Events in Dead by Daylight are complicated. I don’t deny that. I don’t know anyone who does. You’re putting a celebration into a competitive but inherently unbalanced game (it’s 4v1 no matter how you slice it) that can bring out the worst in people. If you do too little, people complain that the event is pointless. If you do too much, the game reaches racist children screaming at you on Xbox Live levels of toxicity.

I’m happy to say that the 4th Anniversary Event gets it right. A major source of the poor behavior in the past has been objectives that can be disrupted by other players. The hallmark for a long time was an event generator, a special generator that gave whoever completed it bonus points or even a different collectible object that unlocked exclusive cosmetics in the game. This was a terrible idea. Killers would focus all of their effort on killing anyone trying to achieve the objective, teammates would let you die to preserve their own special items, or teammates would DC immediately if the game didn’t punish you for not escaping with the item. Event hooks were even worse, as some survivors would just intentionally sabotage event hooks so killers could never complete their objective.

This was replaced with secondary objectives that could be disrupted by the killer. It would go like this. Collect the object. If killer gets there first, they can destroy the object just to stop you from getting the object. If you collect the object, the killer could hit or hook you to put the object back on the map and then destroy it. You only collect the object if you escape the match, and somehow disconnecting counted as escaping. This was actually worse than the event generators or event hooks.

The 4th Anniversary is just so…peaceful by comparison. There are floating crowns on pedestals. They randomly generate one at a time on a map. If someone grabs or breaks one (survivor vs killer objective), a new one generates somewhere on the map. Everyone in a match can interact with a crown because five crowns total can generate in each match.

Non-licensed survivors earn a crown cosmetic if they survive the match, and non-licensed killers earn a crown cosmetic if they just don’t DC. You only need to complete the objective once to get the cosmetic. Grabbing a crown earns 250 bloodpoints, and escaping with a crown earns 500 bloodpoints.

Licensed survivors and killers can still participate for bloodpoints. They cannot earn the cosmetics. Licensed characters have additional layers of difficulty to alter anything. We’re unlikely to ever see new cosmetics for the A Nightmare on Elm Street or Leatherface content, for example, because the rights are complicated and they were earlier contracts. Ghostface is literally the license for the mask, not the Scream character, though there are some variants on the cosmetic inspired by other variant masks from the company.

Saw, Halloween, Stranger Things, and Silent Hill have or were willing to negotiate new contracts for specific cosmetics, but it’s highly unlikely they’ll rubber stamp a non-canon floating crown to dance behind Pyramid Head or Laurie Strode just because it’s a game. Behaviour isn’t going to stop trying to get us more out of the licensed characters; it’s just unlikely to ever see them earn something special during a limited event that alters their appearance.

It is quite literally impossible to sabotage the match for other players other than the usual way: hide and wait for everyone else to die. Survivors do that on any day ending in y, so it’s not a new wrinkle. Sure, it’s frustrating to only lose out on your crown cosmetic because someone hid in a locker next to the hatch, but you’ll get it the next game or the one after. There is no artificial scarcity because the crowns can and will regenerate until everyone finds one in a match. It takes only two or three seconds to grab, so it’s not a huge commitment, and once you grab it, it can’t be removed.

There are free items you get without even participating in the crown gathering event. You earn 50000 bloodpoints every day for logging into the game on PC or console. There’s a set schedule of free cosmetics and charms for Claudette and Deathslinger unlocked every 2-3 days. One day, you’ll get a jacket for Deathslinger; another day, a head for Claudette. Check in every day during the event and you’re guaranteed new full cosmetics for Claudette and Deathslinger as well as two charms.

The other elements are what you would expect. There’s a new party overlay in the lobby with streamers and balloons. Generators and hooks get the same treatment. When you complete a generator or use a hook for the first time, confetti flies out. Lockers have decorations, as well.

There are also new limited items for the event. The flashlight acts as a party popper, making a noise and shooting confetti if you successfully blind the killer. The medkit has a lot of charges and a shiny gold logo. There’s also a ghastly gateau, a single slice of cake, that offers bonus bloodpoints. It’s supposed to be a stackable 104% bloodpoints for everyone in a match (meaning 520% bloodpoints is possible if everyone plays the tribute), but right now it’s bugged and offers the individual player 140% and doesn’t stack.

UPDATE 26 June 2020

The worst thing about the 4th Anniversary Event is the worst thing about DBD on any day: toxic players. I enjoy Dead by Daylight. It will never be a serious competitive game and that’s okay. Asymmetrical games can never really be balanced enough to truly be a test of skill. It can be a lot of fun and at this point I treat it as a spooky party game.

However, there are players in this game who act like their lives are on the line if they don’t do perfect in every match. They will bring the most powerful add-ons and a mori to guarantee a 4K as a killer. They will tunnel off hook to eliminate injured players early, blatantly ignoring other players to kill one by one. Survivors will blind at every pallet with a flashlight and disrupt the normal flow of gameplay if it means earning the most points and surviving. This can be incredibly frustrating and push people to act in kind.

Players are not punished for this behavior and there will never be a way to punish them for it. It is the DNA of any asymmetrical game. Sure, you’ll largely have pleasant experiences. It just takes one bad day to push anyone to that hyper-competitive, nastier place. You ever have a horrible experience playing Monopoly or Mario Party? Dead by Daylight can create that exact attitude, same as any other competitive game or activity.

The 4th Anniversary Event runs through 7 July, so there’s plenty of time to pace yourself and give these amazing characters the crowns they deserve. Enjoy the scenery. Point at the decorations. Loot the chests for a shiny new flashlight or medkit. Stick around. Enjoy yourself.

Dead by Daylight is available on PC, console, and mobile. You can get the base game for 64% off at Humble Bundle.

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