http://dbd.game/killswitch
Is The Game Supposed to Be Fair and Balanced?
Is there any sort of statement from the developers on if the game is supposed to be fair and balanced? Or is it intentionally supposed to be unevenly easier for survivors or killers? I've noticed the average game length (at least from ranks 18-7, I never got higher) are getting noticeably shorter and the average score of all survivors (not just me) are getting lower. Killer's scores seem to be staying about the same.
I think many people are frustrated because they assume it is supposed to be a fair game. From a developer's standpoint it would seem the bigger concern would be resources management (servers). Since the Killer's machine hosts the game it would seem they would be more important player, from a developer's mindset.
As a Survivor main it is getting less fun to play. It is way easier to play as a killer, I can usually get double the points as a killer with minimal effort, but I don't enjoy playing as the killer.
Before I give up the game for good I was wondering if there is any sort of formal statement on if the game is supposed to be fair? Are all ranks considered when crunching data or is it only the higher ranks? DBD used to be fun, its basic gameplay is ingenious, but it isn't fun for me anymore and I think maybe there is a certain type of player the game is evolving to be fit for and the enjoyment of others is being considered unimportant.
When I worked in game design I learned you can't please everyone, and I know you hear more complaints then compliments. But you used to have a really good game brand for the serious and casual player, the fiddling with the nerfs and buffs and ridiculous killer perks has changed much of that.
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If your idea of fair is being able to 1vs1 the killer then no
It isn't supposed to be "fair"5 -
I don't think it is about what is fair.. if the game is fair.. etc... or if it is balanced.. etc...
I think it all just boils down to is if you enjoy playing. Hopefully both sides.. and not just favour one for the other.
That said though...
I play allot of survivor... I've been finding there is a big difference in the bloodpoints earned now as survivor compared to killer.
In the earlier days it felt like everything evened out over the long term. However I personally don't see that anymore.
I've played killer... earned way more points over an hour then I could have in that same hour with survivor. Many survivor games end up with you staying close to the end of the match with the killer, so why can't your points come close to the killers?... Cause they do more?... Nah... That is an old argument.
Also the argument of killer addons being used up where survivors can keep them after the match, doesn't equate anymore either.
Survivor is getting less fun cause survivors need to get a "feeling" of winning even when they lose allot. They need to make it worth while again to play survivor by provide more bloodpoints over the middle of matches.
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drags my face against a cheese grater
Slasher flicks aren't fair. The ones where the survivor gets away is usually against all odds and then the final care happens. How the heck is a game based on Slasher tropes supposed to be fair? The funny thing is, and it has been said a million times, the game is tilted in the SURVIVORs favor. Which is the OPPOSITE of the genre. The game is more Ghostbusters and Stranger Things, than it is a Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween.
I get that survivors hate the killer because the killer is the "bully" role.
Survivors feel like they should be able to fight back against killers, even if that mean arming them with machine guns and baseball bats. That's the inherent design flaw that most survivors keep missing. They want to fight back because all other games let them fight back. A horror themed game of hide and seek + chase is not how they think the game should be played. Why else do you thing the actual horror genre has gotten so quiet? However this isn't survival horror. This is a niche game. Most normal people play games to feel powerful and heroic, not to feel scared or helpless. However there are horror lovers like myself that love EXACTLY that. The "heroes" shouldn't get weapons to FIGHT the big bad, they should have the tools to ESCAPE the big bad.When a bully comes after you, you want to fight back, hurl insults and tea bag. Not run away. This game is (supposed to be) the antithesis of that. Players want to look Freddy dead in the eye, spit in it, laugh at him and tell him he's nothing. Because again, they don't play games to be victims, they play games to feel powerful.
The side of the killer is mirrored which is where this cyclic animosity comes from. The killer is supposed to be the power role. However when you are playing a game where all four survivors "Ain't scared of nuthin'" it kind breaks the horror immersion.
Thats why I argue that the unbalance and toxicity is good for now. You have a buncha people who could give a rats-rear about the trope and they just want to win... by any means necessary and that's how we are in the state we are today.
The devs know this, so they stay on course of what they think is fun for them, keeping with the genre. Because a game like this is impossible to balance within the minds of its players.
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The only thing the devs really mentioned was a 2 die 2 escape scenario and making the game fun, apart from that the word balanced is rarely if ever used.
I do recall McLean streaming a while ago and people in the chat kept asking about balance for killers, his response was "who said the game was meant to be balanced" it caused quite an uproar on the steam forums at the time.
Personally I think too many players are overly competative and get upset when they lose on either side and blame the game, games are meant to be fun and not taken too seriously if the fun aspect goes so does the user base, right now survivor is just as much fun as it has always been it's just not as rewarding as playing killer.
In terms of balance for a game like this I believe they need to make both sides simply have a fun experience and also come out of it feeling rewarded for what they did in the game, killer is more rewarding and with the game being such a grindfest they need to fix that.0 -
my post got deleted? huh ... nvm then
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As far as I recall they have stated that they do intend it so be somewhat balanced and fair for both sides at the core of it, which is quite tricky apparently. Unfortunately they're adding certain mechanics which doesn't seem fair, namely the RNG, and RNG if used improperly or for the wrong things then it can be really bad for balance. Furthermore they allow players from both sides to apply powerful offerings that have the potential to tip the scale quite drastically for one side. But the worst part which is really at fundamental level, is the addons, equipment and perks, more specifically the perk tier and amount differences than the opposing sides.
Whats more interesting is that Dave Richards who's the creative director specifically said that addons, equipment, perks and their tiers affect performance hugely, so considering that, then one would assume that they're aware of the issue and would seek to fix it, and yet they haven't fixed this, which probably would make people wonder, because stating that also leads to the obvious, that amount differences only makes the imbalances greater.I have an entire post dedicated to debunking why this is severely imbalanced at a fundamental level, if this is something that might interest you?
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It is not balanced at all. I suck as a killer and I can usually kill at least 2 survivors in a match, and I'm not really trying hard. I play my best as a survivor and cannot get a decent score in half the games and don't pip.
Balance is for every plus there is also a minus, so you may get a strength in one area, but you pay for it by a weakness in another category. When you add a strength to a killer without offsetting it with a weakness that is unbalanced and unfair. For instance using a hex totem has no accompanying penalty added to it, it makes the game easier for the killer in all areas and more difficult for the survivor in all categories. The pig gets to add all kinds of new problems for the survivor with the face traps; they take the player out of the main objectives of doing gens and instead they spend most of the game looking for Saw puzzles to remove the trap. And the accompanying penalty for the Killer is? nothing, they just make the game harder for the survivor.
The killers are already much faster, have weapons, are immune to damage, can't die, have no skill checks, have no timed tasks, no set objectives, have no weak teammates who are actually additional enemies, have the power to end a match and steal survivor's points and offerings, etc.
From a developer standpoint it makes sense because they want more killers, because killers host games, it frees up resources, etc.
There should be a baseline model game of what an even match looks like, as new features are added the game should maintain a pretty even fair play style which challenges all players (killers and survivors) equally. Killers just keep getting new strengths with no additional weaknesses. A way to solve this would be if a killer like the Pig uses traps it costs them resources in another area, so maybe they can't run as fast or hooks are easier to escape. Or for the pig they have a set number of maximum hooks and puzzles, if you want to rely on using the head trap you set the number of puzzles higher, but it takes away from the number of hooks.
Right now things just keep getting added to the plus column for killers but no penalties are added for using these new items.
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Depends, a 1k skilled survivor should be able to 1v1 a newbie killer with 100 hours. A 1k hours skilled killer should be able to down a 100 hours newbie survivor extremely quick.
When both are experienced and at the same skill level, it should be a "normal chase", not long and not to short. End result is a 2 dead and 2 escape ratio. That's the theory, obviously reality is much more complicated than that.
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I remember when mcleans response to the depip squad was "nobody said the game was balanced" on his stream, so
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So whats your point? I just read your posts like 3 times... Whats not balanced? Are you talking about keys, insta heals, swf on coms? O wait you were talking about killers being 'overpowered'... so moris maybe? I dont get your point? noed?
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