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License characters are starting to lose it's charm (Theory)
I feel like having new licensed content so offten and every year X times + add that other games also started to more and more do licensed characters as well (this is the least impactfull tho) they don't feel super unique or hyped or special anymore and they barely even do anything to bring new players into the game at this late point.
From my personal experience, we suddenly got Alan Wake and we had almost zero teasers or info ahead before PTB and I honestly I totaly don't care (maybe with more interesting / powerfull perks I quess I would too). Like you could replace that guy with any unique or different license and it would end up same. I am sure some people are hyped for it, good for you, but also interesting look at this:
(Source: steamcharts)
We got two huge licenses and Alien was as for many too dream come true license and look at that: playerbase dropped and didn't increase (at least on steam, can't see the other platforms). How can such two big licenses don't even add a tiny bit of player ammout.
I think we reached the point where licenses don't do much boosting of new players or create some big hype for lot of people because isn't special or super interesting anymore.
That's just my own opinion of course, if you are hyped, good, I frankly don't care about Alan Wake and considering his perks aren't super interesting or good either, might be the very first DLC I might skip.
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the execution of alien with how xenomorph is designed is why I don’t like the chapter such an iconic monster wasted on a generic power
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That's not the real, underlying issue.
Xenomorph for example was a really botched license, the killer feels very unsatisfying to play as most of the time and playing against it also a really meh experience.
Getting an Alan Wake 2 license was actually a really smart move on BHVR's part with the success of the franchise. The real problem starts with player retention.
DBD is unfortunately, in it's most boring state as of this moment. Matchmaking at lower levels is also completely broken with people just starting the game being thrown into lobbies over the soft cap. The in game tutorial is woefully inadequate, the playerbase is hugely toxic, the game is painfully unbalanced and there are no real plans to address any of the issues.
But in a way you are right. Accumulating more licenses will not keep this game alive alone. BHVR needs to step up their game.
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Yea, I have to agree. His desing (look) and sound is top tier (as usual) but the power is like recycled powers. Only unique thing there is tunnel (but not really since it acts like travel ability) and turrets that you don't get to play with as Alien :/
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@Beatricks makes a very good point here.
It is not just about the licenses, it is the game around them. That isn't to say the licenses themselves don't play a part in this, of course they do, and as matter of fact each license was treated differently and it impacts the hype: Alien was very poorly implemented, Halloween was an outstanding addition that essentially guaranteed the game's success, and A Nightmare on Elm Street was flawless on release but suffered with unnecessary changes afterwards.
However, there is a bit more to it.
Trying to do what Super Smash Bros did but with horror isn't a bad thing, as long as the game itself is enjoyable. Now, it is no secret that I'm very biased towards the past in this game, but surely everyone has seen the number and nature of complaints recently seen here and on other sources. Overall, many members of this community are dissatisfied with the current state of the game, and that current state of the game is where those licenses are.
They cannot do it alone, it is simply not possible.
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People are not going to play a charcater because of the character (vast majority of them). The only thing that makes people play something is gameplay. Im not talking about playing it for 2 weeks then dropping it, im talking really "maining" it.
Alien is the perfect exemple, many people sayed they were going to 100% main this creature because they love the IP and you know the rest. Today we got it and it is a super rare killer that you never see. People are hyped, consume the content in like 20mn, judge the thing with or without hivemind/streamer opinion then go next (not everyone, im exagerating, but it is like that for most).
License isn't everything, it's gameplay. Slap a dash attack like chucky on Xenomorph instead of the tail and you have an already way more popular killer, because this type of gameplay is more pleasant for a lot of people, movement is more fun.
I think you are right with the "nowadays licence will not carry them as hard as before" because we reached the peak of the playerbase for this iteration of dbd, only real fresh changes can modify this now, like gamemodes.
License that are popular are the ones with fun gameplay (generally a dash but let's say Myers is an exception, he is pretty popular).
Wesker wasn't requested or popular and he is the killer you see the most while Alien, the, or one of the most popular is a ghost. You could delete it tomorrow and only 4 persons that actually main it would notice.
What is the difference between the two of them ? Their gameplay, Wesker is fun and Xenomorph isn't (for most of the community at least). You can bring the most popular creature ever, if the gameplay does not interest people, the IP isn't going to just magically work.
People saying generic power when we got 3 unique things that no other killers have or even come close to having (Network system and all it's insane features, flame turrets and quadrupedal and everything that goes with it like proper animations when in stairs) because of one more classic attack is such a spit on the work of the devs. You can not like it, totally fair, but it's not generic at all, there is a lot of work in it, they took the matter with care and it shows.
But they are limited by their own game, they cannot make it crawl on walls (because it would be a nurse problem, it would be sluggish for balance) and facehuggers would be the same (either op or completly bad, and take too much of the power budget we would have a nemesis situation where you don't really play 50% of your power)
Every IP killers introduce a mechanic and Xeno followed this track, "generic power" translate for "Not what i wanted" and especially "not a fan of a midrange attack", same fate as PH and Nemesis.
This chapter is just the best exemple of what people says/what people do, the relation between the character and it's gameplay and the effect of hype and anticipation that leads to creating something that you want only to be disapointed. Kinda like Nemesis, Nemesis would be so much more popular with a "better" gameplay.
My opinion of course, i think i am by a miles, not in the majority here. I was waiting for this IP since i joined the game, it's by a long shot the best chapter for me with SH and i'll die on the hill of "The Xenomorph is an incredible killer". Is it perfect ? Not at all, they could change some things, the "undetectable" aspect or give it some more transformative add ons but the core is great.
To focus more on the question, no, i don't think IP will matter that much anymore, the community is for the most part, fully established, dbd is well knowed and not much people discovers it. But, certains chapters would for sure bring some people in, would they stay for the gameplay tho ? Not sure.
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One big issue is that this is supposed to be a fun party game, as in playing with friends. However, those who want to bring in their friends in as new players end up getting matchmade with more experiences killers due to that one friend in the group already having an mmr. That means ANY new players coming in to play with experienced friends are going to get punched in the gut every match. That means the only new players that have a decent chance at remaining in the community are solo players...and they don't tend to look into coop type of games.
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