after 7+ years? E-District everywhere, broken matchmaking, lazy recolors

Title: 7+ YEARS LATER: Server/netcode issues, absurd matchmaking, E-District everywhere, endless recolors and Axle

I’ve been playing Apex Legends since day one in 2019.

More than seven years.

I genuinely love the core gameplay of Apex. I wouldn’t still be playing after all this time if I didn’t.

But at this point there are several things about this game that are honestly becoming ridiculous, and the biggest one isn’t a Legend, a weapon, a map or even matchmaking.

It’s the networking and server experience.

THE SERVERS / NETCODE SHOULD BE THE #1 PRIORITY

How is this STILL one of the biggest complaints after more than seven years?

Respawn’s own published technical deep dive stated that Apex servers operate at 20Hz, meaning the server simulates the game world once every 50 milliseconds.

Unless this has since changed without being properly communicated, how are we still accepting this in one of the fastest and most mechanically demanding competitive shooters on the market?

Apex is a game built around:

• extremely fast movement
• tracking
• strafing
• sliding
• tap-strafing
• rapid direction changes
• precise gunplay
• relatively long TTK

And yet the networking experience regularly feels like it belongs to a completely different generation of FPS games.

How many times do players have to experience:

Getting shot after already reaching cover.

Closing a door and dying through it anyway.

Seeing shots connect but getting inconsistent hit registration.

Feeling like the enemy had noticeably more time to react than you did.

Getting packet loss, prediction errors or random server problems despite having an otherwise perfectly stable connection.

Before networking becomes an absolute top priority?

And yes, I understand that networking is more complicated than simply saying:

“20Hz bad, 60Hz good.”

Ping matters. Jitter matters. Packet loss matters. Lag compensation matters. The replication model matters. Netcode matters.

But that’s exactly the point.

After SEVEN YEARS, I don’t care which individual component needs to change.

Improve the entire experience.

Look at Counter-Strike 2.

Valve introduced a sub-tick system specifically so the server can know the precise moment important actions such as movement and firing occur instead of relying purely on traditional tick boundaries.

I’m not saying Apex needs to copy Counter-Strike’s architecture.

I’m saying a competitive FPS should make shooting another player feel as immediate, accurate and trustworthy as technically possible.

When I lose a fight, I want to think:

“He was better than me.”

Not:

“What the hell did the server just decide happened?”

That distinction is MASSIVE in a competitive shooter.

Players can tolerate losing.

What gets incredibly frustrating is losing when what happened on your screen doesn’t seem to match what the server decided happened.

You can release new Legends, heirlooms, events, Battle Passes and $20 skins forever.

But none of that matters if the FOUNDATION of the game sometimes feels unreliable.

If there’s one area of Apex where I would happily see a massive amount of development resources invested, it’s this.

E-DISTRICT EVERYWHERE

Then we have E-District.

I’m adding my voice to the enormous number of players who absolutely cannot stand this map.

I hate playing it.

And apparently it isn’t enough for it to simply be part of the rotation.

There are times when I open Apex and somehow:

Ranked: E-District

Battle Royale/Pubs: E-District

Wildcard: E-District

Seriously?

You created multiple game modes and somehow managed to make ALL OF THEM offer the same map at the same time.

If somebody doesn’t want to play E-District, what exactly is the alternative?

Close Apex?

Great game design.

I don’t expect every map to be my favourite. Obviously different people enjoy different maps.

But the rotations should be staggered so there is ALWAYS another option.

Having one controversial map active across practically every major mode simultaneously is absurd.

MATCHMAKING IS STILL A JOKE

Then there is matchmaking.

I genuinely don’t understand how the skill disparity in some Apex lobbies can possibly be considered acceptable.

I solo queue and get random teammates who can finish an entire fight with something like 30 damage.

Meanwhile I’m fighting players with Master/Predator badges who beam people from ridiculous distances, have insane movement and look like they’re warming up for ALGS.

I’m watching enemies spray me from ridiculous range with an R-99 while tap-strafing around the fight…

…while my random teammate seems to be discovering what his tactical ability does.

How are these players being placed in the SAME lobby?

And before somebody says:

“Skill issue.”

That’s literally my point.

If somebody is significantly better than me, PUT THEM AGAINST PEOPLE OF THEIR SKILL LEVEL.

And if somebody is significantly worse than me, don’t throw them onto my team and expect that to somehow create a balanced match.

Surely we have enough information available after seven years to produce reasonably balanced skill brackets.

K/D.

Recent performance.

MMR.

Rank.

Win rate.

Damage.

Accuracy.

Whatever combination statistically creates fair matches.

Use it.

I would happily sit in matchmaking for another 30–60 seconds if it means getting a lobby where teammates and opponents are at least somewhere within the same universe of ability.

Queue speed should not be more important than match quality.

THE STORE HAS BECOME A RECOLOR FACTORY

Then we get to the Store.

What happened to creativity?

Seriously.

At this point the cosmetic development process sometimes feels like:

Step 1: Find an old skin.

Step 2: Change red to blue.

Step 3: Put it back in the Store.

Step 4: Charge money.

Step 5: Repeat forever.

Recolor.

Recolor.

Recolor of a recolor.

Then another recolor six months later.

This is one of the largest live-service shooters in the world.

Where are the genuinely crazy skins?

Where are the designs where I open the Store and immediately think:

“Holy **bleep**, whoever designed this absolutely cooked.”

Give the artists freedom to create something completely new.

New models.

New concepts.

Crazy themes.

Something we’ve never seen before.

Because charging premium prices while repeatedly recycling old cosmetic designs starts feeling less like premium content and more like somebody discovered the Hue/Saturation slider.

I WANT to see a skin so good that I actually WANT to spend money on it.

Give me a reason.

AXLE’S KICKSTART IS STILL ABSURD

And then there’s Axle.

Specifically Kickstart.

Yes, I know it’s already received balance changes.

It still feels ridiculous.

In a 1v1, an Axle with her Ultimate available can create an insane advantage.

The drone follows you.

You have to deal with it while also fighting Axle.

And Axle herself has the mobility from Nitro Gate to stay on you.

So what exactly is the counterplay supposed to be?

Shoot Axle and get hit by the drone?

Stop shooting Axle and concentrate on the drone while she shoots you?

Run away while fighting one of the Legends specifically equipped with excellent mobility?

Fantastic choices.

An Ultimate can obviously be powerful.

That’s why it’s an Ultimate.

But powerful and oppressive are not the same thing.

There needs to be meaningful counterplay.

Make the drone easier to destroy.

Reduce its ability to chase/reacquire targets.

Reduce how punishing it is when it connects.

Give players SOME meaningful way to outplay it besides simply abandoning the fight.

When I can put an enormous amount of damage into an incoming ability — even using something as powerful as a Kraber — and still feel like the ability has more control over the fight than my actual gun does, something isn’t right.

Even Respawn’s own balance discussions have acknowledged that Kickstart can be too oppressive.

Please keep adjusting it.

AFTER SEVEN YEARS, I JUST WANT THE FOUNDATION TO BE GOOD

The frustrating part is that underneath all of this is still an incredible game.

Apex has some of the best movement and gunplay I’ve ever experienced in an FPS.

That’s precisely why these problems annoy me so much.

I’ve been here since Season 0.

I WANT Apex to succeed.

But please prioritize the things that actually determine whether playing the game feels good:

Fix/improve the networking experience.

Give us reliable, responsive gunfights.

Stop synchronizing the same map across every mode.

Prioritize match quality over instant queue times.

Give us genuinely creative cosmetics instead of endless recolors.

Give oppressive abilities meaningful counterplay.

I don’t need another recolored skin.

I don’t need another overpriced bundle.

I don’t need another event Store.

I want to launch Apex, get a sensible map choice, enter a reasonably balanced lobby, shoot somebody and trust that the server accurately registered what happened.

After more than seven years, that really shouldn’t be too much to ask.