Killer anxiety let's talk about it
I've been seen a lot of creators make videos lately so I figured i would make a post here.
I want to start by saying I've been playing dbd on and off for around 6 years now, I started a little after the clown release and I have killer anxiety. There's many times I load up and get to the killer screen and just stop or maybe sit there trying to find a killer and start thinking of all the stress. That bully squad that was on point and just made that match feel like crap or the match that I ended up having a bad first chase and the game steam roll out of my hands so quickly and then I just close the game out because nah I don't really want to deal with it I'll go play thing else.
I have agree with refined that I'm maybe not be the devs intention but it's most definitely there responsibility to fix the problem. If your game is actively giving one side a real form of anxiety there needs to be some form of change. I think that more attention should be brought to this subject.
I know I'm about to get the loud minority of survivors coming in here and saying how dumb it is and that the killer role is easier them it's ever been but just because the hill your trying to climb is now a 80 degree angle now instead of 90 doesn't make it easy.
If you all want leave your stories here get them out we can try and have an actual discussion.
Comments
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It actively gives both sides anxiety, the killer-victim narrative is just more prevalent.
Other than that, I would agree, the problem is game pacing is too fast due to no comeback mechanics for either side, but slowing the game down isn't profitable which is why most multiplayer games are 'Tiktokifying' their gameplay loops.
Shorts bursts of dopamine = more impulsive purchases = better ROI and more accessible to more players.10 -
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There is no "killer-victim narrative" what are you talking about?
In case you didn't notice, the killer is the "1" in the 1v4 of this game. It's natural that one person going up against a team of people (especially when said team has been the power role of the game for most of its life-span) might be a little anxious, since your mistakes fundamentally matter more.
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The existence of killer-anxiety is not the point of contention, its pretending that it's killer exclusive.
The fact that people think survivors have no reason to feel anxious is exactly why solo queue is so terrible, too many people play it to fool around instead of win, but that's a different topic for a different thread.21 -
The fact you come in with a victim narrative right away is crazy.
I never once said that survivor was easy or that there was a lack of anxiety on that side so if your going to come in here with some what about stuff you can go ahead and move on your opinion isn't need here.
Now with that killer is way more stressful do to that fact it's a 4v1 and everything falls on your shoulders as with survivor there's always someone else you can look at and say well if they just did gens or didn't just leave me on hook while sitting in a corner brings the stress down alot. But as I said with killer been easier now just because it's less stressful on survivor doesn't discount that the role can still be stressful and there can be survivor anxiety it's just clearly not as prevalent as the killer side
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"it's most definitely there responsibility to fix the problem. If your game is actively giving one side a real form of anxiety there needs to be some form of change"
What ideas do you have? As someone who suffers with generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder, it took me a lot of years to develop coping mechanisms that allowed me to take my life back. I genuinely can't see how a bunch of game developers can manage, or be expected to manage, the emotional state of thousands of players.
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Buddy.
"I know I'm about to get the loud minority of survivors coming in here and saying how dumb it is and that the killer role is easier them it's ever been but just because the hill your trying to climb is now a 80 degree angle now instead of 90 doesn't make it easy."
An ounce of self-awareness.
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Its a matter of perspective, I find killer less stressful because I am fully in control of how it will be played, even more so with all the killer buffs cementing it as the power-role.
The fact that you think survivor stress is 'way less prevalent' highlights the problematic mindset I disagree with tbh.9 -
I've never heard of survivor anxiety playing that role is super chill and turn your brain off and enjoy. Got 3 other team mates that can help you out in the trails.
Killer anxiety only been getting worse and i don't really know myself how the devs can help curb it as can't trust them with anything as it either breaks or they just make the worst choices possible. Maybe something that can help it a little give killer base kit corrupt intervention or dead lock to help slow gens down a little since getting 2 or 3 gens popped as you get your first down being the worst feeling ever when playing killer. And start issuing real punishments and better clarity for toxic players during end game chat. Seen too many players spew out the worst ######### possible and far as i'm aware absolutely nothing was done to punish them.
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Dead by Daylight by it's very nature is an assymetrical game so the power imbalance is always going to exist therefore the power role will always have that expectation in some capacity to perform to a standard. To be frank, outside of changing how the game works fundamentally BHVR can't really balance the anxiety out of the game. Unfortunately the issue of Killer anxiety will always be more of a social issue and it's not realistic to expect the playerbase as a whole to change their attitudes on each side, as sad as it might be.
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The fact that it isn't as stressful for you doesn't mean that a bunch of people don't have that feeling so to say it's not a thing is a pointless statement.
What would the mindset be? The survivor role is just less stressful by they game designed as a 4v1 when you have a team around you the pressure is less on you. Though that does come with the side effect that you can also be brought down by your teammates where you did everything right but everyone hid in a corner.
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Let me guess you think these forums are killer sided right. If so that shows me you only play one side consistently. These forums are what ever side the post isn't about. If a survivor comes in here with a take every killer main will come out and tell you your stupid and get good but almost no survivors come to the defense. The same is ture for the killer side as well.
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Making the game easier for one side isn't a solution, because it just makes the game harder for the other side. It'll also likely lead to nerfs elsewhere to compensate and the end result is that everyone is unhappy. But yes, cracking down on post-game chat nastiness would be a good change.
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From some of these posts it's pretty obvious who plays almost exclusively killer, who plays almost exclusively survivor, and who plays both. I will be fully honest that I am a survivor main, I probably have spent around 80% or maybe even more of my in-match hours on survivor. I play survivor because I just enjoy the pacing more, I enjoy being able to take short breaks on generators, and in every game I play I really like playing altruistically.
I think especially as a person who ends up playing solo queue a lot of the time, survivor anxiety 100% is prevalent, and I've especially had it in this event where it feels like killers are running full meta and tunneling almost every game to counteract the event powers. However, I understand that on the killer side, at the very least you don't get the same breaks as survivor. Unfortunately it's just fundamental to the role. I think both sides have a lot of anxiety going on going into games and I think it would be foolish to say one side doesn't exist, but I understand why some people would say the anxiety is worse on the killer side and I think that simply comes down to the pace of the game being faster.
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I've always been really puzzled by the way only killers are ever spoken about, and if you try to say "what about survivors" there's all this invalidating. What effects one person doesn't effect the other. Being part of a team that you might let down can cause anxiety. Being potentially let down by that team and trapped in a situation you have no control over too. The idea of being murdered is also not exactly chill, whereas killers only have to watch someone walk through a gate. This isn't a killer problem, it's just a problem some people have, and I don't know how you think the devs can solve it.
Yeah exactly. I personally find killer more stressful, but I prefer having control over my fate. I don't have to worry about teammates throwing. I don't have to worry if the killer will camp me to death or my teammates will leave me on hook, situations where I'm utterly helpless. Helplessness is much worse than anything I feel on killer.
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As someone who plays both roles i do tend to find that killer anxiety is more of a thing. By far the most unpleasant experience in dbd is playing a 0k game as killer.
Playing survivor can be less than pleasant if you go on a losing streak, but i can deal with a few bad games as surv. As surv you're kind of expecting to die in a lot of your games. It only really becomes unpleasant if it's constant and you don't achieve much. Like you're getting consistently tunneled out with no break.
Whereas with killer you are the power role, and having a full team of survivors run rings around you and prevent you from doing anything is uniquely frustrating.
The playerbase doesn't help. I've come across a few particularly toxic players over the last few days on both sides of the killer/survivor split. But thankfully, due to the way I play, (i pretty much never bm as survivor, and generally play very chill as killer) i have way more positive interactions than I do negative.
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We need all the content creators to make survivor anxiety videos now.
The Us vs Them crowd really ain’t doing this topic any favors
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The title might say killer anxiety but story's of survivor anxiety is more then welcome as well.
I can see how teammates doing stupid stuff can cause you to not want to deal with it in the same way that killers have. For me personally I feel it's easier to find reason that are pretty much out of your control as survivor makes it less stressful for me. Again this is me personally.
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I'm am the exact opposite. If a teammate leaves me on the hook I'm absolutely frustrated but that's because of them I had no control over there actions so for me it doesn't get to me as much. I can understand that if you have the feeling of been trapped though that can easily cause some problems.
For me I think its feeling overwhelmed by multiple players and the map some times where when im playing killer it can feel as if I'm actively trying to win against a game that's fighting against me.
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I have started slugging recently for an experiment to see how many perks I turn off by not hooking but I found it just feel better playing its way less stressful so many strong perks need you to hook and it wasnts so much time and open us so many more things like using base kit bt aggressively and all the stress of that is gone. And losing has felt so much better sense when I lose its been due to skill and not perks so it just stings so much less and the wins feel so much better I feel like im actually scary when I down someone and just keep going looking for my next chase.
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I started playing DbD in 2018. I started as a killer main, first as Myers main, then a Doctor main then as a Clown (before here he got his yellow bottles) main. I was a killer main through 2021 back when Dead Hard was KING. Back then I never experienced what I'd consider killer anxiety.
In early 2023 I experienced extreme hypertension. In the months following that I tried playing killer and sometimes I'd "peak" with anxiety so bad I had to stop playing midmatch it was so bad. Since then I got my hypertension under control and stopped gaf if I win or not as killer. But I'll never forget that feeling I experienced.
I never experienced that as survivor. I could always die and move on, which is not an option as killer. As killer sometimes if a chase lasts 10 seconds too long you lose, especially if you're playing a killer with low snowball potential. That's DbD.
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I have diversive vision upon this.
While I defend the killer side more than survivor side playing with my friends on this event was one the most miserable experience I've had since I started playing in 2020. All killers hard tunneling, bringing most meta being extremely toxic. My friends just gave up so played killer myself. I played over 100 matches and count up to 5 those that were not pure toxicity.
On the other hand I defienetly support that toxic behavior on both sides and lets be honest it's both sides issue is what makes this game so unenjoyable so often. Picked meta and toxicity, competitive mindset pf genrush asap or tunnel asap, i need to win every game at any cost.
Third thing is that I felt bad for og killers when you have killers that have small effort to achieve same result as og killers when they sweat the hardest they possibly can. Why First is all about hit or miss with nothing really either side can do other than guess right or bad or jason with his infinite zooming speed, nonexisting cooldown, dot size projectile hitbox, almost permanent haste and trackings, when Huntress is slow has to traverse whole map on her own feet with no bonus speed, has to reload at certain location to have any power and so on.
Fourth thing is the lack of strong perks. We had First's perks attending meta but it was exception in latest. Survivors and killers haven't got many new truly good perks that would worth swapping for current meta because each time the second side screams for immidiate nerf or the perks are weak since it's existence. I understood the fast track nerf screams and thought it might just be reverted but they made the perk even worse than before the buff. Though one of my most favourite perk ever "turn back the clock" was created and I love it. Cross-examination which is a different new mechanic is in alarm vision of being nerfed in my opinion for absolutely no reason, because the perk is not even good compared to it's existing more consistent options. Same I hope tha scourge hooks, boons, invocations and all the uniqe mechanics got more love so we trully can make the game more diversive.
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I am so tired of this. You don't have anxiety, you have a fragile ego, there is a difference.
You're "Anxiety" is actually just a ego trip that you may have to face the reality that you're just not that good at killer, which ok, that doesn't make you a bad person or anything but you're ego is so fragile, that the idea that you may lose a video game is having you spiral all that says is about you, nothing about killer.
Seriously, take a break, it's normal to just take a break, or stop all together.
This pity party that some killers have is insane.
You start a match with "I'M A VICTIM," seriously, you're not victim, you are fishing for sympathy and validation, that you're never the problem, everyone else is.
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I'd say it exists for both roles, for sure. As someone that plays both, I get anxious sometimes when queuing survivor.
However, I always feel anxious queuing for killer these days. A lot of this is to do with personal circumstances that have nothing to do with the game making me a bit less emotionally hardy. Like @Nazzzak, I have spent most of my life dealing with generalised anxiety.
Full conjecture, but I think the difference is self-confidence. I think the more self-confident you are, the more likely survivor will stress you out, and vice versa. As killer, knowing I have only my flawed self to rely on means there's no one coming to help if I end up in a lopsided game or just play terribly. Sure, it's just a game, move on. When I'm in a better mental state I can do that, but when anxiety is present, such straight-forward thinking is basically not possible.
If you are confident in your skills, survivor can be much more stressful. You're more worried about other people's mistakes than your own, because you can rely on yourself to make good choices but can't control your the other randoms in the lobby.
For me, survivor is less stressful because someone else might juice for half the game, carrying me to victory. If I'm doing well but my team does bad, well, that just can't be helped and I can do my best to help, but ultimately if I fail to help then at least I'm in the same boat as my teammates, instead of exceeding expectations.
One bad game of killer, and there are four people in the lobby with me reveling in how terrible I'm doing. 99% chance they're actually not, and are just playing the game, avoiding me, maybe feeling proud they managed to outplay me, but anxiety twists normal situations into a dull roar of ideas and emotions that rapidly multiply until you don't really know what it is that's even bothering you anymore. I think that killer requiring more mental energy to pick up once you get into games with competent opponents (not saying it's harder, just can be more taxing with how your decisions are the most impacftful in the lobby) makes people predisposed to anxiety more at risk of being overwhelmed and losing grip on logic. And like you say about helplessness, it sucks. I think for some people it sucks harder if they feel helpless in the one role where they technically never are. It makes failure sting more.
@Nazzzak is right in the harsh truth here. What can the devs honestly do about it? My anxiety for the role only gets restrictively bad when I'm going through a rough patch with my mental health, something entirely external to the game. Shy of having my killer turn around, reach through the screen and tenderly pat my head, telling me it'll all be okay every time I swing and hit window instead of survivor, there is not a solution to that.
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I also find survivor significantly more stressfull. But it's for more reasons, doesn't trrully matter whether i play solo or swf. I mostly run fun build, off meta on both survivors or killers so when I got hard tunneled and it happened a lot I got tired of it because I don't mind dying at all, just want the match to feel worth playing and have some fun meanwhile. And let's be honest killers - a lot of them, are more fun to play than playing against them.
my current escape rate is 37 % and kill rate 75 % I find both those somewhat expectable but the amount of stress i do have is survivor:killer 4:1. I agree game used to be more stressfull for the killer but most of those things been removed:
→ instaheals
→ 320 charges toolboxes
→ infinite windows
→ dash dead hard with no condition other than being injured
→ 3x heal per medkit
And much more. So I think that overall the game is leaning more towards killer players having more fun and less stress. Doesn't mean a lot of killers don't deserve buffs still.
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I watched Refined video and he said: "You are supposed to be power role, killer is supposed to be power role and surviviors should be scared of you"
And he says things like people have second chance perks, surviviors have friends who can help…
So to me as someone who doesn't experience such things it seems like he really would like games to be a easy stomps so killers could feel like a real power role.
How I understand this from his video, this killer anxiety happens because surviviors are being too strong, having second chances is too strong, having teammates is too strong.
How he explains this makes me think like devs should make the game easier for killers so people wouldn't feel the "killer anxiety".
I just hope this isn't the case and some sneaky way to make killer role stronger.6 -
As someone who has bad anxiety at times.
Have people just considered not playing the game that makes you feel bad?
Thats the joy of video games. No one is forcing you to play.
And if you want to get the message across that the game is bad. Stop playing. Thats the loudest message you can send the devs.
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Just out of interest what exactly scares you about playing killer?
I'm a killer main personally and I rather don't play survivor. My reason in this case is that my own mistakes matter to 3 other people and can trip them over, I'm personally rather at fault for my own mistakes than making other people have to deal with them. While it's more like a preference it's also kinda a fear because I'm actually scared in reallife to interact with people, I also usually try to do everything on my own to not make them any problems and stuff like that. I don't even go into baking shops because I'm scared to talk to the baker xD
So is it in your case turned around kinda that you're scared of having to deal with your mistakes or is it more like a fear that you have to perform on a kind of stage? (Now that I think about that I think the fear with the stage is also probably a reason why I don't play survivor much. Sure they are looking at me as killer too, but more as an enemy instead of someone that performs for you I think?)
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I've not played killer in a couple of weeks because of this. I think it's just cathartic to talk about this with other people that have the same experiene, y'know? Makes me feel less foolish.
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See I agree with this, but we also have to contend with the fact that people are addicted to the game.
So we end up with players that are exhibiting masochistic tendencies, even though they really aren’t that type of person.
I personally ‘broke the cycle’ by consciously skipping last year’s anniversary, and by extension, the rift of that season.
I then went half a year without playing…basically at all without much effort, until I met some people I could play with. I used to be a killer main, now I only ever play killer in customs.
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So then my questions are why are we entertaining this mindset? If they have an addiction its not the player bases or the devs fault.
This isnt like a gambling addiction or anything serious like that.
This "Killer Anxiety" is taking the piss out of an actual serious mental issue.
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I’d argue it is the devs’ fault for stuffing the game with all manner of addicting things. The dailies, the weeklies, the log-in rewards, the events, the limited-time skins. Not to mention the very nature of the game seeing players strife for that one good match that almost never happens.
You name a gambling addiction. Consider it like someone with a gambling addiction constantly getting reminders that they could be winning big, right now, if they just kept trying.
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Discussions like this always make me wish more people talked about solo queue. It feels like a lot of killer players assume everyone in their lobby is a SWF, when that just isn't true. I only started playing when The Walking Dead chapter was announced, and I've played almost exclusively as a solo survivor ever since.
I've had countless matches where it's obvious I'm paired with a group, whether it's matching usernames or PlayStation players whose profiles show they're together. Despite that, I've been left to die on first hook at the end of matches while running Kindred, even though the killer had already left and my teammates could clearly see it. Other times they'll leave me to hit struggle despite the fact I've spent the match unhooking them, giving them Babysitter, and healing them with We'll Make It. It often feels like you're disposable because you're just "the random."
I've also run into plenty of TTV players who immediately dismiss me with comments like, "Oh God, it's a random Rick," or make fun of my username, "ThatTWDFan," as if that's somehow a red flag. Even when I play well, I'm still the first person blamed for anything that goes wrong. I can finish with the most bloodpoints by a huge margin and still somehow be "the problem" simply because I'm the solo player. At times it makes me want to dodge lobbies with TTVs altogether because I don't enjoy feeling like I have to impress someone just to avoid being criticised on stream.
On the other side, I've had killers assume I'm part of a four-man SWF simply because four solo survivors happened to work well together. I was even banned from a TTV's chat once for saying "GG, gl next" because they assumed I was grouped with survivors who had been teabagging them. I never BM'd, barely interacted with those players during the match, but I was guilty by association.
That's what makes solo queue so frustrating. You're often treated like the scapegoat by teammates who are actually playing together, or the killer assumes you're part of a coordinated SWF because you managed to run them for more than a minute. Last night I got fully bled out by a Ghoul after having a strong first chase. They threw the rest of the match with three generators still left just so they could repeatedly hump my body. Meanwhile, my teammates kept trying to pick me up instead of finishing the generators, and somehow we all ended up slugged. Peak solo queue.
I don't mean any of this to sound bitter because I genuinely enjoy the game. Getting to play as my favourite characters from my favourite show is the reason I started, and I'm finally close to reaching P100 on both Rick and Michonne. I just think solo queue players are too often left out of the conversation. Depending on your teammates or the killer, it can be an incredibly miserable experience, and it often feels like you're being punished for things completely outside your control.
If you're matched with a duo or trio, you're the "useless random." If you happen to play well, the killer assumes you're part of a sweaty four-man SWF and treats you accordingly. Either way, you're judged based on assumptions rather than what actually happened in the match. For those of us who genuinely prefer playing alone, that's just the reality of solo queue, and I wish it got talked about a lot more.
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Most of the time I play with a trio. I've taken to immediately placing our random player on a pedestal, rooting for them and going full altruism to save them. I've no idea why I have this habit, but I hope one day you match into one of our games.
I do think the woes of SoloQ get plenty of discussion though. I've taken part in it. I just find the frustrations with SoloQ are less anxiety inducing and more anger inducing, so at least when it comes to my input, it's not something I discuss alongside anxiety issues with the game.
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I find myself feeling the same way. I get raring up to do killer and just stare at my Killer but not que up. Used to be the thought of facing a swf (bully squad or just quick steamroll team) but I'd still manage to pep talk myself and que up. Recently its now been a split between "Killer Anxiety" and "Killer De-motivation". the de-motivation coming from the constant E-survivor (Entitled Survivors) mains making constant complaining posts (tunnel/slugging, Blight/Nurse/Jason, killer aura read), unnecessary killer nerfs, and now the Black Banquet event which only favors the survivors.
some killer nerfs and other topics that also played into the de-motivation for me as such:- 3 gen nerf (its the killers job to defend gens, it is not holding the game hostage)
- STBFL, no one was complaining about it before but as soon it they decided to nerf it survivors all of a sudden started saying it was unhealthy perk
- being attacked just for playing optimally
- Blight's pallet nerf (i might be alone on this one), Blight has to watch out for tight corners like indoor maps, his tokens still have to recharge one at a time, and now he loses 2 tokens just for breaking a pallet all for the sake of "survivors need more distance"
Not all but just a few. The Devs just need to stop appeasing the casual/entitled side of the survivor community but the 4 survivors make them more money than the 1 killer so I dont see that happening. Like you called it, we're already getting that loud minority of survivor mains and "white Knight" Killers (i mean its just survivors claiming to killers so they can make their "killer nerf comments without being called out for it) in the comments.
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This isn't something developers can or should try to fix, because it likely has nothing to do with DbD. People need to ask themselves why the expectations of 4 random people on the Internet are giving them anxiety. I know firsthand that anxiety isn't a logical thing that you can rationalize away, but it's not up to a game developer to manage. That's between the player and their therapist.
I used to get stressed on killer and get performance anxiety. But enough happened in my life that my perspective changed. What happens in a game of DbD isn't even in the top 10 of important things that happen in a week for me.
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I said it in another thread I'm going to say it here, the "Killer Anxiety" buzzword is not exclusive to Killer, nor is it exclusive to this game. It's a competitive game phenomenon and sometimes it's really evident the people who make these videos ONLY play Dead By Daylight.
That's not invalidating the issue, it's real, but it happens to survivor players too… ever thought how ACTUALLY anxious it is co-operating with 3 friends (someone is a friend of a friend you don't know them very well). Tunneling happens to the person who you don't know very well and you're worried it's caused a situation where they get the wrong idea of you coz they aren't enjoying themselves.
Then there is meeting people who ridicule you on survivor side or tunnel you for being a minority, where you feel you have to play on anon mode because the community is so toxic about that sort of thing sometimes. yes this happens to both sides, but the killer role can actively slug said survivor for the whole match (yes they can abandon but it's still something they can do).
Killer "Anxiety" when killer queues are just not in need is such a frustrating topic to Us vs Them over, Both sides suffer and yes the game could be more forgiving for both sides.
it's much easier to use the game mechanics to make the survivor side miserable as both survivor and killer than it is for survivors to make the killer experience miserable, that's a fact.3 -
As someone who plays mostly soloQ survivor these days I really don't get the survivor anxiety thing. Killer anxiety sure because you're pretty much on a time limit and every mistake is magnified because the killers time is more important. But soloQ survivor? I don't get anxiety I just get really annoyed most of the time if anything wondering about the absolutely bizarre choices my teammates make. Maybe it's just because I'm more confident on the role or because I get so much information so I always know what's going on now? Tbf it's probably that cuz stealth killers are the only time I'm even a little bit uncomfortable on survivor.
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Well, soloQ is more about your teammates than you. If you are good player, cool. But someone going down in 10s into the game into pain res dms into next 10s down and you know that the game is pretty much over.
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I think, for me, the anxiety comes from feeling like I have to put extra pressure on myself to perform well. I don't think I'm a bad player at all, and considering I only have 462 hours in the game, I'd say I have pretty good game sense. But when I know I'm in a lobby with a party (especially if one or more of them is a TTV) I start overthinking everything. That usually makes me play worse because I'm worried about being seen as the "useless random." I just don't think this game is particularly welcoming or accommodating to newer or solo queue players.
From my own experience, survivors constantly talk about killer players, and killer players constantly talk about SWFs. I honestly can't remember ever hearing a killer say, "That was a strong team of solo queue players." If survivors play well, they're almost automatically assumed to be a SWF.
I've had matches where I knew everyone was solo queue because we were all on the same platform and nobody was grouped together. Afterwards, the killer messaged me saying they hated "bully squads." I explained that I was playing solo and had no control over how my teammates played, but they dismissed me outright and insisted I was lying. It's almost like solo queue players don't exist in some people's minds, you're either the killer or you're part of a SWF.
If I take a protection hit for someone on death hook or being tunnelled, I'm immediately assumed to be in a SWF. I'm not just a solo queue player trying to help my team; I'm labelled a "toxic SWF." Taking hits for teammates shouldn't be considered toxic, but unfortunately some people see it that way.
I can only speak from my own experience, but solo queue players often feel like the forgotten part of the DBD community. We exist, and there are probably far more of us than people realise, yet it feels like we're barely part of the conversation. I know I "only" have around 500 hours, and I've seen people dismiss opinions unless you have thousands, but I've played with and against Fog Whisperers and partnered streamers (including some featured during the anniversary broadcast) and I've held my own, had strong chases, and escaped plenty of those matches. So I must be doing something right.
Even then, people still assume I'm in a SWF. If you're an efficient survivor, you're rarely seen as solo queue. Four solo players who understand how to split generators, take protection hits, and rotate chases will almost always be labelled a SWF. I've been in those lobbies, and if the killer happens to be streaming, they'll often default to calling us a SWF. Sometimes it feels like an easy excuse for losing rather than accepting they were simply outplayed. There's no shame in losing, but efficient survivors are so often labelled a SWF that solo queue players effectively disappear.
A lot of each match also feels outside our control. If I load into a lobby with a duo or trio running sabotage builds and intentionally making the killer's game miserable, there's a good chance that frustration gets taken out on the entire team. I'm guilty by association, despite having no idea what kind of match I was loading into and taking no part in it.
I genuinely think solo survivor can be just as stressful, sometimes even more stressful than playing killer, because you're not only playing against the killer but sometimes against your own teammates. A killer loads in knowing they'll be facing four survivors. As a solo queue player, you never know what you're going to get. That unpredictability, combined with the constant pressure of not wanting to be seen as the weak link, is where a lot of the anxiety comes from.
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Anybody who uses the term "power role" is not making a serious argument and has not actually thought through what this means. They are advocating for removing all skill expression entirely. It doesn't matter if you're outplayed, you're the "power role." It shouldn't matter if you picked nonsensical perks or made bad decisions, you're the "power role." It shouldn't matter if you're fumbling around blindly while up against vastly more experienced players, you're the "power role." They want skill expression, knowledge, and experience to not matter on the survivor side at all. The killer should win, not just as the default, but inevitably.
And I agree that it's almost entirely an ego thing. Killer players aren't special. Tanks in MOBAs, healers in MMOs, anything where there's only fewer players in that role and more eyes are on them is the same. What's different in DBD is that the killer playerbase expects to win north of 80% of their games, with CCs closer to 95%, even when instituting outlandlish challenges to make the game harder. Losing at all is something they feel they should be ashamed of. It's WRONG. You're the POWER ROLE. When people say to play how you want, it's never advice given in service of having fun, role playing, or not worrying about winning.
Those killers don't experience anxiety when they play survivor because they don't care when they lose. It's not tied to their egos. They don't expect to win as the default. EXCEPT WHEN THEY DO. As you see every damn time Otz or others do their stupid hardcore survivor challenges and those same players who supposedly experience no anxiety when playing survivor start losing their ######### minds.
Meanwhile, we have threads on the front page literally daily of people anxious because they got dinged by BHVR's dumbass automated systems telling them that they're going to be punished for playing survivor 'badly,' on top of all the ones clearly stressed about playing against tunnelling, Ghouls, Jason, etc etc. AND all the people, in this thread even, who have said they just flat out quit survivor, either partially or entirely because of it.
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Thank you another person who finally sees this crap for what it is.
Fragile Ego's.
Because losing to them is like a personal attack and they cant accept they played bad or just went against better players.
Yes its okay to be bad at a game it does not mean you are a failure or a bad person but holy hell these people trying to use a actual severe mental illness to hide behind makes me sick.
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I get what your saying and I think it's an expectation problem. People seem to think power role means they win every match, and that survivors should be fleeing in terror from them. It does seem like when these things stop happening it's when people feel a change. I get survivors that are better than me all the time and they know it. They start moonwalking in chases and running circles around me. I imagine this is why tbagging seems to bother so much of this community, because they want power and they didn't get it and the other players are letting them know.
The only time I've ever felt genuine anxiety playing was during a tournament. It was just for fun, but when it was my turn to play killer, it got weird. My first killer was one that I usually meme with and I chose a gimmicky build and I was totally fine, but my second was my ranged p100 main and I just fell apart. It was being streamed, casted, refereed, and watched by more people than I would have preferred. My hands were shaky and I played poorly. I distinctly remember one hit that went multiple meters away from the target because my hands were so sweaty and shaky that it was even commented on. It's burned into my brain now.
The only way I'd regularly feel this way is if I streamed. I won't even stream for friends in Discord. I hate being scrutinized, even casually. But playing alone, I know no one can see my perspective. That isolation actually gives me comfort. I also like that killer can't be spectated for that reason. I don't feel performance anxiety without someone seeing my performance directly.
And if I felt the way I did during the tournament all the time I would absolutely not play killer. As it is, killer makes me extremely angry, but I can handle that. I wouldn't handle being nauseous and shaky all the time. I'd just play survivor. But for me, survivor has moments that stand out more in my memory. Aside from the tournament, I actually can't think of any bad matches that stuck with me as killer. I forget them quick.
I remember a match two years ago where a 3man turned on me, body blocked me in chase, tbagged me on hook and while I was down, and the killer just ignored it an used it to their advantage. The most offending player told me it's because I used too many pallets and then went on and on about how bad I was. I still think about this match and how negatively it affected my view of the game, to the point where I had to really mentally fight to play survivor. I have a few other moments like this stuck in my mind. It's probably also why, when I identify bad behavior when I'm playing killer, I punish the offendig party and let the others leave. If someone gets left on hook for no reason and goes second, I'll camp them off and ignore them the rest of the match. If people throw for no reason I'll kill them and let the others go. Because, for me, that helplessness of immediate failure because of the choices of others is the worst regular feeling in the game, and playing killer let's me police it so other people don't have to feel that way.
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I feel it on both sides. Like other people have mentioned, I definitely feel it as a solo survivor. I get anxious that I'm going to let the other three survivors down or make myself look like a terrible player. If I load into a lobby and everyone else looks like they're way better than me, that just makes it worse.
I also tend to dwell on things (that's a me issue). Just today I debated whether I should even play, but I figured I'd have one game before work. In the end chat, another survivor accused me of not taking chases and doing anything all game.
The frustrating part is that I wasn't hiding. I took chases, and made god use of the tables to heal. I didn't hide once during the match. It wasn't until the first survivor was sacrificed that I realized I hadn't been hooked yet, but that was only because every time the killer downed me, they left me slugged and went after someone else instead. Sure, I didn't play a pro but for someone just to throw that out when it wasn't true. This made me turn the game off because I got to anxious I'd get another comment like this.
TL;DR: I get anxiety playing on both sides.
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Of course survivor players can suffer from anxiety as well, I don't think anyone is arguing that they don't (at least, that's not my position). What people are arguing is that the natural anxiety one can get from playing an online multiplayer video game is worse on the killer side for the reasons I initially listed.
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I often get snarky about this topic because it's the same problem with all conditions. Society gets ahold of a term and they self-diagnose. People have a headache and call it a migraine. Spiders make them uncomfortable and they now have a phobia. They have mood swings and call it BPD. Oh I'm nervous? Must be anxiety. Throw in some CC clown making a video about it and it's an I-do-my-own-research joke. It's unfortunate the desire for victimhood as a way to not be responsible for failure and avoid emotional self-regulation detracts from people with genuine conditions.
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It's a PVP game, all sides should feel stressed to perform and to win (stress comes in good and bad forms.)
My point is that the fact that people think survivor is less stressful is a problem in itself because you should feel pressure to be a performing member of your team, and this is why I personally find killer to be less stressful.
I can't let anyone down but myself, my performance is 100% on me which makes it so much easier to find out what went wrong and how to improve.
If I don't feel like playing a match out, I don't need consent from anyone else, I don't have to worry about someone else quitting, I don't have to worry about people bringing bad perks or useless playstyles, the list goes on.
This is just my opinion though, which is why I said that killer anxiety definitely exists in my original post, I just find it overblown because its a trendy narrative that killers aren't the power role but are an underdog fighting bullies.Post edited by Wyndsor on3 -
Both roles have anxiety yet only one side is backed by basekit features through years and still complains till today.
Latest ones being pallet desity still being a thing (even when devs claimed they fix it but they didnt like always) and safer unhook protection that work even in endgame which is its main issue.
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The main issue for me is - by nature: it is asymmetrical gameplay, so one side always will have other issues or problems than the other. So any discussion about "well survivors have that too" is not really helpful in my opinion.
From my point of view (solo q main, never playing swf, rarely playing killer) survivor just overall is less stressful and also somewhat feels less painful. Which is a bit absurd as you are the one who should be scared and running for your life, but that's another topic I guess.
Like. If a killer has a bad game, everyone around him gets cocky, maybe even rude and in the end you just feel like you failed completely. Because you are the one who is supposed to have power and control.
As a survivor there are so many things that can happen which are out of your control. Teammates trolling, tunneling/camping, a decisive mistake from yourself or teammates…
It feels less frustrating when you can get into a mindset of "well, there was nothing I could do because the others…".
As a killer, there IS NO OTHERS. The burden is on you. Solely on you. And that can feel overwhelming and scary. Survivors will never get into this situation by default.
Also as a survivor you can have a game that feels alright although you die - you looped well, you saved someone else, three others get out…
A killer who has a game without any kills almost never can feel alright about it unless you went in with no real intention on killing in the first place.
Now. What could be a solution to make killer players feel better about the game? I don't know. One point definitely is the matchmaking. You just never know if you get the baby Dwight sandbagging Megs - or some 4-man-SWF with full meta that's going in to steamroll you.
I think this insecurity somewhat feeds the anxiety for some.
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