DBD's Matchmaking...

I can’t speak from fact, only my personal observations playing the game here. From playing 8-hook, 0-kill killer, I have noticed that my base matchmaking tends to be 1 very good survivor, 2 normal survivors, and 1 very weak survivor. If I play very well and climb up the MMR, the quality of survivor tends to increase — but I know deep in my heart from playing that matchmaking makes a dedicated effort to put veteran players in new lobbies. I will often see a P100 and another player with yellow perks at the end of a match and scratch my head. At the same time, it makes sense—the best way for new players to learn counterplay is to watch my behavior.

Example - Crouching counters Hag trap activation.

When I see posts like this, I always wonder if it comes from the perspective that you are the “expert” survivor being put into a new-er lobby to “guard and teach” the new players. I can’t definitely conclude anything, but I can share my thoughts and perspective on the topic.

So when it comes to MMR I do believe that the better a player does, the more difficult matches get for that player.

When people play Killer and play as hard as they can go, they will eventually get Survivors that match their skill level. If Killers go for eight-hook games then Survivors will escape more but the Killer’s MMR should level out to where they don’t feel as pressed for time.

Similarly I have noticed this phenomenon on Survivor. When I play ultra stealthy trying to win by any means necessary including playing for hatch, I escape more but the proceeding matches get much more difficult.

Contrawise when I play to rescue every other Survivor no matter if I get sacrificed, I noticed my games also level out to a difficulty that suits my skill level where I can run the Killer for multiple gens at a time.

I see a lot of other players who express frustration with the MMR system. At least from my POV it does seem to be working. But again I do respect those experiences that are different than mine.

The Number of yellow perk 0 prestige players lately has been off the charts and pairing them with veteran players really is killing the vibe for all sides

This is roughly my experience with about every Killer I play, and as Survivor too.

If I have even one random in my Survivor lobby, they are almost always selfish, egotistical, toxic, greedy, bad at the game, willing to DC/end on hook after one down, or a combination of all of those. That's if they aren't some random anon who is a hacker or a TTV in disguise just looking to style on the Killer to the detriment of everyone else in the round. That means my MMR goes down through no fault of my own, and surely not because of my skill. Then the game smacks me on the wrist and goes "no, bad Survivor no cookie" and punishes me by telling me I lost, giving no pip, and giving me fewer BP. No wonder people go next all the time, it's because it isn't fun to do your best and really try your hardest to just vibe and get points not even playing meta or anything, but then you still get shat on despite all that. This is not fun for me, and it surely isn't fun for the Killer who now has to deal with the stress of some uberplayer or the boringness of an easy target.

But on the other hand, if I play Survivor and we begin to streak, and I do really well and escape a lot by playing as stealthy and aggressively hard to catch as possible - if I put on even ONE more meta perk besides Lithe and bring ONE more item like a Commodious BNP Spool box or a syringe medkit and use it to win - the game tells me "good job you are always supposed to escape forever" even though it's clear the game isn't balanced for that, then rewards me with a pip and BP increase. That means Survivors play this way more often (not necessarily me). If I play this way, I do win more often but also my MMR increases so rapidly and so far I get just the sweatiest Killers imaginable, every game, forever - because MMR is exponential in gaining it, but not losing it. Four slowdown Nurses and Blights. Killers offering tilted maps. Billys that slug from the word go because they're just that damn good at curving and like to focus unhooks. Me and my more chill SWF don't stand a chance; none of us are bringing anything that meta and we are playing the game as intended, and we just do not have any amount of a chance against these Killers. The game is over before it began and I am left asking why I loaded up as Survivor at all, and then I get told "no, bad Survivor" by the game for losing when it's really not even my fault I won so hard to get here in the first place.

If I play Killer, and I play even remotely well with a Killer I do well with, I trip and fall into a 4k so easily it's like the round was not worth it. The game then tells me "good job you are supposed to 4k everyone" even though it's clear the game isn't balanced for that, then rewards me with a pip and a bunch of nice flavor text, and the option to Mori in the end. This leads to Killers (not necessarily me unless I really want the Mori or whatever) playing like their life depends on the 4k, because only 4ks are incentivized. That leads to the Killer doing everything in their power to GET there, be that tunnelling, slugging, camping, or just playing hardball. That's not fun for Survivors to face, at all. There is no mercy or kindness in such a playstyle, but it's what the game expects you to do if you want to win - no fun, no messing around, no silly moments, no chill or mercy or vibing. Just ruthless killing by any means necessary. And I don't really find that fun, but I also don't enjoy being told I'm skill-less by the game if I lose. So… I play to win.

But, if I play this way, I slaughter everyone in my way even with the weakest of Killers on the tierlist, up to a certain point where I hit a wall, and no it does not matter what Killer I use - Nurse, Blight, Wesker, Ghostface, Dredge, Dracula, Chucky, Sadako, Trapper, Myers, Huntress - if I use ANYONE and start to do really well, just because I am decent at that Killer, I eventually face nothing but the dreaded SWF Team 6 every round forever. Survivors who know mindgames intimately and seem to have wallhacks and hug pallets and refuse to even engage in a normal chase because they're too good at checkspots for an M1 to catch. Survivors running full meta perks in every slot AND probably are a SWF in comms. Survivors that crouch perfectly to avoid every M2 hit I do, Survivors that know the counter to my Killer by heart, Survivors with four Syringe medkits or Commodious BNP Spool toolboxes that hide so well I can't find them, genuinely cannot, without any aura read. There is no skill issue, I am playing perfectly, I am doing everything I would in any other game, the issue 100% is not me. It's just that these Survivors are SO GOOD there IS no catching them, it's like all four are the Final Girl in the horror movie and I just don't stand a chance. I have no breathing room, no air, NOTHING I can genuinely do to make the round feel decent, because these Survivors are so ruthlessly efficient, and then I lose and get told "no, bad Killer, you're supposed to ALWAYS 4k". Then I come to the community with how bad this feels, and get told by people there "You did something wrong", "Must be a skill issue", "um well ACTUALLY Killers are overpowered, so if you are struggling it's your fault and you're just bad at the game", "Just use [baby Killer perk I have long outgrown], it's easy you can unlock it by prestiging [Killer I have already unlocked and prestiged ages ago]" - because the game has conditioned everyone to play for the 4k at all times as if that's all that matters. Then I wonder, why did I even log in to play Killer at all?

I genuinely think tierlists are a myth, and "good Survivors" can destroy every Killer in the roster given enough skill against that particular Killer. I believe basically any Killer can be good or terrible depending on the player, and it's clear BHVR also believes this, even though it's buffing Killers that need it and nerfing Killers that overperform. But the community doesn't seem t believe this, the community is obsessed with "but Good Survivors/a Strong Killer" this and that and the other when quite honestly you only start to see those "Good Players" when you sweat and winstreak - something very easy to do unfortunately, on both sides, if you play the right meta. Yes, even with Survivors being weaker now, you can still do this. See, I believe "Good Survivors" are a lot like "Good Killers" - just meta players who realized, "this is how you win and winning is all that matters in this game" - and they ruin the game for the rest of us. They aren't wrong to play this way, the game says this is how you show you are good at it. But they aren't fun to go against at all, because nobody enjoys playing really well only to be told "congrats your prize is demon players from the depths of Hell who have never been defeated and are on their hundredth win in a row, good luck LMAO you're gonna fail". It doesn't reward winning, it doesn't reward skill, and it doesn't reward your hard work getting good at your chosen Killer or at Survivor in general. At all.

The only solution I have found to the MMR crisis is to just… never try. If you even remotely feel like you're getting to the point where the game is slightly even a little bit of too much resistance? Tank your MMR with a meme build or 8 hooking, don't put on anything useful, don't play anyone strong, and don't pretend you're good. Let people go, play friendly, die as soon as possible and let your MMR tank, baby, tank. I genuinely feel like that is what the game expects you to do in order to have normal games, because otherwise you always get a game that is either too easy or too hard. And you have to do it a lot, because you lose MMR half as fast as you can gain it on both sides, which means you gain way faster than you lose it and so you never have a true balance.

And I just wish MMR weren't like that. I wish it weren't exponential. I wish I didn't feel the need to always bring the strongest things to get out of the baby pool or even compete as some Killers. I wish the game did not tell me I'm only worth a damn in it if I win constantly, and I wish I could just pull back and not worry and still be given a "hey good job" even if I don't 4k or escape. I wish the game didn't take itself so seriously, and I wish the comp nature of MMR didn't factor into the game this hard.

Because frankly, this MMR system doesn't work. Not in the same way it does for other games. And neither do emblems.

It's not just matchmaking and lobby shopping but also balancing all matchups with a single ruleset.

I think it has more to due with the fact that it is impossible to get to high MMR and according to their stats, only 0.92 of the solo queue playerbase in mid and low MMR actually escape their matches

Nothing revolutionary. Basically why comp DBD leagues restrict perks and items on and against certain killers. Perks that are okay on mid-tier killers, and are whatever on low-tier killers, can be quite busted on S-tier killers. Example Grim Embrace: Who cares if Myers or Doctor bring it? Blight on the other hand wins at 5gens with that perk alone. Also syringes. Blight and Nurse wouldn't care if each survivor had 2 of them but one of these going through in the first chase against a low tier killer can pretty much cement the 4man out right there. Of course all of this is for average soloQ lobbies. Perks could have different values and maps could spawn more pallets in different matchups but that is an entirely new nightmare to manage.