On June 7, 2023, the Dead by Daylight team stopped by Reddit for an Ask Me Anything. We received so many fantastic submissions, and these are the questions and answers. Until next time, be safe in the Fog!
Dave Richards, Sr Creative Director
In the past, the team had stated that there would only be human/humanoid killers in the game. Obviously with the Stranger Things license, a killer really could not be humanoid, especially given the seasons released at the time. However, with the release of Dredge and now Singularity, we have now gotten a few original monstrous killers. What changed with the design philosophy of DbD that allowed this to happen, and can we expect further creative visual designs like them in the future?
Well well, I'm not saying this is a lie, but the fact we said we would only do humanoid was not a design philosophy but more because of technical/scope limitations at that time. If you've been with us for a while, you probably remember us saying we'd put Christine (the car) and Cujo (the dog) in DBD if we could. Every worthy bloodthirsty creature has a space in the world of The Entity!
So what allowed us to do so? We levelled up! The team is bigger, more experienced all thanks to the growth of the community of course! Characters with different structures are definitely going to happen again as we continue to explore more possibilities in DBD. -Dave
What is it about the new survivor, Gabriel Soma, that makes him stand out from his fellow survivor cast?
Gabriel is purposefully designed so that most of us can relate to him, even though he lives in a time period that is very otherwordly to us.
The hardship he faced (even before going in The Realms of The Entity), his resolve and resourcefulness make him a fun character to play. Gabriel is also our first survivor from a possible future, making his wardrobe quite unique and pretty cool if you are into sci-fi pants and space shirts.
His story is not over, there are more unrevealed truths about Gabriel. And he's very good looking: Shirtless Gabriel when? -Dave
With the seemingly new trend of original/licensed survivors getting lobby voice-lines, can we expect to see this implemented for previous survivors aswell? So survivors like Dwight, Meg, Claud, David etc.? And would this include the possibility of original survivors interacting with each other similar to the Resident Evil survivors and Renato/Thalita?
Never say never. DBD is a game in constant evolution and past content is still living and evolving with it :) -Dave
The mori for the Singularity is probably the most that a survivor has been actually maimed. It's brutal, disgusting, and I absolutely love it. However, it has been previously stated that moris have to avoid actually doing too much damage to a survivor's body for various reasons. Is this still within those limitations, or did something change that allows the team to make more brutal moris? And can we expect the possibility for some more of that brutality in the future?
We're glad you loved the mori, we do too, it was a blast to create! On the level of brutality and gore, there is one thing that we keep in mind except for the actual technical/scope feasibility of an idea. One of DBD's core pillars is that we want to be an horror that is accessible to all. This means many things for different facets of the game, but in this case it means that some brutal actions and level of gore may make the game inaccessible in some regions! We don't want that. -Dave
For original chapters that take place around different nations (Chile, Japan, Brazil, among others), and even around different periods of time, what’s the process like for the research and implementation of different elements to properly represent that in the lore and even inside of their respective maps?
Inclusivity and diversity is always top of mind for us, with a focus on making sure the representation we have in the game is as accurate as possible.
We have multiple steps in our creation process that ensure due diligence in this regard: internal & external consultation with regional partners, extensive research, and immersion are some of them.
A recent example would be with Thalita & Renato characters' cosmetics, which were designed by our very own Brazilian artist!
Fun fact: She's the one who thought of including the Caramelo tattoo on Renato's arm :) -Dave
Will there be any plans to have more diversity in body shapes of survivors? Would love to see some more plus size representation
Inclusivity and representation is very important to us. Body shapes, height is quite challenging at the moment due to technical limitations and gameplay components / metrics. Thank you for letting us know that this is important to you, every voice count. -Dave
What caused the sudden shift to add more clutter and obstructions into the new maps and reworks? In my experience it causes nothing more than frustration for both sides.
Hey great question! As clutter you might be referring to two different things, so I'll do my best to answer both meanings.
1- Clutter as in more objects making navigation more difficult. As our team grew during the graphical rework, a lot of details were added to make the maps richer. Lots of lessons were learned during those days (and we are still learning) on what elements and metrics makes it difficult for navigation. Our level design team is actively working with the environment artists to make sure each asset found in a map (colliders, vegetation, etc), especially when it comes to navigation, follows game metrics.
2-Finding objectives/visual clutter - As the graphic fidelity evolves in DBD so does our gameplay need to evolve in terms of visual elements, which have not always followed. We are looking into that one now. The idea is to have level of priorities in how easilly perceivable elements are on the screen. This pass will make gameplay elements POP compared to the details that are great, but less important to manage your objective.
-Dave
From the level design perspective, we are in the process of addressing the clutter issue. the focus is clarity, readability and navigation. We had this issue with the Toba Landing in PTB and are addressing that in next week's release. We will revisit all maps and themes and make sure it makes sense for everyone.
-Andre
How does the Entity choose it's victims? Both survivors and killers.
Who knows – Dave
Spicy Alternative- The Entity works in mysterious ways. - Dave
Meatier alternative - No one knows how The Entity or why The Entity or even when The Entity? Maybe darkness in the life of the survivors and killers grab Its attention, or maybe its the other way around, maybe its the Entity's attention that makes their lives miserable. Or maybe its random! Who knows. - Dave
Will the black bubble after hooking someone be adressed soon? I like the effect, but in a ton of scenario's I cannot see if the killer is going towards me, even with the effect of kindred.
The intention of the bubble's design is to hide the Killer's exact position after a Survivor's been hooked.
However, it is an old design so maybe it's time for us to review if its use and appearance are still ideal. -Dave
Are there any plans to update earlier licensed killers (Shape/Cannibal/Nightmare/Pig) with their own music tracks as has been a trend with other killers as of late? Given Ghost Face being licensed and receiving a unique chase theme last year, there's been confusion regarding this. Thank you!
We would love for all the killers to have this feature, nevertheless licensed content will sometime have limitation out of our control. We might get a track for all of them at some point, but no promise. Shape already as a unique music track! So enjoy that in the meantime! -Dave
Do you think we can get outfits based on the later Halloween movies, or does the copy right prevent that from happening? I’ve been wanting an older Jamie Lloyd from Halloween 4 to get in as a legendary skin so bad, I made a petition about it and even asked the actress herself about it.
Thank you for your passion and dedication. Indeed, working on getting licenses can be a challenge! -Dave
Question for the art/design team: in the lore for Hux and Gabriel, it mentions that Gabriel damages Hux pretty severely directly before they are taken into the Fog, with flesh melting off his frame. Is the look for The Singularity we see in game the result of that damage, or is that pre-facemelt? If it's the former, is there any chance we might see Hux's original, "perfect" design he had for himself as a skin? Or was the lore even fully complete while you all were working on his design?
Hux's look in the trials is post-melt incident! We wanted to make sure we offered a good level of body horror with this character. We might see its "prime" look later, but keep in mind that even this would be horrid, The Singularity is using flesh in a very wrong way. -Dave
The amount of representation the game gets is great. But when will we get Ace Visconti actually represent Argentina?
Hey, good point! We've had a lot of fun with Ace's personality and used it as the main driver/inspiration for his outfits. Some Argentinian representation would be great! -Dave
Janick Neveu, Game Design
How long, from concept to release, does it take to design a full killer? Not including perks, survivor, or map, but just the killer and their power?
It fluctuates (depending on the weather!) but in general about 11-12 months overall from start to finish. -Janick
Out of curiosity, were there any other concepts that the team was considering as powers for the Singularity before deciding on biopods, or was this what they set their sights on right away when brainstorming for the singularity?
The Pods were in the concept from the beginning.
Originally, the Killer had two mechanics it could use: One involved shooting the Pods to teleport to Survivors and the other one allowed it to shoot Survivors to teleport them to its location.
Ultimately, it was deemed exceedingly disorienting on the Survivor side so we removed it and brought back more opportunities for the killer to Teleport later in the creation process. -Janick
Regarding individual killer balance, will you start taking feedback from people who have spent countless hours playing them? If at least to see what they want out of their killer without being unbalanced.
Our external playtesting methods and processes involve a large variety of player types, all of which range widely in skill level & experience in the game.
Veteran players with many hours in DbD have super valuable feedback, especially when it comes to breaking our rules and exposing balance issues.
It's important to point out though that beginner, intermediate and casual players also have important contributions & insights to share that we need to also take into consideration and use to balance our designs. -Janick
Was there anything noteworthy that stuck out to the team when designing The Singularity? I love his design and I would like to get to know more about how he was designed.
It was a weird concept and not an easy sell as a great power originally.
(it sounds bland on paper)
Although while prototyping we managed to make the pods usable in chases and realised their versitility, that is when it started to shine.
We could see how much fun and potential there was in the concept. -Janick
Thomas Desrosiers-Dorval, Game Designer
Admist the PTB testing there were a few concerns regarding Made for This, particularly in regards to its interaction with Hope allowing survivors to keep pace with 110% killers like hag during the endgame.
Is this something the team is aware of, and will they be continuing to monitor Made For This for balancing purposes when the chapter is live?
We are aware that Made for This has had quite an impact.
We're going to be watching out for feedback and data once the community has opportunity to test this.
We already have plans to address Made for This (like we had for Hyperfocus) if and when it becomes a problem -Thomas
Any plans on improving daily rituals? A permanent 60K BP and the ability to choose between survivor or killer rituals would be nice
Nothing concrete on the roadmap (get it?) but multiple ideas have been explored to improve the system.
Thank you for your suggestion! We're open to reading the community's ideas and feedback on the topic and will be considering them when discussing next steps. -Thomas
What's the process for figuring out general balancing and new perks as the game continues to add in new killers and survivors?
The process is naturally data-informed, but the major part lies with the design team, who is aware of what comes next, whether its perks, killers, or any other feature that will impact gameplay and balance.
In short, if a perk is both ubiquitous and powerful, it probably needs to be addressed in the near future. -Thomas
Will there be a shift away from relying on pure statistics and instead listening to experienced players more/qualitative feedback in general?
The statistics based approach for balancing has been a huge pain point the past 7 years.
While data is crucial in balancing in general, it is not a substitute for player or design feedback.
Our approach to balancing is a bit more complicated than this, and I can say it does not solely rest on game design. -Thomas
Justin Brown, Product Director
What was the real reason you removed Maurice initially? 🤔 I know it’s a pretty unserious question but I’ve always been curious.
Honestly, when Peanits saw The Dredge's lobby animation with the suspiciously familiar-looking horse head flopping out, he jumped on the opportunity.
He posted that animation on our social channels with a caption that read "MAURICE NOOO" and the community's reaction was immediately huge. So much so that we decided to to push the joke all the way, removing Maurice from the game. And the rest, as you know, is history. -Justin
Has there ever been any thoughts on adding alternative game modes or queues? Of course this would be a massive undertaking but I'm curious if it's ever been given any real thought. A ranked mode or mode with different rules like draft picking perks or anything honestly would be really cool to see.
It's an idea that has always been in the back of our minds. I can confirm this is something we are actively prototyping. We plan on starting small and doing game modes as limited time modes and building up from there. We are hopeful that we'll have more to share with you all later this year! -Justin
Can you please hide survivor prestige levels until the end of the match? A lot of killers target and harass high prestige survivors
Harassment in game is a topic we are always looking for more ways to tackle, and this has been one of the ideas we've been discussing for some time. I'm going to use this question as an opportunity to re-ignite the topic and opened a new Jira request for it today. -Justin
will mobile cosmetics be ported in anytime soon?
We will start porting some mobile cosmetics over, starting sometime in the next year.
The first batch will be small, with just 4 outfits (2 killer, 2 survivor). Also worth noting they won't be a 1:1 port. We will make some small colour and/or texture changes before being brought into Dead By Daylight.
Lastly, to manage expectations, there will be some mobile outfits that never get ported over. -Justin
Is there a reason more survivor emotes haven’t been added yet? It feels like a no brainier since you could make a fortune from selling them and it’s not like it’d break immersion since this game is long past that point now (look at some survivor and even killer cosmetics) I feel like even small things which could be sold like hand gestures and stuff would be such a nice addition with time however things like dances would be amazing, even better if killer could do them at some point
Survivor emotes was an idea we played with many years ago. We even got so far as to implement a few of them in a prototype build. Unfortunately, we found them to often either break immersion, or encourage negative gameplay behaviours. For that reason, we haven't revisited the idea for a number of years.
Never say never, but survivor emotes certainly won't be coming anytime in the near future. -Justin
Are there any plans to make Custom Games easier to set up for tournaments and other events?
It's been years since the introduction of "Custom Matches" and we haven't really had any new settings since. Options to limit item & add-on rarities, options to enforce non-duplicated perks on all Survivors, better spectator controls, etc... Any of these things would REALLY help to make DBD events faster to set up and more viewer-friendly.
This is a topic that has recently made it onto our radar, and one we can clearly see the value in. The Custom Matches features has been left untouched for far too long. Unfortunately, it's still too early to give an ETA on when you could expect to start seeing some of these improvements in the game. -Justin
Is it possible to get new moris for killers as a customization option? Not just tied to a skin.
Cries in Backlog -Justin
Are there any plans to unlink currently linked sets for original characters?
Short answer: No.
Long Answer: Original characters cosmetics are locked for technical reasons. Having them mix and match would cause bugs and a variety of clipping issues or gaps in their modesl at the waist or neck lines. Unfortunately, for these reasons, we have no plans to make them unlocked in the future.
Are we going to have sales on characters by the iridescent shards in the anniversary
I'm not supposed to say, because it's a secret. But yes.
Michael Nielsen, Lead Game Designer
Whatever happened to the promised Twins rework? It was talked about to be the next killer update after Legion/Ghostface though we haven’t heard anything about it and afaik Twins are still plagued by many bugs as well.
Due to limited space in each release and the unexpected complexity of the update needed for the Twins, the update has been delayed a LOT longer than we wanted. :D However, it's been designed and we are working on releasing something in early 2024. -Michael
I think many people would agree with me in saying that HillBilly needs some addons adjusted. But also, why is the overheat mechanic still a thing? It's pretty much a "non-factor" and there are addons to increase the overheat limit anyway.
I feel you. Billy occupies a squishy (albeit violent) place in all of our hearts, and we've been working on him! An update has been designed for our Billy-boy (including addons). No specific date planned for implementing this just yet, but you can expect news from us sometime in the next year.
Sharpen your chainsaws. -Michael
Is there going to be an update where survivors can always recover from the dying state (like the one-off with Unbreakable)? Think I remember reading about that once. Cheers.
I can tell you're dying to know. (sound of crickets) Nevermind...
No, we are not planning on making that part of the base game.
If you are referring to the Finisher Mori, we tested that in the PTB but it was an early prototype test. There was a lot of feedback and we are still working on that feature, but again - we are not planning on putting Unbreakable in the survivor base kit. -Michael
Are there any plans to rework or change freddy in any way?
I can't give you any super-secret details but I can tell you that he's on our radar for killers to update. -Michael
New unique items for survivors?
It just goes to show how brilliant minds think alike - we've been discussing this very recently! No concrete plans as we're still very early in the process, but we are talking about when and how we could put out some new items in the future. Plan on it (at some point)! -Michael
Has it been considered to clean up some the more usless offerings on the bloodweb such as the ones that only slightly buff bloodpoints?
We are actually exploring the offerings and their system as a whole right now on the design team! I can't give you any hints about what might be changed or where we might end up yet, but we are exploring new effects and actively designing ways to make this system better overall. :) -Michael
Thanks for doing this AMA.
In the recent public test build, you guys tested out a buff to Pyramid Head which gave him the ability to torment survivors hit by Punishment of the Damned. You guys understandably walked back this buff as it allowed for some unfun situations for survivors. In the following developer update, you revealed the reason for testing this change was that you were looking for additional ways to let Pyramid Head apply torment. This would lead me to believe that the balance team has been looking to buff certain elements of Pyramid Head's kit.
I also would be kicking myself later if I did not take this opportunity to mention his addons. Pyramid Head's addons, aside from the range addons, do not feel like they impact his gameplay much at all when compared to other killers. His iridescent addons, while unique, are too restrictive in their requirements to get much value out of them. If you're looking to do something to Pyramid Head, which is the impression I got from the recent PTB, it seems that the addons would have been the first thing considered.
So can we expect any more attention for The Executioner going forward, or are you happy with the spot he and his addons are in?
You are correct that we initially wanted to change Executioner because we believe he can be improved. :) That hasn't changed and we still want to release an update for him in the future. Your suggestion about looking to the add-ons is noted! -Michael
As the game continues into its 7th year, I think the community deserves an official comment from the devs on the flagship killer, the Trapper. The character who is on most, if not all advertising, and is perhaps the most recognizable killer in all of Dead By Daylight’s original roster has been the worst killer in the entire game for years, by an increasingly significant margin. Unlike any other killer in the game his power requires full minutes of setup, can be easily countered by good communication, and depending on the map can just entirely cease to function due to no/sparse/thin grass. Most new maps released in recent memory have no grass whatsoever, and are so large that it can add an additional minute or two just retrieving your power, which again, no other killer has anything close to that level of setup time.
All of that to say that for the Trapper, things just seem to get exponentially worse with every update. Does the dev team have any plans on reworking or updating the Trapper, which in my opinion he desperately needs? Or will he stay the undisputed worst killer for years to come?
I hear you. It's been a topic of conversation across our teams, but at the moment we do not have significant gameplay updates planned for Trapper. Partly because our data shows that his kill rate is pretty much where we want it to be (on average, even at high MMRs) but also because he holds a very important role as one of the simplest and easiest killers in the game. He's great for onboarding new Killers and we don't want that to change too much.
That said, we do have a small but very fun update in the works for our terrifying flagship killer! Those of you who watched the Anniversary broadcast may have seen the segment about the Naughty Bear Legendary skin coming for Trapper (which will have its own unique Mori). This will ship later in the year, along with a killer update. -Michael
Can you tell us a bit about the process the team goes through when deciding to nerf/buff an addon?
It feels so frustrating seeing certain addons getting a nerf for being popular (e.g. Twins: Toy Sword, Nemesis: Marvins Blood, Hillbilly: Engravings) when other addons are so weak/situational they are rarely worth using.
This is a question that has been considered heavily within our design team in recent months. We are continually learning where our priorities need to be when it comes to live balance and our process is changing as a result. Recently we have shifted to an approach that rests on three foundations:
1. Design Intent
2. Community Feedback
3. Data and Statistics
We watch for issues on all three of these fronts and prioritize from there. We are also cautious about vetting our changes with the community management team to get a read on how our updates will be received before release.
Some decisions (especially those based more on data or design intent) may not always be 100% clear for everyone, and that's okay. That said, we want to be attentive to the needs of our community and what will be most healthy for the game longterm. -Michael
Is there any discussion regarding raising killer FOV (or a FOV slider) to help reduce motion sickness for those effected?
Short answer: Yes!
Long answer: we have a design that is in development and the release date is in our field of vision. You can expect to see something later this year or early next year. -Michael
The Shrine of Secrets is used as a way to make all perks accessible to players who do not want to spend additional money for the game other than the cost of the base game, but with over 200 perks in the game now, that system is not a reliable way to acquire specific perks. This leads to arguments that players who are willing to pay extra are given an advantage over others since meta perks can be locked behind that paywall.
What are your thoughts on replacing the Shrine of Secrets with a menu of teachable perks that can be purchased at-will for the same price they currently cost on the Shrine? What are reasons that a system like that would not work?
I can definitely say that the problems with the Shrine are no secret.
We are very aware that the system needs an update, however it remains on the backlog for now, which means its on our radar but not being actively worked on yet. We will hopefully get to it sooner rather than later. -Michael
Will BHVR fix the visibility issues? My girlfriend is color blind and cant see most colors (no the color blind features don’t help her) so it’s a bit depressing for her to realize that she’s at a significant disadvantage when playing the game. Even for me its hard to see sometimes!
We are definitely ramping up our attention to accessibility in our game. It's unclear if/how we will adjust our support for colorblindness in the near future, but I can say we have a dedicated UX designer heading up our accessibility efforts and you can expect to see more accessibility-centered features coming out in the future. -Michael
The Skull Merchant is a polarising character currently. Are you happy with how Skull Merchant turned out? Do you plan on any future revisions for her?
Skull Merchant has problems on live and we are very aware of that. We feel the killer is fun and interesting in general, but there are some unfortunate playstyles that make her kit frustrating to play against. 2 things to say here:
1. She is getting an update. We are currently trying to determine when that can go out - stay tuned.
2. Her most oppressive games tend toward the 3-gen strategy. This is problematic in our game as a whole, but especially against certain killers (Skull Merchant being the most egregious). We are currently working on a systematic solution to deal with 3-gen games, which will ALSO help with playing against the Skull Merchant. -Michael
Andre Laniel, Lead Level Designer
Hi! Glad you guys came by to answer questions. My question in particular is about map design. I primarily play killer, and sometimes it feels like the outcome of a game is decided before it even starts depending on what map I end up on. Either when chosen via offerings or by RNG.
When designing maps, what, if anything, is done with structure and layout to make maps fair for both sides?
The intention when we create maps is not to favor one side more than another.
this is why we currently want to rebalance the maps. we are using data collected and feedback we get from the Community. We have started in the last year to rebalance the maps and we are going to continue and be active when it comes to maps that already exist and same with newly released maps. we want to bring the best experience for everyone to enjoy.
example: the Raccoon City Police Station , split, the update in the Junkyard and soon Farm maps. -Andre
In the past, the team has stated that maps take by far the most development time out of anything else in the game. How long does it usually take to make an original map such as Toba Landing/Dvarka Deepwood, from concept to completion? Also, how difficult is it to modify maps once they are in the game, such as adjusting the strength of loops, changing tile spawn logic, or even changing the size of the map?
To answer your first question: Depending on the style of the map, it can take up to 6 months to create.
When it comes to updating and modifying existing maps, we collect data non-stop and are always investigating player concerns. To use Toba Landing as an example, player feedback during the PTB helped us identify & implement certain adjustments on loops and map visibility that will be going to Live servers. -Andre
Why has the map team not advanced substantially in the balance department in the past few years? The community has been clear in that the maps are unbalanced,yet it seems the dev team simultaneously understands the issue i.e Nerfing Eyrie yet released Red Forest 2.0
We began the work some time ago, but recently the speed at which we're able to push it forward has been greatly improved thanks to new hires & resources on our team. Now, we're able to tackle urgent day to day tasks while simultaneously making regular progress on live balance for existing maps.
Regarding the Eyrie of Crows, the intention of our balancing efforts there was to address how strongly Survivor-sided it was. We're still monitoring the results though (data and feedback) and we wont hesitate to go back for more tweaks if we feel that they're needed.
When it comes to Red Forest, we frankly just didn't have the ressources at the time for the scope of work required. Now that we do, I've scheduled an update for both Mother's Dwelling and Temple of Purgation that will hopefully address player concerns. -Andre
The Swamp realm had a unfinished map featuring a village structure, as well as the Bloodwillow tree from the artbook, possibly related to The Wraith back when he was still part of the Swamp Realm. Is there any plans in the future to bring this map as a playable one in Dead By Daylight, maybe with a visual upgrade of The Swamp?
The tree will eventually make its return to The Swamp.
However, at the moment, we're focusing our efforts on bringing visual & gameplay updates to existing maps. In The Swamp realm specifically, we're going to remove the generators in the corners of tiles, as well as some elevations that don't have a significant value add gameplay-wise. -Andre
Are there ever plans to make totally new maps but with the same realm as old locations?
I’d love another map that uses the Snowy theme of Ormond.
That's absolutely something i would love to do.
We don't have any plans to do so yet, but i'd love to add maps on a few existing realms. Ormond for sure, Grave of Glenvale comes to mind as well.
Community/Miscellaneous
What’s the meaning of life?
69 – Mandy
420 – Andre
A great Monty Python movie – Michael
s̵̘̀à̷̟̭̀̆̏t̶͎̀̾͛͝ǐ̴̘̗͇̜̝͘a̴͉͂̌̒̿͝t̶͍̺̻̾e̷̥̦̔̇̽ ̸̨͇̩̎͗̒͆͠h̵̲̘̫̹͉̀ŭ̵̺̽̎ṇ̴̈́g̵̦̞͆̀̆͊͛͜ȩ̵̤̽̚r̴̛̤͚̘̍̽͝ - Unknown?
Any updates on console cross progression?
There's currently no further update unfortunately. We know it's something desired by the community as a whole but we cannot say if/when it will ever be able to be implemented, other than on the platforms we've already confirmed.
All I have to say is thank you making this game because without it, we would not have this unique community
Thank you for being a part of it! We feel really grateful to have such an engaged, creative, and supportive community of players.
Thank YOU, you are the Legends - Andre
Could you guys do something like a shirt related to Puppers in honour of him and what he brought to the DBD community?
Puppers' passing has been a huge loss for our whole community and has been deeply felt here on the team.
We have seen the discussions amongst players on how best to remember him and honor him, and we've been following it closely, and have been similarly discussing it within the team. While we have a strong desire to do something, it's simply too soon right now to say what we might be able to commit to.
