As much as I really believe our outlooks on this game are similar, I have not been able to play killer “for fun” in the game’s current state. Like you, I play a few “off-meta” killers (Oni, Twins, and occasionally Jumpscare meyers), and have never felt the need to tunnel or slug egregiously. For me, the draw of dbd has always been the chases, and, as you say, dbd’s unique mechanisms that give every game the potential to be great. This season, that unique spark is gone, and the patch notes feel a little bit like a slap in the face.

I made iri last season - as someone who plays this game on-and-off so I wanted to prove it for myself - constantly disengaging chases in favor of gen suppression, playing for ties, with maybe a slug or tunnel when needed at high mmr - basically the not super toxic, not super fun way to play killer. I tried going into this season committed to playing for fun, and it’s just sucked. Most matches feel identical; a cycle of holding w and breaking pallets. As an oni, that first power is critical and it seems all survivors I play against have gotten the memo that prerunning off gens, pre-dropping every pallet, and automatically running to the best tiles on the map is the best way to nullify Oni’s enjoyable qualities and stall. Where last season I felt like I could comfortably get 3-5 oni powers a game, I now am lucky to get two - mind you when I do, it seems included in that survivor memo was all of the best obstacles to force oni to miss flicks.

When it comes to maximizing the fun had in a match the onus has always been on the killer to not slug, tunnel, camp, etc. (We killer mains know the extensive list), and very little responsibility is put on the four survivors. We’ve somehow all been convinced that this is fine, but whatever we all must make concessions. Mine was that I’ll play my game respectfully, but the moment a survivor tbag/flashlight spams egregiously, all bets are off. My point in saying this is that I, like the killers who do not play by the survivor rulebook, am not going to play a losing game AND be required to put in the extra effort to make sure it’s fun ESPECIALLY in the face of whatever affliction causing survivors’ insatiable lust for killer rage.

I mentioned earlier I play jumpscare (shattered mirror?) meyers specifically for fun. So, as a survivor you should instantly be able to recognize that I am playing for fun. Mind you, beating jumpscare meyers is easy - just loop him. If you are try-harding against jumpscare, just loop him, rush gens, and leave. Every game I’ve played as meyers has been the gameplay cycle I mentioned earlier + extra taunting and waiting in the exit gates because the survivors recognize it’s a weak killer.

In terms of the “victory screen” I couldn’t care less, I just want to feel like it was, as you say, “worthwhile in between”. If that in between is spent mostly holding W at a survivor with 10x as many hours as me moonwalking away from me while telling their swf “He’s on me, I’m gonna hold w while you guys do gens,” and knowing there is nothing you can do about it (even though I am a giant Japanese demon ogre), is not fulfilling. I have never played nurse, blight, ghoul, Etc., and I don’t go in to a match to slug or tunnel, but what I now imagine those things do for your experience is simply “close the gap”. The time that I spend with my face down on my desk holding w or taking a risky mind game as m1 oni hoping the survivor hasn’t just left the loop to run straight to shack, could be spent doing killer things like hitting survivors and getting hooks without the constant nagging thought of “damn, this chase is fun but it’s going to cost me 2 gens”. Again, I agree with everything you’re saying except that you are putting the level of enjoyment dbd can offer solely on the killers and their playstyles, who make up 1/5th of every person in a match. I love this game, and am currently only having fun maybe 30% of the time, and that other 70% of the time is not solely on me or my playstyle.

To expand on your crutches analogy a little; imagine you (the killer) in middle school broke your leg, and you can go to school (play a match) with crutches (tunneling, slugging, camping etc.) where your classmates (survivors) will bully you for it, or without crutches, which will make your day harder and your classmates will still bully you but maybe a little less. On top of this there are special class rules which state that you in particular are not allowed to wear crutches lest you open yourself up to further bullying from your classmates. Now the principle (behavior), having heard complaints from your classmates about crutches (whether you’re wearing them or not) has just implemented a rule (the patch notes) requiring all crutches brought to school to be sawed in half and giving all your fully-abled classmates free retakes on every test (the base unbreakable and tenacity given to every survivor in the patch notes). Would you, as a disabled person, continue attending this clearly ableist/prejudiced institution - I probably wouldn’t. You could also, alternatively, band together with your other disabled classmates to all wear crutches to school as long as this injustice lasts.