1st impressions from a non-BR / love-FPS player

Background: (TL;DR - I'm old, have kids, don't play BR games, Apex looked cool)

I'm a 37 year old PC gamer who has been playing FPS games for over 20 years.  I used to be REALLY good but my reaction times have slowed over the years. I have 2 kids, both who I PC game with. Mostly Overwatch, and we love that game.

Like most dads, I had watched my kids discover Fortnite. Fun concept, first real accessible BR game IMO. I played it a little, won a couple games, meh. They loved it, but eventually got tired of it.  

When Apex Legends came out, I thought it looked cool and wanted to give it a try.  I never really got in to BR games as they were never fast paced enough for me.  It only took a handful of Fortnite games to spend 15 minutes each time looting up to die from out of nowhere, game over.  I just didn't have patience I guess... whatever.

First thoughts: (TL;DR - no frickin' solo mode wtf? Oh...)

I fired up my first game and I was very taken aback by the lack of a solo mode. I thought it was a monumental mistake to force squads... There's pressure in a team environment, especially when trying to learn something new.  First drop, level 1, dude on my team starts calling me and our other partner names, etc, trash, pleb, idiots, etc.. I made him feel bad and he apologized, but whatever.  After figuring out the PING system, and the hero synergies, I realized why they started with 3 man mode... to force us to learn some of the best things about this game.... ping/classes etc.  Anyway, played a few matches and logged out for a few weeks, thought I would never go back.  If I could play by myself though....

Second thoughts: (TL;DR - OK this game is pretty cool...)

After watching some RaggTagg (one of my favorite Youtubers), some Dr. Disrespect and Shroud, etc, I saw how much fun they had in the game. I decided to give it another go.  I played for about 5 hours this last Saturday and, despite not winning a round (got 2nd once and 3rd once I think), I had a blast.  I got matched up with people who typically were either silent, or nice and helpful. Got a few kills too! 

Suggestions from an old man: (TL;DR - nothing new here probably, just some tired opinions)

The practice area is helpful once or twice, but I think there needs to be a mode where we can join the map with friends or by yourself and mess around together to learn the weapons, the moving around, find favorite places, experiment with loot, etc.  The only time I really had fun in Fortnite with my kids was in creative mode where we went those 2 vs. me, or just got to explore around and have fun.  It would be a way for me to get my kids in to the game - they currently don't want to even try it. (ages 9 and 11, surprisingly good at vid games) I also have friends with short attention spans (short rage timers) so if we go in once or twice and they get killed without getting a kill, it's game over for them and they will never come back.  There's a lot of loot box money in those pockets too btw.

There needs to be a solo mode.  Now that most people have played the team aspect of the game and learned the ping system and class system, I think they should put one in.  There's a certain mood I have to be in to interact with randos if friends are not around.. and a much more common mood for me where I just want to do my own thing. Go where I want to go. At my own pace. No flames for dying, etc.

Other modes, too.  I'm sure stuff is planned (I hope so!).  Team deathmatch would be fun.  I know I've seen posts about that stuff so I won't go in to details but hopefully ya'll agree.

I think that there needs to be a hidden MMR system in the works or something.. ranks, I don't know.  When I go in at level 9 with 11 kills or whatever I have, and it shows the leader from last game "6000 kills, 232 wins, blah blah", you get that feeling like "Oh god well there's probably not a chance here." Yeah yeah, a part of me wants to take on the challenge, but, I mean, I haven't even shot all the guns in-game yet.  Put me in with some people who are a LITTLE closer in skill / experience.. I think that would enhance the beginning experience, and make the pros/streamers really work for it! 

Make all the guns some-what acceptable.  It seems like there's a handful of great ones, a ton of OK ones, and a couple that you're almost better off punching than using.  

What I really like:

The controls feel really good.  The game is responsive.  The graphics are amazing.  The PING system is super legit.  I love the class system, esp. being a huge Overwatch fan.. I haven't learned all the nuances yet but it's pretty good so far.  I think Solo mode would work too.. even if everyone eventually picks the same hero, no big deal! Even make the solo mode an 'arcade' type mode or something and leave the squads of 3 the main / competitive game. I dunno.  

In conclusion:

In my opinion it's by far the best BR game out there.  Take care of the cheaters I keep hearing about, keep adding stuff and some other modes, go cross platform, and I could see this game being one of the top dogs for awhile.