Bot Royale Updates

First: Thank you, Respawn, for continuing to make changes to bot royale. The effort doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Second: This season's update, unless I'm very much mistaken, put a significantly higher level of magnetism on the bots, both friendlies and enemies. I get that the purpose is to move things along by making engagements easier to find. I get that you believe this is what all players want in any game mode. Hence Wildcard. Hence the changes in Bots. A noble purpose.

But there are several issues that arise with this new mechanic.

First, squadmates are now far more likely to run off on their own seeking engagement. The player chases after them or leaves them to their own impetuous doom. Friendlies, imo, should magnetize to their live teammate, not to enemies. Sure, bots running off to their inevitable doom makes the mode a lot like trios with live teammates, and sure, at least in bots I can and will win without them. But it's still a frustration.

Second, squadies running off and dying are frustrating enough, but the enemies homing in on me are even more irritating. Not because they're unbeatable. They're not. But because my entire play style is built around controlling my pace of place by careful positioning based on where I know enemies will not be. That becomes very hard to do when I know that enemies will be wherever I go. It makes it hard to practice rotations and placement when I'm constantly having to wipe enemies that I would prefer to have wipe each other or at least leave until the end of the match.

Third, these constant forced engagements have another side effect, which is much faster matches. With no real ability to distance or pace, the matches are over too soon. Already a problem with a mere seven enemy squads on a truncated map with a shortened timer. One of the big benefits of bots previously was that I had much higher odds of finding preferred weapons and attachments. Now there simply isn't enough time. One is forced to fight with whatever is at hand almost as if a bad jump master forced a hot drop. More like live enemy matches? Sure. Desirable? Maybe to some though not to me.

None of these changes presents a problem that can't be overcome if the only goal of the player is to win. But winning is a foregone conclusion. So the real meat of the mode is, in my opinion, what happens between the drop and the win. Right now what's happening is that you're trying to move things along as if the timer and the closing circle wasn't already enough. Have you been getting a lot of feedback from bot royale players saying that the mode was too slow? That enemies were too hard to find? That preferred kit is more a hinderance than a help? Somehow I'm doubting this. I'm doubting that very many people use the mode at all apart from me. I'm guessing that whoever is in charge of the mode is assuming that whatever is good for live matches must also be good for bots. Respectfully, I disagree.

Not sure how much coding it would involve, but here's a thought. Just as we have a menu that allows the player to choose difficulty, we could have a menu that would allow the player to choose what enemies will magnetize to: Circle; POI within the next circle; live player; nearest available target.

Also: instead of just one difficulty slider, you could have one slider for enemy movement difficulty and a separate slider for enemy shot accuracy. They are, after all, two very different skill sets, and real players are often good at one and less good at the other. Independent adjustability would allow the live player a lot of opportunity for more meaningful practice. As would a full map, full timer, and more enemy squads.

Food for thought.