http://dbd.game/killswitch
How many people have actually played a party game?
How many people have actually played a party game? I see people saying that DBD is supposed to be a party game, and I'm wondering how many people have actually played a party game in a real life party?
Party games are supposed to have really simple rules, so that people can quickly learn the games even if they're drunk. They often involve very simple minigames like "mash a button to pull a boat", or "guess what percentage of Americans have used roller skates in the past year", or "guess what picture your teammate is drawing".
What part of this is anything like DBD? Does anyone think they can go to a real life party, teach drunk people how to play this game, and then have the new people do well in this game?
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I kind of agree, actually.
What I think this stems from is that people conflate "party game" with "casual game", when there is a difference between those two things. Party games are as described above, casual games are ones with more depth and complexity that still rewards investing time and effort but that aren't geared towards a particularly intensely competitive expereince.
DBD has, historically, always been the latter. It's never been an e-sports, ranked-mode type competitive game like Overwatch or League or CSGO, but it's also not exactly Mario Kart.
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It’s not a party game if it requires thousands of hours to get really good at, which is true for most players. It’s far too complicated and skill ceiling is far too high to be considered a party game.
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DBD isn't a party game by definition, no. I think players incorrectly use that label, meaning they believe DBD is much more casual multiplayer game to them than any kind of sweat playstyle.
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Argument by definition is never very effective and just reads as pedantic. At best you get people to go 'okay, I didn't mean party game, I guess I meant casual game'. It doesn't have any merit on their points.
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…honestly we could fit dbd in that definition with everything but "simple controls which can be easily understood by players of any skill level". Its actually kinda funny XD
Its player to player as the central gameplay (stealth or chases). Normal trials are pretty short (around 13 esque minutes on average so depending on whats viewed as "short". Mario party takes roughly 20+ minutes for us if rushed for compairison). Minigames of skillchecks and carrying wiggly survivors (stretching yes, but its the principle of the challenge of why we're typing this). And the players are competing to win.
All that said, we rulebreakers think dbd is its own thing. It doesnt fit the "casual" google definition and only checks some on the "competitive" google definition.…Also drunk dbd is good (non)wholesome fun.
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I also don't understand this, it was never a partygame and never will be. The fact that even bhvr called it a partygame in the past (if I remember right) is questionable at best.
Also an important thing for a partygame is if it's easy to set up, and I don't know about you but I wouldn't call setting up 4-5 laptops (or I think there's also splitscreen in customs, but probably not up to 4-5 players) "easy to set up". It's basically as badly optimized for that purpose as it could be.
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There's a definite argument that it started that way and was like that for a bit but once we started getting stuff like Hex: Ruin in the game I think that aspect died altogether. It still has that base DNA but there's so much complexity on top of it nowadays that it's been pretty much lost.
Because like, launch DbD was pretty simple all things considered.2 -
There's a definite argument that it started that way and was like that for a bit but once we started getting stuff like Hex: Ruin in the game I think that aspect died altogether. It still has that base DNA but there's so much complexity on top of it nowadays that it's been pretty much lost.
Because like, launch DbD was pretty simple all things considered.0 -
What are we talking about here. Go to Gen hold M1. Press Space to drop pallet or vault woooooow so advanced mechanics man. Run to survivor press M1 to lunge. Press space to vault and break pallet omgggggg immaculate gameplay holy so advanced omg. It is a party game…… A comp game goes 40 minutes like league of legends or counter strike and is super duper complex with wave management etc. Get a grip kiddo. DBD is not a comp game
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load up The Twins, send us to Haddonfield. go into a house, and tuck Victor into bed. make dinner for him and read him bedtime stories. anyone who hurts the baby gets an angy momma bear (its always the Nancy...)
I just invented a party game. killers are the dungeon masters who set the mood, and the survs can go along with it if they want.
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I feel that while it may not be a standard party game, it is a casual one. There’s no rank mode, no restrictions, and the MMR is very loose. Even a game like Rocket League has a ranked mode.
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it's usually people complaining about people wanting to balance the game around good players.
"Can't do that, this is a party game!"
at least from my experience…
casual game is the better description.
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Funny thing is I actually loop better when slightly drunk. Not sure what it is but I do.
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Even a game like Rocket League? Of course it has a ranked mode, its extremely hard to get good. Playing against a better player is completely pointless, i could easier win a gunfight against a Global Elite in CS and i never even played it.
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Shoot people, plant the bomb, defend the bomb. Change sides after halftime. Pretty simple. There is a reason why elo hell exists. Counter strike is full of casuals.
Even league. If you throw everything out of the windows, its just: kill enemies, destroy towers and destroy their base. Who cares about leveling and different characters (DBD: killer, addons, perks), who cares about buffs/strategy (DBD: map knowledge, macro-play, real looping). Just smash the enemy, its that simple.
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The first thing I thought of when buying DBD that it was just like Mario Party.
/s
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I actually don't think DbD's controls are that complicated. Probably not "simple", but it's not mechanically demanding, really. If I had to place DbD on a 1-10 scale from dead simple to highly demanding of manual/mechanical dexterity, I'd probably put it alike a 3 or 4.
Largely true, but it's also far too imbalanced and inconsistent to be considered a properly competitive game.
And this might be semantics, the fact that it takes thousands of hours to get "good" at is more down to having to sort out the game's convolutions and inconsistencies than developing any kind of technical gaming skill. I wouldn't call it a skill floor so much as a knowledge floor. Anyone can get good at DBD with enough time. You can't say that about a lot of games.
Ultimately, DbD is just its own janky thing; too convoluted to be considered super casual, but too loose and unrefined to be truly competitive and/or serious.
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funnily enough, any time I've introduced ppl to dbd, usually older folks, they start off assuming the way to play is to tunnel, camp and slug (and seem to gravitate towards Myers)
dbd just has tons of knowledge checks and muscle memory
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It's not surprising, really. A lot of people are conditioned to a 1v1 mindset (thus tunneling), and the impulse to secure your kill is almost evolutionary (camping). I think with aysyms, expecially DBD, you have to unlearn a lot of typical conditioned VG habits/impulses.
And it's not shocking older people would gravitate toward Myers, he's iconic to a whole generation (or two).3 -
We'll concede they're not exactly hard to understand, its like 3-4 buttons on controller not counting emotes, but those buttons do everything and a few killers go an extra mile so knowing when/what/how something does gets funky. But its all gonna vary from person to person anyways.
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I feel like a long time ago DBD was more comparable to a party game when it was more simple and felt more community focused with interactions. Now there's MMR, a battlepass and other incentives to play other than just getting on to have a good time with friends or randoms. On top of that it's so overly complicated for people who are super casual to just drop in and play because there are so many perks, items, unique characters and other things affecting the game. New players don't really have a chance unless they commit to this game hard.
I played since 2016 and I would have said it's a party game then due to the simple nature of the game but nowadays I'd have to be convinced either or because I don't really know where I even stand on that view anymore. DBD used to be a game you could boot up and everyone could mostly be on the same playing field for the most part. My experience with over 3k hours is a lot different than my friends who have like 200 hours because I have so much unlocked and available compared to them. DBD back in the first few years didn't feel like that even with some DLC.
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Being this thread has turned into a discussion of the game's complexity, a little story.
I volunteer at a local high school and was at an event right after graduation. I was talking with a girl about video games and I mentioned DbD, this is how it went.
Her: You play DbD? I love DbD!
Me: Really? What do you play?
Her: Well, I don't play anymore. I kind of grew out of it at the end of Middle School. But I dressed up as Susie for Halloween!
My feelings on the complexity of DbD deflated pretty quickly then.
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You're not wrong, but also there are plenty of terms people use "incorrectly" as colloquialism.
People will say things sarcastically and then claim they were saying it "ironically," for instance.
So although "party game" is an inaccurate descriptor, I won't fault anyone for using the term to point out that DBD is not an export ready game
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