Balancing act (maybe it's both)

So, balance.

Is the game killer sided?

Is it survivor sided?

Is it swf sided?

Is it served on the side with a cup of tea?

I'd argue that the game itself is about as balanced as it is possible to make it.

First, let's look at the global kill rates (I know, you're already typing to tell me how wrong I am for even bringing them up) if the game was balanced around a 2k/2e, it would logically follow that every killer would globally fall within about a 50% kill rate... That's pretty much exactly where they are.

Some, like pig, do much better, but I would argue that the primary driver behind that is simply because the game is that much more complex for a new survivor than it is a new killer.

Look at it this way. First match as survivor vs first match as killer.

Survivor, has to be prepared for a variety of killers, each with unique speed, movement and attack abilities, and USPs. So something like the RBT, which the game never actually tells you up front how to handle is able to secure kills from people who don't know why their head is blinking. (Hence the term, pub stomper)

Killer? They have to be prepared for 4 people to chase. No matter which 4 are chosen, they all run at the same speed, and all have access to the same abilities. Much less complexity early on. You may wonder why you got blinded, or why a survivor was able to stun you and get away, but you won't lose all 4 Survivors to that sort of gameplay.

So that's where we start off. In the tater fields where new killers are getting a lot of their kills handed to them by new survivors.

Now since the rates aren't near averaging 75%, we know it doesn't stay that way. People gain game knowledge, map knowledge, etc, and play better. Sooner or later a small percentage will even team up on comms, giving them more of an information advantage, which will lead to greater escapes.

So if the game is balanced, why does everyone seem to believe it isn't?

Two reasons.

1. A lot of people on this forum straight up don't even play DbD anymore, and haven't for weeks/months. In that time their losses nagged away at them, while their victories were forgotten.

2. Mmr is hot garbage. (Hardly new information there, right?) Any system in which a player who has less than 4 hours in game goes up against people with an average of 400 hours is broken, and yet it happens in DbD frequently on both sides. Bad survivors are carried by better teammates, and the system prioritizes queue time over any other metric, meaning it will throw 5 random people together just to get a match going, rather than wait for a balanced one.

So that's it. There's a few addons/perks/items that can be tweaked, but any pvp has that. Biggest issue is just matchmaking. (And that swf survivors simply have a huge information advantage over solo, which leads to better average escape rate vs solo)

To recap.

Low skill favors killers.

Mid favors nobody.

High favors swf survivors, while solo and killers are left behind.

Now that I've wasted your time telling you what you already know, what's next? If this forum is anything to go by, I expect no less than 3 posts pointing out how some streamer (entertainer) had a streak or whatever that proves whatever you want it to, and at least one complaint on each of the following

Blight

NOED

DH

Flashlights

Comms

Boil over

Dont let me down!