YMMV / Surviv.io

• Complacent Gaming Syndrome: A number of loadouts were incredibly popular with the fanbase.
  • MAC-10 + MP 220. Combining a lethal close-range shotgun with another close-range submachine gun renders the player lethal at close range, especially since this combination is relatively easy to come across and also as most of the gameplay is done in close-ranges, this layout can easily allow players to drop enemies with ease. If players obtain the Vector, it often substitutes the MAC-10.
  • MP 220/Saiga-12 + 7.62mm assault rifle. Much like the previously mentioned MAC-10 + MP 220/Saiga-12 combo, it involves a powerful shotgun, but combined with a weapon with a longer range to combat further away enemies. This is most often done with the AK-47 (since it is the most common 7.62mm assault rifle) but it can be done with other 7.62mm rifles or even 5.56mm rifles.
  • Double Snipers is an extremely high-skill but incredibly lethal combination. It involved equipping two sniper rifles (often the relatively common Mosin-Nagant), firing at an opponent and instantly switching out to your other sniper to take out the enemy in a one-two punch.
• Fandom Rivalry: A rivalry exists between surviv.io fans and Zombs Royale.io fans. Those who prefer surviv.io point to its faster pace (the lack of a waiting room means that the action starts within seconds of clicking "play") and accuse ZombsRoyale of ripping their game off, while ZombsRoyale players prefer its superior graphics and closer adherence to standard Battle Royale gameplay (lobby and airdropping instead of random spawning making for a fairer experience). The rivalry is pretty close to that of Player Unknowns Battlegrounds and Fortnite.
• High-Tier Scrappy: Due to the 2D nature of the game, shotguns are rendered really powerful, as they are capable of one-tapping unaware players via ambushes (which the game heavily rewards you for doing). Rapid-fire shotguns are particularly powerful with this.
• Low-Tier Letdown: Pistol weapons are almost universally this, as they are often common early-game weapons with low damages and a terrible range. Even the more viable combinations and pistols are heavily burdened (P 30 L has a low damage compared to other late-game items which this gun is designed for, Deagle has a terribly limited ammunition supply, and Dual Peacemakers and Glock 18Cs having restrictive reload times.)
  • The M1911 is the absolute embodiment of this trope, as it is debatably the worst weapon in the game. It is the only weapon unable to kill a completely helpless, unarmoured, and defenceless player with a full magazine (even the weak M9 can do so), uses the less common 45. ACP ammo, and is overshowed even by other 45. ACP guns like the Peacemaker and M 1 A 1.
• Scrappy Mechanic: Players often express disdain at the headshot mechanic, which gives each shot a 15% chance of dealing increased damage. Its detractors claim that it adds a significant amount of randomness to the game, such as potentially turning a shotgun attack into a One-Hit Kill. Making this worse is the developers' strong insistence on not removing the mechanic, even after a poll showed that a large majority of players oppose it.
• Scrappy Weapon: The OTs-38, dual-wielded OT-38s with a suppressor attachment. The OT-38 is already considered one of the weakest guns in the game, but the OTs-38 makes it worse by being exclusively available through golden airdrop crates, which tend to contain the rarest and most powerful weapons in the game. Getting what amounts to a slight upgrade to a weak gun is very frustrating since it means you didn't get something like the M249 or AWM-S.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Ever since Kongregate took over production of the game in 2020, the game has seen a massive fall in playerbase and general likeability. Much of this hate is directed towards Kongregate with many users arguing that Kongregate is "killing" Surviv.io, making the game look "childish" and adding content that doesn't fit the game. Kongregate has also received massive amounts of flak for introducing microtransactions and the extreme lack of updates (as of end-May 2022, the last major update to alter the game was in 2020.)