http://dbd.game/killswitch
The Problem With Balancing Via Spreadsheet.
Balancing via spreadsheet like the devs do currently would only work if they had an idea WHY the values are the way they are. Like killers with two useful add-ons aren't bringing them constantly because they're op but, because legitimately these add ons have so much impact in comparison to the other ones that it's legitimately nerfing yourself to bring anything else. There's a reason you see most nemesis players running Marvin's blood and Licker Tongue for example.
It also affects killers to because killers with high kill rates either aren't touched at best or are nerfed. It has led to generally weak killers staying weak because "kill rates are high they are doing fine." is a common thing. Sadako is weak af but, because she has a high kill rate because BHVR can't be bothered to give survivors a way to learn killer powers outside of matches she has a high kill rate. Kill rates are inflated due to the generally selfish play styles people have developed and people's general refusal to learn certain killers.
When I play ghoul for example I'll have at least one dc in a match and if it happens to be all four I have a choice both of which make numbers for ghoul inaccurate. I either kill the bots which is a 4 k never mind the fact that I wasn't playing against people but, if I don't feel like playing against bots the system counts it as a 4 out.
All I'm saying is it's fine to use the numbers gathered to aid in balancing but they don't tell the full story. BHVR is doing right by new players by making the new survivor experience less painful but, lots of the changes are at the cost of the killer player base in general. Not to mention the buffs that killers are getting in 9.6.0 with the exception of Wesker aren't enough to be felt. Like i genuinely wanna ask the devs why they thought .05% on doctor's cooldown or shaving 2 seconds off of ghost face's was enough. Hell skull merchant has just been left in the trash because what do you mean she's only getting UI changes? If you're gonna buff something BUFF it, ya know?
The reason I'm complaining about the buffs is because it is highly likely that the devs will not touch these killers again for a long time when they desperately need love.
Comments
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There's a feedback section in the forum and outcry has often made things happens. Fog vials made it out of the ptb and then were decimated due to complaints. If anything, they take feedback too seriously sometimes. I'd rather them balance around data than whining since much of it isn't about genuine balance, but role bias and an inability of people to accept the problem is them, not the game.
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DCs (and therefore bots) aren't included in official stats/kill rates that are used for balancing purposes. Devs have said that before
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That doesn't solve the issue of people straight up giving up for them either though. I either turn friendly and it becomes a four man out because the players in the lobby refuse to learn or I kill them even though they were just standing under hook. Both decisions inflate or deflate the numbers. Furthermore numbers are nice but they can't tell the full story.
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I don't know where the idea comes from that BHVR just balances based on a spreadsheet. Sure, they have number targets, but these are more general principles. They've said in stat releases before they understand the difference between Nurse's KR and her upper end (for example).
BHVR can't be bothered to give survivors a way to learn killer powers outside of matches she has a high kill rate.And they haven't given killers tutorials on how to actually chase around loops, when its a good idea to bloodlust a survivor around a pallet, what perks work best on each killer, or a target practice game for Huntress.
Would KRs be different if they did those things? Sure, but they haven't.
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The Devs should just play their own game. I bet a million so many things would get nerfed in they played a high mmr killer match against a bully squad. But that’s never going to happen again because how much embarrassment it caused the company.
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As others have said, the available evidence doesn't support the idea of BHVR only balancing around spreadsheet numbers.
In fact, there's a good simple example of this in action— you bring up the idea of killers with high killrates getting no changes or nerfed when that isn't appropriate, but the two poster children for the difference between killrate and strength are Nurse with a low killrate and obscene strength + Pig with a high killrate and (historically) low strength.
Well, Nurse has been nerfed a handful of times (including this PTB, albeit only via addons) and Pig's been buffed multiple times over the past few years.
The devs do understand the limitations of data, it seems. Whether they make the right decision in any given circumstance after that point is subjective, of course, but there's just no reason to think they only look at spreadsheets.
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The way fast track made it to live in the trickster update is one of the things that shows that the BHVR team doesn't play enough of the game though. Like it wouldn't have been hard to swf up to see how bad the Stakeout+Hyperfocus+Fast Track+ Toolbox with BNP actually was ya know.
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