http://dbd.game/killswitch
My wish for BHVR
To whom it may concern,
Hello, I've been playing since Beta. I've watched the developers rotate through this game, and I've watched how you address players and their critiques differently. I have 3 simple requests that'll improve everything if you follow through with them.
1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate:
You have the habit of dabbling in trying to communicate, but the instant the toxic communities raise their voices, you shut it down. Look I get it, toxic people suck. But, there are more players who just want a fun game and aren't that would love to actually know what's going on.
I know you're also concerned about backlash if you say something and have to go back on it. Date stamp it. "As of this post, we plan to make X change." If that plan has to change, state it: "We previously said we wanted to do X change. Due to Y reason, X change will be Z alteration (cancelled, delayed, changed further, ect.) Now we have a timeline and reasoning. So long as the reasoning is sound and not a lie, nobody who isn't toxic will revolt.
2. Use your consultants more:
You literally pay people who are experts in the field that is this game, yet it seems you don't use them. I guarantee that they told you buffing Haste on Clown would be a bad idea, and yet here we are, Clown is hated even more since even a beginner player can now have pallet stats like pro clown players. Why pay them to have them do nothing?
Use them throughout the whole process:
- Identity problem
- Have consultants iterate ideas for a proper fix
- Have dev team use those ideas to make a choice and direction
- Have consultants verify said choice
- %50 through making the fix, have the consultants feel out what has already been fixed in isolation (meaning test environment, not a game.)
- %75 through where the fix would just be animation tweaks or some other minor aspect, have Consultants play matches to feel out said changes.
- Adjust as needed based on Consultant Feedback.
Your consultants want the best game they can play, they want everyone to succeed, so why not let them do their job?
3. Trust the Mains.
You send out Surveys all the time, why not send out targeted Surveys? You have the data to know who primarily plays what Killer, why not have those same Killer Mains take a Survey to see what can and/or should be done for their Killer? Yes, there are toxic players who would want the Nurse to have Homing blinks with instant execute attacks for free wins, but most just want a fun and balanced match. Like if you asked me "What would you want for your Killer Main to make the game better?" I'd simply respond "Not make her power a remote dash attack with Drones." Yes, I am a Skull Merchant Main, I love the aesthetic, and loved all of her past kits (never played Chess though, just Totemwatch.)
Hopefully someone actually sees this and something positive happens... Thanks for reading
Comments
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I second this.
I think what this game needs is to have internal surveys after each perk adjustment updates either major or moderate.
I think minor updates are fine but moderate to major should always have a post update survey around like few days after.
Surveys surveys surveys, they should be simple and compact and not soley focus on perks alone rather constructed questions related to how has the gameplay been and such.
They should not be spammy but they should still be noticable
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We could expand on that last idea by using data from the player themself to identify their most played killer and send the survey to the mains. This would stop people from (for example) selecting the ghoul and asking for a complete gutting like skully.
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Definitely agree with the point about using consultants more to quality check things, but unsure if they have the same level of access that a full time BHVR employee gets. It would be OK to use them to assess things that are already in the game, but future licensed content is obviously a lot more sensitive.
And the point about including mains in the conversation is a good one. Part of the reason why the recent Legion buffs were a huge success is because they gave us a lot of what we asked for (but not everything). I was worried they'd actually gone overboard in some areas but I was wrong about that. Compare and contrast with the Clown buffs, it's very difficult to imagine there are too many Clown mains happy with the way he is right now. I played a game against bots (because I'm not making real people suffer) and all I did the entire game was chuck yellow bottles at my feet to brute force every loop and get the down (if the bots even reached a loop).
I'm don't play much Clown at all, but even I could tell this was an incredibly silly way to play the game. I do not believe Clown mains wanted any of this for their favourite character. Of course, there will be mains that want something ridiculous but they can't be a bad place to start looking for ideas.
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Survey feedback is always going to be weighted towards one sides feelings in an asymmetric game
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