BHVR is creatively bankrupt (Wall of Text BIG read)

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THROUGHOUT THIS POST, I WILL TALK ABOUT FACTS AND MY OWN PERSONAL OPINIONS. THIS IS IN NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM AN "US VS THEM" OR "SURVIVORS VS KILLERS" THREAD. PLEASE DO NOT ATTACK OR INSULT EACH OTHER OVER WHICH ROLE YOU PLAY IN THE VIDEO GAME.

I also would like to state that I am a relatively experienced player, with nearly 1200 hours in the game, and having been a former rank 1 Nurse and Pyramid Head main, as well as a rank 1 Survivor for many, many months as well. I speak from my own personal experience.

Note: I do not mean this topic title as a "pop-off", negative buzzword remark. I mean this as a statement--that they have completely stagnated in their content creation. I will elaborate:

BHVR and their lack of content updates for Killer gameplay

I won't speak for before I started playing DbD, but I will start from when I first played the game: beginning of November, 2019.

I'm not talking about Killers being added to the game. I'm talking about updates that affect the gameplay of every Killer in the game currently and in the future. And of those, there have been next to none. The only thing we've seen added is Breakable Walls, but we know how most people (including myself) feel about those... and I'll talk about them more later on.

Oh, and I almost forgot about Pentimento: The ONLY Killer perk that actually provides a new interaction for Killers. Sadly, the perk itself is rather gimmicky, especially in the new boon age.

Meanwhile, we've seen many things added for Survivors, especially in the form of perks that ACTUALLY modify Survivors' gameplay (as most Survivor perks do). We've also seen Boon Totems added to the game (something I enjoy using frequently), and new maps that provide more interesting loops to learn and use.

If the only way you (possibly) have fun is by succeeding, the game isn't fun

For Survivors, the best way to have fun in the game is to play with friends. I know that many players don't want to believe it, but most SWF that you see are playing to enjoy themselves and succeed at what they're doing. Be it through doing a full toolbox sabotage team, or four Head Ons, these are the ways that these players are enjoying Survivor. Solo is a little iffy, but you can still take items and perks that change up your gameplay. Not to mention that base Survivor gameplay can actually be challenging--be it planning your route of escape to buy time for your teammates, looping obstacles effecively for the same purpose, and more. Heck, even knowing which pallets to use and not to use still contributes to the challenge!

But for Killer, it gets a little more tricky. The purpose of Killer is to kill the Survivors... lorewise and gameplay wise. That should be the "fun" in the video game, right? But to do that, the best option for many players is to camp Survivors who are on the hook (to either grab the rescuer or secure a kill) or tunnel the recently unhooked Survivor in order to get a faster down and re-hook (since they are injured off-hook). These things are actually very smart to do (if done correctly) if you want to complete your objective and "have fun", but in reality they are contributing to player frustration and stale gameplay. And I'm talking about player frustration on the Killer side, not Survivor!

Camping a hooked Survivor (not facecamping, just proxy) is BORING. I speak this from experience! It turns the supposedly aggressive and proactive gameplay of Killer into a passive style of play where you wait for Survivors to initiate the interaction. And worst of all, Survivors have perks that counter this style of play, to where your efforts to secure a kill can easily be foiled and the Killer is left with nothing. Not to mention that Survivors have many perks that, while fun for Survivors themselves, lessen the experience for Killer greatly.

In regard to this, it's no wonder that many, many Killer players and mains are typically angry, apathetic or depressive. The gameplay aspect that "fun" hinges on for Killers can easily be snatched away from them. But what about when Killers succeed at what they're doing, and get 2, 3 and even 4ks regularly? Well, aside from the people who are newer to the game or play infrequently, even these victories feel hollow. Again, I speak from my own experience. And I feel that I'm not wrong in assuming this about many other players, due to the amount of complaints and sad feels posts I see, here and on Steam.

And yes, that could be attributed to how people can just be whiny in general, or feel entitled to win, but knowing the nature of the game I would say that is only part of the issue... maybe 30%.

Most Killers are not actually fun to play

This might be an odd statement, but I believe that if the fun of using a Killer's power is from the effect it has on Survivors, then it really isn't fun. What this means is that if you are unable to effectively use your power on Survivors, or it fails in it's desired effect, then you end up not having fun at all... which leads to frustration. Many Killers are this way--if you don't land a hit on a Survivor with a Huntress hatchet, for example, are you having fun using her power? If Survivors don't step on Hag traps or instead burn them with flashlights, are you having fun with her power?

Killer powers should be interesting. They should be fun to use and actually provide entertainment to the Killer, rather than just the Survivor. If anything, Killer feels like a gameplay mechanic for Survivors, rather than a role of their own being controlled by a player.

This year's Winter event lacking Killer content

There really was NO reason whatsoever for this event to have zero Killer content. Outside of Killers interacting with Survivors who are interacting with the snowmen, there was basically nothing for Killers this event. Very disappointing, to say the least. But, then again, this isn't too surprising to me concerning my topic title. It also highlights how Killers lack base mechanics that involve interesting gameplay, and thus lack the vehicles for new and meaningful event mechanics.

BREAKABLE WALLS

They suck. I don't know what I was expecting when they added them to the game with Dead Dawg Saloon, but it certainly wasn't what we got. As I said in a forum post earlier today, having to spend over thirty seconds "preparing" the saloon building just to be able to effectively chase Survivors in it is not "gameplay". It's garbage. The only map that they were implemented semi-well was The Game.

With the base mechanic of breakable walls, we had an opportunity to have something actually interesting added to the game. Something like a door rather than breakable wall, where Survivors could open the door to enable a better loop but Killers could shut it and make the loop unsafe. SOMETHING! But no. We got to break pallets (such fun) without Survivors dropping them in the first place. Not to mention that this is the only "gameplay" update we've gotten for Killers since I started playing. This ties in with my belief that BHVR has really run out of creative steam.

Random emphases on competitive play, while maintaining the party aspect of the game

I don't really have too much to say here. It just seems that DbD is supposed to be a party game (4v1, SWF, e.t.c.) but also acts like a competitive game, with MMR now being a part of the game. I don't quite understand what they're going for, but it just ends up being a game where you're made to feel like you have to win but at the same time aren't meant to. This in turn contributes greatly to player frustration on both sides.

BHVR stated themselves that the perfect balance it 2k, 2 escape. This literally means that two Survivors are expected to die every game, despite their best efforts. And it means that Killers are expected to only get two kills per game, despite their best efforts. Very strange. It kinda makes you believe that the game is meant to be competitive, but then SWF exists, throwing it back into the party game territory.

Playing with friends in nearly every other game that supports it doesn't necessarily mean party game, as everyone is on a level playing field. But with SWF in DbD, it becomes a party game for the Survivors and a competitive game for the Killer. This disparity also has a hand in making Killer a more frustrating experience due to you having to play competitively to have a chance at success and the SWF playing around but succeeding due to the inherent advantage of communication and perk synergies.

To add to this, some would say "well, if you play it casually and infrequently, as party games should be played, then you wouldn't get frustrated at the video game. The game isn't your life, don't treat it as such". Of course, the last part is true, and you would think the first part is true as well, but it's not. The game is grindy--you're pressured to level up your characters and unlock perks from other characters in order to enjoy the character you want to play. And to do that, you have to play... a LOT.

So, if you want to enjoy what the game has to offer in terms of perks, addons and offerings (and Killers themselves), you have to play quite a bit. And it's gets old pretty fast, if you're actually trying to earn points. Which, for Survivors means escaping for a fatty 5k, and for Killers it means making the game last as long as possible... which means you have to prioritize perks that increase your chances of survival vs tunnelling and camping and perks that extend the game as long as possible, respectively. The emphasis is moved from fun to the DbD Player Grindset™.

Perks being used as a crutch/bandaid for boring, unenjoyable gameplay

As I said previously, tunnelling and camping are very effective strategies for succeeding at the objective. However, these things are very boring and unenjoyable for Survivors to face, as it cuts their gameplay short--so in turn they take perks that enable them to succeed against these strategies.

Same for Killer--prioritizing generators is a very effective strategy for Survivors to succeed at their objective. However, again, this is very boring and unenjoyable for Killers to face as it also cuts their gameplay short. So, Killers also take perks that enable them to succeed against these strategies.

However, both of these issues from both sides (prioritizing gens and tunnel/camp) highlight a glaring issue in game design--it's just... poorly designed. Map sizes vary too wildly for most Killers to patrol effectively, and certain Killers are far better at camping and tunnelling than others. Players on both sides feeling forced to take perks to deal with certain gameplay situations screams poor game design and lack of meaningful content and mechanics to make the core gameplay "fun" without emphasizing escaping or 4k.

Survivors are NOT the enemy: The actual reason Killers get frustrated easily and want to quit

I know this isn't directly related to the topic title, but I just wanted to say it. Survivors playing the game, using their items and perks (including "sweaty" perks like Dead Hard) and even using map offerings... there's nothing wrong with any of it. Survivors are acting well within the confines of the game itself, and are only using the resources that have been provided. Even things like crouching and non-macro flashlight clicking are not "toxic", but are simply BM (bad manners).

And same for Killers as well... Killers using their powers, addons and perks are not "evil" (well, maybe not in the player interaction aspect... the Killers themselves are pretty bad!). Again, even things like hitting on the hook or nodding/shaking head at Survivors is only BM.

What I'm saying is Survivors "bming" the Killer and using in-game mechanics like bodyblocking, flashlight saving and prioritizing generators is not toxic. It doesn't mean Survivors are trying to sabotage your fun, either... they are just playing the game.

The reason that Killers get frustrated easily is... because Killer gameplay is extremely simple. WASD to move, left click to swing weapon, right click to use power and space bar to do everything else (and the controller equivalents for all of these). Some Killers have the ability to use CTRL, but they are usually only necessary for using the Killers' M2 powers (in the case of Pig, Pyramid Head and Artist). You could say that in other games, the gameplay can also be simplified down to "click, move around, jump, e.t.c.", but even in a game like Call of Duty where gameplay could almost be simplified to that, there are so many other things going on, so many things to be aware of and react to that it just isn't that simple.

I don't know how to explain it properly, but in essence (due to its extreme simplicity) Killer gameplay is boring. Once you grasp the basics of Killer gameplay, it almost becomes a walking simulator with occasional clicking and pressing spacebar. Killers' powers effectively become "which power is best at killing Survivors", rather than "which power is most fun to use", and this goes against what is supposed to make the game "fun", which is enjoying the Killer that you're playing.

Conclusion

I apologize for the long (L O N G) read, and if you read all of it or even part of it then thank you and I hope it was interesting to you! I do understand if you don't read of course. It's a lot.

I just had a lot of things to talk about in regard to the game and wanted to lump them into one post under my ultimate concern, which is that BHVR is seemingly creatively bankrupt. I also know that I was probably all over the place, but it's hard to format that many points in the right order... 😶

DbD needs something. Not new Killers... it needs new mechanics. New objectives. Right now, and for quite some time, it feels like BHVR has gotten cozy in the repetitive and comfortable nature of their current Killer role design. Put out new Killer, give them reskinned power from other Killer, or power that renders other Killer inferior and get $$$.

Even with Ringu coming up in a couple months, it doesn't matter if the core gameplay stays the same... which it probably will. We need changes that affect ALL Killers, not just a pretty new power for one out of 26(27 with Ringu). At this point, even Propnight (despite being a blatant rip-off of most of DbD's mechanics and buggy all to heck) looks like a more interesting and fun experience.

I want DbD to succeed, not in attracting temporary players who quit after a month or less, but in building a healthy playerbase that actually enjoys the game and isn't addicted to it like a street drug. The community is currently full of very frustrated and angsty players and I understand all of it. The game does something to people, and it's not healthy! With it being 4v1, all emphasis should be placed on party, and the fun should come from what you're doing, not how it affects other players (especially in regard to Killers' powers). But in the end, I doubt anything will change--after all, BHVR is a company, and companies want $$$.