*Review was in german (2022 - Dec 2023) & wont get updated


DbD is justly the most popular 4 vs 1 game.
Unlike similar games (Friday the 13th, VHS, Evil Dead), DbD has:
👍 more variety(characters, maps)
👍 huge learning/grind potential
👍 many horror icons(Halloween, SAW, Scream, Resident Evil,...)
👍 every 3 months big updates
👍 no Pay2Win

Problems for beginners:
👎unfriendly to beginners:
-steep learning curve(25+killers, 35+maps, 500+perks/addons/offerings)
-bad matchmaking(players with 10x more hours)
-short tutorial,no search bar
-Trolling/Toxicity(especially for beginners)
👎meager settings:Fov, brightness, audio hardly adjustable, 120fps only in gamefiles
👎deteriorating game performance

Conclusion:
PRO: If you plan to play the game for a long time, play in groups with friends and you have no problem facing significantly better players, you can buy DbD.
CONTRA: If you plan to play killer/survivor alone, have a low frustration limit & quickly want to win, DbD probably isn't the right choice for you.

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It should be noted that many long-time players are frustrated because some things "used to be better." What that is about, is in "Advanced". But instead of boring myself and writing sth. like:"All mates are trash!!"/"Surv too stronk!", I wanted to think about basic problems & suggestions. Anyone who reads this should suffer just as much & be just as addicted.👻

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SHORT VERSION (detailed version below)

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1. Communication with Devs:
Devs and community divided & Devs make bad decisions

2. Game Design:
I.There is unamusing playstyle for majority
II. Unamusing playstyle gives you big advantage as killer
III. WinCondition doesn't depend on skill and encourages unamusing playstyle
IV. Old ranking system was relatively accurate, and good, because it mixed solid with top players
V. Balancing is bad, because devs look at kills/escapes, and they treat different things as one (Swf = Solo,..)

3. Community:
Community is divided and victim of game design

4. Further suggestions:
Small improvements

Final words:
It's getting better, but please do something about the game design!

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1. COMMUNICATION WITH DEVS

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💬Decisions not in the interest of the community(longer gen repair time, hillbilly nerf, MMR)
💬little acceptance of criticism(exclusion from the FogWhispererProgram for streamers)
💬 strong impression:"Devs don't play their own game"

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2. GAME DESIGN

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I. WHAT'S UNAMUSING?
😭 Surv:quick kills(camp, tunnel, slug)
😭 Killer:playing safe(predropping, fast gens)

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II. SLOWDOWN BY KILLING
☠️ Surv can't do gens after kill -> Gens slower -> Rewards quick kills
💡Solution:
- harder punishment for camp/tunnel/slug, than currently
OR
- Gen-slowdown removal: 3-man team does gens just as fast as 4-man team (very drastic ik)

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III. CURRENT WIN CONDITION
🏆 Killer:Kills(>2k = Win)
-> Kill-focus since kills are WinCondition -> quick killing
🏆 Survivor:Escapes(Escape = Win)
-> Gen focus/unrisky looping since escapes are WinCondition ->fast gens/predropping
📌 Result:MMR increases with unamusing playstyle

💡Solution:better WinCondition (similar to emblems):
Goal:Reward Skill(& Fun)
🏆 Killer:
- Skill: Chase/Gen-Defense
- Fun: fast chases
=Final hook-count
🏆 Surv:
- Skill: good gen/heal/loop-time
- Fun: Helping the team/long looping
=good gen/heal/loop time
📌 Result:MMR increases with good hook-count/time management

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IV. MATCHMAKING SYSTEM
👥 old(Ranking 2017-21):
- easier to reach cap
- Rank 1: good to top players
📌 Result:pretty accurate matchmaking, but starting with solid skill level (rank 1) still a relatively colorful mix of killers/playstyles

👥 new(MMR 2021+):
📏 very narrow range (early 2022):
- Top MMR: only top players
📌 Result: only strongest killers (Nurse & Blight) with camp/tunnel/slug & fast gens/predropping -> monotonous/exhausting

📏 very wide range (mid-2022-now):
- Top MMR: okay to top players
📌 Result:very random player level
- as average player everything is possible -> bad mates kill the whole team by doing nothing
- killers play efficiently out of fear

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V. BALANCING
⚖️ Collecting data as a basis:
-currently:Kills(2-3 kills) & time(10 min)
💡Solution:more precise: hooks (approx. 8 hooks?) & time (15 min) (matches currently too fast?)

⚖️ Balancing problems due to differences between:
⛔ Survivor Teams(Swf/SoloQueue):
- Swf >> Solo Queue
💡Solution:Communication for All (Kindred basekit)

⛔ Survivor Personality:
- brave survs die earlier, even though better players
💡Solution:punish inactive survivors

⛔ Killers:
- Killers vary in strength (e.g. Nurse, Blight >> Myers, Trapper)
💡Solution:Weaken/strengthen killer

⛔ Maps:
- Maps vary greatly in strength (all new maps = straight up trash)
💡Solution:Weaken/strengthen maps (pallet loops, map size, tile placement; *randomness should stay for variety)

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3. COMMUNITY

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☣️lots of trolling(especially with skill difference):
- Surv: flashlight-clicking, teabagging, emotespam
- Killer: Nodding, hitting on hook
[Matchmaking makes it worse]

☣️Hostility from pubs (public) & comp (tournament):
- Pubs: "no comp game""you play too sweaty"
-> Pubs overestimate their abilities because they often face bad opponents
- Comp: "pub bots""you are bad"
-> huge ego, although playing efficiently gives you kills much easier
[Cause: fun≠efficiency]

☣️Winstreaks:
- efficient playstyle in pubs
-> Having fun at the expense of others
[Cause: fun≠efficiency]

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4. MORE SUGGESTIONS

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🤔new game modes(killer multiplayer?)
🤔Hacking:Better usage of in-game reports, better anti-cheat
🤔more variety:
- Killer: no power recycling (e.g. Dredge-Sadako)
- Surv: new objective, instead of slower gens
🤔Disconnects(DC/s):bots as replacement
🤔Reduce chat censorship:"Johns mixture" -> "###ns mixture" (wtf?)
🤔hitable skill check when letting go of gen(similar to Overcharge; not like now: Miss)
🤔Events like before:
- Halloween 2018/19: Integration into gameplay, earning outfits, instead of: LGBTQ event 2021/22 (lackluster marketing): a few blood points, only purchasable outfits
🤔Reduce story:more cutscenes?/less text
🤔Reduce Bloodweb time

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FINAL WORDS

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Aside from good balancing decisions and new content, DbD has taken a turn for the worse in recent years,
The rock bottom was at the beginning of 2022, when the new WinCondition and MMR system pushed tunneling/camping/slugging or genrush/predropping, and I frequently had to play against entire comp teams.
Communication with devs has improved since mid-2022. Nevertheless, it's time for BHVR to finally rethink their game design decisions from 2021. It's a shame that they pay so little attention to something so important.
Despite all of this, DbD is my favorite game, and that shows how much potential it still has.

If you're even more interested in all of this, here are a few DbD creators with a good understanding of game design:
CoconutRTS, ScottJund, Tru3ta1ent
You don't have to like everyone, but at least they don't think that kills are a good WinCondition (greetings Otzdarva 😘)