Read more Dead by Daylight ➜ https://deadbydaylight.mgn.gg
Dead By Daylight has announced and shown their newest killer – The Skull Merchant and their tracking abilities. But this killer has probably had the poorest reception out of any of their roster. But why is that? Some people would get hung up on the killers looks, which is ridiculous. What Im more hung up on is the lack of clear design intent leading to a power that is not only unproductive, but not particularly fun to play as or against.
————————————————————————————
Schedule📅
Bootcamp Videos: *Wednesday* & *Sunday* – 11am CST
JOIN THE BOOTCAMP EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT ON TWITCH – 8pm CST
————————————————————————————
Socials!
🦜 Twitter: https://twitter.com/DyllonKG
🎮 Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/DyllonKG
🖊 Medium: https://www.medium.com/@dyllongraham
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/DyllonKG
———————————————————————————-
About Me!
My name is Dyllon! I have played Dead By Daylight for about 3 years now strictly on my Twitch page. After being asked time and time again about how to get into the game, I decided to try my hand at making guides to help players.
#fogwhisperer #dbdkiller #dbd #theskullmerchant #dbdnewkiller
—————————————————————————————-
dead by daylight more, new dbd more, dbd finishing mori, dbd finishing mori ptb, dyllonkg pyramid head, finishing mori, dbd flashlights, dead by daylight flashlights, flashlight changes, flashlight nerf, flashlight buff, knight, new killer, knight mori,
source
It never clicked until you mentioned it that they must be at least 3 killers deep on development simultaneously at some level. With so little time to develop, killers are likely designed with "has to be different somehow" as the only mantra. And that's how we end up with two M1 zoning killers in a row that aren't fun to play against at all. And unlike some killers, these are original creations so it isn't like they have to hold to some original concept and shoehorn it into the game. They have all the room in the world to navigate in, but no time to actually develop it effectively.
When I started playing DBD I thought it was fantastic we get four new killers a year. Now I wish they’d release two, and use the extra time to fix two legacy ones, or do major perk changes and create new mori’s to sell along with cosmetics.
Mannn there is nothing in this chapter for me to enjoy. Not a single perk that I really want, no character I like. The maps too, I'm kinda let down they didn't shrink red forest. Still will use shards I guess and get the new killer. Even if they're weak it doesn't mean I wont have enjoyment playing something new.
I like her concept but I sense a killer thay either came at the last minute or no clear goal in mind and I hope down the line behavior considers changing how they do new chapters this game has enough content imo so I think that behavior can take there time making a well designed chapter imo.
The leaked "buffs" arnt for the PTB. BHVR released the 6.6 patch "early" on epic games store by accident, someone found in the code. Nothing to do with PTB. Something along those lines
Good video! From what I heard directly when I went to BHVR, the way these patches work, (especially for PTB) is that, everything is made into a patch for PTB and ready to go. Reason it isn't on consoles is because Sony / Microsoft have to approve the patch before it's out, which takes a bit & costs a TON of cash to do each time, so to make matters simple and easy, they just push it to Steam.
From what I gathered the PTB is mainly for bugs that they were not aware about to be able to then quickly push out into their next build (a week after it hits live) This is also why we see some buffs already there that has been datamined, things that weren't able to fit but can be added later. All of this is done in advance before play-testing as the PTB patch is SO early compared to what we actually get (also why they always say they are aware of bugs etc and some other changes are ready to go. Not sure if you remember when Mclean was saying some changes are already there and in order when the Blight came out but the PTB was so far back it didn't even get those changes yet)
That being said, whatever major bugs we find / anything that we are really concerned about is pushed in the next patch a week later after it hits live, and whatever is too big and can't fit the time / get in the patch for approval is kill-switched. I also know they mentioned they have a very small window (2 days in total from PTB to the patch after full release because of the long approval process) to add in as much patches, bug fixes and changes as they can.
I think once all of this is done, they then take most of the week bad and in the mid-chapter re-touch everything to tailor it for the community.
I hope I explained that well, much easier to talk than type it out haha, but to sum it all up, PTB is more for major bugs they weren't aware of and to make sure most things are stable. (I always thought it was for our thoughts and opinions, but from what I've learned it isn't)
My hunch is that BHVR is simply not asking because they do not have time for the criticism & the workload that comes from it. I believe they want to but do not see a path to doing so, even if avenues do exist , such as asking the Fog Whispers to playtest.
I believe there are som options if they pause killer creation to work on the game, but there is no world where they pause entirely without losing players.
Adding more game modes is high tier on my list but this doesn’t feel feasible at the moment.
Feasible options include:
-A handful of free shirts or weapons. Not something grand, but a small thank you. Even for characters with low pick rates. If it’s a cool enough cometic, it may inspire some to play or even purchase the character. And in the long term, 1 or 2 free cosmetics from logging in every few months or so. Don’t Starve Together does something like this & it keeps me opening the game everyday.
-Occasional map overhauls – I greatly appreciate the shelter woods addition & the new map reworks. To have more killers without maps have their mark added to some of the more shunned maps to bring life back into them would be very welcomeLore to go with these would be nice , too!
-I think having very small (in comparison to the winter, lunar new year, and halloween events) in game would be very fun & keep people coming back. The party favors & pumpkins were so fun. Adding a summer bbq event with beach balls or something dumb feels relatively simple. Just add the kickable items & give some bloodpoints or rift fragments. Hell even like 50 shards.
I mean I think we knew the Devs didn't play their own game after the Korean Flashlight incident. Or the fact they keep nerfing pig. Or nerfing gen regression
Completely off topic, but I am digging the Wings of Freedom shirt 🤟
The dev's do playtest their chapters, the problem is they are bad at the game. Just look at any dev gameplay they are bad or just mid, they don't know how to loop as survivor or mindgame as killer. I bet the dev's hide more than loop so thats why they think she is a strong killer.
She will be a nice skin seller
I've always thought the developers should take a break from New content and polish what they've already got. Seems obvious to me.
But at the same time, it's obvious that that would kill the game too.
7 years is a long time. I feel like they should take a break.
I don't know how it would logistically, but I think it would be beneficial to have a team that does deep fixes while they have the current creative team come out with new content
I feel like what we got was an untested and unfinished prototype. The killer, as-is, has a lot of cool potential, but what we got is not fully realized. And I fear it won't be better when she goes live, because of what you mentioned here; they don't have the time. It's going to take a couple of patches/updates before she meets her full potential, if ever.
I would rather they take more time between chapter releases and take the time to really refine the abilities and perks so we can get better quality output. But I know that the industry and community demands kind of limits them, which is very unfortunate.
I can't imagine that a lot of new players really go into the PTB. I stopped doing it personally. I didn't love not being able to switch between test and live without what felt like a full reinstall.
About the Killer, I've watched a few streams of it, and the SM on multi-floor maps will be pretty tough to beat. If the drones are well placed, they'll be able to detect survivors on either floor for a long while from what I saw. Is there a decay timer on the drones? Or is it just there until it's disabled?
honestly, id rather them take longer to get chapters out rather than half ass them or not put the effort in to fully see how well or how bad a killer is. id be ok with them not making another feng skin and instead use that time to do something else
I would love her to be a stealthy killer,sadly shes just a m1 killer but il get her regardless because i dont have the Knight nor freddy since Shes similar to both, plus u wanna test somethings
When he said he was a fog whisperer I had to google it because I was like "what type of cringe ass title is this?" And then I look at it and its basically nothing lmao.
I agree it seems like they didn't play test (or think through) this killer at a higher level. It seems her major theme is finding survivors. But, that's only cool or useful if you think from the perspective of a new player. Advanced or even intermediate killers have no issue finding survivors. Killer power of "finding and tracking survivors" is something I would have dreamt up in my first 20 hours.
I personally love her power as it requires alot of decision making when it comes down to it. Guess ppl just like one trick pony killers that go zoom zoom.
Honestly it's not bhvr fault it's the upper management over bhvr all they care about is money why the devs actually care about there game and want it to succeed honestly if they want a logical reason the upper management should let them have longer time to make a chapter a chapter and not just half baked
Personally instead of exposed it has same things but instead of being exposed it just takes a heath state by shooting unit make the drones more threatening
Almo has told us before that killers take about 12-16 months of work from the initial conceptualization I assume longer if the have to make a deal for a license ip cause they'd have legal talks too. Which makes sense timeline wise because this is how we had a whole years worth of content leak a year in advance. Trickster specifically took 16 months.
Arteam gives a loose character concept and design > the decision maker decides which one gets approves > then designers program the power with placeholder assets > making assets and. Models this takes the most time as they have to work with the vfx and character designers > art hud asset team get involved > then audio team does the audio just before or and during the ptb..
Where the lore is written during development is very different for each killer. People like Mikaela, trickster Yun Jin, spirit, clown, dredge, haddie and Felix had their lore written as they're conceptualized. But characters like twins, hag and wraith were written after they were almost done.
Going from 3 months to 4 months would be an okay compromise.
its the uh… player test build. for testing?
I think you really hit the nail on the head about the development cycle, but as you pointed out it’s not as if they can easily break it. As someone who would prefer better content and more meaningful patches to the current style we are getting, this makes me sad. But you are probably right about the game bleeding players who are e less invested in sticking around if regular content isn’t released.
I seem to remember them saying somewhere creating a killer takes about 5 months so yeah you're right they have to overlap often and don't have time for anything
OMG I DIDN’T NOTICE THAT!!!!
Did you know that in the movie he also says he is Death because he is Death? It’s insane that so few people noticed this small and very subtle detail!!! Bravo, Vince
ok tjis is what is happening they want more survivor perk but not killer perks they not gonna put out a new chapter with only 1 or 2 survivor
Considering that many people take breaks from the game for months and years, a 6 months break wouldn't be that big of a deal. And if you actually make people know that you're spending this time reworking and addressing issues, it would be met positively.
I just recently came back to DbD after I stopped playing in 2019, and I couldn't have cared less about what updates have the game been receiving. And I can see myself stop playing again soon if the next half of the year all I would get is Knight+Skull merchant meta – two of the most boring killers in the game apart from the Legion (which is also abundant these days).
Sure, testing these killers and their mechanics is important, but the problem starts with the design team. The design of many older killers was unique and generally cohesive. Lately, it feels like senior designers have been leaving the studio and are being replaced with less experienced designers, who don't have the foundational skills, and this is the result of it. I feel like the designers don't play their own game so it makes it incredibly difficult for them to relate to what players actually want. Of course there will always be niche chapters such as Blight or Twins, but this chapter feels like it wasn't meant for anyone specifically, and therefore, is for none of the player base.
I'd be hesitant to put the blame on the QA team or the testers. As someone who started their game industry career in QA as a tester, then as a test engineer, I've felt the sting of community backlash directed at the test team (Halo Infinite being one, please don't flame me), and there's only so much they can do. Unfortunately, a good test team is only as strong as the people who train them. If they don't have a strong test lead or foundational processes to guide them in their testing practices then it's going to be very difficult for that team to make a big impact on the way the game functions.
With the current structure of releasing 4 new chapters a year, it puts a lot of pressure on the studio to have a very hard structured, waterfall style workflow. It doesn't leave a lot of time for them to revisit design flaws or the "fun factor" after they've built out the mechanics to a certain degree. Now they're locked in for whatever the design team came up with because of deadlines approaching. Yes, they've probably been working on this chapter from 6 months to a year, but that time goes by very fast, and they're also splitting resources among multiple chapters.
It's definitely difficult to build games, but it's even more difficult to build great games when there is poor leadership at a studio. Great video, and I agree with much of what you've said in here! 🤠
This is why more people don't test the PTB's, they feel like it's a waste of time. The killers and perks release to PTB very weak/unfun, then regardless of the communities feedback they get some little minor buffs that in the grand scheme of things are nearly irrelevant as the killer still comes to live servers very weak. Like why waste their time? If people felt like we were actually going to get meaningful and significant buffs to make them actually release quite good then people would bother with the PTB. I understand that they probably just physically can't make heavy changes in time from a PTB as you mentioned, but that's why they need these chapters coming to PTB in a much more finished and well designed state to begin with, we shouldn't need this many changes from PTB, but we do, regularly. They have seriously needed to get feedback from very experienced players on their content/changes long before release and when they're still in the developmental process. I don't think the people in charge of balancing and designing things play DBD at any significant level and it shows. This isn't a slight, it's just saying that they need to get help from actually experienced players that understand the game, its balance, and how it plays at a high level.
They do not ask FW because in order to make changes they should ask you way before the release and they have systemic issues with leaks of informations.
I think they should pick the poison of the leak of information, choose 10-15 trusted FW and ask them to evaluate the mechanics behind a killer months before the release, making them sign a contract with no disclosure and giving them something in return.
Dunno… maybe money?
I suspected BHVR doesn't playtest before release. It's like when Knight was released. After the Spirit and the Nurse, you'd think BHVR learned not to make a killer that makes you feel like you can't do anything. I remember spending (way longer than it should have taken) time learning how to loop the Knight. On the PTB & release people found that the best way to play him is to just get to a loop and drop a guard. Basically a lose-lose situation for survivors if that's all they have. Same as a good old Spirit. It was a lose-lose situation. That's what makes it unfun, and thats why so many people hate the Knight. How did BHVR not catch this during playtest? Thankfully they reworked his power again to what (I'm guessing) is their intention with the Knight.