Has BHVR considered that the root of the problem might be map design?

leowt
leowt Member Posts: 45
edited March 2023 in Feedback and Suggestions

I personally think that the biggest impediment to game health is map design. Though I understand the good intentions behind many of the changes in the upcoming patch, my impression is that either

  1. BHVR does not understand how map design holds back game health or
  2. They know, but the task of rebalancing maps is too resource-consuming compared to slapping on a band-aid solution.

For instance, take the nuking of gen regression perks, in particular the gen-kicking perks Eruption, Call of Brine and Overcharge. The intention is to prevent 3/4/5 gen strategies and long games of attrition. But have they maybe considered the contribution of outrageous gen spawns which enable such strategies? Have they considered making sure that Haddonfield doesn't spawn a 4 gen around main? Or have they considered changing it so that Suffocation Pit / Azarov's Resting Place doesn't spawn 5 gens on one side of the map? No, they went straight to nuking the perks.

Another example, take the healing rebalance. The intention is to prevent survivors from rapidly undoing the Killer's pressure and time investment as soon as the Killer drops chase. But have they considered why the Killer does not commit to the chase or convert that injury to a down and a hook? Could it maybe be because the survivor makes it to a completely busted setup with multiple connected loops? Have they maybe made sure that those setups don't spawn on Garden, Cowshed, or Badham? No, they went straight to tweaking a few numbers and called it a day.

What I'm trying to say is this - there's a lot of important work to be done that could drastically improve the health of the game, and BHVR, knowingly or not, sidesteps all of it by implementing quick, band-aid solutions. This approach to improving game health is frankly concerning.

To their credit, they are reworking Blood Lodge and Gas Heaven. I hope we can see more of this, and it would be nice for them to prioritize reworking maps that lean too heavily toward one side or the other.

I hope we as a community can put aside the Us vs Them arguments, bickering about which side got the shorter end of the deal each patch, and unite in pressuring BHVR to put in the hard and necessary work of rebalancing maps to make the game better.

Comments

  • Technature
    Technature Member Posts: 619
    edited March 2023

    Whaaaaaaat?

    But *insert half the maps in the game* is so good why would you even say that?

    Are you implying RPD is the worst map in the game because that might hurt the devs feelings.


    But seriously why does Garden have a basically infinite loop on the house?

    WHY DID THEY INTRODUCE AN INFINITE TO RED FORESTS HOUSE!?!