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A glaring issue with Fog Whisperers
TL;DR It’s not the toxicity that some of them may express from time to time, it’s how useless they actually are.
PREFACE:
I do not mean to slander any Fog whisperers. They’re all great individuals that strive to make the game better in some way, and for that, I appreciate it.
MY ISSUE:
Why are they so USELESS?
My main issue arises from the fact that they don’t serve much to the community. Although they strive to make the community better, their thoughts & ideas never change how the developers think.
It is mostly seen from one of Otzdarva’s recent streams. He made it clear that there isn’t really a point in giving advice to the developers because they won’t even listen to him. He is a Fog Whisperer.
THE BIGGER ISSUE:
What in the living hell are they supposed to be if they aren’t listened to? A marketing scheme? I appreciate these streamers that represent the game, but they do nothing for the game because of BHVR not actually having a plan in place for them.
To me, all it serves is to have a shiny badge next to their name. The program surely benefits them, but it doesn’t benefit the community because their isn’t anything incentivizing anything whatsoever, and when the streamers do in fact try to recommend something for the game, it is undoubtedly ignored.
I honestly feel sorry for Otz. He is obviously passionate for the game, but every single time he recommends something, it seems as if the higher ups don’t listen to him, so what really is the Fog Whisperer program?
Scott said it best: “There’s 0 point to them”.
Comments
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Fog whisperers are for marketing the game to their viewers and showcasing the new skins.
That is all there is to it
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Which effectively makes them useless for general game health.
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Fog Whisperers are only for advertising the game. They get some Auric Cells to show off Cosmetics and thats about it.
They are not there to participate in Balance Decisions. If you would do that, you would have to get every Fog Whisperers opinion to make it fair. And while I would appreciate if Fog Whisperers like Tofu would have a word in balance decisions, other Fog Whisperers (or ex-Fog Whisperers) should not even be close to balancing the game because they have no idea of balancing.
BHVR MIGHT consider opinions of Fog Whisperers and might even show them stuff they are working on for getting their opinion, however, we will never know about this, because stuff like this usually comes together with an NDA.
EDIT: Also, imagine the shitstorm in the Communities when Fog Whisperer As idea is brought into the game but Fog Whisperer Bs idea not...
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I’ve never seen the fog whisperer program as a ‘feedback program’, but more of a community group.
In fact when I’ve seen other games whitelisting individuals but it is normally very obvious that that is what they are there for, usually they are also very good at the game.
Personally I would rather streamers not get that sort privilege to just say whatever they want and the devs making decisions based on that because to me many of them aren’t even paying attention to their own matches.
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They're a marketing tool, nothing more. And not even a well maintained one at that, given the people in the program that are definitely not good marketing.
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I don't mind what the fog whisperers do. A lot of game companies have a similar system like Nintendo with their ambassadors. It's very typical to just supply them with in-game currency/games and not much else. I wish BHVR would listen to them more but on the face of it I don't think they should completely get rid of the fog whisperer program.
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its hard to keep being possitive of a product that is so consistenly failing.
recent memory, the skins for Leon and Jill being separate in the ptb and suddenly a locked set on release.....like how transparantly evil/money grabbing is bhvr really.
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No one ever made any claim whatsoever that it's anything more than a marketing thing, basically a developer-sanctioned "stream team" like the ones streamers themselves usually put together on Twitch and such.
And considering I'm pretty sure streaming the game a certain amount of hours per week/month/whatever is a requirement for them, they do something - they try to provide many hours of entertainment. And they're "safe" content creators BHVR can link to, shout out, host on their own channels and so on.
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This reminds me of that Coca Cola story from the 90's, about how they had the idea to put thermometers in vending machines so they could charge people more when it was hotter and their sales peaked.
Only the idiot in charge actually put it like that when speaking publicly instead of saying it was to charge people less when it was cooler and there was less demand whilst slowly raising the base price to the planned high-temperature number.
I hate capitalism and corporate greed, but for ######### sakes BHVR could at least pretend to care.
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There is an old saying, "there is no such thing as bad press (or publicity)." Behavior realized fairly early that there are lots of Streamers out there and some of them reach a large audience. These entertainers are free publicity. Whether they are talking smack about the game or talking it up, they are still talking about it. Streamers that complain, but still play, are sending a clear message. THIS GAME IS FUN ENOUGH THAT I'M STILL PLAYING! It doesn't matter what their mouths say, their actions speak far louder than words. Besides, most people who play video games don't really give complaints that much weight. We know/assume everyone complains about every video game, because that is just how things are in fact.
So if you know that certain Streamers are helping steer more and more people into your fold, why wouldn't you give them a cool title? You don't pay them but titles give some manner of control. The Streamers get some an air of authority over their competitors, and in turn the company can now kind of limit the things they say or do (to a degree). They can use these streamers for promotions and codes and all sorts of things. Not to sound cynical, but all the drama we see can be simply manufactured (at least some of it) simply to drive interest. Think about all the celebrities that engineer their own scandals in Hollywood.
The moral of the story, if there is one, is watch Streamers that entertain you and/or educate you. Don't assign ANY weight to anything they say or do that you can't personally verify with evidence and/or critical thinking skills. Having a platform doesn't mean your opinions have any greater validity. It might, but the two do not automatically equate. The company uses Fog Whisperers for advertising, free advertising. They have their own testing and ideas about how the game should work and at what speed changes should take place. So no, they don't listen to the Fog Whisperers anymore than they do the rest of us.
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They need a separate group of players to help with balancing. You do not need to be any good at the game to be a Fog Whisperer so they should not be the people doing it.
Seasoned Non-Fog whisperers who understand and care about the game like Scott Jund and True Talent would would be much better choices for balancing. (I probably wouldn't put them in the same room together though.)
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I'm not so sure about this either. The people you mention have their OWN best interests at heart. They WORK for a living, and the job they do isn't really understanding or caring about the game. Their job depends on viewership, subscriptions, likes, and/or donations. Those things don't come from smooth sailing and balanced games. Those things come from DRAMA. If the game were balanced and smooth sailing, what the HECK would Scott talk about? Seriously? He is like Peter Griffin's "What Grinds My Gears" for Dead by Daylight:
If he wasn't complaining about something or suggesting changes, he would have nothing to talk about. There are many media personalities that make their bread and butter out of drama, complaints, and telling you what is wrong with the world. I don't begrudge them that, but you have to remember that they have ulterior motives.
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Fog Whisperers are not a part of any balance team - your assumption is misguided. The Fog Whisperer is more an ambassador and marketing role than anything when it comes to DBD. You do realize True WAS a Fog Whisperer right? And Jund would be a horrible person when it comes to balancing imo.
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Starry-eyed. Happy clappy. Must consoom DBD funko poops.
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I never said that they ever were a part of a balance team. I said that they shouldn't be. It's just that some people think that they should have input.
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You make a good point. Me and you as the balancing team then? Although I am a killer main and would probably ruin the balance in favour of my own selfish whims.
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Well I am a 50/50 player - which I wish more players were. That's why I laugh at a lot of the posts on these forums because the survivor/killer main bias seeps through their posts.
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I agree and disagree with you on that one. While those people may not be the best to help with balance, but it is pretty clear that the devs do need some external help. Several, and I mean SEVERAL, situations have proven that the balance team and the community are not on the same page, and I don't even have words to describe how bad that is.
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I feel just like Galadriel now, "In place of a dark lord you would have a queen. Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn. Treacherous as the Sea. Stronger than the foundations of the Earth." While I certainly have my opinions on balance, particularly as how to approach and mitigate the SWF issue, I don't think I have any secret wisdom. I have opinions, just like everyone else. I look at it this way:
Who has a greater vested interest in maintaining a rough balance for the game, us (the Players) or the DEV? For us this game is just a diversion, a luxury item. For them it is their bread and butter. It puts food on the table, pays for their children's College fund, keeps the lights on and all that jazz. When it comes right down to it, I have to assume based on that FACT that they are far more interest in making this work than ALL OF US combined. Who has more access to information about the game, us (the Players) or the DEV? We only see what we want to see and what gets ranted here day in and day out. We have a Funhouse perspective with images twisted and distorted. We lie best when we lie to ourselves. They see the big data, everything behind the curtains as well as in front of it. They know what is coming down the road in the near future too. So again, I have to assume based on these FACTS that the DEV are in a better place than us. Finally, I have to take the game's track record into account. It is successful. People have been predicting its death since the year it came out and it has only grown, and slowly but surely improved (or at least adapted to an evolving market).
So, while the DEV do NOT do everything I like, and they do make mistakes, I suspect they probably are better equipped for this job than we. In fact, I'd bet total chaos would ensue if they adopted anything other than the annoying, glacial pace they normally work within. I also think the DEV do take our feedback into account. They just don't tell us what they use and what they don't. I suspect they get so much feedback (and often contradictory) that no matter what of ours they use, some of us will be angry and assume they didn't use any. Our feedback is part of their metrics, but you have to remember how often we ourselves disagree with one another. They can't win for losing when it comes to saying what they take from us and what they don't. I predicted and requested Zombies for the Resident Evil chapter. I'd LOVE to think I helped, but I am not that arrogant. That call had to have been made and coded long before I even opened my mouth. Do you see where I'm going with that?
There are things I've suggested in regards to unlocking a 5th Perk for Killers whenever they face a SWF of 3+ to balance the SWF's 5th Perk (Comms). This method wouldn't hit Solo, only SWF. Should they ever implement this suggestion, I will happily get to "think" that I helped. It might even be true, but I'll never know for certain. They won't give me a gold star or anything. We have to accept that our place as Players is just that. We are here to play the game. We can chatter all we want, but in the end, this is THEIR world, we just play there.
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You know what? If that was possible I would like to try that.
Make us, the three of us, the balance team. Give us full access to stats and everything. I bet we can balance this game.
No, I am certain of it.
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EXACTLY !
I've seen so many fog lose their enthusiasm a few months after getting their "titles".
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