Walkie-talkies and the potential for them as items.
Okay, so I had this idea a week or so ago when playing survivor and I just want to relay my thoughts, maybe get a conversation going and see the community's (probably divided) opinion.
Walkie-talkies could be an item (honestly more for solo Q than anything) that allows you to communicate with other survivors from a distance as long as they also have Talkies, obviously only for a limited time for as much charges the Talkie may have + add-ons. Now, whether it could actually allow you to voice chat in the game, be a number of set commands (ex: "Killer headed your way!" or "Get a generator done!") or maybe even type (though this is the LEAST efficient way), I'm not sure exactly.
Of course they make noise, whether it could be the static of it or a player communicating with another. You would be able to turn it on or off as the killer gets closer or farther as to not alert them to your presence, though having it off could make you unable to receive communications from others who also have the Talkies.
If it were to allow for using voice comms, I can already imagine that there would be trolls and idiots who abuse the mic and just say awful things on the walkie-talkies or micspam, but this is why they have charges such as every item in the game. It'd encourage players to use the time they use to talk efficiently and to point out objectives or things they need doing (unhooking, doing gens, warning others, etc.)
If it's a set of phrases you could say into it that are preselected for you (which is the most reasonable option to me), there's going to be the problem of not being able to tell everything that you may want a player to know.
And there's typing, which I feel is the worst option because I personally type rather slow, and having to type something in time in order to tell someone something before the killer gets to them or to me honestly sucks.
Of course, a Talkie would only be reliable if the other survivors carry them or if they pick one up in a chest, but this is why lobby chat and being able to see others and their items is good. I am also aware of the problem of how you'd address certain players (by their username? Character they're using's name? The latter would make people unable to use multiple same characters in that case). I also feel like other survivors who don't have Talkies should be able to hear these comms if they're near enough to a survivor that does?
Do you notice any more problems this may have or concerns you may have with this? Do you like the idea and/or want to improve on the concept? Feedback is good (unless you add absolutely nothing of value to the conversation).
Comments
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Keep in mind that it's nearly 7 AM when I post this and I'm kind of sleep-deprived so I'm sorry if the writing is weird or off, haha.
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I like this. As long as it isn't voice chat in game though.
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i would like this idea,however it should only allow survivors to give vague information to one another ,maybe if they are in a certain proximity.
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I like the concept of a communication device of some sort. Survivors need more items that are actually usable and haven't been nerfed into the ground. Bloodwebs are so boring these days.
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I get that! Maybe Talkies could have range limits that you could increase with addons, though if the range is too low by default, it'd defeat the entire purpose of them imo.
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however if talkies were added would the survivor have it as a passive item meaning they can use whilst they use something else such as a medkit and it would drain its usage as they send messages or would it be a standard item, meaning they can only have it as their actual item
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Dude, whole gameplay is build around having NO COMMUNICATION with others. Thats why SWFs are so big problem here. :) So i would say NO.
Also, i dont want to hear some random russian ######### blaming me for his mistakes. I have enough of that in DOTA2 already.
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The lack of communication in SoloQ is the reason why so many games in it are terrible. You can't tell your teammates anything except pointing them somewhere or telling them to follow, and that's only if they're close by and looking at you.
And like I said, there are three options BHVR could do if they ever added Talkies, and the most reasonable one in my opinion is preset messages people could send. You don't get "Russian (bad word)s" cussing you out if that's the case.
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I'd like if they were a passive item that loses charge as you send messages, but I feel like that's when it could turn really OP and unfair for the killer, and God knows they need to not deal with more bullshit than they already do. Minimum, I think you would need two survivors with walkie-talkies while the other two can carry what they want (toolbox, medkit, key, etc.), and the two survivors without talkies can overhear comms if they're near enough to the survs WITH talkies.
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I personally don’t want this. It’ll just completely change the atmosphere of the game and not in a good way. Walkie Talkies made sense on Friday the 13th but they just don’t fit into this game.
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This post makes me think of F13.
Y'know, someone should just replace Jason and the Maps in F13 (the Survivors are all original characters).
A little balancing and attention from competent devs and it could be a great game (if you're unaware: F13 features proximity chat and walkie talkies to extend chat range).
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But I digress, while I think there is 100% merit to the idea of walkie talkies as items to allow communication in asymmetric horror games, I don't think it has a place in DbD.
The way DbD deals with items (charge based things that you can only use one at a time) would discourage their usage in Solo Queue.
As of now Solos with items are best served most games by using a Medkit so you can quickly heal yourself, a Key so you can get usage out of it before they're inevitably nerfed with Moris, or a Flashlight as a way to potentially save other Survivors or click and get other Survivors' attention if necessary.
Walkie talkies would have to compete with those items, and I think they'd struggle to.
Why?
A walkie talkie would be useless if nobody else brings one.
And even if they do, you're depending on the other player to both be listening and care enough to act on your info.
From the perspective of a Solo Queuer, who isn't surprised to see a DC or a hook suicide in the first minute, why bother?
It's a huge risk with a variable reward.
Mechanically, your suggestion needs work.
It's not a terrible suggestion tho; and you could probably think of ways to smooth it out.
However, I personally think communication is too powerful of a tool to be tied to an item.
Such a HUGE part of this game as Survivor is just knowing where to go and when to go there.
It shows in the potential of the sweaty 4 man using Discord and in the almost universal revilement that Killer mains tend to treat SWF.
Cross-map communication should just be basekit, with Killers buffed and the core game altered to accommodate.
Kill the SWF - Solo gap the only way it can be, bring Killers up to SWF's level, and the game will be in a much better spot balance-wise.
Giving Solos SWF level communication, but linking it to items would just be a band-aid.
And a hard to correctly implement one at that.
TL;DR ::: Communication strong. Should be basekit, not item based. Buff Killers and alter the core game mechanics as needed to compensate.
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Also my sympathies for the tiredness; insomnia sucks.
Edited: Spelling errors and cleared up a bit in the middle that was kinda rambly.
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