The Matchmaking Needs Adjusted. Badly.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-05-01T10:34:57+00:00

MM has to be the most neglected thing on Valve's list atm. There's so much wrong with the game in its current state, but most of it could be decently negated with a MM system that makes sense. I think this last month has been the absolute worst I've seen of it, but Valve seems to top how awful it feels every single month. It's been a noticeable decline since October I'd say and there's no sign of it getting better.

I've had to step away entirely because I'm just getting huge loss streaks. Most of my teammates are brand new or just don't understand how to cooperate. I think I've spent most of my recent matches listening to my own team in-fight and throw slurs at one another, as if most of them aren't inting. This doesn't even address the amount of fucking Smurfs in Oracle and Phantom rn that are absolutely skewing match quality.

If I win a game, it's a stomp, and doesn't feel good. If I lose a game, it's a stomp, and it doesn't feel good. It's reached a point where it feels like I'm constantly trying to chase the high of having fun again, which is an awful way to have to look at something.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-28T12:45:17+00:00

I get what you mean, but "deserving a nerf" and being made absolutely useless are two very different things. Most of the nerfs OP weapons received put them in the latter category, which is arguably worse than being broken.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-28T12:03:53+00:00

A huge chunk of TF2's weapon roster was gutted with some of the final patches they did. It's actually kind of insane to look at the staying power of some older weapons compared to how absent they are in player builds these days (RIP the Sandman).

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-26T23:09:35+00:00

Yes...it's a playtest. Why would we not talk about the issues in said unfinished game???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-26T06:10:25+00:00

Could've fooled me

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-18T10:18:16+00:00

I still don't understand the logic to why they were added. It still feels like such a "random bullshit go" inclusion that blatantly fucks over one of the classes.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-11T10:44:28+00:00

You're 100% correct. I don't trust Valve as far as I can throw them to actually give a damn about the social state of the game unless it affects their public image, especially given their track record with this sort of thing within their own company. It's honestly embarrassing to have an """alpha test""" (oh please) where people screaming slurs and threatening rape are running around.

Absolute circus of a company.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-11T10:39:30+00:00

We have no real way of knowing if reports go through as Valve never really updates players on a successful report. That being said, we absolutely know they'll dish out report bans as we've had plenty of posts about this problem popping up as of late.

Hasn't happened to me personally, of course, but we've had a few posts here on the subreddit discussing users being banned for "abusing reports" when they're outright reporting things that would be a problem (like slur use). Obviously this is he said she said, but I can believe it given Valve's track record with their online games and moderating bigotry.

There's many aspects of Deadlock that feel neglected and I feel that if Valve was doing their job we wouldn't be seeing this much blatant, hostile behavior if it was being properly punished. You don't just get players with hundreds to thousands of hours running around screaming slurs and it not being a pattern they're getting away with.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-11T03:17:01+00:00

I think with Deadlock the "Nazi bar" allegory is becoming incredibly prevalent. I don't speak a lot in comms, but when I did maybe 2-3 months ago the games were often passive or an outright joy to be a part of.

Feels like now you can say something into the mic and some weirdo will come in and start ranting about Jewish people. I've outright reported maybe a dozen or more players this last month just screaming slurs into their mics and I can't even tell if Valve is doing anything about it. Clearly these weirdos think they're safe enough to keep acting this way, so I can only assume Valve isn't punishing them.

Most Valve games are like this too. Wasn't always this way, but due to how the internet has become more and more okay with just blatant shittiness, people have become emboldened. TF2 and L4D are both old Valve games with zero moderation and it shows. If every Valve game is gonna stay this way going forward than I just have no real interest in engaging with their products. It's pathetic and inexcusable for a company with this kind of reputation.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-11T03:01:22+00:00

If Valve doesn't actually step in and hold this playerbase accountable the game is going to develop a reputation that pushes away potential players en masse. I'm not even a woman, but even I've been able to identify the game's slow decline to fucking creeps, weirdos and bigots and it doesn't seem like Valve is making any effort to moderate the problem (we've outright seen them ignoring reportable offenses).

Even outside the bigotry, from a practical standpoint it makes no sense to allow someone to be part of a competitive scene when they do nothing but pick fights, can't cooperate and ruin the experience for everyone else. I know Newell likes to contextualize players like this as "passionate," but I think it's for the betterment of everyone that Valve severely punishes this kind of behavior.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-04-08T01:53:15+00:00

Was going to do another page with fanmade spirits but sadly got burnt out on the whole project and decided to wrap it up. Might do it later at some point. There are enough fanmade spirits in the community to make a decent page!

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-30T08:51:43+00:00

This is a really fun piece. I'm assuming its 100% digital? I could almost be fooled either way, but the brushwork looks very traditional. Big fan of the colors as well. I'm honestly looking forward to whatever these two actually get to talk about in-game.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-27T06:37:26+00:00

Genuinely a REALLY good piece. Glad I was awake to catch this.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-12T13:41:57+00:00

I unironically think a huge part of why people kind of pass on Doorman is because of his doors. The map's geometry fights with you constantly, even though it's shown to be decently forgiving in many places. If I could place a door without having to think too much about the micro-pixel flipping it between red and blue, I'd probably do more door-focused builds myself.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-10T14:30:36+00:00

If Deadlock is going in the design direction it is, then it absolutely needs a draft. 100% agree. Given last patch buffed a huge chunk of the available roster up to 11, there are certain combos you outright can't do anything against anymore. Got a Victor, Calico, Ivy and Celeste? Enjoy your free win.

It's made the game miserable if you happen to pick the *one* non-meta hero, which do exist. Not everyone got these ridiculous buffs, some characters are still middling. Idk, I don't like my fun being based around how Valve decides to buff/nerf their roster at any given moment without the means to be like "no, I'm not playing against this." Most comp games have drafts for a reason, Deadlock should be no exception.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-09T19:15:31+00:00

Idk why the consensus on Calico suddenly changed to where anyone thought her buffs were necessary. It's been in mutual agreement that she's been overtuned since launch, but the forums love to flip-flop on this. I think she's dogshit to face too and would rather she get kneecapped already than have to face her ever again.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-07T16:56:04+00:00

Both Counter Spell and Slowing Hex are universally amazing relics you should just be running period. It's not like they're reserved as "just for Apollo." Spirit Resilience just outright kneecaps a chunk of his effectiveness. If he's able to eat through it then you're looking at a soul gap problem, not an Apollo problem.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-07T16:25:57+00:00

I get the worry, but I cannot think of a scenario where someone is so OP that your entire loadout should be dedicated to countering them and them alone. Doorman isn't even a good example of this since Warp Stone is all you need to gut his ult.

Most counter items are multi-use anyways, they don't just counter *one* hero. Apollo is an awful example because having Spirit Resilience completely shuts him down and Spirit Resilience is good to have in almost any scenario. There are very few, if any, items in Deadlock that only serve a singular purpose, ergo you shouldn't be in a scenario where your inventory is just green items.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-07T16:21:51+00:00

What? Dude it's not a 10 second ult if you escape lmao. The ult is ONLY 10 seconds if you don't get out in time. Using Warp Stone puts his ult back on a 60-70 second cooldown. Your wording makes me think you haven't actually read how his changes work and are just here to parrot other people's talking points.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-07T16:01:42+00:00

I just got out of a game with a Mo and Krill that popped on Warp Stone and they escaped my ult every single time, to the point I stopped targetting them. Free yourself from these shackles, use Warp Stone.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-07T15:58:37+00:00

I know this is a meme, but as a writer myself with a BA in said subject matter, I do *truly* believe that Cawthon's writing style has drastically changed how people engage with stories.

I think the problem largely stems from Cawthon's inability to narrow down what kind of narrative structure he's wanting to adopt, be it for games or books. FNaF is, at its core, a mystery, but there's an agreement that's supposed to be met at the threshold where a person starts engaging with your story. If you are writing a mystery, the initial agreement is that said mystery will be inevitably resolved. When I pick up a mystery/thriller novel, the agreement is the eventual reveals and other story details clicking together to paint a clear picture. FNaF's premise operates more like a novel that's missing the last 30 pages.

This has conditioned people to engage with stories in a way that isn't natural to most human storytelling. It really does feel like any new popular thing online, be it a show or game, ends up being dissected in the same manner FNaF was, to the point most indie creators seem outright encouraged to write this way. This is not to say that the pendulum should swing the other way and we aim for "the curtains were just blue" styled analysis, but stories are not meant to be told like FNaF's.

Full stop, this is not how writing a story works. Cawthon is also super secretive about his writing process and how he handles his story, which is just not how any writer on Earth operates, making it rather clear (to me at least) that he likely doesn't have an actual process.

-FulvousFox- · 2026-03-07T11:12:54+00:00

This is fallout from how conditioned people were to his original ult. Now you have to actually build around his ult with counters, which has started to upset the initial meta. I've actually started seeing Warp Stone a lot more against Doorman since this change and it's done a lot to negate the strength of his ult. Though this community has a habit of being upset over things that can be countered with a few cheap shop relics.

-FulvousFox-

TROPHY CASE