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DBD has lost 27% of players and it's falling.

13

Comments

  • Master
    Master Member Posts: 10,200

    The frozen loading screen has first been an issue in mid of 2017 if I remember correctly

  • Wicked_Django
    Wicked_Django Member Posts: 128

    Honestly, if you are going to quit this game because of Legion, its best you leave. Legion is the easiest killer to play against. He’s slow, his power gives you a sprint burst to the nearest pallet, and he has zero map pressure. I see people waste so much time healing after getting hit. Stop healing. Youre wasting time.

  • NoShinyPony
    NoShinyPony Member Posts: 4,570

    @Wicked_Django People don't like Legion because he's annoying to play against, not because they think he's hard to beat.

  • SmokePotion
    SmokePotion Member Posts: 1,089

    Just want to point out that it's currently F2P and the numbers are still dropping.

    Maybe it'll pick up a bit tomorrow, but still. Sad. And this is a clear effort to bring up some numbers and get them in the green for a month. (which would still be in the red for the past few months)

  • Meme
    Meme Member Posts: 275

    Not surprised, this game is in one of the worst states it's ever been in. Barely enjoyable anymore.

  • ShirtlessDwight
    ShirtlessDwight Member Posts: 190

    Last Year could've been a good game but meh. Maybe it's just me but it's too much of a bully simulator. I wonder why no one copycated DBD's mechanic. It's not like anyone can copyright gameplay

  • Someissues
    Someissues Member Posts: 1,604
    edited April 2019

    It's normal. once ppl start playing, they become competitive.

    new players will kept turn into competitive players, rest will rage quit/ stopped playing

    High rank there is no variety, because devs refused to buff other killers and failed to see why killers like trapper, pig is still bad

    it took them almost 1.5 years just to buff Wraith, Hag

    now we need to wait 1.5 years for them to buff Leatherface, Freddy

    and now we have to wait 1.5 years for rework legion,

    when Dedicated server finally comes. a declined of 30% more players is expected, because MLGA will end up dead, and ppl can no longer block killers they dont like cuz they are too good

    Devs did absolutely nothing to stop MLGA, and ppl still abuse it till this day since its not bannable

  • Someissues
    Someissues Member Posts: 1,604

    Good good as a Killer = Blocked

    Playing as Legion = Blocked

    Playing as Nurse - Blocked

    DBD in a nutshell

  • ShirtlessDwight
    ShirtlessDwight Member Posts: 190

    pff and you can still lobby dodge right? To the point that I will get black screen bug and have to reboot the game after getting dodged for 10 times in a row

  • BBQnDemogorgon
    BBQnDemogorgon Member Posts: 3,615

    @Kilmeran Summon the 2x BP event. Events are what bring the big numbers.

    December had a week of 2x BP and numbers blew up.

  • Someissues
    Someissues Member Posts: 1,604
    edited April 2019

    i never dodge lobbies since i know the pain of waiting as SWF. if i know im going to lose i try to farm as much points as possible

    i even made threads proposing 15 min time out for ppl who dodge lobbies

    People block me cuz im good good as killer, or when i try to play Nurse/ Legion and they automatically think im legion/ nurse main since i play all killers

    Judging from your response u are one of those MLGA abusers i assume?

  • SmokePotion
    SmokePotion Member Posts: 1,089

    Agreed. I actualy had a friend ask if I wanted him to buy the game so he could play with me. I told him ."Nah, i love the game, but it's not in a good spot right now I'll let you know when the dev's fix things."

    I didn't want him to deal with d/cs on first death, and the host of other problems.

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142
    edited April 2019


    @Bbbrian2013 That's about the only trick they have left in the hat. The questions, though, are:

    1) Do enough of those people buy any missing DLCs or buy Auric Cells?

    2) Do they stick around after the event?

    If they don't, then it's not even a band-aid fix because, while folks might get faster lobbies with the Event player count boost, it did nothing to improve the overall health of the game and then we're back to where we were.

    It's happening now. Today's peak so far is 31k. It's a bump, let's call a spade a spade. But come Monday or Tuesday, what will the non-free-weekend numbers look like again? If Behavior isn't converting the free-weekend or Bloodpoint Event bumps, then it's an issue.

    So, we'll see in a couple of days.

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  • SmokePotion
    SmokePotion Member Posts: 1,089

    these free-weekends and bp events aren't bandaids, they are propaganda. They are there for people who like to check statistics, like steam charts, to trick them into thinking the game is in a healthy state. So they will keep buying DLC.


    If you think about it, it's hard to actually tell the numbers on steam charts because of how often DBD does this. We should take past numbers with a grain of salt, as they are padded with false numbers from free weekends ect.

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142
    edited April 2019

    @SmokePotion That's why I said, we have to not look at the free-weekend and Bloodpoint Event bumps just on their own, but watch to see what the numbers look like during the work week afterward.

    Did Behavior convert those returning players (BP Events) or new players (Free-Weekends) into regular players? If not, then those weekend numbers mean nothing.

    Monday and Tuesday will tell more.

    For the record, despite my criticisms here, I love Dead by Daylight. I want it to grow and stick around with full resource support for years to come. I got gifted Legion last night, then went ahead and purchased Plague and Ash to complete the current collection. I want Behavior to get their metaphorical heads out of their asses.

  • Milkymalk
    Milkymalk Member Posts: 221

    per se.

    PER SE.

    NOT "per say".

    It's latin. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/per_se

    Sorry but it really bugs me every time I see it spelled wrong.

  • SmokePotion
    SmokePotion Member Posts: 1,089
    edited April 2019

    I think we have to look at the gain they get from free-weekends and bp events, so we know the margin of error we are working with. But I get what you are saying.

    I also love, LOVE, this game, and want to see it self-right and improve. I'm posting this thread here to show people that there is a problem, and to rally people to try and push staff to fix them, before it's to late. I have real solutions posted in other threads as well, and I try to keep them bumped.

    This is my petiton to hold Fog Whisperers to a higher standard:

    Ideas for fixing the d/c meta:

    And a game adjustment i've playested in KYF:


    This is not me being a vulture, praying for the death of a game. I genuinely want this game to stop bleeding out.

  • SmokePotion
    SmokePotion Member Posts: 1,089

    I never even thought about that. I'm a disabled war vet. I stay home all day, and a LOT of that time has been DBD. Over 400 hours of time. Working on 5. And most of my killers don't have access to the perks they need to work.

    Keep in mind, I have the time to, and have, played this game 8-10 hours in a day. Maybe even more when I was trying to make a name for myself at Rank 1 ("Learning to Kill" is what i go by. I was planning to do a youtube channel devoted to killer education)

    And if I don't have kits on killers I want to play, what about the Mother or Father that only has an hour or two after their kid goes to bed, and before they gotta get some sleep before work? I had an idea that would help this, that i came up with for other reasons.

    In my post about fixing the d/c meta I suggest that everyone should already have all 4 perk slots open, at level 1. And every perk they have unlocked via grinding others should be available at level 1, at rank 1.

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142
    edited April 2019

    @SmokePotion, Look at me, I'm in the boat you mentioned. While three of my kids are grown to one degree or another (25, 20, and 18), I also have a 9-year-old. And let's be honest, the 18 and 20 year olds aren't fully self-sustaining adults yet, either.

    I'm an author. Not only do I produce three to four novels and other novellas a year on my own, but I also have contracts with other publishers for fiction work. I put in a lot of work hours.

    The wife doesn't play DbD, so when she has the rare time to play a game (she's a Home Depot store manager), we play Overwatch together.

    I don't have much time to put into Dead by Daylight. The grind here is ######### asinine. It's worse than any MMO, and I stopped playing MMOs due to the grind-time involved. I just don't have the time anymore.

    I love DbD. I just hit Rank 15 last night. I'm in new territory now. After hitting rank 15, all I had last night were SWF teams that managed to pop gens like they were percocets and they were addicts. I don't even have a basic build ready to go yet. But thanks to this damned free-weekend, I double pipped like crazy last night.

    So now this grind is leaving me with two choices:

    1) Now I either purposefully avoid Pips while grinding bloodpoints, or just stop playing until rank reset next Saturday.

    2) I just stop playing the game entirely because now it's just a steamroll against me, and the grind to have some Perk counters is beyond stupid and too RNG based.

  • mcNuggets
    mcNuggets Member Posts: 767
    edited April 2019

    But you cant uprank from rank 15 i think.

    Also you can't ready yourself for this game, because killers are underpowered and survivors will always have the upper hand, if they play good and hands in hands.

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142
    edited April 2019

    @mcNuggets, not through the Pipping system. That's why I said "avoid pipping while grinding BP." That would keep me at Rank 15 until next Saturday.

    When rank reset happens next Saturday, a Rank 15 drops to Rank 17 (with 1 pip).

    And if one can't ready themselves for this game as killer, as you stated, then where is the expected learning curve? Exactly what core game design did Behavior put into place for that? Or is their design so bad (which would be worse than I thought) that they didn't?

    I mean, let's call their spade a spade. I saw the Stream a little while ago where they claimed that SWF "was always intended, despite what the community thinks." Okay, then, where's the mechanics and learning curve to learn to play against a voice-comm SWF. If Behavior claims it was always intended, then surely as game designers they designed around that.

    Right?

    Well, we both know the answer.

  • BACKSTABBER
    BACKSTABBER Member Posts: 1,809

    The solution is hiring moar devs

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142

    @BACKSTABBER, Oh, I have no doubt they are hiring more Devs. But it's for the new game that they're in partnership with Lionsgate to make.

  • Swiftblade131
    Swiftblade131 Member Posts: 2,051
    edited April 2019

    Games been going downhill since Legion's chapter

    Post edited by Swiftblade131 on
  • BACKSTABBER
    BACKSTABBER Member Posts: 1,809
  • edgarpoop
    edgarpoop Member Posts: 8,363
    edited April 2019

    And while we're on the subject of the grind. What is the point of it? Honestly. What does the grind (specifically for perks, not for add-ons or Moris) do in the context of this game that helps it? Do we stop playing once we have desired perks unlocked? I don't. That would defeat the purpose. I just use them on that killer. We don't pay to play. They don't get any more revenue once we pay for the DLC and unlock the teachable. They aren't tied to cosmetics. They don't seem to regulate the "blood point economy" per se, because I never run without yellow add ons at worst anyway and it never becomes an issue. I'd like to play Myers right now with a build, but I don't want to level Plague to 40, then hope I get 3 more perks on Myers without dumping 10 million bloodpoints in him. I'm actually playing the game less right now because of the grind. I ran into a situation with Freddy where I wanted Spirit Fury, and I literally got every other perk in the game (outside of Plague's) before getting it. Why is that a thing that can happen? Somewhat related, are perk tiers all that necessary? I can see why they would be for a new player just learning the ropes, but tier 1 and 2 perks are utterly pointless beyond rank 15 and nobody runs them by choice.

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142
    edited April 2019

    @BACKSTABBER, It was in the article that came out on April 3rd. Paragraph #5, they mention how they're working on a new project with Lionsgate. And it was that partnership that led to them also being able to get the Ash license since Lionsgate also holds the rights to the Ash vs Evil Dead television series.

    https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/how-dead-by-daylight-broke-the-rules-for-ash-vs-evil-dead-1203179786/

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142
    edited April 2019

    @edgarpoop, this is what I've been saying since Summer 2018. See, last summer I bought DbD and all the DLCs on the Steam Summer Sale. By the release of Spirit that September, I left. The grind plus the RNG were just too asinine as a new player. I came back about a week ago to try again.

    I can see where the grind+RNG made sense in the game's beginning. It was the carrot on the stick when they had three killers and a handful of survivors. But with a current 15 killers, 17 survivors, and three more chapters due out this year according to the Wiki, it's being crushed under its own weight. Especially when it isn't just a grind, but a completely RNG-influenced bloodweb on top of it.

    It's worse when a new player goes to check out DbD guides for Survivor, Killer, or a specific Killer, to learn to play, and is being told what loadouts to use to be effective. They're loadouts that you either pleased RNGesus for and were granted, or you have 1k hours or more in the game already. It's completely out of reach for a new player. And once they learn that, which won't take long, unless they are a grind-loving type of player: why bother? There are other games out there.

    They need to do something like Hi-Rez does with Paladins and the cards. All Perks are unlocked (obviously once you buy the DLC for those characters). From there, build your loadout like in KYF. Use the bloodweb for add-ons and offerings. You still have your bloodweb and bloodpoints, but you also have a chance to keep the average new player as well.

    At this point, the Perk grind and RNG isn't a goal, it's damned stifling. Especially when you will hit Rank 15+ in the blink of an eye because the grey ranks are so easy to get out of, and find yourself at a serious disadvantage that you have little hope of overcoming without an insane amount of grind time in the game (and more than a little bloodweb luck).

  • ShirtlessDwight
    ShirtlessDwight Member Posts: 190

    The purpose of grind is the grind itself. It's like GTA:O. Apart from grind and ranking up there is nothing to strive for in DBD.

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142
    edited April 2019

    @ShirtlessDwight, but ask yourself how many new players that enter DbD are going to feel that way about this grind. If Steam numbers outside of a free-weekend or BP Event are an indication, not a lot. The game doesn't exactly show real growth anymore.

    DbD is a PvP Game. And while having a Rank system is expected, this type of MMO-style grind isn't. Hell, it even hurts Realm Royale in the BR genre.

    Getting good with the characters, then getting really good with the characters, experimenting with loadouts (if it has them, like in Paladins or Realm Royale, for example), climbing the ranks, those are the reasons most people play PvP games.

    PvP'ers today aren't playing the genre to grind out massive bloodwebs that are also so heavily controlled by RNG, just to be able to experiment with builds and experience a core part of the DbD PvP aspect.

    I like Realm Royale for example, but the class-level grinds in order to unlock needed talent builds is not why I would play a Battle Royale. So, Apex got my money.

    I like Overwatch for PvP. Been there since Beta. Zero grind outside of SR grind for Ranked mode. The draw is getting good, then really good, with different Heroes and their unique kits.

    DbD has the same draw. Get good with the characters, get good with different loadouts, get good with different tactics . . . except, wait: First you need 1k hours in the game and a lot of bloodweb luck before you can actually do that.

    If you're one of those players that get their gaming jollies of on endless RNG grinds, then you're in heaven. But a majority of players who want to PvP? That's not the market. And if you look around at some of the complaints of new players, even at the reddit, it's the asinine grind, plus the RNG involved, before you can truly play the game as its designed, that turns them off.

  • edgarpoop
    edgarpoop Member Posts: 8,363


    But that's where my hang-up lies: PVP games aren't about the journey. I just think people would be playing the game anyway without the grind because the whole point of PVP games is the competition and rank. People would still be striving for rank or playing casually with odd builds. And appealing to a wider audience will only help. Which circles back to the whole point of the thread: new people don't seem to be picking up the game.

  • ShirtlessDwight
    ShirtlessDwight Member Posts: 190


    Probably not many unless they played a lot of korean MMOS like me. I didn't mean to condone the grind only try to rationalize it. I'm not even sure if the grind in DBD is justified by any research or they thought about random values.

    I remember pouring almost 1 mil of bps into Adam after hitting lvl 50 to finally see selfcare lvl1.

  • SmokePotion
    SmokePotion Member Posts: 1,089

    The worst thing is, with the current ranking system, people that should be much higher rank, are playing down there in the rank 15 pool. Many on purpose.

    I also write, short stories atm. I wouldn't mind talking about that in DM if you're game to talk shop.

  • GodDamn_Angela
    GodDamn_Angela Member Posts: 2,213

    Exactly.


    They aren't overpowered but I hate going against the Legion, not as much as the Doctor or Freddy, but I still dislike them a lot. I would never DC but Legion is sooooo unfun to play against and something needs to be done after they start punishing DCs.

  • Kilmeran
    Kilmeran Member Posts: 3,142
    edited April 2019

    @SmokePotion Yeah. Tell me about it.

    I hit Rank 15 last night around midnight, and the game changed.

    Tried to play Bubba since he is the only one I have BBQ on. Can't get it to appear in any other bloodweb.

    Play Bubba? I'm laughing my ass off. First three Rank 15 games in a row I got hit with obvious SWFs that were not legitimate green ranks. They were coordinated like no tomorrow and gen-rushed me hard as hell. First game, I ate it. Very short game. Second game, four gens popped before I was even in a 30 second chase against one survivor (caught them at a popped generator), I did what I NEVER do. I DC'ed. Third game went the exact same way. I knew that one was likely going to be a bust when FOUR p3 Claudettes all loaded in. Should have dodged that lobby from the start. I didn't. Figured I'd play it and learn something.

    Well, I once again learned that four gens can pop quicker than a virgin on prom night, I should walk away again (I did), and I should also logout of the game. Which I did.

    That was the last series of games I played. I haven't logged in yet today, and I'm not sure that I care to. I went through the gray ranks way too fast thanks to this free-weekend and all the brand new survivors trying it out. I am not ready for Rank 15, where you have de-pip squads playing SWF. I'm tempted to just let the game collect dust until next Saturday, when rank reset will drop me back down to rank 17, because that was asinine. I don't care if survivors escape, I don't care if I pip, but I'll be damned before I keep playing matches and not have a chance to earn bloodpoints.

    I suppose it's a good thing for me that the new Archives event is coming to Overwatch in a couple of weeks.

    (Oh, and playing Nurse is not an option, before that suggestion is made. I've tried that. I seem to have the same issue with her blinks as I do with Tracer in Overwatch. The sudden movement on the screen makes me nauseous and I get a headache after a few times of doing it.)

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  • CaptainCastle
    CaptainCastle Member Posts: 536

    I don't have much time to play so I'm usually around rank 10, and the number of high skill high coordination teams I'm facing lately is way higher than it was when I was in red ranks for a month.


    I think depip squads are getting stuck around there and slamming mid tier players.

  • Walker_of_the_fog_96
    Walker_of_the_fog_96 Member Posts: 1,238

    he game may have lost players but believe me,

    the game will not die

  • jus_Ignant
    jus_Ignant Member Posts: 124
    edited April 2019

    I just assumed the dip is the same as it has been the last 2 years during March & April. Still 3K more players on the PC & 12K more peak players than this time last year. That's not counting however many are playing on consoles.

    If they can track down the damn loading bug, adjust the emblems...again (not that I care about pipping but the Ranks need to be straightened out) and then servers are supposed to be coming...we'll see where the future of this game is in a few months. Also, f#ck all you purposely D/Cing survivors.

    Even with the repetitiveness of it all I still enjoy it almost 2K hours later // almost 3 years later.

  • SmokePotion
    SmokePotion Member Posts: 1,089
    edited April 2019

    The free weekened is over, and we can see that things are still in the red, and going down. All the free weekened managed to do was bring the average daily players up to about even for a day. So contrary to popular belief, I don't think free weekends pad numbers much. They are trying to entice new players into buying a game for a reduced cost, a game that's in an absolutely horrible spot.

    I can't even play survivor anymore, it's all camping and tunneling to get 9 hooks and 4k. And I can only play my best picks as killer, because almost every rank is red and purple ranks now.

  • se05239
    se05239 Member Posts: 3,919

    Two DLCs in rapid succession and a free weekend couldn't even get the game back up to pre-Legion numbers. Hahahah!

    Pathetic.