Why I have reduced play to dailies only (Feedback on ranking system)
So, due to the recent changes to the pip/ranking system, I have reduced my playtime in DBD to dailies only, as I just don't find as much enjoyment post-game. I was a R1 killer prior to recent reset, and because I have reduced my playtime due to the poor rank system changes, I haven't worked to get back to R1 (basically, I haven't farmed, because that is what it comes down to). Let me illustrate why I think this is an issue, and how it can be fixed.
First, the ranking system as it is designed now is tuned around what I presume the developers believe is an "ideal" game. Meaning the killer catches survivors in a reasonable period of time, but not instantly (chase involved), and then hooks reliably and does not facecamp, and conversely survivors rescue reliably, work on generators together, destroy totems, heal each other, et cetera. In order to pip reliably, I literally have to play poorly and let survivors get rescues and heal, just so I can get additional hits, chases, and hooks. This is not how a killer should be forced to play! My job is to find, hook, and ultimately sacrifice survivors - period.
The same is true for survivors - they are also being forced to play highly altruistic and essentially farm their teammates in order to pip as well.
The problem with this mindset is it assumes every game will go this way, and bases the scoring on this utopian match style. This is not the case in many games, and I daresay this is not the case in most games.
I give exhibit one - my daily match from today (trap three people).
Now, I successfully trapped three people (actually had 5 trap events), and the disconnected person was moments away from death on hook while in basement. In this match (Coldwind Farm), I trapped up the killer shack. One person was trapped, I put her basement (she was the disconnect). I trapped the three exits on shack, and went hunting for others. The other survivors all ran into traps, and I ended up hooking all four survivors in the basement one at a time - no tunneling, no facecamping. Match was over in maybe 5 minutes.
I performed extremely well, I did my job as killer, and yet I was only able to black pip. This should not be the case. The scoring system should not revolve around playing a certain way to allow for more events to happen, and therefore more points/pip score events. This is a poor design implementation - the design should be around overall success, and scale appropriately.
So let's look at the pip scoring.
Gatekeeper - this is the only one of the four that seems properly balanced, because it bases the score largely on a wide success matrix - either you keep the game going with minimal generator progression up to the 9 minute mark, or you do not. The key here is if the game does not last 9 minutes because you've killed all the survivors, you are given full points for the remaining time period as if it had lasted 9 minutes. This is GOOD design, and the way the other pip scores should be balanced as well.
Devout - this pip mechanic has a problem - iridescent only happens with 9 or more hook actions. This is a flawed design, as hook actions should count whether you hook a survivor once, or if you hook them three times - if you hook them once, you should be getting hook credit for the stages they progress through as well if they are not rescued - in the same way that Gatekeeper works. This should also apply for users who disconnect, so as to not punish the killer.
Malicious - this pip mechanic has a major flaw - it depends on survivor altruism to make it work. If survivors are hooked once, the score is poor, so this deserves the same tweak as Devout to be like Gatekeeper (hook states are counted for progressing through to second and third stage). Additionally, on trapper, it appears that trap injuries do not count towards the injuries inflicted score - this appears to be a specific flaw to him alone. Additionally, disconnects need to award full points on this score.
Chaser - the real issue for scoring for many killers, and entirely dependent on the survivor skill. If a survivor is poor at running, the killer is punished. For trapper in particular, but also many others for whom chasing is not the best playstyle (Hag, Spirit, Shape, Nightmare), this is true even more so. If a trapper places his traps well, and catches survivors in them and picks them up, he is punished in this category (as you can clearly see). However, he receives no points for survivor "found" unless he lets the player escape from his trap and then hits them to down them (which actually punishes on the deviousness end, because he's not picking them up from the trap itself). He also receives no chase points, despite his trap simply winning the chase for him.
Points and pipping should not be awarded on a utopian ideal of how a match should progress. Both killers and survivors should be awarded based on a scale of outcomes and whole game objectives, and this should scale based on the ultimate conclusion, not specific niche actions.
I honestly feel that a rollback of the scoring system would be in order until you can better balance this system around the merits of outcomes, rather than an "ideal" match progression that rarely occurs (especially with disconnects).
Hopefully this feedback is well received, and actually makes it to the developers and we can see this game improve, because frankly I love this game and I love playing killer, but not when I feel like I play a perfect game (from a killer perspective) and am punished for it as if I did something wrong.
TL;DR Pipping system needs to follow the example of Gatekeeper changes - go for whole game objectives and worry less about specific numbers of events (hooks, unhooks, heals, chases, etc.)
Comments
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Agreed 100% with you on this, used to play easily 20-30 hrs in 2 weeks now i barely play 1 or 2 in 2 weeks.
They listen to the feedback from the deranking podcast or whatever, but they failed so badly on how and when to implementt it.
Just revert the rank system and matchmaking + add rewards for rank reset and stop trying to make DBD competitve.
They either revert something or the game start to dies off quickly.
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I don't want them to stop making DBD competitive - killing that dynamic is the last thing I want to happen. I'd like to see rank actually mean something, as it is right now, it has literally no function other than to progress to a point that only really indicates time spent. Rewards for rank reset would be a good step in that direction, but I think in order for that to work, the ranking system needs to be fixed.
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Edited for clarity and added TL;DR...I kinda wrote a lot.
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@Manito That's a good analysis. I don't want to have the old pipping system back, but the current one needs to get a rework. In general, the required amount of Emblem points needs to be lowered a tiny bit. Also, how killer Emblems are earned needs adjustments, but you described that already in the op.
Besides that, I'm not a fan of the Emblem system in general. I'd like pipping to be bloodpoint-related again. (And for that, the 8k bp cap per category would need to be removed.)
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I keep saying killers have a bit of a better time with the new emblem system because their emblems work together (pursuing one leads to the others) and another killer is not going to 'steal' their points. Survivor emblems work against each other, pursuing one emblem doesn't lead to gains in the others. And then there's the de-pip which is easy to get for numerous things outside your control, even a single disconnect could potentially de-pip everyone.
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The chaser emblem is a trapper problem and an instadown killers problem. If you trap a target it does not count towards chaser meaning your losing points for time you would have spent doing the same. Traps should earn you double a hit value for a fast chase. This is fair considering the skill that goes into excellent trap placement.
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I disagree that it is a problem for Trapper alone, though him more than others certainly.
Hag doesn't get huge chase when teleporting, neither does Meyers if stalking/T3ing, Spirit if she is phase walking and hitting and not chasing after, or grabbing off gens, and Freddy only gets chase once they are drawn into dream, so he doesn't get as much as other killers.
My ultimate point, however, is that it shouldn't be based on how long you chase someone, but only if you catch them or lose them. Meaning a trap should count as a "catch" if you pick them up, and if they escape the trap, they get points for escaping.
Results based on the outcome, not happenstance events and duration of chases. This punishes the killer if the survivor is bad and the chase ends quickly. That is poor design, and can easily be fixed.
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For killers it Can be hard to rely on their strengths if you want to pip, and that makes no sense. The trapper’s strength is his traps.. the emblem system should be tailored around each individual killer..
as a survivor you have to play 4 different roles on a team instead of focusing on one certain role like... healer or genjockey.. and thats difficult
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Designing the emblem system around each killer is not good design either, as every new killer needs its own design, and if any older killers are tweaked or changed, it might require rebalancing the emblem system for that killer.
Designing the emblem system based on outcome merits would make it simple - Chaser based on did you catch the player or not, just like Gatekeeper is based on generator progress before a certain time. It isn't based on damaging gens versus preventing gen progress in other ways - simple, objective based scoring. This should be the mantra for all emblem progress on both sides, survivor and killer.
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Still hoping this idea will get some traction - still only playing dailies, and watching the Steamcharts numbers for DBD drop lower and lower. Seeing more people complain about queue times as survivor. This is because killers aren't enjoying play as much any more on the whole, and so less are playing.
Please change to a merit based system instead of trying to force players on BOTH sides to play "ideal" games where all the right events occur. That makes for a stale and decidedly non-fun game. I'm not a trained dog - stop making players jump through your hoops!
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