Killers: A Question (Long Post)

Before I get started on this post I feel that there needs to be a few points made in order for this to be effective and not immediately dismissed as a bait thread. This is a question regarding toxicity. Let me first give my definition of toxicity! Toxicity is not face camping, slugging, or any perk. The devs have already made it clear that those are valid tactics and while certain tactics might be cheap or considered unfun that is not what I want to discuss in this thread.

Secondly, I cannot stress enough that this is not a bait thread and it's not meant to start any arguments. Anyone who is even remotely familiar with me or my posts/replies should know that I am a pretty positive person and I hope my hundreds of posts on here can serve as proof of my intent with this thread.


If you've made it this far let's get into it! Killers, lately I've noticed the same massive uptick in toxicity in my games that I'm seeing posted about endlessly on this forum. It's not one or two bad games per night that I'm blowing out of proportion. It's 10/13, 8/8, 14/18, 10/16, truly disproportionate changes in behavior. I'm talking about someone kicking hatch, downing me at the exit gate and carrying me to said hatch to drop me there and throw hatchets in me the entire time for so long that I have two crows over my head as I'm stuck in a game for entire minutes because someone is throwing a tantrum. It's truly toxic behavior that affects gameplay (in most cases by drawing the game out).

So... Why?

If you are a Killer who is so frustrated with this game/your life or circumstances/whatever that you are determined to try and ruin this game for other people I genuinely want to understand why. I have seen countless threads lately with people making 'jokes' like "Welcome to being a true Killer" and "I'll just be toxic then" and a significant number of people liking those posts or defending those posts and I just do not get it. Toxicity is part of any online game, I'm a long-time gamer and I know this. But it's so disproportionate in this community and it just baffles me that people who should be able to bond over a love for this game are so determined to kill the fan base.

If you're frustrated by the game balance, if your last match was bad, if you got flashlight blinded or teabagged or didn't get a 4k and you decide the then take it out on your next game or another player what does that accomplish? You're not punishing the devs or the person who showed bad manners so that can't be the answer. The only outcome I could see is that new players are chased away and veterans step away to take a break or leave for good. I've been around long enough to remember during slopes in player activity how these forums were filled with Killers and Survivors alike complaining about long wait times and I fear we're headed there again if this keeps up. I personally know four people who have left the game and so again I'm just asking what does actively and aggressively being toxic accomplish?

Comments

  • JamieARose
    JamieARose Member Posts: 31

    My last 10 games have been full of all the nausea you just described. The matchmaking is now 100x worse than it was before and survivor toxicity is just as bad as it's always been. New players getting chased away from this game? Seems like they're being done a favor. Getting away from this terribly balanced joke of a game. I don't know why you expect killers should be polite when survivors are rude and the game badly favors survivors to the point where killers are lucky if they get a sacrifice at all.

  • DarKaron
    DarKaron Member Posts: 615

    As a Killer Main, unfortunately, that's just the state this game is in at this point.

    Nobody likes getting steamrolled time and time again, and for most Killers, this is their reality.

    They play the game, expecting to at least get a decent match out of it, but then they get toxic tryhard sweatlord SWF meta build clicky clicky butt-dance GGEZBabyNoobTunnelCamperKiller Survivors on a constant basis, and it simply makes the game unfun, so they decide to spread the hate to the poor individuals such as yourself who don't deserve it, but are on the out because those same SWF players don't care about helping anyone beyond their own group, and even if everyone is playing together, the Killer will do everything they can to secure their kill, if not rub it in the face of those who MIGHT be those jerkwads who go around like that.

    These are troubling times, and I don't know if DBD will truly recover.

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    Hey, @GeneralV, thanks for replying. You're right about the ebbs and flows of toxicity and about Dead by Daylight having a bad reputation and history of toxicity. Any veterans like us know that and have seen it in the game and on the forum for years now. What I'm trying to ask and to understand is what active Killers think they are accomplishing. I'm fully prepared for that answer to simply be "Well I was mad at a different Survivor so I bullied other people" or "Well I don't like the game balance so I'm punishing other players for it" but I really do like to believe that people aren't that immature or vindictive. Perhaps there's not going to be an enlightening answer because this behavior is just petty, immature bullying but... I don't know. You know me! I try to see the good in people/situations or at least understand them. 😅

  • DarKaron
    DarKaron Member Posts: 615

    And that is the problem, methinks.

    You try to see the good in people that do these things, but unfortunately, DBD changes people. It shapes them into horrible people, even if only while they play.

    Nobody knows what it is, or why it is, but this is the effect the game has on people.

  • GeneralV
    GeneralV Member Posts: 10,625

    To be honest, their answer would probably be:

    "I don't know".

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    Thank you for your reply, @DarKaron. I would be really interested to see any recent metrics (I can't find anything that isn't outdated) about the win/loss ratio. I remember last year specifically there was something about how over 50% of Killer games were 4k and how less than something like 32% of Survivor games were escapes. I'd be really interested to see if this imbalance has had a massive pendulum swing and learn what sent it in favor of Survivors.

    I think there's a lot of confusion because Survivor mains that I know talk about how they will go entire days of playing without getting a single escape. And then the Killer mains that I know talk about how they are constantly being steamrolled. I want to know who these winners are because no one I know from either side feels like a winner or like they are getting a fair game right now. Moreso than ever it seems.

    You're probably right that this is just an endless cycle of aggression creating more aggression. It's... Sad. And I don't know if the game will recover either. I'm pretty much at my threshold personally - with all of the toxicity and negativity in the real world in my country I don't need it in my escapism either. I'll probably retreat for a few months and come back at a later date at this rate...

  • I can understand why those killers slug for so long.

    <Background events> I have gone against teams who will literally only LET you slug them as they all run to a corner with no hooks and who will literally destroy <actually> newer killers and literally wish death on you for just hooking them. I can count on one hand the number of times a killer has dmed me toxic stuff but because survivors are so numerous it is likely that one person is going to be rude. I have also went against survivors who abused flashlight saves <locker stuff> and more just to get sent a message from them after the game telling me to self forever sleep.

    However, if you want to know why people like to make others suffer or killers slug for four minutes <often> its because they feel like making others suffer as they have suffered. Mostly, its not you or any other survivors fault but like some other people have stated it is a cycle. The easiest way to understand this is with an example

    Say you stub your toe on a wall re-actively most people would be mad at the wall <even though it literally did nothing> because they feel the wall made them get hurt.

    Ironically, all it takes is a few times of where a survivor or killer hurts you and then people start to feel apathetic to them because in that moment they stop being human and shift into a killer main or survivor main and this shifts people thinking. It is mostly just irrational and emotion filled thinking that leads to those kinds of players.

    Also there are some people who just like watching others suffer but I doubt that they would just slug you because it is more thrilling if you have the chance to fight back but eventually give up.

    TLDR | They play that way because they thrive of making others feel bad or feel as they have feel. Also I kind of went on a rant and some of it may not make sense but wanted to give some info on why some might be rude.

  • MarcoPoloYolo
    MarcoPoloYolo Member Posts: 508

    No clue. I typically don't BM unless BM'd to.

  • ausanimal
    ausanimal Member Posts: 542

    It's a loop in DBD that will never stop on both side's survivors want killers to be less toxic and killers want survivors to be less toxic, each match you get is with a new group off players unless you get someone from the lass match and should be treated that way but because of the cycle killers and survivors will be toxic towards each other.

    Take keys for example this isn't about if they are fair or not but as a killer after mori got gutted and a key rework is mean't to happen there was a sudden increase in the amount of people bringing in keys or doing the last second swap, so some killers will find the person that bought the key in slug them and let them bleed out just due to the fact they had a key and to take it out off play. But then you go the other side and you have survivors that will all bring in a flashlight to blind the killer as much as they can or just to keep clicking it at the killer to them its fun but to the killer not so much.

    I had someone DC over me running a tomestone piece on Myers and i killed them with it what did they do they DC but they were happy the whole match trying to blind me or click there flashlight at me non stop up until they got killed, It's a loop on both sides and sucks for both sides when people are just being toxic be it they want to, they find it funny or because they had a bad match and want to take it out on the people in the next match and not one side will budge and stop and ease up because they fill like the other side won't do it also.

  • GuyFawx
    GuyFawx Member Posts: 2,027

    Personally I dont think its the fault of this game or other players as much as its a consequence of this covid world we are currently living in. Isolation and boredom are 2 factors that usually bring out the worst kind of toxic players without them sometimes even realizing it. Now I am not saying that to excuse this behavior just that its going to keep happening until alot of the player base gets the real lives in order and are so disgusting in how they play and socialize in a game setting. I do hope it eventually gets better otherwise some of these behaviors could become engrained in people and they bacially stay impacted by this covid mental health. At least your bringing this up so as to have a conversation about it and thats a good start it will perhaps get other players to realize this could be talking about them. Anyways I wish you the best of luck as well as peace of mind in the future.

  • ChiSoxFan11
    ChiSoxFan11 Member Posts: 1,093

    Unfortunately, the people who are exhibiting "toxic" behavior in the game, from either side, either aren't going to read this post, or if they are, they won't answer here. I do appreciate your asking the questions though, and anyone who addresses toxicity in the community and wants to have a dialogue about it is worthy of respect. 👍️

    My guess would be what some have pointed out already -- people have a bad experience heaped onto them, but instead of moving past it, they retaliate against the next group/individual they run across in an attempt to get a measure of "justice" or "revenge". But this accomplishes nothing but to continue the cycle of unsportsmanlike behavior unfortunately. FWIW, I play 50/50 and have seen some pretty shameful behaviors in-game before, but I will say that my own experiences haven't seen an uptick in my matches in BM'ing on either side lately any more than I'd seen before.

    I played a match late last night/early morning after being curbstomped in a ridiculous run of matches where I was, for lack of a better word, getting gen-rushed so fast, it was ridiculous. I finally altered my Pig build, slapped on NOED (which I NEVER run) and Blood Warden and prepared to "punish" the next team that rushed out the gens so fast. I ended up on Red Forest, found two people on a gen ... and they immediately moved to Boop me (my Pig rules have always been, you boop, you live, no matter what). I took a deep breath, took the boops, and the farming began. I found the other two survivors who Booped as well. The gens all were done, I led the Steve to my NOED totem to break (not hitting anyone, since I didn't want to think I was "turning" on them), they let me get some hooks in, and then I opened the gates and they all conga-line walked out the gate, me right behind them.

    They, like me, were all on console, so I messaged one. They were Gold/Iridescent Levels like myself and a 4-person team, and talking to the one I did, they were shocked when they saw the build and presumably realized how easy it would have been for me to ambush them and 4K at the end but didn't. I explained why the build was there, but that my heart wasn't into it, and that when I play against memesters like them, it makes up for every flashlight-clicking, teabagging, classless winner I might go against in other matches. They remarked that the game needs more wholesomeness in it, which I wholeheartedly agreed. It was a sign that, even though it sometimes feels like toxicity is everywhere, there ARE plenty of people who play the game that aren't like that at all -- and when you run into them, it reminds you why you play the game you do. 😊

  • ThiccBudhha
    ThiccBudhha Member Posts: 6,987

    I do not condone this behavior unless they flashlight blinded you. Because otherwise I would be a hypocrite. Flashlight users need to learn that as a Mogwai, bright lights turn me into a Gremlin, it is really the survivor's fault when you think about it. I had one rule and they broke... I weep for them.


    Killers doing it unprovoked are beta.

  • Marc_go_solo
    Marc_go_solo Member Posts: 5,181

    Is this a server-based thing? Because I've not come across this behaviour much at all! At most, I had one Cenobite who tunnelled me really badly - like the very definition - and even then it was probably because the Cenobite had just come out and he wanted to see the Mori. Certainly not seen many killers at all act the way you described (although I hope you reported them. A Huntress lobbing hatchets at you with no attempt to hook whilst you're on the ground for that long I do believe is reportable).

    As for why people do this, it's inadequacy. People try to disguise it as feeling disrespected or because they can or whatever crap they say, but the very core is the feeling of never being good enough. It's not game-related; this can come through a feeling of weakness or lowliness in any area of their life, but it ends up reflected on others and is far more dangerous than you'd think:

    An example was a video that appeared on my feed yesterday. Obviously I won't mention names, but it was one person calling out another of being a hypocrite because they tried to make out people needed to be more understanding, but then called out another streamer (calling them "cancer"), with the kicker being that streamer had lost a parent to that horrid disease recently and had posted about it previously.

    I know this is not in-game, but it was post-game comments. And it just comes down to feeling weak and not important enough. But it damages everyone, including them. And it's at a far greater scale in general life with how much pressure people are put under to be something impossible to attain.

  • Duskk
    Duskk Member Posts: 92

    No clue, I do not personally BM for no reason. I only BM if i get BMd first, if the last player has been clicking and t-bagging all game and I down them. I might just shake my head "no" at them for 2-3 seconds and then put them on the hook. And end the game, I would never slug someone and extend the game for minutes. I am someone that tries to get out of games as quickly as possible, and get into the next one ASAP.

    The game has always been survivor sided, and I know plenty of killer mains are quite angry and upset as they feel there role has been neglected, killer IS a harder and more stressful role. And they feel they are not being rewarded for playing it and feel it is unfair. Maybe the built up anger after all these years has effected a lot of killers, especially with survivors BMing being unfortunately incredibly common. With the t-bagging, flashlight clicking, etc. that I mentioned earlier. But I still have 0 idea why this would all boil over all of sudden, the only thing I could possibly think that has changed very recently is MMR. But i do not see how that would make them more toxic.. who knows bro

  • miketheratguy
    miketheratguy Member Posts: 2,719

    Damn KM, you talk too much. ;P

    In all seriousness I've noticed what you're talking about, yes. There have been times in the past where killers have toyed with me for no apparent reason other than pure toxicity, trying to lead me to think that they're being magnanimous when in fact they're just prolonging the end of the match so they can betray me at the last minute. They remain blissfully unaware that I'm cynical and distrustful by nature so as soon as it happened once I now assume that it's going to happen again anytime anyone shows the signs. Just the other day someone slugged me at the end of the match, brought me to the door, and spent a good 30 seconds getting me back up. I told my friend, who was spectating, "watch. You KNOW what's going to happen. Should we be surprised?" and sure enough, once the player went through all the nonsensical time-wasting theatrics and allowed me to crawl within an inch of the gate, he picked me back up and returned me to a hook. "I am so utterly surprised", I told my friend as he laughed. "This is just so thoroughly unexpected".

    I've gotten a couple of "haha, no hatch for you" time-wasting plays as well lately. So yeah, I have to agree, while I haven't seen a SUBSTANTIAL uptick in this unique kind of killer toxicity, I HAVE nonetheless seen more of it lately than I used to. The part that doesn't make much sense to me (other than everything else about it) is that I don't behave in a way that calls for it, I don't use keys or maps or flashlights and I never teabag. Just a killer being a jerk for no apparent reason. Not that survivors don't do the same thing on a regular basis though.

    As I said, I'm cynical by nature. In a way I'm surprised that I don't see this kind of childish crap MORE often.

  • miketheratguy
    miketheratguy Member Posts: 2,719

    I disagree with this. At least in part. Survivors are unquestionably toxic. As someone who plays both sides (an emphasis on survivor, but both sides nonetheless), I absolutely agree that survivors make killer games much more frustrating than is necessary. I made a joke the other day about how funny it would be if a mechanic was introduced that would kill survivors who teabag at the gate. Maybe it shouldn't be a joke after all.

    However, that said, by resorting to the "sided" debate it's just absolving the other "side" of all blame. When I get a bad crop of survivors I'm not immature enough to take out my anger on the next group that had nothing to do with it. In fact I often choose to let survivors escape just for the hell of it. In one match a survivor teabagged me after I was nice enough to deliberately spare them after their second hook, because I saw that someone had brought an anniversary cake, so I figured "alright, then I guess you WANT me to kill you. Guess what, your teammates all get to live now".

    So I mean I understand your point but I don't think that it's entirely fair to say "what do you expect, killers are jerks because the game is survivor-sided". That simplifies the argument in a way that puts the onus on only one group to play this game respectfully.

  • If you're frustrated by the game balance, if your last match was bad, if you got flashlight blinded or teabagged or didn't get a 4k and you decide the then take it out on your next game or another player what does that accomplish?

    Because those types of players feel so common at times that you may begin to associate all survivors with that kind of behaviour. So you feel more of a need to do what you already are supposed to do which is kill them. What i do not understand is stuff like slugging though. Because it's wastes their time and they miss out on points. Maybe some people just feel that mad at the game though that they think it's worth it. Either way the general problem is how people treat people anonymous people.

  • FFirebrandd
    FFirebrandd Member Posts: 2,445
    edited September 2021

    "I think there's a lot of confusion because Survivor mains that I know talk about how they will go entire days of playing without getting a single escape. And then the Killer mains that I know talk about how they are constantly being steamrolled. I want to know who these winners are because no one I know from either side feels like a winner or like they are getting a fair game right now. Moreso than ever it seems."

    I can shed some light on this one. The thing is, that it is entirely possible for you as the Killer to feel like you got steamrolled but still get multiple kills... sometimes even 4k. That may not make sense, but let me try to explain via examples.

    Game 1: I was Myers on Shelter Woods. Because that map is... one of the worst for stealth killers, the Survivors managed to keep me from getting any Tier 1 Ambushes and kept me from getting to Tier 2 for a ridiculously long amount of time. I had... maybe 2-3 hooks by the time all the gens were done. By all accounts, 3-4 of them should have gotten out. However, they didn't. I got somebody down during end game and they got super greedy and altruistic going for the 4 out, but... didn't do it well. When all was said and done, I eventually got all 4 on the floor and threw them up on hooks despite not popping Tier 3 during that and not having any chase perks on that build. Did I technically win? Yeah. Did I feel like I won? Nope.

    Game 2: Backpack Deathslinger on Shelter Woods again funny enough. My shot was terribly off this game. Don't know why. But regardless, I got exactly 1 hook the entire game... but 2 kills. They triggered EGC when they didn't need to, so I was able to zone an injured and probably broken Bill into not being able to get out. He made an unsuccessful run for the gate when time was almost up and right after I downed Bill near the open gate, I spun, fired, and speared another person who hadn't left yet for no reason. I pulled them out of the gate and EGC claimed them both before either could fully get out. Technically speaking, the Survivors and I tied but it felt like I got steamrolled because I did. The Survivors just messed up the end game badly.

  • Squirrel_Thicc
    Squirrel_Thicc Member Posts: 2,677

    I've experienced this too. Absurd amount of unnecessarily toxic killers recently. I have a hunch it has something to do with mmr bc it's a massive coincidence this spike in toxicity is happening as soon as mmr is released.

  • Patrick1088
    Patrick1088 Member Posts: 628

    I've been playing killer mostly. Goal has to been to have fun with 0k in mind. Doing daily and rift challenges is also fun. I did my generator kicking doc build (overcharge, oppression, PGTW and dragons grip) for rift challenge and every pallet drop they were BMing me. Doc and Wraith are my best killers but I was playing for lolz and challenges. Survivors are more sweaty than usual.

  • chargernick85
    chargernick85 Member Posts: 3,171

    80% of this game is filled with #########. There are some decent people out there but not many. As for the things you describe it would have to be some really bad toxic clowns to get me to sit there and throw hatchets at you on the ground. I do have a couple things I do that some might consider toxic, I will slug for the 4k (meaning 2 survivors left, down 3rd, get te 4th) but I still let one go usually. I like to close hatch/carry to hatch and close it, then carry them to gate (While they open it I can break pallets, max out power score, etc). Outside of that the REAL toxic ######### no I don't do that.

  • Kurri
    Kurri Member Posts: 1,599

    I ran into a Freddy today they were only running Hangman's Trick, and when one of us asked "Hangmans Trick? Doing the challenge?" the Killer just said "the joke is I am hanging myself this week", and then nothing else he probably left.

    We made a support ticket, and tried to send them friend invites, but haven't gotten a response. I hope the person is doing okay. Honestly the situation is an eye opener to the amount of stress Killers get in this game, and I'm sure he is probably going through something personal in his life too.

  • glitchboi
    glitchboi Member Posts: 6,017

    That's... damn. I really hope they were just joking. If not, I hope to god they're okay.

  • PigMainBigBrain
    PigMainBigBrain Member Posts: 1,893

    What do you mean why? Look at the state of some of these peoples games. Toxic mechanics build toxic behavior. As a veteran of some of the most toxic mmo's mechanically known to man, I speak from my own experience. Games that are made inherently to ######### over the player of them in any way builds toxicity. Whether it be world of warcraft, Archeage, Rohan Online, League of Legends season 3, or Call of Duty Warzone with their terrible gun balance.....yeah....

    Bad mechanics create bad communities. I've seen it time and time again, over and over again in repetition. And the amount of publishers and developers who fall into this trap is actually astounding and they don't even realize it.

    There is a reason for everything. Players are reactive, the reaction you get is usually a direct result of other underlying issues. If you don't address those issues, it grates on people, and over time, you go from only having a hand full of idiots acting out because their day was stressful or they felt like memeing into 1000s of players acting out because of the games underlying problems.

    In the example of Archeage, I've actually gone out of my way to be a terrible person and gone against my own personal moral standards just because the game encouraged that type of behavior. Its Sick.

    What most people do is point directly to the symptoms and not the virus itself. In gaming this is the worst mistake you could make.

  • gentacle
    gentacle Member Posts: 260

    I realized long ago that no one's actually playing survivors and that they're all super advanced AIs programmed to teabag and click flashlights realistically so nothing you do to them matters. Hope this helps OP :)

  • Artemisha
    Artemisha Member Posts: 401

    Blind the killer is not toxic. Although it can be very annoying, blind the killer is rewarded with BP and can give survs advantage in game in chase or ungrabbing a surv from killer. So u shouldn't take that as a personal Provocation / offense.


    T-bag meanwhile it is. It's something that pretends taunt or bad manner with no real effect on game neither rewarded in game design.

  • miketheratguy
    miketheratguy Member Posts: 2,719

    I don't think that's toxic, I see it as good strategy. I've done it sometimes myself and I play the killer role far less than most. I mean why not? If I hook one and let the last survivor keep running around while I do, maybe they'll find the hatch. If I slug one and go for the other then I'm more likely to complete a 4K. Slugging and then immediately proceeding to try to win the match when it's just two people left isn't toxic, slugging everybody and then just standing there watching everyone bleed out for five minutes is toxic.

  • miketheratguy
    miketheratguy Member Posts: 2,719

    Taking one's life as a result of finding the killer role stressful is kind of a stretch. I feel for you (and this person, obviously), you've attempted to do the right thing, but I wouldn't automatically equate this person's comment about allegedly planning to kill themselves as evidence that the game is in any way at fault.

  • KerJuice
    KerJuice Member Posts: 1,873

    There’s two things we as a community need to understand: 1) This unsportsmanlike behavior you are seeing more often is not the direct cause of SBMM, but the INDIRECT cause of it. Players who once rarely encountered it, and now see an “uptick”- it’s only because matchmaking is throwing more of the bottom feeding killers at you from the old ranking system. The ones you wouldn’t have normally ran into on a consistent basis. 2) This is the big one- A LOT OF LITTLE KIDS PLAY THIS GAME. We need to really come to the realization of that. They’re immature, so they do stuff like slugging you and ringing Wraith’s bell or throwing Huntress’ hatchets at you until you bleed out on the floor. They’re the ones that face camp, tunnel, and dont play survivor. The ones that do? Ragequit when things dont go their way. They’re also the ones too scared to do the last gen when there are only 2 or 3 survivors left. If you look at some of their profiles you’ll see the tall tell signs of a kid gamer like a generic gamer pic, recently played Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, and Gangbeasts. Other things as well that add up. These are the same kids that ruined Friday the 13th by shooting fellow counselors, running them over with the car, screaming into their mics, and teaming up with Jason.

    Now don’t get me wrong, not every kid that plays DBD is toxic, and adults display the same toxic behavior as well as play the games I mentioned above, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    I appreciate your reply! And what you're saying is what I figured would be the case in the long run - that there is no real reason beyond pettiness, immaturity, and the wrongful direction of frustrations. The sad thing about this is that all that it does long-term is hurt the player base and continue the reputation this game has for a nasty community.

    I've had a few friends refuse to try this game with me because they've heard bad things about the community. I so wish that we could change the reputation of this game for the better!

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    That is an interesting and bleak take that probably has some validity. I think a lot (perhaps even most) people who dedicate themselves to any hobby do so as a form of escapism as much as entertainment. I certainly know that gaming is that for me - to think that the unhappiness in the world is bleeding over into recreational online communities is honestly pretty depressing. Thank you for your response!

    It's a good reminder to remember that the person who is being toxic could have some serious real-life issues going on that they are just venting. It isn't an excuse and it's irrational, childish behavior but it at least casts a sympathetic light on them.

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    Hey, @ChiSoxFan11, I appreciate your kind words! Thank you! I'm always happy to run into like-minded people who have a positive and respectful approach to discussing the issues of this game. 👍️

    Thank you for sharing your story! And you're totally right - all it takes is a really fun/good match to turn the mood around. Hopefully people will remember that and will take a note from your book and start being that Killer who occasionally does something silly or friendly. I do that a lot with Killers, actually! If I see a Killer is trying really hard and is playing a fair game but is just not having much success I think to myself that they are either new to the game, new to that Killer, or are just having a really 'off' night. I'll complete gens and will ensure that my teammates escape and then I'll throw myself on hook for the Killer. Often times running them right to a hook and pointing. 🤣 I'll also do this if a Killer did an amazing job and made me sweat and didn't get any kills. Or if I'm the last person and it was more luck than skill I'll open the door and run them to a hook or run them to the hatch and step away and point so that they know I'm not just trying to show off that I found the hatch but rather that I want them to close it and hook me.

    There's positive people on both sides! Unfortunately I feel like I'm just seeing less and less of them (or lately literally none). Hope to cross paths with you in game one day! I'll be booping snoots until I do! 😂

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    Do you begin to be bad mannered if you're flashlight stunned at all or is it only if they are abusive about it? I hope that it's the latter! If someone is flashlight spamming and tea bagging after their stuns then I understand being upset with them. Gremlin away! But I think that typical/normal gameplay shouldn't be punished. 😊

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    It might be! I play on a North American server and like I said it's been disproportionate and relentless lately. I'm glad that you're not running into it frequently! I did report several of them, yes, because it's been reportable behavior. Like I said before I'm not talking about just things like camping and tunneling - the devs have already said that those are valid tactics. The behavior I'm talking about is the Huntress or the really sad story that you told. I hope that this tide changes because I really and honestly don't think that this community will grow. It will just shrink down - there's been an uptick in 'goodbye' posts on here even it seems.

    The whole thing is just really sad!

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    Wow! That's rude, Mike! :P ... Just wait until you see your wall post! LOL

    I'm disappointed to hear that you're encountering this too but am at least relieved that it's not as frequently as I am! That's really funny about you and your friend though! I can usually laugh things off in that same manner and just roll with the punches. In fact I'm pretty sure I've made plenty of posts advising people to do the same.

    The fact that I can't lately or that I have been finding myself frustrated even after the match is a sign to me that I'm just getting overwhelmed by the frequency and mostly likely need to take a break. I just wish I understood why it is happening but it seems to be that the unanimous answer is just that people are lashing out. It's a shame. And I'm like you with how I play! I've literally never tea bagged, I don't use keys, and the only time I flashlight is when the Rift calls for it and even then I'm bad at it and never spam someone with it or do anything that would be in any way considered bad mannered. So it does feel super unfair - though at this point I probably sound like I'm whining.

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    That's good that you filled out a support ticket and tried to reach out to the person. At the end of the day that is all that you can do and it was most likely just a grim joke. If they weren't then you're right that it would be caused by things going on in their life - I think that it would be a bit of a stretch to equate the stress of playing this game to someone snapping and killing themselves. But I hope in regards to that person that is neither here nor there - I hope they are okay.

    Good on you for taking it seriously and trying to help. That's very kind of you.

  • Kate_Main_01
    Kate_Main_01 Member Posts: 504

    I'd not considered the age of the player base. I wonder if there is a metric for that - I know that some games will sometimes poll that information to find out certain demographics about their community. I haven't done a lot of checking into profiles but now that you've pointed it out I'm unsure how frequently I see things that would indicate a young gamer. I'll have to start checking/looking out for that now. 🤔 Thank you for your post! I appreciate fresh perspectives.

  • Tricksters_Wife
    Tricksters_Wife Member Posts: 545

    It's also been happening a lot to me as survivor. Used to not happened much and then with the new SBMM it's dramatically increased.

    But as someone who leans more on the Killer main side I'm truly not sure why other killers do this. The most toxic I get is carrying survivors out into the open to Mori (just cause I love Tricky's Mori so damn much), shake my head no when I down someone, or give someone a smack after I put them on hook. But I'll only shake my head or give someone a smack on hook if they were being toxic to me beforehand (teabagging, flashlight spamming, etc.) Even if a SWF or really coordinated team makes me feel like I have my hands tied behind my back in the end it's a game and new players in a new game are a fresh reset and my frustration from the prior game is mostly gone.

  • _NIGHTMARE_
    _NIGHTMARE_ Member Posts: 727

    Is playing survivor really this bad right now?

    Since the MMR update, I purchased the Silent Hill DLC; so I've literally just been playing Pyramid Head to learn him better all this time (so I wouldn't really know.)

    I hope all this toxicity blows over soon. 💕

  • Clowning
    Clowning Member Posts: 886
    edited September 2021

    There's actually quite a bit to talk about here and it's all quite interesting. First, let's talk about what is generally considered a victory. I think we can all agree that an escape for a Survivor and three or more kills for the Killer is a success. It makes you feel good, it gives you a sense of an accomplishment, maybe even improvement. It positively motivates you. And let me just go out of my way to say that I am aware of the fact, that not all Killers and not all Survivors think this way.

    Now let's ask ourselves, what do the Devs want? The Devs consider 2 kills a fairly balanced, good game and as such, it is fair we assume they'd be pleased if every game ended this way. So out of five people in a game, two Survivors will get to experience victory, while the Killer will always experience a defeat. Meaning that gloating from Survivors will be more frequent. There is a very clear design flaw here. 

    The next thing to mention, is that on average you'll meet more "toxic" Survivors, no I'm not looking to start a debate on who's worse, that's not what this is about, rather it's statistically factual. You meet more Survivors than Killers, simple as. We can also talk about the fact that I've yet to receive an incredibly dumb -rep comment on my Steam profile from a Killer player, but we'll save that for another day.

    So what does the average Killer do in this scenario? Technically, there's three choices here, right? Number one, become such a good Spirit/Nurse/Blight that defeat will become a rarity, meaning the amount of camping you do and the general abuse you receive will be minimal. Thus you don't get tilted enough to dish out abuse. Which quite frankly shouldn't be an option with an MMR, but for the sake of the argument we'll mention it. 

    Number two, and this is where most normal human beings belong, you just take it on the chin. You play to have fun, you play to get better, you're just fooling around. Sure, from time to time you might get tilted and from time to time, the comments you have to deal with from the Survivors will hurt, but life goes on, your own personal value doesn't depend on how many people you've managed to kill in a video game.

    Number three, you perceive the 2 kill=balance mindset as a clear indication that the game is Survivor sided, you see the gloating that follows nearly every single time a Survivor "wins", you realize that without tunneling/slugging you cannot get your 3 kills as often, which leads to even more abuse and anger from the Survivors, until eventually you begin to play like the Killers you speak of, because you're caught in a cycle of abuse. Now we can talk about the fact that tunneling and slugging isn't toxic, but that doesn't change the fact it makes a lot of people angry and angry people lash out. And the more they lash out, the more likely are players in the Killer role, specifically those prone to ego and anger issues, to finally "take the reigns" and pat themselves on the back for letting a bunch of people that were just having fun bleed out.

    So all in all, with the introduction of MMR, I can see why people act this way. Does it justify their behaviour? Hell no. Not at all. Though what I sadly can't see, is how to ever fix this in a game such as this.