Ranked mode?

y.. ranked mode. yes, please. I would be full in.

The introduction of ranked modes only serves to make the game a dedicated comp game. Sweaty comp kids whose ego hinges on a win will swarm into DBD, all the while the casual players will leave in mass. 2v8 is popular because of how casual it is, and how non competitive it is. There are small private tournaments…but they are small for a reason…the overall DBD community is not interested in the prestige of being "really good at a video game". The community wants to have fun, the comp kids want validation. Comp means rank and ranked means elitism and bragging rights. We already have "you don't have 3k hours in the game so your opinion is invalid", we don't need that worsened because of digital rank that means nothing in the real world. Go to valorant and if you arent radiant…well then youre not a real gamer. LoL, if you arent at least grandmaster then just uninstall noob (its repeatedly ranked the most toxic community for a reason). Marvel Rivals…same thing. Heck if you dont play the specific character and the specific meta strategy, expect to get flamed. Furthermore, people already complain about DBD cheaters….ranked comp games attract a significantly higher amount of cheaters.

Comp players are motivated by serious gameplay and a strong sense of validation for winning. Winning is all that matters. It is a festering ground for toxicity and cheaters.

Casual players are motivated by the desire to have fun and are less serious. Having fun is all that matters.

After working full-time, and going to college full-time….I would much rather the casual kids than a comp kid who will yell at me for not being meta or insult me for whatever reason. I think most gamers (not all) agree with me there.

So my question is this: Why does comp matter so much in a video game? Why do digital ranks and digital bragging rights matter that much? Is it simply a case of needing something visual as a badge of honor? Is it an ego thing? I don't get it, you can still win without ranked modes and digital trophies that reset every season…what's the point outside of ego?

Queue times would be horrible if you split it

Quick summary up front: This isn’t a “second game,” it’s the same core mechanics with different incentives and a few soft limits in casual. If you want to sweat, you’ll go ranked; if you want to chill, you’ll see fewer stomps. Queues can stay stable with a season-lock plus mild rewards.

1. “Queues will spike because of the carrot”
   Yes, incentives move players. Hence: season-lock (1–2 swaps with cooldown), cosmetics/small BP bonuses in ranked (no power gap), wide SBMM buckets in casual. Result: less migration, both queues stay populated.
2. “Just a queue with different rules = what we have now”
   Exactly: same core, different friction. Casual removes meta spikes and prestige pressure; ranked leaves everything open. That’s the whole point of two queues without inventing a new game.
3. “Stealth? Comp wants that too — they’ll just bring more aura reading”
   In casual you can cap/whitelist aura spam and add light LoS cuts/blockers so rotation/sneak has value again. In ranked, min-max is unrestricted. Two audiences, two frictions.
4. “Comp wants every buff — skill expression stays untouched”
   Skill expression = chases, reads, macro. No rubberbanding. Casual only trims extreme stomp tools (meta stacks, slug/tunnel/proxy value) and prestige motivation. If you want max expression, go ranked.
5. “‘no both side grind’ is unclear”
   Meaning: in casual there’s no hard MMR/grade/ and reduced BP — for both roles. No grind incentive, no “warm-up farming.”
6. “Why chat in one mode?”
   Optional lever. (only a idea) .. Idea: casual without post-game chat/stat wall (less toxic/prestige), ranked with (review/accountability). Could be symmetric if preferred; it’s a toggle, not dogma.
7. “Killer can still stack — doesn’t help casuals / tunneling stays”
   Not in casual: perk cap (e.g., max 2 per player + team budget), low-tier add-ons/items only, max 1 slowdown. Plus soft anti-tunnel, hook-pause in facecamp radius, and Kindred-light. And the anti-tunnel-anti slug stuff from the ptb in any rworked form for the casual modus. Hard abuse loses value; punishing misplays remains legit.
8. “Fewer loops = easy downs”
   It’s not fewer loops; it’s fewer god-chain loops. Total count stays; distribution/LoS is fairer. More wshift-panic run value, fewer endless chains. Casuals don’t squeeze optimal value out of the OP spawns anyway.
9. “Not a dealbreaker for a comp mindset”
   For many it is: no progress, no stats/chat prestige, meta caps = low incentive. That’s how groups self-sort without force: Comp → Ranked, Chill → Casual. — especially with anti-tunnel measures and fewer strong/-chain loops in casual.
10. “That’s a totally different mode”
    No. It’s DBD with different parameters — like events/mutators. If you want “pure,” that’s ranked; casual is the de-spiked sandbox

Casual trims meta spikes/prestige pressure and adds soft guards against hard abuse; ranked keeps full freedom/rewards. No skill nerf, no second game — just clear friction for two playstyles so both queues work better.

uwhm..

just a quick upfront note: I don’t call it a “second game,” but two queues with the same core rules and different friction/incentives. Win condition, chase physics, perks, and add-ons stay the same—only the surrounding parameters are set differently.

and..

1) “Isn’t that just another mode (Chaos Shuffle / Mutators)?”
No. Shuffle/Lights-Out tweak the core (random builds, heavy vision/info cuts). My proposal is a preset: light LoS (line-of-sight) blockers, a perk/item budget, fewer meta stacks—tuning knobs BHVR already adjusts regularly. Ranked = everything goes. Casual = sandbox with guardrails.
And yes, casuals can jump into Ranked anytime—but then they accept DBD without limitations: faster gen speed with no counter-buffer, “bully squad” loadouts, hard slugging, proxy camping, and tunneling—in short, all the one-sided spikes casuals specifically don’t want.

2)I think we’re talking past each other. A mode, to me, would be Shuffle/Mutators—that changes the core (random builds, heavy info/vision cuts). I’m talking about a preset: same rules, same powers, same perks/add-ons—just caps/guardrails on the extreme combos and light LoS tweaks. Call it a “Restricted Queue” if you want. It’s not a different game mode; it’s the same sandbox with bumpers.

Yes, people will always optimize. The goal isn’t “no meta,” but smaller amplitudes: fewer 2-hook snowballs, fewer 2:30 gen rushes. DBD stays DBD—just with fewer high rolls in Casual. If you want full expression (bully loads, proxy, tunnel, everything goes), you can always play Ranked.

“Casual = all the features, zero stakes” sounds nice, but in practice it’s a warm-up magnet for sweats: same tools, zero risk. That’s why you need a combo of incentives and guardrails: in Casual, fewer BP/no pips/no public stats, small anti-camp/anti-tunnel helpers (which BHVR is testing anyway). Plus a season lock/limited swaps → Casual stops being useful as a warm-up farm.

If it’s about wording—fine. I care about the outcome: Casual should feel like DBD, just without the one-sided spikes; Ranked remains the stage for “anything goes.” Run a BHVR A/B test over it (stomp rate, match length, quit rate). If it works, keep it. If it doesn’t, scrap it.

3.) Casual allows creative builds, but under a budget/whitelist. Meaning: fun experiments yes, meta stacks no. Ranked stays uncapped for maximum expression.

Why this actually means more variety: with dampers against one-sided stomps (early snowball, info/gen high-rolls) and small buffers on both sides, off-meta perks become more playable. Not “no meta,” but smaller amplitudes → more viable paths, fewer “hard-lose/hard-win” high-rolls.

The only hard limit in Casual: a full meta stack. Solution: a loadout check that transparently sends you to Ranked if you’re exactly running that … like:

Your current loadout matches the Ranked parameters.
Switch to Ranked?

Note: Switching = season lock until the end of the season (1 planned switch back with cooldown).
[Switch to Ranked] [Cancel & adjust loadout]

This way Casual stays the sandbox with bumpers (creative, laid-back, fewer stomps), and Ranked remains the stage for “anything goes” — including full meta, bully loads, etc.

4.) “Comps will warm up in Casual anyway.”
Make Casual intentionally bad for warm-ups: season-lock (1–2 swaps max + cooldown), reduced BP, no visible grade/MMR/prestige in Casual. The carrot lives in Ranked (cosmetics/stats/prestige). If you want to sweat, you go there. Also add SBMM buckets in both queues so migrations don’t wreck match quality.

Or you could also give people titles that can only be earned in Ranked. The highest titles are only available if you complete the entire season (or the month) without a queue swap—purely cosmetic but clearly visible (lobby/end screen).

and yup: some people will always min-max and try to sweat in casual—you won’t stop that 100%. that’s exactly why you ship it as a bundle: season-lock + split SBMM + no public clout, and most importantly the casual-side bumpers against one-sided stomps. those bumpers basically steal the cherry off the cake for sweats—their little edges get blunted, bully stacks hit a loadout gate, early snowball gets dampened. so sure, they can try, but it’s worse reps, less payoff, more friction. if you wanna sweat, go Ranked; Casual stays the chill playground.

5.)Not “less BP” alone — the bundle kills warm-ups in Casual. Casual becomes unsexy for sweating and imprecise for practice.

• season-lock: 1–2 swaps max + cooldown. quick warm-up? meh.
• no clout: no public grade/MMR/prestige, fewer BP → nothing to flex.
• SBMM split: separate MMR per queue → comps don’t farm newbies.
• loadout gate: full meta? prompt: “move to Ranked” or tone the loadout down.
• light guardrails: small anti-camp/tunnel/snowball dampeners in Casual; core stays the same.
• BP fine-tuning: base BP equal; Ranked gets a small streak/title bonus → pulls sweats there, not everyone.
• mode lock: being locked to one mode for the season (with limited exceptions) already stops warm-up hopping.

6.) who’s “you” here? the chat toggle was just a side idea to make casual a bit softer — not core to the proposal. the core is still the two-queue + bumpers bundle.

7.) I’m not “adding on” — the bundle is the proposal. Same DbD core (win con, powers, perks/add-ons). Casual is the same sandbox with bumpers, not a new mode.

“Funny combos” aren’t dead; they’re protected. You can still meme and experiment under a budget/whitelist. What gets checked is only the full meta stacks (e.g., multiple slowdowns/info-aura megastacks) that turn lobbies into stomps or full “bully squad” loadouts. With no caps, optimization compresses the meta; with light caps, off-meta stays viable and actually shows up in matches.

It’s “chill,” not “restricted”: soft anti-tunnel, a small hook pause in proxy-camp radius, Kindred-light, and toned-down versions of the PTB’s anti-tunnel/anti-slug ideas. Hard abuse loses value; punishing misplays stays legit. If you want full expression (bully loads, uncapped stacks, max stakes), Ranked is right there. Casual just trims the spike edges so people can try stuff without ruining someone else’s night.

(What the right dial is, you figure out by testing — just like the last PTB. Those were tweaks they tried to cut casual-player frustration from like tunneling/slugging.)

And beyond that: those bumpers and anti-snowball dampeners that kick in when a side starts tipping cut the frustration and open up way more space in Casual for perk variety, off-meta picks, and real meme builds.

8.) when I say “god-chain loops,” I mean those strong structures that can still spawn and, in good hands, buy a ton of time (MacMillan sometimes spits great survivor RNG, Autoheaven too, etc.). I know how to run and chain them; a typical casual killer usually doesn’t (zoning, denying fast vaults, whatever). and I’m not a casual player — as killer I know how to end chases fast; casual killers often don’t. on the flip side, casual survivors rarely squeeze max value from good RNG — they panic and don’t connect loops cleanly.

that’s why Casual benefits from more, smaller/softer loops and more LoS blockers: survivors get play without perfect chaining, killers aren’t forced to deal with giga-RNG chains. both sides can just play how they play, no homework, and still have a good time. that’s the whole “Casual mode” idea.

end of the day, this is a mode for people who just want to hop in and play — no perfecting, no homework — the same folks who vent about slugging/tunneling, “killer too OP,” or “genrush.” and yeah, for killers who don’t want to learn specific structures, some loops are basically hard to crack. Casual trims the spike edges so you can just queue up and have fun. Without learning.

wouldn’t be my mode. but that’s the point: opt-in. let the “chill game” crowd queue into a lane with bumpers, and keep Ranked clean for skill/expression/sweat. different intents, different lanes. fewer stomps, fewer salt posts, clearer expectations. nobody’s taking anything from anyone: if you wanna grind and improve, go Ranked; if you just wanna vibe after work, go Casual.

9.) totally fair take — but tbh that’s the point. if you’re a rulebreaker who plays for carrots/clout/full expression, you belong in ranked. casual is the chill lane with bumpers; it’s supposed to be low-incentive for more competitive players. casual is for folks who just want to hop in — killers who don’t know (or don’t want to learn) every tile/structure and ability line, and survivors who don’t want to study tunnel/slug counters, aura-perk interactions, or the whole perk/counter web. no perfecting tiles, no map min-max — just queue up and play.

10.) call it a “game mode” if you want — I don’t care about the label. it’s the same DbD core, just a parameter preset (caps, light LoS, incentives). events like Chaos Shuffle/Lights Out change the core temporarily for everyone; this would be a permanent lane with the same rules, just lower amplitude.

“why not cut hard abuse in both queues?”
because you need an uncapped pressure valve. ranked stays free so comp/tryhard players hang out there (carrots/clout), the SBMM/practice signal stays clean, devs get balance data from full-expression builds — and “warm up in casual” isn’t worth it.

casual gets soft guardrails (anti-tunnel/slug light, small hook pause in proxy radius, Kindred-light, loadout budgets). that trims meta spikes & prestige pressure so low-intent matches don’t become stomp coinflips. the early bumpers kick in when one side starts to run away and blunt abuse by themselves. think bubble-wrap armor: lets people play poorly without instantly imploding and shields against quick one-sided stomps — abuse loses bite.

this isn’t an auto-win or hand-holding, more like shock absorbers: a tiny gen throttle, a brief unhook mini-haste, a bit of info via Kindred-light (or something else) — just enough so Doc/Ghosty edges or early snowball don’t flip the whole match. you can still punish misplays; the “press once and it’s over” stuff is just rarer. result: fewer coinflip lobbies, more room for off-meta and messing around — and if you want full freedom, you’re in ranked anyway.

and . .. because the snowball triggers are capped/blunted: no full slowdown/info stacks, and when proxy/tunnel/slug shows up the bumpers kick in (mini-haste, small hook pause, a bit of Kindred info) — the edge evaporates fast. plus mode-lock = no newbie farming, no lobby cherry-picking. so.. "abusing" just isn’t worth it anymore.

if it’s just the name, fine: call it “restricted queue.” outcome matters: fewer stomps, fewer rage-quits, clearer expectations. run an A/B: if stomp/quit rates drop and match length stabilizes → keep it; if not → bin it.

..

Sure—just rough ideas that’d need polish. But there are plenty of ways to make a casual mode unappealing to “all-in” players like me and give people who just want a quick, low-stress match their own lobbies.