General Discussions
General Discussions
Dev Update January 2022 Summary
Greetings. Thought I'd try my hand at this.
First up, we have a Patch Optimization plan. I have noticed that patches have been getting a bit bigger (30-40 GB on Series X) so, hopefully this will help tone that down a bit in the future. Overall, good change. (would like to see the words Console Optimization tho.)
Secondly, we have SBMM Improvements.
I don't like SBMM, but if we are stuck with it, we might as well make it better, right?
So, firstly, they are planning to adjust how Backfill is calculated. Currently, it weights speed of finding a new player over fairness of match. They are planning to strike a better balance between the two in the future.
Next, they are planning to adjust how Disconnect Penalties are handled with regards to MMR. I'm honestly not sure what this part means, whether it applies to the person DC'ing or to their teammates who are unfairly screwed out of a potential win.
Additionally, they are planning on adjusting how Extended Breaks affect your MMR. Currently, your MMR is not adjusted after taking an extended leave of absence from the Fog. Now, they are planning to ease you in a little more gently, I'm sure many returning players will appreciate that.
Finally, in regards to SBMM at least, we have General Improvements.
I'll admit, not quite what I was hoping for, but it's alright. Right now, the game detects what server you have the best connection to and will only match you with players who are also connected to that server. They'd like to expand that so if you have a good connection to multiple servers, you can play with people from across those different servers, instead of being limited to only one.
In regards to the SBMM changes, they note that these are difficult to develop and as such, they may take some time to implement.
Now, for a change that is on the radar, but not coming with the next PTB.
Solo Survivor Improvements. The Devs acknowledge that Solo Q is inferior to premade groups and can have significant impact on the quality of the match. They would like to remedy this and are very aware of the issue. The Devs gave a very brief example of something they are looking into (which may not come to the game, it seemed to just be an example of the sort of changes they are hoping to make, they specified everything was in the very early stages) which would be giving Survivors an icon to represent what action they are currently doing, ie, getting chased, healing, unhooking, doing a gen, ect ect.
I think that's a great first step, but I would also advise against changing Solo Survivor before Killer. They need to receive changes at the same time. Else one side will be left out in the rain for however many months and honestly, despite the fact that it would be justified, I don't wanna see the Forums if that happens.
Next up, we have the new Beta feature.
This one is actually pretty exciting. You get extra BP for testing out new features that the Devs want feedback on. Great idea, solid implementation and the best part? It's on Console too!
Additionally, the Wiggle Update arrives.
Now, instead of wiggling your controller stick, or mashing a button on PC, you can simply hit Skill Checks to wiggle. This is definitely a good accessibility feature and definitely something I'll enjoy!
Finally, the Toggle Interactions mode arrives as well.
This is another great and simple accessibility feature that I am sure a lot of people will appreciate. If you decide to toggle it on, you no longer need to hold a button to sprint or do gens.
Lastly, the PTB will be arriving on Wednesday, January 5th.
Part II to this Dev Update will release tomorrow Tuesday, January 4th.
In my opinion, solid update. Not precisely what I wanted to see, but certainly nothing I have any issue with and nothing that gives me any bad indications for the future.
Comments
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I agree that everything in part 1 of this update sounds like a good development. I’ve said for a long time the best way to even the playing field between solos and swfs is to give solos some extra in game information that swfs get naturally from being on comms. Worst case if this somehow made survivors as a whole escape a bit too often they can simply slightly increase the time it takes to complete gens to compensate.
They also acknowledged what I’ve been saying was the main causes of mismatches, namely backfills, long waits for outlier MMR players, and brand new players having an average or slightly below average rating to start. All the changes they outlined should help in that regard.
And I like the Wiggle change, it’s a natural extension of what they did for second hooks.
Plus this is just part 1. I’m guessing Part 2 could include their first balance pass at Mikaela’s perks including Circle of Healing and maybe Boons in general. If I had to guess I think they’d slow CoH down but leave Shadowstep and Clairvoyance pretty much the same. I don’t think they’ll change how Boons are placed or replaced unless they somehow determined the system as a whole is causing an issue versus just the one CoH perk.
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Personally, I want a CoH change, but I need to see the Legion rework/change.
Anything other than a full rework after years of being ignored is gonna hurt me :(
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Now, instead of wiggling your controller stick, or mashing a button on PC, you can simply hit Skill Checks to wiggle. This is definitely a good accessibility feature and definitely something I'll enjoy!
This is actually one that I'm a bit worried about. If you only wiggle when a skill check appears, then that could nerf wiggle-related perks, that are already weak to begin with: Flip-Flop, Boil Over, Sabotage and Power Struggle.
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Im happy that console can finally test things out and give feedback. It's about time we actually get to play instead of watching others.
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The idea of "we'll buff killers AFTER doing more survivor buffs" is laughable. Like I'm supposed to believe that? Come on. This is the same dev team that nerfed mori's in a surprise, and then waited a year to do anything to key's. All this reads to me is "It'll be a good year or more of survivors being even stronger, but maybe in a year or year and a half, it will result in killer buffs!"
Plus, the devs don't have any ability to demand my trust when they are prone to lying about even simple things, like Pinhead's voice lines. I'm not going to blindly trust devs who have lied repeatedly, and who previously took ages to give killers something after taking away something they had. Any buffs should come with or after killer buffs. "We'll get to it some day after buffing survivors" isn't filling me with any confidence and I am full Ron Burgandy "I don't believe you." at it. Their QOL fixes for survivors will massively harm killer even more than they currently are. Maybe I'll be wrong and part 2 will be loaded with killer buffs and fixes. If so, I'll admit I was wrong. I'm doubting I will see anything substantial in part 2, and if there is something substantial in part 2, it should just have been in part 1 so as to not make players feel like one side is getting everything.
I don't even get the point in splitting things in 2 posts over a 24 hour period.
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Honestly, I'd rather have wiggle stay as it is. Something tells me the skill check thing is going to backfire.
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I’m not worried about that, they’ll probably just have the wiggle checks move the bar up about the same amount per second on average that you get from spamming the wiggle keys. Those perks then would still work just as well as they currently do assuming they still increase the wiggle process the same proportional amount.
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Oh my god the betas and toggle interactions are 11/10. I've always wanted a more "flexible" seperate library entry PTB where they can throw up all sorts of wacky stuff, and this is EVEN BETTER if it works nicely on consoles as well. And don't think I need to say much more about toggle interactions than that my fingers will be very happy with the devs when I decide to play survivor for a while 😄
Also very nice to see they're experimenting with solo-swf gap stuff in general, and that they're willing to tinker with details of the MMR system.
And as someone that has been plagued by the weird patch/download problem for a while now, that's good news too. I know some games can have this sort of problem and it can be both because of how they're "delivered" and because of weirdness with Steam's own manifest deployment method, so big thumbs up to them for trying to improve that for those of us that experience the issue.
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I think we'll get perks/Killers' changes tomorrow. I'm excited.
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I just assumed Flip-Flop would be the same. It gives you a base-wiggle bonus.
Also, you forgot Breakout. I wonder if it'll give Auto-Didact skillchecks but for Wiggling?
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I'd like to see it first.
Much like the Winter Event, even if it was fumbled balance-wise, it was leagues better than any other recent event and I felt the need to commend that.
Likewise, BHVR is looking into accessibility needs and even if this doesn't pan out, I still feel the need to show my support for a noble cause.
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It looks like a 10/10 update, and I'm hoping it will be, but what "scares" me is that they're buffing the communication of Survivors without giving Killers anything in return, since there is no mention of any Killer buff
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I think it’ll be a good idea. It will probably work like the (I think Yellow?) Glyphs that had back to back skill checks. That was probably a test for this just like how Executioners cages were a test for Hook Struggle skill checks.
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It's going to be an opt in feature initially so I don't see why they couldn't keep it as in opt in feature entirely.
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Will beta's replace PTB's?
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People said the patch that put in boons and nerfed slinger was a 10/10 update too lol
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Almost certainly not.
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Betas seem like they're in the actual in-game settings options, so more like "test queues". I assume you enable it, then you get matched with others with beta mode enabled.
I hope that's how it works because the biggest weakness of the PTB has always been that you need to "sidegrade" your game and do a download to access it, combine that with the download/patch issues that can make it take forever and most people wouldn't download the PTB just to test out a wacky little change the devs want to try real quick. AND it allows it to work on non-Steam platforms too.
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No they won't replace full PTB's
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They weren’t exactly specific on what they were going to do about teammates disconnecting affecting the MMR of the other survivors. Is their MMR just going to decreases less than what it usually does or what?
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My thoughts exactly. Instead of bringing down SWF's power they want to bring solo q up. Things might just keep getting worse for killers.
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I haven't seen a single person say that that Mid-Chapter was a 10/10
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Scott Jund flat out released a video where he goes on about it being one of the best patches. Otz was on his stream claiming it was one of the greatest patches/a great patch and saying everyone should let the devs know how great it was.. I remember Otz having an entire stream where he said he was telling the devs how everyone loved the patch, and even put a little idol of Mcclean on the screen since he attributed it to him.
Most of these claims, however, came during that week where we only had half the diary, and did not have part 2 yet (which is where the boons, nerfed slinger etc were) Once the second diary came out, "This is the best patch ever!" seemed to die off.
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Patch Optimization - when I first read the title I thought it would be optimization for console and low end PCs. Will see how it goes, maybe it'll help with performance issues somehow?
SBMM - I was hoping that they would work on adding more nuance to SBMM. While these changes seem good SBMM needs way more than that.
Solo survivor - those improvements are very much needed. I love the idea of icons letting me know what my teammates are up to. I don't need exact locations of the randoms - know whether or not they're being chased or doing something other than hiding is good enough.
Beta - I love that it will be on console, it's about time console players get to participate in checking out new features.
Wiggle - I'm going to miss hearing my swf teammate clacking his thumbstick around when he's wiggling. 😂 It seems like a good change, will see how it goes in beta.
Toggle interactions - my dog will very much appreciate this change. 😂
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The first part was great, the second one was not so much. Let's hope this one won't turn out like that
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@bm33 with regards to the Patch Optimisation - this is purely re the downloads of patches etc, so it's not in-game optimisation for performance issues.
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Sounds good! Wiggle update sounds very good since my controller joystick is broken, mostly from wiggle probably.
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You still play on the normal servers when you use beta's right?
I would assume so
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No mention of boon nerfs, gen speed issues, no killer buffs, no console optimization for last gen (PS5 is expensive and still hard to find) and no map balance. Seems like they're catering to survivors again. When all the killers leave due to balance issues and survivors are wondering why their queues are 15 minutes long, don't be surprised. I doubt PT.2 will be any better, we'll see.
Post edited by ColdWater on9 -
yes you do
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A January 2021 summary, huh? 😂🤣
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Where’s the downvote button?
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No where to be found. Go on reddit for that crap.
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It's 2021 until at least March
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This is part 1 of 2.
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bro pls have mercy
I haven't slept in like a day i beg you
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If it's any consolation, I read the title at least a dozen times before I even noticed it, myself.
I empathize on the no sleep. Been sick the past three days. Sleep is . . . yeah.
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So they plan on buffing solo survivor but nothing and buffing killers???
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Heyyy, I pitched that exact idea they're doing with the status icons a long time ago. Neat.
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I'm not even any sicker than usual.
My body just decided to give me the proverbial middle finger and so I laid in bed for like 4 hours not being able to fall asleep.
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You already got an answer from Mandy, but I wanted to add that Beta seems to be new features you are free to try on live servers, like the new Wiggling mechanics. You can opt on/off the features in the settings from what I've understand.
I also hope the on/off is gonna be a feature so players can choose if they prefer to use X or Y way to play the game, not only for the Beta test.
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It’s 2021 until it’s 2023 when I finally remember to write 2022
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I'm not ready to face what year it actually is until June at the earliest.
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Yeah, this is only part 1, like I said.
Part II is tomorrow.
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Yes, Solos are getting a buff, but that buff is going to be big. Info whenever someone is on gens means better coordination and efficiency. Ghostface and Legion will get balance changes (I believe), but that doesn't mean that base Killer wouldn't need buffs to compensate for the new amount of efficiency that Survivors will gain
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You also realize that Solo Survivor update is not coming with this PTB, right?
They just put it out there as something they are in the "very early" stages of testing.
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I'm sure that Dead Hard nerf is coming any day now!!
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//
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They should put it on their priority list. That change needs to come as soon as possible, even if it doesn't come with a compensation for the Killer. Solos need this
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But where the part where they un nerf slinger tho?
Their must be at least 3-4 threads a week about him and the general majority is typically in agreement that it was too much
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