I watched the SQUAD interview with Dave Richard that barely anyone knows about so you don't have to

May I please request that people do not use the quote feature on this post, nor should they paste it's link to these forums in any form other than a hyperlink, because if you do you'll get a rich post error and nobody wants those. Your comment will be lost to space time and all of your hard work will be yeeted so let me repeat do not use the quote feature on this post nor paste it's link to these forums. Hyperlink if you must.

A bit different this time but hey, it's me, GoodBoyKaru, once more with a summary. The devs have given us some radio silence recently in terms of QnA streams so here I am! For people who don't know, I watch streams and give a summary of that stream for other people to use as reference or completely ignore the context of and ######### on the devs for anyway!

This was uploaded to YouTube on Sepember 3rd, 2021. This means it was uploaded before the official release of the Hellraiser Chapter, in case some things look a bit weird. For the previous stream, this time from the devs, which was the 5th Anniversary stream, see here.

I may end up writing this in bits and pieces and using the Save Draft feature, so if you see a half-completed post which quickly becomes a photo of a cow, that's why.

disclaimer

The following contains official information, unofficially worded. Unless it's in quotation marks ("like this") please do not look too far into the wording of a particular anything. That would be my bad in getting something lost in translation, not the bad of the developers. Thanks!

Please note I will try my best to stay as true as possible to all information said on-stream, however, and apply more context where needed, or just add in my own opinion or jokes. The latter 2 will be in italics to make it clear what is my input and what is not.

Remember, this is a summary. For the full experience, please check out the video, which can be found below:

Featured

This interview is with Dave Richard- Creative Director of Dead By Daylight (@Dave) and Victoria Crego (niva1agaming on YouTube; if you have a forum account you wish for me to shoutout I will).

questions

Q) So, how long did you guys have your sights on Pinhead for Dead By Daylight, and did you have to go through many iterations of his power to decide on the final one to go into the game with? And what were some of the surprises and challenges in adapting Pinhead to Dead By Daylight?

A) "Right- okay- so of course, Pinhead being an icon of horror- I mean, he is, he's a clasic and very well known, he's been on our list for the longest time. You know, a lot of the team are fans of this franchise and wanted to see this character in, so we're really pleased it's finally happening, that he's finally a part of the family of Dead By Daylight."

So, that second part of the question was 'How did we come up with the power', or if there were any challenges. So, of course his power is quite unique, and required a little bit more tech than usual. In terms of the ideas and how they wanted the fantasy of the character to happen- you know, like using torture or using the chains- it was identified quite early on, and they really wanted to go all in and use the puzzle box and make it an important part of the power design. In the process, the design team went through a protype phase where many different ideas are iterated that they want to try out with the power, and thankfully they managed to identify what they wanted exactly quite early on.

The challenges were mostly technical- chains, chains, chains. Posessed chains, Chain Hunt chains, Puzzle Box chains, controllable chains.

Q) Pinhead's perk, "Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain" puts a rewarding twist on killers hooking survivors. Can we expect more "Scourge Hook" perks in the future, and why did you decide that survivors cannot see Scourge Hooks.

A) Firstly, yes, we will be seeing more Scourge Hook perks in the future. They're like Hex perks with the Hag- they won't be exclusive to him from now on out. This is a type of perk they want to create a new gameplay space with- more around the hooks.

So they chose that type of balance based on PTB feedback and internal playtesting, and this is the best set up they feel like they can have for the moment. Of course, as players interact with the perk more, and it becomes one of the normal perks you can use, they'll see if they need to adjust it a little bit more.

Q) I remember during on your events, survivors would specifically sabotage event hooks so killers couldn't get a reward. Was that a concern with the Scourge Hook perks as well?

A) Not really- sabotage has changed a lot (hooks are now gone for 30 seconds instead of... instantly, for example) and so it's less of a problem than in the Early Days(tm). But of course, it's important that when you equip a perk, it stays relevant in the trial.

Q) Something else we saw in the Public Test Build is that killer and survivor ranks look completely different- why did you decide to change the rank system if it will no longer be used in matchmaking, and will ranking up still be based on emblems?

A) Yes- the emblem system is here to say for the grading system. The visual was changed to ranks, to attempt to seperate both systems and make it clear that there is a definite separation between rank-based match making, and skill-based match making (RBMM and SBMM respectively). Ranks are part of the past and will not be used for matchmaking, but they wanted to keep it in as a general indicator of monthly progress and also to help give a very vague idea of your own skill, being able to compare yourself to what you were in previous seasons.

Q) When ranking up at the higher ranks, you need to do more [to pip]. Will that still be true?

A) If Dave recalls correctly, this is still true. It's the exact same as ranks except it looks a bit snazzier.

Q) Are there any plans to increase Bloodpoint gains in a trial? With 179 perks, and 52 characters, it can be difficult for new players to get the perks they want; what are the plans to address this ever-increasing grind?

A) A little bit of history for people who haven't been here since 2016. The progression system was addicting and made lots of sense, back with fewer characters. It was designed to scale with the game, just not to the level the game is at today. During the years, progresison has changed a bit, but the constant growth of characters in the game makes it exponentially more difficult to get exactly what you want.

So, the team is currently looking into lowering this grind, and giving access to the player for the perks they want much faster, and in more of a permanent way, so the grind pretty much disappears and you can focus on the fun of new characters and new content. It is, of course, a complex system so changing it has ramifications all over the game, and it is still in the very early stages of development which prevents Dave from saying much more.

They want to make sure it works in the space of DBD and that players who put in the effort to the current system still feel like their time is relevant. However, the main part is that they do agree this is an issue that should be changed.

Q) A key rework tying them to moris was mentioned in the Anniversary Livestream- what are the challenges currently faced with balancing the key item, and will we see it any time soon?

A) It's still in the early protyping stage, so no release date or ETA today. It's quite challenging to find the right recepie and make moris and keys part of a normal trial. They want moris and keys to be integrated into the general trials- no longer a surprise and more something player(s) can work towards, and that it's understood that this can happen so you don't feel like a victory is stolen from you. So- yeah- still working on that.

Q) What's surprised you most about how survivors use keys?

A) They've (sadly) been around for a long time- the Hatch and keys were integreated into the game very late into development- just before beta- to ensure there was an alternate means of escape. Since that time there's been a lot of 'klutch' escapes, which feels great as survivor and is something they want to preserve, however can feel terrible to face. The same with moris- it feels great to do them, horrible to face.

Q) Are there any plans to address "bot" killers or "farming" killers?

A) He doesn't know about this personally, however AFKing or forcing everyone in the game to farm is reportable. However, the design team is looking at if something "can be done about this in the future".

I wish to clarify this, only forcing everyone in the game to farm is reportable. The action of farming, or being friendly at the end and giving a survivor hatch, is not reportable. AFKing is reportable if it occurs several games in a row, and botting is reportable full stop.

Q) So the SBMM system is a fairer step towards better matchmaking, but what are the challenges in developing this system, and will players ever have any indication on where they are within the system?

A) So the most challenging part was figuring out the MMR system for an assymetrical game, like understanding the goal of each player. For example, if you're altrustic and sacrifice yourself to get another to escape, is that classed as a win? How many hooks or sacrifices- what exactly is a win? The result of these is what's used today, and as it's used data is fed abck into the system to help improve it.

Now will the players see how they're rated? It's something they want to keep hidden. It may change in the future, but this isn't likely.

Q) Something else that was mentioned in the Anniversary Stream were "Boon totems". Can we expect to see those soon?

A) Absolutely- it's a new type of way to play with totems for survivor, so yes you can expect that soon. The goal right now is to take existing elements of gameplay in the match and enrich them.

Q) With the moris being changed as well, were these changed due to over/underperforming or to make them less of a surprise?

The latest tweak to moris doesn't make them too strong or annoying in their opinion, and players seem to agree. But making them weaker isn't the only goal- they want to include them as part of the normal gameplay match, to make them more fun, but potentially make them more common too, not just through an offering.

They'll also add some gameplay interaction on the survivor side- they will be able to do something to help counter moris and cancel it, potentially.

Q) A lot of survivors and killers complain about generators- is that true according to the data?

A) It really depends- it cannot be percieved as a general statement and really depends on the ranks SBMM rating and specific builds. Sometimes the issues are based around a specific group, and would some tweaks make it fairerer for everyone?

Q) As you've added more perks to help the killer control generators, have you seen any change in gen speeds?

A) The perks are, of course, useful- but they don't want to make it something they absolutely have to equip constantly. And if people are feeling forced into generator slowdown perks, then it's not good for the game and something needs to be done.

Q) What is a successful killer game for DBD- 2 kills, 4 kills, hooks, etc?

A) To Dave, a good killer game is "when you're having fun". Regardless of outcome. Everyone has a definition of a win. Data wise or balance wise, they aim for roughly a 60% power level- 2 sacrifices with a few more hooks. Just don't be toxic with yourself.

Q) How has it been to try and deal with player toxicity?

A) Within the game there's different efforts to try and combat toxicity- the chat filter, harassment, etc. But there are some things considered toxic which are harder to put a limit on- tbagging, camping, tunneling, etc. So the main efforts are to ensure people feel safe within the community outside the game.

Q) So when you started on the "Dead By Daylight" project, did you ever think it would be this big?

A) No- yes, they were positive in the growth and that it wouldn't completely fail, but they couldn't have expected, well... this. And to be such a big success to fast too, especially lasting so long.

EDIT: It has come to my attention that I worded something poorly. Here's a comment below I made a moment ago in a different thread detailing where I went wrong and what was meant behind the words.

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And that's the end of the questions, and so the interview. Enjoy.

(this photo of a cat was stolen from Twitter)