Insentivising perk variety
So one of the major joys of this game is its variety. I feel the devs go to great lengths to come up with clever perks for killers and survivors. However, a "meta" forms, and eventually we see survivors and killers running around with the same perks at end game. Not only this, but I'm sure there are powerful perk combos that the devs are just waiting for killers or survivors to try, but most people aren't even willing to give a shot.
As such, I'm thinking that the game should incentivize using perks that are off meta each week. This could be done by taking the bottom 50% of used perks, and adding an extra BP reward for using them in a match. Or, the developers could simply select a set of perks they've been wanting the community to try out. I can see the following benefits:
- Greater perk variety = greater variety in games
- Survivors and killers may learn the power of certain perks or playstyles, which might change the meta (At least for the week) Community theory crafting is always good!
- Incentivizes getting new killers and/or survivors perks unlocked, even ones currently deemed "useless".
- Can be used by the devs to find perks that are under powered. Limiting the perk selection pool for bonuses can reveal perks that even when picked, have high game losses associated with them, or even WITH a bonus are never picked.
Comments
-
That's all well and good for killers, but survivors can't really deviate much because about 75% of the survivor perk list doesn't get used for a reason. The majority of survivor perks are downright garbage.
1 -
See, this is the problem I'm talking about when I say the "meta perception" prevents people from trying other perks. I would argue there is a meta perception that 75% of killer perks are "downright garbage" as well.
Now it may be that during certain weeks of bonus perks, its found that even WITH a bonus and an incentivization to experiment, that some perks just never get picked or never find any use. At that point, the devs have some more specific data for light buffs or perk alterations. I mean, the devs can't just go through 75% of the perks and buff them all. Many are situational, or "meta" situational.
Also, having a bonus week to using the underutilized perks doesn't force you to not use meta perks. Its an option. For longer term players especially, I think it might present new challenges for them to try, and breath life into the game by adding another wrinkle to consider each week.
0 -
Oh, there's definitely a meta perception. But that doesn't mean that 75% of the survivor perk pool -isn't- garbage.
No matter how much bonus BP you throw at it, people won't use Red Herring. They're not going to use Autodidact if they want to win. They won't pick up Visionary, or Deja Vu, or Hope... There's just too many perks in the game that are terrible outright, most of them suffering from extremely stringent activation conditions.
0 -
You might be surprised. It might be the incentive for a couple of players to say, "You know what, maybe I can make a build that makes that perk work." It might not be the most effective build in the world. It might be niche. But it gets people to try new things, shake up the meta a bit, and let people have some fun.
Also, you might be surprised how much meta perception affects what people consider good vs. bad. There is a game called Legue of Legends, that has an established meta for champions and items. Yet, there are different servers in Korea. Their meta has been VERY different from the North American one at times. Some champions the West considers bad, Korea considers great, and vice-versa. The developers once also stated that they did not change some champions or items because people had not yet discovered how good or useful they were in the right circumstances.
And that's really the goal. Get people to try perks they normally wouldn't. Get people to theory craft each week. Get some perk variety in games! And maybe, just maybe, people will find a perk combo once dismissed is actually very powerful, and shake up gameplay a bit.
0 -
every perk you mentioned can easily have a powerful build around it. the problem is nobody tries it.
0 -
How? Elucidate us. How would you make Red Herring work? How would you incorporate Visionary in a 'build'? What would you do to make Autodidact pop off consistently?
There are so many survivor perks that have a lot of requirements or requirements that just aren't that commonly achieved, and those just don't work, in disregard of your build.
0 -
The point you're missing is the reason these perks "don't work" is because they're actively compared to the 'meta checklist' and if they don't perform at 'meta level' then they're labeled garbage. If they require building specifically around that perk or playstyle - and giving up meta perks in the process - they're labeled garbage.
For a perk to be 'good', it has to be interchangeable with a single slot so you can still run the meta crutches/staples.
That's the problem with the 'meta perception'.
0 -
No, it's not.
Let's run through Red Herring's usage.
You have to work on a generator for at least 3 seconds. Then you need to find a locker that's a safe distance away from the gen you just abandoned. That will set off a loud noise notification, which only occupies the killer if said killer has, in that moment, no other leads to go on: No scratch marks, no glimpse of movement, no intel perk kicking in, no auditory intel, -nothing-. Then the killer is guided back to a gen that's not being worked on, spends maybe 10-20 seconds investigating, maybe kicking the gen to make sure that the time you put into activating the perk is also dumped from the game, and gameplay resumes as normal.
That is, if the gen hasn't been found by another survivor, in which case you just pointed the killer to one of your teammates.
You could remove Borrowed Time's endurance completely. You can outright remove Sprint Burst, or Spine Chill, or Dead Hard, or Decisive Strike or anything. No matter what you remove, Red Herring will never be an even slightly okay perk. It is insanely difficult to use and requires full coordination and 100% perfect assessment of the killer's activity for a pay-off that ranges from bad to abysmal.
And let's take Autodidact, because that is a perk that I have picked up because at the very least, it's -fun- when it works: At 4 (FOUR!) skill checks, Autodidact has altered your healing speed by -10%. At 5 skill checks, it nets you a total of 25% bonus heal speed.
FIVE skill checks while healing in order to be a far worse version of Botany Knowledge (Which actually synergises with Self-Care AND works with Med-kits!). And if you get all the opportunities you need to pull all the skill checks out and you go past 6 skill checks, guess what?
It breaks even with We'll Make It. And all that requires is an unhook every once in a while.
The perks I mentioned aren't just 'non-meta'. They're bad. Awful. There's no potential in them. That's also why I asked you to elucidate us on how to use these perks, but you haven't answered that. Because there is no good way to use these perks.
Yes, you could use Botany/We'll Make It/Desperate Measures to soften the blow of those first two Autodidact skill checks. But that also means the value of Autodidact's positives are diminished, AND they're harder to attain because you're getting fewer skill checks. So that's a terrible way to use -two- slots in your loadout.
Yes, survivors are stuck with a very small handful of perks. But that's not because of meta perception. It's because the vast majority of perks are just plain awful.
0 -
Firellius, I appreciate your well thought out posts and discussion. But I think we're losing sight of the main topic. I am not claiming that there aren't perks that are absolutely useless, nor would I ever. Yes, there are some perks that are worthless. But I'm also confident that there are plenty of perks that do not see use that are not useless at all. There might be a new meta not found yet, and there might not. But what this will encourage is people to try new things. Maybe try some niche builds. Find that hey, we didn't know that some of these perks are actually pretty good!
What I think this can also help the devs to see is which perks are NEVER picked, even when they give bonus BP for the week. That can help them focus on doing some minor tweaks to those perks, and increasing the variety of the games we see.
Remember, the goal is Increase game variety by encouraging perk experimentation. Now yes, people who insist on always playing the meta to win no matter what won't care. But they never care about anything but winning anyway. This is to encourage people who are shy to experiment. Who might not mind losing if they get some more BP. And in that, we generate more game variety, and perhaps generate new strategies.
Do you think the idea would help bring about these solutions?
0
