9.2 Developer Notes are emblematic of the problem with all updates
I wanted to take a moment to try to go through the entirety of the Dev Notes that were released today, but I think my main take away is that a lot of these changes will fail because the Devs are trying to do too much at once. I don't think we need a long list of special effects to combat tunneling, especially particularly devastating "hidden" penalties when somebody dies. I don't think we need a list of buffs to nerf Wolf form.
Slugging Changes
I think these changes might be fine but there are two points that worry me:
- Once 90 seconds have passed, is it a single use pick up or can this survivor pick themselves up indefinitely once recovered?
- How "gradual" is the crawling speed increased?
I think if the crawling speed ramps up slowly and 90 seconds = 1 pick up we're golden. Otherwise, I can see this being frustrating when a group tries to exploit it. I don't think exploiting it will be necessarily efficient (though that won't be those group's concern), but I'm having flashbacks to the basekit Unbreakable PTB. Everyone running Sabo and dying in corners so it was impossible to hook anybody. I just don't see anything in these changes that avoid that scenario returning.
Tunneling Changes
These are the ones give me the most pause because there is so much going on with these.
Changes that I think are good and should be kept:
- The lack of unhook notification prior to the end game.
- The addition of the Elusive status effect
- The killer instinct immunity
- No collision
- All the new, extra stuff lost on end game and conspicuous action
- The killer getting bonus kick damage
Changes that I think are dicey and need adjustment:
- The Haste effect
- We've learned from the recent Clown adjustments that Haste stacking can become an issue. There are already perks that give Haste upon hooking, so I'm hoping that there are some sort of adjustment to those that will keep this from getting out of hand.
- The aura reading
- As a base effect, I think it's a bad idea to introduce aura reading that doesn't reveal itself to the survivor like 2v8 does. Specifically I'm thinking this because of new players on survivor - they're not going to know why the killer always knows exactly where they are. Veteran survivors are going to know they're revealed anyway so it isn't giving them information they don't already know. This isn't a perk effect that should be kept hidden.
- The aura reading exclusion list
- This is probably the dumbest part (not the worst, just really dumb) part of the Dev notes. A specific list is not going to be a good way to maintain who gets the full benefit and who doesn't. While I agree with everyone on this list I do notice a few major omissions that would benefit greatly from a base BBQ effect. Huntress and Artist not mobile, but they can hit survivors across the map easily when they have auras, characters like Dredge and Unknown have environmentally dependent teleports but can also close large distances very quickly.
- My suggestion here would be to get rid of this list and make it so that the base BBQ effect cancels immediately when a killer activates their power. Huntress picks up that hatchet? The aura is gone and she'll have to anticipate where the survivor moved from there. Dredge or Unknown teleport right on top of the survivor? They aren't going to get the aura for the beginning of the chase. This method would account for every single killer already on the list as they use their power to close those gaps anyway AND it would account for every potential future killer that has mobility or map wide threat. Please consider this.
Changes that I think are bad and should just be abandoned:
- The "disincentive" effects.
- They are very convoluted and extremely punishing for a "hidden" effect.
- A survivor dying before SIX health states does not mean they were tunneled. If they're your first, third and fifth hook you're still "doing it right" by getting unique hooks but then this weird penalty pops up on you.
- The "last hooked" is also a vague wording that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Whenever a survivor is sacrificed on a hook, aren't they the "last hooked"? I'm assuming it means hooked twice in a row or mori'd after being unhooked but it's a concerning phrasing that seems like it will apply no matter what.
- I also just dislike the idea of completely turning off a wide selection of killer perks over this. I've had plenty of killer games where I hook someone for the second time, they get unhooked, later I down someone else and the unhooked person flashlight or pallet saves them. I go after the saver, since they're preventing me from securing other hooks and then BAM goodbye Pop or Dead Man's or whatever. I haven't gone out of my way to tunnel in that scenario, but the "right play" was to target that person to prevent them from getting further saves. In this scenario the killer is in between a rock and a hard place. Lose some of their perks or potentially lose more hooks to a rescue.
Killer Updates
Shape
One of my friends told me they added pig dash to Mikey and I was kind of incredulous but reading through the changes I think I am at least willing to try this one out.
- I like the idea of being able to swap between T1 and T2.
- I like the concept of dash attacks, even though this one still seems… unnecessary. We'll see.
- I like that the Mori is now a death hook only thing, but also doesn't seem like it will require an add-on. This may do a lot of work into normalizing what a game vs Mikey is like.
- I really like the call out that Old Myers is still an option via an add-on.
- I am looking forward to the add-on changes, and am hoping we still have Scratched Mirror in some form to buff Stalker mode.
Clown
These are good changes because you're reverting aspects that the community did not like AND you're not buffing something else in compensation needlessly. This is sort of why my main pain point is "doing too much" because while these changes will be effective you're not introducing other elements that add an unknown element. If Clown proves to be too weak after these reversions then at a later date something else can be adjusted. This is how changes like this should go.
Dracula
These changes are another example of "doing too much". The cause of these changes seems to be that Wolf form was overperforming. To respond to this, Wolf form nerfs are warranted. These are fine.
And then we "do too much" and buff Vampire and Bat forms. Why? If Dracula is overperforming overall because of Wolf Form, why does he need MORE buffs than the nerfs Wolf form got? Where's the sense? This is 2v8 Legion all over again.
Perk Updates
I'm always excited to see these, but usually a little underwhelmed when they happen. The "Elusive" status effect seems like it would be a nice fit for a lot of older, rarely used stealth perks like Dance With Me, Deception and Poised so I'm hoping those get some attention if not this patch, then one soon.
Anyway that's my rant. I wish the Dev team was more discerning with the changes they go through with. I would rather get drip fed anti-slug and anti-tunnel changes so that we know they have only positive effects on gameplay. I don't think this is necessarily apocalyptic but I can easily see there being a ton of unforeseen scenarios and issues that come up from trying to set up such an elaborate and bizarre system in one go.