DbD casual and DBD competitive need a way to co-exist
Create separate matchmaking queues for competitive and casual.
Right now, DbD's playerbase is split into two worlds: the casual gamers who want immersive horror and party game experiences, and the objective-focused gamers who want a balanced competitive experience. These two playerbases have very different needs but have to fight for the same space. The contradictions are evident in the wildly conflicting data and experiences of different players. Killer is too hard! Survivor is too hard! Both can be true.
On one end, you have the majority of players, who don't have very many hours, don't know the ins and outs of every map and killer power and add-on and perk, and aren't all that fixated on winning. But sometimes, they're working on a tome or achievement and really want to win.
On the other extreme, you have the most skilled players with thousands of hours, intensive game knowledge, zero horror immersion due to desensitization over time, and near-total focus on winning. But some matches, they don't want to sweat! Sometimes they want a chill game, too.
In the middle, it's a clusterchuck.
And 100% of all DbD players are thrown in the same queue. Why? Every single PvP game I have ever played has had at least two queues to separate the casuals from the competitive. Why doesn't DbD? It's such an obvious feature, and DbD's playerbase is large enough to support it.
With separate queues, you could actually address both playerbases' needs! You could resolve the tension. You could implement separate balance adjustments for killers that over-perform in low-MMR ("pubstompers" like Vecna and Sadako that require more game knowledge) and killers that fall off hard in high-MMR (power-crept killers like Trapper and Demogorgon that are vastly out-performed by S-tier killers).
"The MMR system already takes care of this!" I can hear you saying. It does not. Something the MMR system can never accommodate for is players' shifting goals from match to match. One match I want to get a 4K for an achievement, so I sweat. The next match, I decided I just want to play a friendly match.
It is such a commonly-shared experience from killers that on killer you'll swing wildly up and down each match. That DbD is stomp-or-be-stomped. That killer is the most stressful role. I have seen time and time again, if I bring my fun off-meta build on a B-tier killer, I get my ass kicked by SWF Team 6. Then I turn up the heat with a stronger build and end up demolishing a group of newbies. MMR systems alone do not allow players to opt in to the intensity they want.
We need two queues. Thank you.
Comments
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the thing is the splitting of the events proves they can this. Majority of killers want easy wins so if they are not going on the competition side they surely play crappy on the casual side. It isn’t anything to do with the game it’s a massive player issue.
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THIS
Why would I as a Killer willingly go into the Lion's Den when I can go in and have easy pickings on people who just chill.
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Agree in theory.
In practice, a few concerns:- Killers will go into casual because it'll be a lower stress experience, but will still do their best to win.
- Survivor SWFs may very well do the same. You think a bully squad would ever go comp?
- Casual will have issues where anyone doing too well is told to go comp, regardless of their build/strats. If you think player entitlement is bad in this game now…
- A ranked mode would only be appealing with good incentives, but providing that will make people join and do the minimum required for whatever the incentive is, causing tension with people there for high-skill gameplay.
- Ranked could only be balanced by hard locking matchmaking to keep people facing their own rank or one above/below. Queue times would be very rough.
I don't mean to be cynical but the only outcome I see with this is a half-baked rank system that gets softened over time due to queue times, resulting in MMR mismatches even in ranked queue. The casual queue will remain pretty much unchanged in terms of the general experience, with the unofficial rulebook for fair play being made ever thicker. I'm happy to give hatch or do a slug race if I've already double hooked everyone from time to time, but I would hate that to be the expectation.
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I just don't think this game has the overall playerbase size to permanently support two queues anyway.
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You could implement separate balance adjustments for killers that over-perform in low-MMR
Seperate balance adjustments for the queues is a new one, so I'll just focus on that. Most simply, it'd double the workload for a team that's already stretched too thin as is. I'd prefer the team to focus on the issues with the game as it is right now, not introducing effectively a second game to focus on as well.
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I feel like the queue time for ranked would so long that players would just end up queueing casual. 2v8 is similar to what would happen. During 2v8, casual players play 2v8 while the tryhards play 1v4.
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idk what the answer is. both the tryhard players and casual players are valid ways of playing dbd it's just we need a way to make sure these people never meet. it's not about skill or mmr it's just intent. but I don't know how you'd set matchmaking for that.
me for example, I look like a tryhard but I really just run safeguards to allow me to goof off and only turn up the heat if I need to. I just wanna spread the love and let cute people go. I go into matches aiming to kill and get a 3k, but if I have a special moment I'm willing to chill out. I'm sure there are many like me. I'll only reciprocate negative energy to those who spread it(this is why I never take off loot bag)
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Survivors want easy outs and farm games so they wouldnt ever touch comp. They also start calling each killer who doesnt farm a tryhard, "cuz its casul queue". Probanly mass report too.
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