Killers, is survivors switching characters in the lobby toxic?

"Toxic" is probably not the right word, but key switching is widely considered as a bad move.

If they’re switching to a key with a hatch offering then to me it is.

I will very rarely tunnel, but if I get the choice between them and someone else, they are getting chased at every opportunity.

I usually spend my bloodpoints on another survivor while waiting for a lobby. Sometimes I'm sent straight into a lobby with the survivor I'm levelling up, so i switch to my main. If someone switches last second to a survivor with a key equipped then yes that's toxic

It's not toxic since I'll still be able to tell what item they're holding and decide how to treat them during the loading screens, do I slug them, tunnel out a key, or do I just let them be since they're using a Medkit and let them use the charge on other people, thereby using it's charge unoptimally.

Switching at the last second is a warning sign, but it's probably not toxic in itself. If you're playing killer, it's a red flag when someone does it.

FWIW, I like to mess with my builds and bloodwebs while I'm waiting for a match, but, once I see I'm in a lobby, I change back to the character I plan to play in plenty of time just to be extra sure it doesn't look like I'm doing a last-minute change. So, if you were switching characters within a few seconds of loading in, and then spent some time shuffling your item, that wouldn't seem weird to me.

Well if they switch last second to using keys or all flashlights that lets you know that it is a SWF and a pretty lame thing to do once you have committed to using a killer like myers with no addons.

No, but having multiple players switch to the same character with the exact same outfit is a warning sign for me. It usually means they’re either SWF or going to be annoyed as #########. Had a game against triplet Feng Mins that left the poor 4th player out to dry while they all window looped, teabagged, and flashlight clicked all game. I got VERY sweaty and toxic to make sure I killed them.

I really don't see the point in it- either I'm going to win either way or I'm going to lose either way, it doesn't make a difference. Regardless, I'm more than happy to "take on the challenge".

I hear people thinking "How does it make no difference when X survivor with no perks suddenly switches to Y survivor with Dead Hard, BT, OoO, and Adrenaline!?"

Ok, but then again, how do you definitively know that X survivor had no perks anyway? The truth is, you don't know, and X survivor could be realistically equipped with that exact same build in the first place- in which case there's no point in "hiding" which character you're going to play.

"Ok fine, but it's not about the perks anyway- it's about the visible items you see equipped in the lobby"

I hardly think that's going to make a difference as well. I very rarely go out of my way to equip counters to specific items like Franklin's Demise or Lightborn or something. 90% of the time when I'm playing Killer, I have specific goals in mind: either to complete a daily, a challenge in the rift, try to earn an achievement, or just use a specific build that I want to- whether it's a troll build that definitely won't work, a gimmick build centered around a certain strategy or playstyle, some synergistic build that has perks which compliment each other or the killer I am playing, or a real build that actually does some serious work in a match.

So to put it another way: 90% of the time whatever you're ######### about with in the survivor lobby, is not going to have any realistic impact on my decision of what I'm doing anyway. I could care less what you run because I have no control over it, and it's not like I can switch between killers in lobby anymore anyway.

And the rest of the 10% of the time, I'm not paying attention to the lobby at all because I'm watching youtube while I wait in queue + lobby for my match to start.

At the most I'll make a mental note of it before the match starts just to be aware of it during the match, especially if you've got a key or something.

Considering survivors have no idea what they'll be facing at all, it's fair. It's not something I do, but that's because I randomize my character. There's nothing wrong with it to me.

I don't really think it provides all that much of an advantage, even if all 4 survivors have items I wouldn't consider changing anything about my build unless it was like 4 keys or something, in which case I might equip franklin's, but in most other circumstances any changes to your build to counter hte items is probably just making your build weaker for a marginal advantage.