Visit the Kill Switch Master List for more information on these and other current known issues: https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/kb/articles/299-kill-switch-master-list
We encourage you to be as honest as possible in letting us know how you feel about the game. The information and answers provided are anonymous, not shared with any third-party, and will not be used for purposes other than survey analysis.
Access the survey HERE!
"Bully Squads"
Anyone else hate this term?
I personally just think people referring to groups as "bully squads" over small and simple things is dumb. It seems like you cant go for flashlight saves or even use basic things that are in the game without having some label thrown onto your head (this goes beyond just Survivor and applies to Killer as well).
I think the only actual bullies of DBD are the ones who take things outside of the game. If you harass, or attack, someone based on the actions that occur within a game, you are a bully. Nothing you do ingame matters, since it is literally just a game, so stop calling people "bullies" or labeling them as "toxic" for playing the game.
And as I stated before, this goes beyond Survivor, this stuff can apply to Killer as well. This community is so quick to label individuals negatively over small things, Im just really tired of it.
Comments
-
Yes, I dislike the term.
There's a difference between being an ######### in-game and being a bully.
Bullying shouldn't be trivialized by calling anyone going for saves a bully.
13 -
As someone who was bullied through school and college, I really resent the term bully squad and use of bullying in terms of in game mechanics/use of perks, etc. There are literal examples of bullying - like, blackface bubbas bullying/targeting black content creators/characters, but flashlight squads, tbags, sabo squads, genrushers, etc are NOT bullying. And is not comparable in any way shape or form.
7 -
I'm fine with the term but kind of like Tunneling, many have labeled acts of...well...playing the game as Bully Squads rather than a very specific playstyle. The term has been watered down something fierce by people who think that a player who is good with a flashlight is a bully squad.
3 -
I do dislike the overuse of that term, not every group of survivor that are confident and play well are bullies. But yeah, there are tons of people who think sending themselves to Garden of Pain with 4 BNPs and then calling the killer names and sending them messages are okay and a display of their superiority, so I'm afraid it's here to stay.
7 -
While there is definitely a subset of players that play specifically to make other players miserable and that sometimes you see them in coordinated groups, I overall agree with your point.
The actual occurrence of this kind of matches is actually quite low, of course from my own gameplay experience, can't speak for everyone.
Even in such case, what happens in those games can hardly be characterized as bullying, but people sometimes are overly sensitive and very vocal about it.
The funny thing is that when playing killer (which is 90% of my gane time) there are few things I enjoy more than a good ol "bully squad". Because I'm almost certainly going to win and I can enjoy their crazy stunts without worrying too much about gens.
1 -
I think the "bully squad" term is overused and often misused; a team that just kicks your butt or otherwise demoralizes you just by being really good is not a bully squad.
On the other hand, if a coordinated team goes into a game with no real intention of pursuing their objectives (gens/escape), but instead intend to only engage and harass the killer at every opportunity (spamming flashlight saves, locker stuns, Boil Over/Sabo fiascos, etc., then yeah, it's accurate. That's a bully squad, and unless you know beforehand that the killer is in on it, it's bullying behavior.
It's a crappy way to play, and people who do it should be called out on it.
12 -
I disagree. Being chased is the most fun aspect of the game for many Survivors, so having the opportunity to only have chases and ignoring the objective for the sake of personal fun does not constitute bullying.
"But it comes at the expense of the Killer's fun" is a common argument I see, but their intentions are NOT to make the Killer mad or upset, their intentions are to have fun and interact with the Killer, and just like any other game it sometimes does come at the expense of the other side. I dont see any different from any other game, just suddenly in DBD it becomes "bullying" which I dont agree with.
Bullying, in my opinion, only happens after/outside the match. If you attack or harass someone after the match/outside of the game, or directly make something personal (intentional targeting), then it is bullying.
And frankly, Id rather face off against teams playing for fun instead of winning than deal with 4 BNPs or medkits every match.
1 -
It's simple : if a team goes in the game not to play normally but to be extremely annoying (hiding forever and using pebble when the killer is far away, chaining stun after stun after stun, chaining flashlights, ... ) for the majority of the "match", then it's a bully squad.
Outside of this frame, I don't think a team can be called a bully squad.
They are not rare and I love going against them because over the years I've learned how to deal with them.
And yes, even if they get spanked, they are still a bully squad. Going against someone who can defend himself isn't a mitigating factor.
Note that bullies can also bully another survivor. It happened to me once, two idiots kept sandbagging on purpose and I couldn't do anything. I've reported the two jerks with a video, the killer with them as he obviously chose to play along.
On the killer side it's a bit more subtle but I think that some behaviors can be considered bullying. (e.g. slugging for no reason*) Stuff like hitting a hook is BM, not bullying IMHO.
I need to add that I may underestimate the "strength" of the word "bullying" so take this with a pinch of salt.
*) Because there are of course very reasonable reasons for slugging.
5 -
Nah, I think it's power trip. If you've got four friends who are decent enough at the game and coordinate things like flashlight saves and locker stuns well, there's little risk, and even if the killer is good, the team is in a position of power since they're not even trying to anything else (gens/escape).
People often rightly accuse many killers as being on a power trip, but bully squads are the same thing. Trying to toy with the killer.
And yeah, if the four survs are having a blast but the killer is deeply frustrated/annoyed, that's pretty much your classic irl bullying scenario. You can be toyed with and frustrated or DC, but the survs are having fun so it's not bullying? Yeah, not so much.
People should have a reasonable expectation that when they queue up they're going to get a game where people are trying to play the game as intended, even if they get their butts kicked. If people want to do stupid hijinks for fun, they should do it in kyf, not public matches.
10 -
"There is little risk" ... "They're not trying anything else (gens/escape)"
Except there is a risk, you literally just said it yourself. They are doing nothing to progress the match and they WILL 100% lose. When DBD is based on killing as Killer and surviving as Survivor, then dying is considered the "risk" factor according to the game's core design.
"That's pretty much your classic IRL Bullying scenario"
I heavily disagree. If I load into a FPS game, and I constantly die over and over, I am definitely not having fun. Is the person killing me a bully? No, they are playing the game. Their intentions are to have their own bit of fun, and sometimes it comes at the expense of others, but that does not make them a bully.
What makes the difference between "playing the game" and "bullying" is intentions, you are very blatantly ignoring that not everyone has the intention of making others mad.
"If people want to do stupid hijinks for fun, they should do it in KYF, not public matches"
(Radio Announcer Voice:) Just in, having fun is only restricted to private matches. Every public match must be an absolute sweatfest where everyone takes the matches competitively, as if money were on the line.
Think about this realistically. DBD is a game. Games are made for people to have fun on. Sometimes matches are unfun for some people, that's just how things go, but throwing labels on people based on such is pointless and takes away from the actual issues in the game.
4 -
I completely agree with what you are saying. People in this community will attempt to blame their loss on anything... including hacking. I've gotten called a bully squad, in solo q, with a DC, because I flashlight saved... twice.
Sometimes, survivors also overuse terms as well. Get bodyblocked by the unhooked person and hit then? Well, you tunneled them. Stay near the hook when 3 people chase you to it? Camper. Outplay a SWF? Hacker.
Post edited by GensByDaylight on0 -
I covered this in another reply to someone else.
The difference between people just trying to play the game and actual bullying is intentions; if someone has the intention of making people upset, I consider that to be taking things outside of the game, and I consider it bullying; but someone playing for their own enjoyment is completely different because the intentions are not to make others mad or upset.
Sometimes though, even if someone has the intentions of having their own fun, it can make the people on the other side of things upset and angry even if they was not their intention. In this instance, I still do not think it is bullying because the intentions are not malicious.
Im just tired of people throwing around "bully squad" and "bullying" so loosely, it covers up actual bullying and harassment that occurs.
0 -
It's over and misused like most terms in dbd.
0 -
My personal definition of what a "Bully Squad" is boils down to it being a group of survivors who don't care about doing the objective; all they want to do is annoy the killer as much as possible by any means necessary.
An example would be something like a 4 man swf, burning badham and burning an offering that puts the basement in the shack so they can abuse the lack of hooks in the boiler room area with perks like Boil Over, Flip Flop and so on. Or when people used to abuse the RPD library.
Stuff like that is what I consider 'bully squadding'. It's where you go into the match, not intending to play well and win but to annoy the killer as much as possible while also not really intending to win the match either.
5 -
If one party is prioritizing their fun over all else by willfully making life miserable for the other party, knowing full well the experience is almost certainly miserable for the other party, that's bullying.
"I'm not trying to win (or accomplish anything, really), but we're just having fun at your expense, sorry not sorry" is bullying BS. It's the exact same mentality schoolyard bullies have. Full stop.
And who cares if the end result is a win? The dead survs don't care because they weren't trying to win, and the killer almost certainly had a miserable time.
Almost every time I face a group like this, they end up dead by one means or another, but that almost always follows 20-30 minutes of tedious nonsense that I didn't enjoy one bit. I'd rather get get rinsed in 5-6 minutes by a comp squad than spend half an hour indulging some entitled friends on a power trip.
And the hilarious thing is that if you respond by doing something like slugging them all (if they are a B.O./Sabo crew), they'll usually get salty af and DC, because they weren't having fun anymore.
So yeah, it is a power trip. If all your focus is on frustrating the killer with one particular tactic, it's easy AF. The game isn't designed for that. It's designed for the survs to try to get out via completion of their objectives, and the killer to try to kill them. And every person who loads into a public match should reasonably expect that the game will play out under some variation of those conditions.
9 -
The word get toss out there to much. I kinda like the so call bully squad teams myself...most of them matches are way more intense and memorable.
playing very aggressive in swf always seem to piss killers off tho. I think some Killers just don't like the fact that survivors can be in complete control. (which they shouldn't be by the way)
0 -
I get why it feels that way to killers who are still newer. But there's a difference between a coordinated team dismantling a killer in a business-like manner and a team that is simply out to make someone have a bad time. Matchmaking isn't the players' fault. Rate it 1 fun out of 5 funs for all the good it does.
0 -
From my experience (as a really old player), if this were like 2016-2018, I would agree back then, nowadays I do not agree.
I think engaging with these people is interesting and unique compared to normal matches, and BHVR has given the Killer more opportunities and avenues to properly deal with teams like this. The power of Survivors has been downscaled significantly through the years which makes these "power trips" much more like a stroll in the park (from my experience).
And coming from someone who occasionally hops in a 4-man SWF with flashlights, I am never trying to make the Killer mad, my goal is to have interactions with the Killer, and often I have a lot of nice and wholesome interactions with people in the community. And I think it is overall nice to take a break from trying my hardest every single match to escape, and I can use the time to improve my looping knowledge and mechanic skill at the game without such stress (and has lead to my improvement in the game).
I do think there is application where this is not bullying, there is application where it can be bullying, but I think instantly labeling a team as a "bully squad" is stupid. But by your logic, as soon as the opposing side is not having a fun time it is "bullying" which I disagree with since intentions matter. What if the Killer focuses a Survivor and kills that Survivor as 5 generators still remaining, is that bullying? Everyone else is having a bad time as a direct result of the Killer's actions, even if their intentions are not malicious, but by your logic, it would be bullying, but it really isnt.
People can play how they want, both Survivors and Killers, and saying otherwise is literally gatekeeping. And again calling these people "bullies" takes away from actual problematic behavior within the community. There are people who literally target and harass POC and LBGT+ members of the community yet those people face little to no repercussion for their actions, but the community get their pitchforks and torches when 4 people just mess around with flashlights. Think about that.
0 -
How about you think about the fact that your opinion might not the end-all-be-all and that other people can have other opinions and definitions.
I agree with @Thusly_Boned , teams that go into a match with no other intentions than to take agency away from the killer and try to controll the match are bully squads. They do the eqivalent thing as bullies in a school yards minus the verbal abuse.
It is still a herd behaviour picking on the individual and since there is no real possibility for exchange between survivor and killer, intentions can't be clearly conveyed and the interpretation and perception of the actions of the survivors lies with the killer player.
Edit: Also the survivor in your example force a certain playtstyle upon the killer that is in no way in line with their original goal according to the game. Tunneling/camping and so on lead to the same goal for the killer even with questionable means.
Edit2: And yes, i have been the victim of bullying through elementary and middle school. So i know how that ######### feels.
3 -
A bully squad is any groups of Survivors that come into the game with the intent of making the Killer as miserable as possible.
No, going for a flashlight save doesn't make you a bully. HOWEVER, if you refuse to touch gens because all you are doing is following the killer around specifically do flashlight saves, now you are bullying the killer.
Is sabotaging a hook bullying? No. But it becomes that if the whole team went full Sabo, complete with Boil Over and running up stairs every single time.
It's not about the mechanics. It's about making the killer feel like garbage instead of doing your objective.
5 -
When people start ranting on the forums about "bully squads" and how all their matches are against the dreaded and infamous "Seal Team Six squads" I pretty much just ignore it. People LOVE to be overly dramatic because they think it makes the story more effective and the collective killer hive minds will all upvote their struggles against the forces of evil.
The actual reality is probably closer to they got outplayed and some people cannot just admit to themselves or especially on a forum they are not that good or even had a bad match against good players who knew what they're doing.
1 -
Why do I hate a term simply because people misuse it?
0 -
I have no problem with it. People dislike all words today you can't call things this or that. How about relaxing a bit? Or if relaxing is not a term you like..chill? Unwind?
1 -
Even in a solo queue lobby you can have 1 survivor dedicated to flashlight saving while the other 3 work gens thanks to the new HUD. I hate it.
0 -
You’re just misunderstanding the Term “Bully Squad”. There is a clear definition.
0 -
I don't hate the term because it's accurate... when you are facing an actual bully squad.
The term has become what "gaslighting" became on Tumblr: people use it where it doesn't apply, which reduces its actual meaning.
0 -
Destress, even
0
