My problem with the Archives
I don't like the Archivist (or Overseer, or Prisoner, or whatever they'll end up being called). The idea of an independent NPC who exists in the Fog but apparently has a doctor's note excusing them from the trials or whatever doesn't sit right with me. To a lesser extent, I don't like the Archives as they were presented during the anniversary stream - as an impressive-looking library, both grandiose and welcoming.
To me, both of these are antithetical to Dead by Daylight's tone. No one should have a good idea of how the Entity works - they can certainly guess and even be right sometimes, but no one should know enough to be called the Archivist. Furthermore, no one should have an impressive location that is truly their own. The Archive as we've seen it looks too secure.
That said, I do like the core concept of the Archives. I also like the idea behind collecting these bits of lore - snatching scraps of memory from the Fog and hoarding them. It should just feel more desperate and unsure.
Personally, I'd remove the Archivist. It seems like their only purpose is to give the characters sidequests, but these sidequests look similar in spirit to daily rituals, and we don't have a discrete NPC giving us those - so I say just abstract it in the same way. "Going out of your way to do specific things during a trial" = "The character trying different things in an attempt to figure out how the Entity's domain works". Furthermore, if the Archive must be a physical place, make it look more like a magpie's hoard of disparate miscellany, jumbled together under a log or something in a pitiful attempt to safekeep them. Maybe even sell the "locations are made of memories" thing by making the Archive a location crammed with assets that don't belong on the same map. You could even give each character their own individual archive to imply they're each collecting memories independently, and make them visually distinct - like Claudette's would be a mix of the university she was studying at and forests or gardens where she first got interested in botany, or Kate's would be a jumble of smoky bars, country fairs, and open road. That kind of thing.
The point is, I don't like the idea of anyone getting a foothold against the Entity - anyone that still exists and is sympathetic to the current playable characters, anyway. Vigo carrying out bizarre experiments that ultimately put the other characters at risk is fine, but a friendly librarian who helps out the characters and lets them crash in their cozy library is not.
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"anyone getting a foothold against the Entity"
I guess you really don't like Vigo then.
He more than likely created the Hatch, since it isn't the Entity who did that.
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Lmao vigo even built an entire lab by himself out of the fog
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@Boss Vigo didnt create the hatch, that was confirmed. But he did build an entire labs, a ######### ton of items and so one, and is able to keep himself hiden from the entity for the most part (though I suspect said lab and escape is more an experiment by the entity)
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Fair enough, but that's a ######### ton of influence.
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A bit off topic: when will the archives update be released?
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The roadmap stated somewhere between the next chapter, and the following one. (It is also stated that this is a tentative release. Which means the timing may change as needed.)
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It has always been my personal working theory theory that with enough given time, anyone could manipulate the entity's realm. (One of the reasons the entity keeps you hopping.)
The Archives remind me of the akashic records a bit, but on a very reduced and smaller scale, and only pertaining to this realm and those within.
I wouldn't call it safe per say, but like how the characters can sense/feel/and travel the bloodweb....It may all be a mental construct. (The archivist could simply be projecting data into their minds from somewhere else in the fog.)
Although, that also means the identity and motives of the Archivist may not be so pragmatic as they first seem, but could be a servant of the entity.
Memories are the very essence of congealed hope and despair. Some are better left forgotten.
(my personal take on it, anyway. Which may change as we learn more.)
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I don't mind Vigo's so much because he has a different tone. He's not a friend to any of the characters; he certainly isn't friendly with the killers, but the lore implies his experiments made the killers more powerful (though that's not borne out in gameplay), so he's not an ally of the survivors either. Most importantly, no one is contact with him and no one knows where he is. A character like that works, tonally, because he's not a resource any of our viewpoint characters can rely upon. Even if he's not explicitly an antagonist, there's a sense of menace and untrustworthiness to him.
The Archivist, on the other hand, is both accessible and willing to communicate with the players. Even if they have their own mysterious agenda, they are both powerful and presumably at least somewhat invested in our viewpoint characters' success. At least, that's what I'm seeing so far.
If in practice, the Archivist comes off as untrustworthy or foreboding, I won't mind them so much because they won't undermine the tone of insecurity and existential horror that the game's plot has maintained so far. That's not the impression I've gotten from the concept art so far, though.
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Well the entity does feed off the hope of the survivors maybe the entity lets the archivist stay around is to give the survivors false hope that the entity can feed on
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The Archivist was called the Prisoner by the Dave during the stream. So they aren’t doing this willingly. The Entity might actually be forcing this character to give the character’s their memories back. If that is the case, the Entity has successfully given the survivors and killers another reason to keep going. The survivors will remember why they are trying to escape, they will get more hopeful remembering what is on the other side for them if they truly escape their hell. The killers will then get bloodlust and rage will course through their veins because they will understand why they are killing, and the pain they have suffered to become a killer in the first place.
And remember, everything in the realm is built by the Entity itself. Meaning the Archives are actually a place that the Entity created willingly. (Vigo’s lab is a different topic.) Why all of a sudden are there Archives? Why an Archivist? Suddenly appearing out of thin air, almost like the Entity is doing this on purpose. Also take note as to how we don’t see the Archivist fully, just their hand. And why can they reach into the fog to grab memories? That seems like something the Entity could do. Because the fog is a very important concept to the Entity as we see the fog is what’s bringing everyone in. Which means when the fog envelops the character, it strips them of their memories then the Archivist will allow them to get their memories back and show them why they should keep fighting and not give up.
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what are the archives , when are they coming and what do they do?
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Archives are a new thing coming (hopefully) with the mid-chapter patch after Chapter 13. We will complete challenges like catch 3 survivors in bear traps after they vault. Completing enough of these will unlock journal entries from Benedict or Vigo, and we get cutscenes of survivors and killers before they were taken by the Entity.
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I'm actually excited for the Archives as it would be able to give us a grasp on the lore of Dead by Daylight. I don't want straight up answers, but I do want to understand the world just a little bit more, and I do not want to have to rely on the devs for it. Especially when they give so little and often contradict themselves.
I understand why you may not like it, but this isn't a bad thing. It's not gonna suddenly make the game less interesting and I doubt they'd reveal everything just like that.
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