Anyone else just feel nothing?
I've been through my highs and lows with this game. I've been here since 2017, I've gone through my frustrations (there's been so, so many), I've gone through the euphoria, I've gone through times where I'll play nothing but this game and times where I don't touch it for 2 months.
I've never really felt like I do now.
I know what burnout feels like, because my god do I burnout a lot doing everything. But right now I just feel... empty. I have no strong feelings towards DBD at all. I look at it in my Steam library and can't bring myself to feel angry or excited or anything. Every single game of DBD feels the same, no matter who I play: killer or survivor; solo or SWF; wraith or pyramid head. The game feels so unbelievably stale- ironically, the balance and meta shakeups seem to have done nothing but ensure the meta lays in a more boring way when it's settled.
To give you an idea of what I mean, every game will go one of three ways: The NBW Core, The Training Montage, and The Three Gen
The NBW Core is exactly what it sounds like: it'll be a Nurse, a Blight, or a Wesker, bringing their most snoozefest add-ons and quad regression. Which is fine the first few times. When I've reached game 25 of the week on Survivor and haven't seen a fourth killer it's a little bit of a problem. But that's okay, we'll nerf Pig.
The Training Montage is a bit of a pun: it just means tunneling. You'll be tunneled at 5 gens, tunneled at 4, tunneled till death do us part. Camped as well, but they'll be hovering just outside the anti-camp range for maximum efficiency. Props to those that bring a map offering that's open as hell to really stop any incoming rescue attempts. Nothing says playing a video game like preventing people from playing the video game.
And The Three Gen. Find a 3 gen, do not lose the 3 gen, usually as a Snooze Merchant or Knight but honourable shout out to the Demo's and Xeno's I've seen who like to adopt this.
And then as killer, you either play fair and receive a barage of toxicity from people pent up from their last games and taking it out on whoever they can because nobody in their personal life likes them enough to put up with their insults, or you don't and receive a barage of toxicity from people pent up from their last games and taking it out on whoever they can because nobody in their personal life likes them enough to put up with their insults. You can stack quad regression on a stupidly strong killer and ROFLstomp Solo Q, or you can go for a slightly memeier build and try to have a fun time and in doing so envoke the ire of every deity known to history, all of whom have focused their eternal wrath upon you in this one moment in the form of the four Survivors you're about to face.
Maps feel the same. Adding new variations doesn't fix the fact that fundamentally they all feel like they play the same.
Chases feel the same. Reach a loop, use power/comp drop pallet, leave loop, W key, repeat.
Builds feel the same. At least before the first shakeup everything was so busted that you could whip out an unexpected perk and change the tide of the game, on either side. Could get a clutch PR/DMS/PGTW that saved the game or an out of nowhere UB saves from a slugfest. Now you still can but it's not as exciting because you don't really have a middle ground anymore.
DBD at the moment feels like the epitome of stomp or be stomped. There's no close games, there's no exciting nailbiting conclusions, there's no last second finales or critical moments that pull a game back from the brink of the end.
There's just nothing. There's no emotion, no joy, just pumping out bandaid fixes to fundamental problems that don't help that much in the long term but buy these limited time cosmetics!
It's grown almost too large and the team seemingly hasn't grown with it. There's almost an intrinsic disconnect between what needs to be done and what is being done, with some important features staying on the backburner as a low priority for literal years now while something trivial that nobody's asked for is rushed out underbaked and bugged as hell. There's a licence speedrun to get everything possible crammed into the game instead of fixing the fundamental issues at the heart of DBD, exposed as the padding covering them has been chipped away by poorly thought balance decisions and awful player attitudes. I can't bring myself to be excited for the new chapter or new Trickster changes. I can't bring myself to be excited for anything. The last brand new, large-scale game system to fix a genuine issue was the Endgame Collapse in patch 2.7.0. That was mid-May in 2019 and we're almost halfway through our fifth patch cycle since then (7.4.0).
I'm completely apathetic towards the current state of DBD, when I used to feel so incredibly passionate. I'd hyperfixate on every tiny aspect of this game and now I can't bring myself to feel a modicum of joy or anger or wrath or distate. I don't feel anything.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Comments
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And that's what's so weird about it. I've always felt something towards this game, even during periods of immense displeasure. Even when I've hated every single balance decision for over a year, I've felt that hatred.
I can't bring myself to feel anything towards DBD anymore. I'll look at it in my library and oh, wait, there's BG3. There's Coral Island, Stardew Valley, Paladins, CP2077, Witcher 3, Beat Saber, TboI, Bloons, and unless I'm literally forced to by a friend there's no motivation, no reason, no anything that makes me want to open up DBD and play it when I'd get the same level of dopamine watching paint dry.
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I'm sorry to hear that. I've been there too and even right now I don't play much DBD. Games are supposed to be fun but when you don't feel like playing the game, then you won't have fun. Maybe this is a sign, that the time has come for another break. But maybe you have outgrown DBD. In both cases, do what brings you joy. If you feel like playing DBD again, then that's great. If you don't, then that's ok too.
Nobody can really tell you what the right decision is, so ask yourself what has made DBD so special for you and if you want to play the game as it is or if you want to play the game from a few years back.
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You are not alone.
BHVR changed their way with DbD.
This game is dead for casuals and for solo survivors too. I am sure people who are not playing top tier killers also hardly enjoying it. DbD's current meta is finish game as fast as you can.
As survivor rush gens, ignore heals, side quests etc.
As killer tunnel survivors, bring top anti-gen perks etc.
Yeah game is not fun anymore sadly. You will be stomped or other side will. Games are hardly feeling like equal skills are matching. Close matches are almost non-exist.
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I'm not quite there yet, but I do kinda feel that.
To me, it's gotten to the point where as killer, it feels like I'm facing perks and even the map itself moreso than I am facing the survivors. Nothing is quite so exemplary of that as breakable walls. There's very few that offer interesting choices for the killer. Most of them are either "break this or it's an quasi-infinite" or "do not break this, ever". I'd go so far as to say that Midwich is the only map that does breakable walls right. Maybe Gideon too, even if those are for traversal reasons only.
New perks rarely break new ground, and it requires them being blatantly busted for them to see any regular use. Fair enough, but it does mean you see the same perks a lot. It also feels like there's simply too many of them.
There's also definitely a "new release fatigue". I've felt this since Dredge, I think. Too much, too soon after another. New releases are the lifeblood of the game, I get that, but it always feels like we barely got the Mid-Chapter before the next chapter is teased. It doesn't feel special anymore. Alien should have been a massive release, with a lasting impact, but now it feels like nothing more than "oh. cool." I fear the same applies to Chucky when he's been out for a while.
Lots of small touches are disappearing in favour of streamlining. The paint-blotch artstyle; strange, alien colour schemes in the maps; bland flavour texts (not just in cosmetics); the older killer models and portraits (old doc was way creepier); hell even the full on voice-acting. The latter especially never quite felt like it belongs, particularly on original characters such as Gabriel. It just feels like it's missing some kind of cohesion on an artistic level. Which can work, mind, but it just fails to, somehow.
I think a lot of the new stuff we're getting feels rushed, in a way. BHVR is an award-winning studio for their lack of crunch culture, which I have to admire. But then why do they have a release schedule that only feels suitable for a studio that crunches the manure out of their employees...?
Another addendum: I don't quite believe it started with the introduction of MMR, but the playerbase's attitude has definitely shifted as well. Everyone is at each other's throats quicker than ever before. Twitter is especially bad that way (which, admittedly, may just be twitter being twitter). I'm not innocent of it either, but man does it feel damn-near impossible to find a proper discussion that doesn't result in Whataboutisms or thinly veiled insults to the Side-I'm-Nots.
Post edited by GentlemanFridge on3 -
That's about where I'm at as well.
Maybe, after seven years, we've reached true burnout. As has been said before, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's apathy.
Loving DBD or hating DBD means you still care. Being apathetic towards it means it's probably time to let go, imo.
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Seeing DBD mobile receive a new game mode after being released in 2020 and all the creative cosmetics for EACH survivor really pushes that feeling. There's no push for new ideas, just new DLCs. The cosmetic team was expanded and yet DBD mobile is doing a far better job in my opinion. It's all a mess.
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Go to sleep and when you wake up, brush your teeth, do yoga for 30 minutes, eat food, walk outside for 30 minutes and when you're back home, play Civilization V.
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Unfortunately I don't even think Holly could help...
But just in case!
Unfortunately though, you are not incorrect in your assessment. I'm not even sure why cause like...nothing has really changed all that much in the 3+ years I've been playing so why NOW is it that it feels so...nothing? It's not hatred or disgruntlement or anything I feel towards the game, it just feels very neutral. I don't love DBD but I don't hate it either, I'm just...here.
At this point, I kind of play just to go through the motions. Unfortunately for me and something I've hinted at in the past, I have a chronic health thing that makes a game like this ironically perfect for me (quick, short burst games, not terribly complex or requiring high twitch reflex skills or whatnot, just go in, do my thing, and leave) so I kind of thought it might be that but a lot of people seem to share this sentiment.
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Damn you kinda ate with this post ngl...🙊
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This💯
DBD…
for many, it’s like living in the tomb of Romeo and Juliet
and should we bypass the other titles in the catalogue for an attempt at rekindling that once luminous romance; like the same drab, monotone prattle spoken amidst its stale, decaying embrace, we’re reminded that the days long escapades once shared between are merely fragmented whispers too feigned and vacant for reconciliation.
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Same here. When I escape I don't feel much about it. When I get killed I don't feel much about it either. Only a slug build still annoys me (Solo Q here). The amount of times I uninstalled and installed the game one day later is ridiculous by now. Though I don't have any fun at all and, like you, actually don't feel much about it anymore I still am kinda addicted? Why else would I install over and over again, only to be reminded how unfun it is. It's either the tunnel fest or gen rush fest, both so incredibly boring. Every game feels the same. I (gladly) play on Play Station and due the price increase for PSN (which is required for online games) I won't be able to play soon anymore anyway since my abo is about to finish and I won't renew it. I'll be finally free from the DBD curse lol
I do hope you find your happiness in DBD again though.
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I have reduced my hours on the game significantly in the last month to preserve myself for Chucky to spice things up for a while.
I started a new account on xbox and it has been a bit better since I'm climbing up the MMR but once I reach my skill levlel or to the soft cap, it will all start to feel the same after a while.
I take long breaks but usually come back for at least 2-3 weeks when new characters come out unless it's a killer like release Knight and pre-rework SM. Events are nice as well like this years 7th anniversary event was amazing.
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I usually really look forward to playing dbd in the evenings but I haven't played for about 2 weeks now. Been playing Assassins Creed Mirage and F123 online. Haven't really missed the stress and hassle of playing killer. Tempted to play later tonight though. Think I need a new killer (main) and Chucky isn't my kinda thing. A new gamemode wouldn't hurt either tbh.
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I took a break of 2 years, because i felt the exact same. I came back just to experience love and hate for it at the same time. More hate then love unfortunalty.
Love for the great sound and estetics, the cool concept and the overall adrenaline i get from playing it. Hate for the terrible ballance between solo queue and SWF, the "new" really boring and overall terrible designed killer. The new all bad looking and playing maps.
But at least i still have a feeling towards it.
Try the same, take a break. The day may or may not come to give it another try. You will see.
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I mean, honestly? If you don't feel anything in the game, while you playing the game, that just lean towards only 1 thing: You got depressed.
Once loved project doesn't give you anything now? In case of DBD, the problem is within you. Because the game is only getting better and better day by day, which makes me only more excited. It's a fact.
In DBD I have only somewhere around 3500+ hours. But in other game before DBD, I've had 17k hours. And I never felt like you do.
I always have passion and excitement towards whatever I like or love. If I don't, I just stop playing it, and completely forgeting about it.
Burned out? Go play something else for literally 2-3 months. And you good to go.
If you keep playing the game, or even just checking news about the project you once played - that only means that you still love this project. And at some point, you will return to it.
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I honestly don't agree with this piece at all: "To give you an idea of what I mean, every game will go one of three ways: The NBW Core, The Training Montage, and The Three Gen" , games vary quite a lot and I don't really encounter nurse almost at all, and most of the times she's jsut terrible and not even her lazy aura + regression build doesn't help at all. Weskers and Blights are quite frequente yeah, but again only a few blights are good enough to be actually problematic, and strong weskers are even rarer. To this, add the unbalance of maps and most games against these killers are usually easy, and actually, I see wesker and blight so often that games against "tryharding W/Bs" go way smoother than against rarer killers that I'm not accustomed to verse.
But then again, I only 4-man with people who know what they're doing as well and I absolutely refuse to soloq.
For the rest, when it comes to new chapters I don't feel anything at all as well. When it comes to mid-chapters though, I do feel excitement: balance changes are the only thing interesting left at this point. However, that excitement turns into disappointment many times. After all these years, I can't help but think devs really don't understand their own game at all. Most recent disappointment: GoJ "rebalancing" (map literally unchanged). I'd honestly feel ashamed to write in a dev note they're rebalancing a map when the only thing that changed is the addition of a breakable wall which does absolutely nothing
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Mfw the anhedonia isn't caused by dbds awful decisions but instead the usual suspects
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I've no clue what you just said. xD
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You seem to be confusing facts and opinions.
Stating “ the game is only getting better every day” is not a fact. That’s your opinion.
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In this exact case, it's not an opinion. It is a fact.
DBD now is not even a 10 - it's 100 times better than it was in 2017 in every single aspect. Both gameplay and how it looks.
I see arguing with that is as pointless as arguing that white color isn't white.
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It may just be that you're bored of the game after playing for so many years. It happens, and doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong with the game. I myself have not really been feeling 'into' DBD all that much for a couple months now but still play it a decent bit.
There's a multitude of issues with DBD but there always has been, and it's currently in one of the best states it's ever been in. That doesn't take away from it's many, long-in-need-of-fixing problems, but if you had fun back when it was even worse, I'm not sure it's the state of the game that's causing this.
After you play any game for a LONG long time, you get so used to and desensitized to every aspect of it that it gets harder and harder to spark that excitement for the game again, it's normal.
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Anhedonia is, to put it simply, a loss of motivation or ability to feel pleasure. You said "[L]ean towards only one thing: you got depressed."
Mfw the anhedonia isn't actually caused by bad balance decisions but the usual suspects mental health crawling out of the woodwork agains
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Imma be brutally honest with you! It's time to move on to a different game. Your literally explaining how I felt when I quit this game 2yrs ago. Only reason why I'm still around on the forums.., (If this gets me banned idc) I'm waiting for this game to die or to get better. Imo every update feels like BHVR takes a step forward while also stepping back at the same time.
Take a break from DBD and play some other games, when(If) you come back you'll probably have your answer on weather to give up or not.
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I get like that at times. I haven't played in days and decided to hop on today. First two games were okay but by the third I was so far from caring and playing so half-assed that I even surprised myself. There's no rhyme or reason to my games anymore. I currently play with only 2 off-meta perks because what's the point in trying anymore. People complaining about literally everything is what ruins this game for the casual players imo.
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Dude, I have better things to do than explain standard grade school lessons such as the difference between facts and opinions.
And by the way, while I’m discussing facts, white is not a color at all. Google it if you don’t believe me.
🫤
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Gen-Rush v Kill-Rush. Thats it.
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I'm still too dumb to understand it, so anyway... If you play DBD without any emotions (feeling nothing), the Entity isn't happy with you. xD
Poor Entity hungers with you!
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I also lack any sort of emotion towards this update, and really life in general. Honestly I can’t tell you why it’s not like my life is bad per say I just find no more motivation for pretty much everything
maybe it has to do with my insomnia
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I personally feel like I missed out on so much by starting in November of last year.
I watch old videos of dbd and get so sad it looked so funny. Game is so bland now in comparison.
Map balancing was one of the worst things to happen to the game.
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Haven’t read everything. Which is quite telling considering i would actually read up on your posts when I comment on them.. but I feel like this is the current zeitgeist with DbD in general - and I can already say I feel same-y - though not enough for me to completely quit just yet..
its sad because actually the game is currently in a relative healthy state especially compared to… well all the years before and also compared to other asymm horror games.
maybe new game modes could do something - a 2v8 mode with everything else the same won’t do much though. And it also brings up the question if the game may have just run its course for us if a new game mode unrelated to the original is needed to keep up interest? Eh. I dunno. I still want to like DbD as I still think this whole idea of a group of people facing horror icons/killers without firearms to defend themselves and only way to get away is to escape them not kill them is fascinating and interesting. The gameplay loop is just very mundane right now and new survivors/killers don’t bring actually new stuff..
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I think you should main Survivor more as it is far less stressful than Killer
Absolutely not. The stress gives me emotion. Even if it's annoyance it's something. Survivor feels exactly the same, there's nothing new, nothing fun, nothing to do. Every game plays identically: Hold W to loop, Killer drops power, leave loop, rinse and repeat. Same ######### different day.
There are still highs and lows for killer. Survivor is a flat road.
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Been playing since '17 as well, and I remember taking frequent breaks from the game after reaching Iri 1 per season/reset. You just need a break from the game every now and then to keep from feeling like you're just "there".
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I play every day because it has become routine, but most days I am totally apathetic about it; just going through the motions. Half the time I am doing something else while playing.
Maybe a lot like the rest of life these days.
But I often wonder why I am playing DBD instead of the mountain of fresh games in my backlog.
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No because its only a game.
Attaching this much emotional weight to it is unhealthy and a really good reason to stop playing for a bit and gain some true perspective.
Its like getting emotionally attached to monopoly, the idea is a lil silly.
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As long as it's only DbD you are golden.
I don't know what to tell you. I've played for years but made several pauses (the longest lasted almost a year).
I still love playing the game from time to time but I've not played for the past few weeks. There are other ways to waste one's time.
You can recharge your batteries playing with other games.
On that front ... (veiled suggestions)
You could spend 180 hours to finish Elden Ring (all dungeons, all (secret) bosses).
You could spend 124 hours to finish Baldur's Gate 3 (the best game of the year and it's no contest)
You could try to play to Season of Discovery (WoW)
So many things can be done.
And in a few months, maybe you'll get the itch back.
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This is how I became with Diablo 4 . . . only one month after release. The same with WoW, Call of Duty MW2, Wreckfest, Age of Empires 4, etc. But Dead by Daylight has stood the test of time and I'm still playing the game after 2,200+ hours. DBD just offers the most variety and entertainment over any game on the market in my opinion. 👍️
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Yeah I don't play dbd lately, I have 3000+h I used to play everyday. I said it 100 times here like a broken record but 6.1 was bad imo, playing solo was fun but now it's predictable and miserable, I don't understand their balance philosophy it's really play in swf or leave if you don't like it (go play civ 5)
also they are way too slow, waiting years for small number tweaks is ridiculous, i'm looking new roadmap rn why wait june for ultimate weapon or sloppy butcher change ? just explain why, why not make small number tweaks constantly to many perks and add ons ? it keeps the game fresh.. instead you just overbuff one random perk for no reason like background player and call it a day, very strange
I don't rly care it's not my main game anymore I play better ones but still... i'm scratching my head when I read patchnotes
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