignore them, they're doomed, simple as that.
You have to give people a reason to invest in a new character early on, and that reason has to be cosmetics. It's more important that you give new characters a fighting chance than Feng, Dwight, or Kate getting their 2,957th new outfit. By the time they getting around to making new ones like six months later, it's too late.
People will say "Well they're not getting played, so why invest in them?", but it's like no crap, you never gave people a reason to play them.
Look at the last few non-RE surv releases, and it's the same story. Yoichi is rarely played (few cosmetics), Jonah is very seldom played (few cosmetics - he got a good one recently, but again, too late), Mikaela (quite a few cosmetics, resonably popular).
I actually like Haddie's hair. The fact that she has very little variety of hair, not so much. Her lore is among the best, her general appearance needs some tweaking, but is unique. The only thing missing is more cosmetics. Her launch cosmetics are very uninspiring; the basic outfit is pretty bland, one other is a Prime reward, the third has great elements, but is linked (lame).
The different abilities is never going to be a thing. The game is built around standardized survs (in terms of gameplay), it's far too late to change course on that.
Again, my thought is that no new original character should release with any fewer than 4-5 distinct (not counting pallete swapped) cosmetics.
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He’s not even the main character, he’s the secondary character in ring 2 and a background character in ring
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