My experience with a toxic swf sweat squad

WARNING: This is an incredibly long post and there will be a tl;dr in the end in case you don’t want to go through the whole thing.

Context: I’m a Pig main that likes to run off meta perks on killers occasionally just for fun, like impossible skill checks doctor or anti-heal legion. I also prefer to play chill, such as doing my best not to tunnel and go for 12 hooks. In general I prefer to challenge myself with off meta builds and killers as well as trying my best to farm as much BP I can as well as getting 12 hooks. I’m from Brazil and I play in the South America server (which is a pretty toxic one).

A few weeks ago, I get into a lobby with 3 flashlights, so I equipped lightborn just for fun because I find it funny when survivors try to camp their teammates to get a flashlight save just to realize the killer has lightborn. Throughout the match I purposefully didn’t look at walls to allow survivors to go for the save, nodding my head when they failed to get it because I had lightborn. It turns out they were very skilled and still managed to get a 2 man escape through the exit gates, but I had a very fun time nonetheless and I did my best.

However, when I got into the endgame chat they began to BM me HEAVILY for using lightborn, saying that I was completely stupid for using it and that was essentially playing with only 3 perks. I tried to explain to them that I used it just for fun and said that they couldn’t complain since they were all using DS + UB and still managed to get 2 people killed. This didn’t work though, and they kept saying that using lightborn against flashlights is not fun, that I was scared of flashlights and didn’t know how to face a wall and claimed that they were obviously using DS + UB because they are meta perks.

The argument started to get progressively more heated and they wanted to bring the conversation to Discord. I accepted since I had plenty of free time that day and I wanted to understand how these people thought process worked. I discovered that they were actually a professional tournament squad and had already played in some minor tournaments before, so they had a lot of experience and skill in the game and claimed they weren’t taking the previous game seriously and were just trying to get some flashlight saves.

I began to explain to them that I like to challenge myself with weaker killers and off meta builds, and that I do my best to get 12 hooks and farm BP, sometimes even going easy on survivors so everyone can have a good time. I also explained that they couldn’t possibly determine what is fun and what is not since fun is subjective, and I’m the only one capable of judging if using off meta perks and playing in my own way is fun for me or not. However, they insisted that I was being stupid and that I HAD to use meta perks and meta killers if I wanted to have fun and win against a survivor team who is playing competitively. We talked and talked, more and more people started to join the conversation but it wasn’t leading anywhere, so they invited me to play a few matches where they would play super sweaty and prove me their point.

I accepted since I’m always up for a challenge even knowing that I can’t win it; I strongly believed that the experience would count. I played a few matches as Pig and Demogorgon (my favorite killers) and used my regular builds against them and I obviously got absolutely destroyed, since I’m not skilled enough as killer to win against a tournament squad, even though I’m decent player in general. They kept telling me that it was impossible for me to win against them and that I should use super strong killer perks and add ons if I wanted to stand a chance.

They began to tell me that I should do anything in my power to win, going as far as saying that I should tunnel and camp indiscriminately (even people with RBT on their heads) and use head pop add ons for pig (a.k.a Tampered Timer + Crate/Skech), which are strategies I freaking DESPISE, because I don’t find it fun neither for me nor the survivors (literally just down someone once and kill them through a head pop, WOW, so much fun). While they weren’t theoretically wrong, considering that they had tons more skill and experience than I did and were playing with tournament efficiency, they repeatedly told me that it wasn’t FUN not to use meta perks and killers and that I should play as sweaty as I can just to have FUN in the game.

It turns out that the games proved nothing to me, I simply couldn’t agree that I needed to play like a total shithead tryhard in every single game just to have fun. It seemed to me that these people cared only about winning at all costs, and every single strategy, perk or add on that doesn’t provide the upmost possibility to win are completely unacceptable in their eyes, and players who doesn’t equip themselves with tournament efficiency are stupid. I just couldn’t agree with them, so I just wrapped up the conversation and went to bed.

In the next morning I wake up to see a message from them saying “hey bro, have you changed your mind yet?”. I then proceeded to formally explain most points I listed above and the reasons why I didn’t agree with them, and the RESPONSE I GOT… Jesus, was truly something. One of them replied claiming stuff like:

“You need to understand that the game is balanced in a way that is made for the survivors to win, doesn’t really matter if you manage to win consistently against solo queue with crappy killers and perks, if you get queued against a good swf you WILL lose as long as they do gens and play efficiently. I don’t want to judge the way you play the game, but you just make life easier for the survivors for no reason…”

And then he said something that offended me quite a bit:

“To be honest I believe that you DID at some point use strong meta perks but are so bad that you kept losing even though you used them, so you started to play off meta so you could use “having fun” as an excuse if you lost the match, pfff, “having fun” by using #########!”

That’s right, the guy went as far as assuming that I played off meta just so I could use it as an excuse for playing bad (even though I clearly don’t). This offended me more than I think it should, and I them wrote a gigantic wall of formally written arguments explaining why I thought what he wrote was completely preposterous.

I said that fun is completely subjective and that they can’t possibly dictate the one and only way to have fun in DBD, that there is no problem being altruistic with your opponent and that everyone should play the way they want, and it doesn’t mean they are bad in the game. If only the meta perks and killers were the ones that provided fun for players then everything else would be pointless. That playing in a tournament level isn’t the one and only way to have fun in the game.

In general, I did agree with some of his points but I explained all of mine and why I think their point of view about fun is completely flawed in many aspects. But unfortunately, all they replied to me after that were emojis and stuff like “Meh, this guy is hopeless”. So after seeing that I wasn’t going to change those guys’ minds I just left the server altogether.

If there is a thing that I’ve learned through this whole experience is how corrupted some people got in this game. These people are the refined result of the ever-growing amount of victory thirsty players, devoid of empathy, where absolutely nothing else matters but winning. It was pretty sad seeing such a reality. I believe I’ve never seen @NomiNomad post about how the lack of empathy is holding this game back become so relevant through only one experience.

TL;DR: I used lightborn in a match with 3 flashlights; the survivors started flaming me for using it; it turns out they were a tournament swf team and they decided to bring the conversation to Discord; they begin to tell me that using lightborn is stupid and that I should be using meta perks to win; I say that I used it for fun; they said that it isn’t fun and I was stupid for thinking that way and that I should still use meta perks; they invite me to play several matches to prove their point; I get stomped on all of them since they played on a tournament level, but I still said that I should not be forced to play in the meta to have fun in this game; they claim that I should indiscriminately tunnel, camp and use op perks and add ons if I want to stand a chance against strong swf teams and that this is the only way to have fun in the game; I disagree with them and go to sleep; the next day they asked me if I have changed my mind and I say that I didn’t and explained my reasons not to; they then replied with a somewhat rude text going as far as insulting me and assuming things that weren’t true; I then posted a formal wall of text explaining my points and why I think fun is subjective and shouldn’t be limited to playing in a tournament level; they reply with emojis and say that I’m hopeless; I realize I can’t change their mind and leave the server; I come to the conclusion how lack of empathy and an ever growing voracity for winning is affecting more and more players and consequently ruining the game.