BHVR Appreciation post - 2018 ~ 2023 changes (non balance focused)
I decided to put together a list of changes made to the game over the years that brought it to a much better state. The focus are changes that aren't necessarily balance oriented (killer powers, perks, map balance, etc). Most are QOL changes even if some ended up affecting balance.
I appreciate the devs for delivering all of the listed below. It is even more notorious when it was done without putting new content on hold, always fulfilling their roadmaps.
- Dedicated servers - Playing against lag switchers back in P2P era was painful.
- Cross platform crossplay.
- Graphics update - Realm beyond stuff, generators model and little animations while repairing (making the game feel more immersive), characters visuals and animations.
- General optimization - In-game menus started being choppy (stuttery and slow) after every update. File size was also reduced at some point.
- Addressing the title and offering screen effects causing overheat.
- Attempts to improve matchmaking.
- Rank/Grades rewards.
- Significantly better tutorial - Back when I started we could only read stuff.
- Constant bug fixing.
- Frequent communication with the community.
- Addressing hatch standoffs by giving killers the ability to close it.
- Addressing survivors stalling the end of a match by indefinitely not escaping via the introduction of End Game Collapse.
- Hiding the killer's loadout from scoreboard screen until the match is over (to address dead SWF calling out the perks)
- Canceling a match if it loads with less than 5 players - Those that played then will remember how often we'd load into an 1v3 or 1v2 right after the camera spin.
- Removing the white screen as blind effect - This is still commonly used in modern games but DBD found and elegant solution.
- Removing tapping to struggle on hook and wiggle.
- Removing mori spamming.
- Making every original outfit available for free.
- Constantly improving (or trying to) in-game events - Gameplay related and also adding an in-game page featuring a checklist for items received.
- Introducing "click to hold" option to actions.
- Addressing flashlight clicking (and macroing).
- In-game HUD improvements - Survivor actual portraits and survivors actions.
- Anonymous mode.
- Accessibility features - Visual heartbeat and color blind (the color blind option isn't that good unfortunately).
- Loadouts - We also got outfits loadouts as a bonus.
- Perk search function - It ended up being a search across the entire inventory, including cosmetics, as a bonus.
- Addressing the issues with the prestige system - No longer losing the entire inventory during prestige.
- Addressing the perk grind - P3 characters unlock perks for every other character.
- Improving the tome and rifts after every iteration - Click to choose & claim challenge, select multiple challenges, etc. The very first tome had some problems and slowly but surely those problems were addressed.
- Bloodweb improvements - Click to buy, buy entire branch, buy entire bloodweb.
- Bots in KYF - So killers can practice and all the improving that followed it such as ability to asign perks, choose character, etc.
- Bots in public matches to address some of issues caused by rage quitters.
- Preventing survivors from stopping gen regression by doing a drive-by gen tap.
- While queuing with a specific character, the ability to spend BP on others in the meantime.
- Significantly improved store, giving us the ability to mix-match preview as well as collections pages and much more.
- Different game modes (including the highly requested 2v8).
This was written from memory and checking the game itself while playing so the order is mostly random. Let me know if I forgot about non-balance oriented changes that improved the game.
One can argue that a company who is aiming at a game's longevity will inevitably improve it but in DBD's case, being almost the sole competitor in its category, devs could sit on QOL and push licensed content to maintain public interest. Fortunately for us players this didn't happen and instead devs worked towards delivering almost everything the community would throw at them over the years.
The current state of balance and fun factor is a whole other discussion.
Comments
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They allowed trapper to reset traps and carry 2 by default.
It was a great day when that update dropped
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The fact that in the streams they do, they genuinely seem passionate, and the devs here on the forums seem like real people. Sometimes I feel like they receive too much hate.
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I just want the next generation gaming consoles to come out so they have to upgrade the visuals of this game again.. It still looks pretty dated on most maps.. Would really like DBD to look like a game that was made in 2024.. Would be breathtaking..
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I have only started playing in 2021 but even since then BHVR have made a lot of good changes. They really do deserve a good pet on the back every now and then. And now seems to be as good a time as any.
When I started playing Forever Freddy was still a thing. I can't tell you how glad I am that that's gone. Apart from being broken beyond it was also such a slog to go against.
I also played on the old Coldwind maps and while I do miss them (I liked the overall atmosphere, felt really scary), my lord were they unbalanced and ugly.
The reduced grind is a huge quality of life improvement and I'm so glad that new players don't have to experience the horrors anymore. Spending millions of BP by hand to get 1 prestige level, unlock like 70 perk levels and repeat on every single character was atrocious.
The rewards for grades are super nice. And by now MMR creates mostly enjoyable matches for me. Although, it might have something to do with my mind set switching too.
The flashlight cooldown to counter macros is one of the best things they ever did. I remember one game in particular where the survivors managed to make nauseous by spamming macros all game non stop. I didn't even know I had that issue before. It only got better when I turned off the sound of the game. So glad that is no longer possible. Whoever decided to remove that, you deserve a raise. :-)
Base kit BT. Thank you, BHVR. Great change, no argument.
The increased survivor HUD is a huge deal in my opinion and it really has helped me a lot in solo queue.
Some super cool cosmetics have been added to the game like Milkman Billy. That one is so great. It's my favority cosmetics in the game.
DBD finally means Dead By Daylight again and not Dead By Dead Hard. I still remember sitting next to a friend of mine during one of his first matches as killer, trying to teach him he couldn't just survivors. It hurt my soul to see him suffer through 4 DHs.
The meta shake up in 6.1.0 while not perfect was definitely a good thing. So much more variety in perks
The cheater situation has drastically improved. Every once in a blue moon, you still find some things that don't add up (until you see them running at the speed of light) but you no longer have to look out for the smallest things to catch subtle cheaters anymore.
The perk search bar is such a nice thing. And it's even better than what we asked for. You can type in "aura" and it shows you every perk that has some aura reading effect to it. With all the perks we have in this game it's easy to forget some of them, so this is really helpful.
Plague's quality of life update was so good. I can't tell you how terrible she used to feel and how much of a difference this makes for the overall enjoyment of a match as this killer. Not having her choke anymore feels soooooooo much better.
Some really beautiful map reworks. While they aren't ideal in terms of balance, BHVR have created some maps that look absolutely stunning. I could stand and stare at Mother's Dwelling and Haddonfield for hours.
The added bots are a great addition too. You can now test something in a custom game against a bot that is mostly decent in chase (very realistic performance on some structures) and they even changed them so that mind games are possible as the bots now slightly hesitate some times. They even replace disconnected team mates in public games now.
No more button smashing on the second hook stage. BHVR, my space bar thanks you kindly. Just as my A and D keys do for the wiggle change.
Something that is not yet in the game but as we know will come eventually is an update to the killer's FOV and I can't tell you how excited I am to be playing with 4 perks again. And I don't even have motion sickness! It's just that I actually prefer seeing what is right in front of me and be able to turn around without taking a second to remind myself what year we live in, what I was doing, and where I am. I look forward to that one.
Recently, they have also been communicating a lot more and it feels great to have the devs chime in and tell us a bit about how they operate and what they have planned for the future. And of course, the most recent statistics are much appreciated.
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I highly recommend checking the VOD for the streams around year 1 and 2, they are so much fun.
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