Dead by Daylight Leatherface Mask Removal

 

Man, there were some angry people when this news dropped. To be completely honest, I understand why people were upset; those are his only free cosmetics, save for the bloody prestige cosmetics, but those really aren't free when you take into account the bloodpoints spent. 

I also fully stand with people of colour who were harassed by racists using this mask for the purpose of being racist. If that means removing the masks, then I 100% support the decision because nobody should be harassed in such a manner.

However -- it could have been done better. We didn't need to remove the masks. They could have simply made them client-sided, so the people going against a Leatherface wouldn't see which mask was chosen, it would be whichever mask was equipped on their Leatherface, or just the default mask. It could have been done quietly and we would have been none the wiser.

You would get each of these four masks by killing 25 survivors playing as the four original characters. It was the most interactive way to unlock anything by far. Unfortunately, some people decided to use Claudette's face (far right) to harass poc.

But they decided to remove them completely and it wouldn't surprise me if this was a way to get folks to purchase his other cosmetics, all of which cost real money. Yes, I am that cynical when it comes to these devs.

We're removing cosmetics but we also have a rampant cheater problem, a buggy game, a game which rewards unfun and unfair mechanic, a fundamental lack of understanding on how to balance the game, a stale meta which 10-15 viable perks on either side with ~180 total perk, one of the worst levelling systems ever, people who are actually saying terrible things in post-game chat, an awful MMR system and shitty matchmaking, and incompetent developers who push cosmetics and ignore feedback.

Mind you. those who have played Leatherface at least one time will get 6000 "iridescent shards" in compensation. Iridescent shards can be used to purchase original characters, perks on the shrine of secrets, or new cosmetics....too bad that one character (survivor/killer) is 9000 shards and a full outfit is over 21000, and none of Leatherface's cosmetics can be purchased since he is licensed. He has two other cosmetics: "pretty lady" and "old lady" (from the OG movies) which cost $11 each (CAD). If you purchase each item separately (head, body, weapon) then it's $12. The numbers are a bit more consistent for USD, where it would be $10 for the full set when bought together. Ironically BHVR is a Canadian company. 

So they're money hungry, but maybe they truly just want to help eliminate some toxicity. If only if were so --

People like this still get to play. This person came into a streamer's chat and spent a long amount of time complaining about the game and then attempted to spam slurs, which, fortunately, Twitch didn't allow.

We cannot pretend that these types of people do not exist in this community. This video is a long watch but has footage of poc being harassed by a Leatherface using this cosmetic, sometime using the Steam name changer to be something explicitly racist. Mind you, Steam takes this shit MUCH more seriously than the developers.

Not only are toxic people just existing they stream their toxicity without consequence. 

So BHVR, I really don't think you care about how people are treated in this game. I think you found an opportunity to: cause a stir, virtue signal, and make money. Why wouldn't you take it? After all of the years of being let down and lied to, I don't really have much faith in them as a company.

I do enjoy this game and I enjoy the wholesome people who I have met, but there is a lot that needs to be changed if this game wants longevity. If they didn't have licensed characters (Myers, Freddy, Leatherface, formerly the Demogorgon, and quite a few others)

I don't think they're doing it for the right reasons, but if good comes from it, then it's worth it.