Horrible teammates

@GlitchlnTheVoid MM is rigged , "SB" is just a Marketing lie

@GlitchlnTheVoid

I'm 100% with you on how frustrating this is. But I don't think the dev is doing this to annoy us. I believe the idea is that a lobby where 15 squads are all beginners and 5 are experienced players... is going to play out exactly how you would imagine. But if you mix up the squads where most of them are a pair of novices and someone with more experience, then you MIGHT have a situation where the newer players learn from the older, and outcomes MIGHT be more balanced. Obviously this is not the reality, but I really believe that it is the intention.

The real problem is "solo queueing in a team game." The real problem is "a game with a too-wide skill gap." The real problem is "bad matchmaking." The real problem is "smurfs." The real problem is "not matching based on playstyle." I could go on all day.

@reconzero There actually isn't that wide of a skillgap. What we have is a "cheater gap". A large percentage of players in this game are cheating, from level 150 to MOST predator players being cheaters. The twitch apologists will come out and try to do some mental gymnastics about why their favorite streamer is the best in the game... but it doesn't logically make any sense.

The same few hundred people every. single. season. come out at the very top of the predator lists despite the fact that millions of people have played this game - with half a million on peak load play this game regularly. The bottom of the pred list shifts, but the same individuals are able to outclass just about everybody all of the time. That's not possible in a BR game which is inherently built upon "randomness" and which has so many disqualifying "issues" such as audiobugs and server problems.

The occam's razor explanation is that most players who win more than they lose at the far end of a deviation bell-curve are cheating. There's nothing to this game that makes it inherently different than any other shooting game. You can't say your aim in Apex is better than in MW2, because all the stuff you're going to say is different would be learnable within a couple hundred hours of gameplay (if you were actually that good). Moreover, Apex has built in junk that makes it nearly impossible to hit shots as well as some of these cheaters do, such as situations which you literally can't see anything on screen because there is smoke, some kind of flash animation going on, bushes, etc. the screen shakes violently whenever all sorts of stuff happens - grenades, getting shot, running, care package landing, smoke going off, traps, you name it - there are a huge myriad of reasons that it literally doesn't make sense how people make these shots.

More importantly, we have BUILT IN cheating with controller and console crossplay. Most "pros" have switched to controller or have teams built out with one or more controller players to cover for their aimbot. Yes, they are using controller AND aimbot. It's not possible for you to pick up a controller after not having any experience with it and within a hundred hours be top Pred again. Not possible. That would be like me being at expert racing level after just learning how to drive a stick shift in a car. Not possible. I might be rapidly progressing, but I cannot be an expert with such little time played. Yet, we have seen this on stream a few times with notable high level players.

I do agree with your assessment about bad matchmaking, and the rest of what you say about smurfing, and especially allowing solo queueing in a team game without offering a solo-only mode. meaning a mode which is built strictly of three-person teams only solo-queuers.

@Str8UpD0gwater

I try not to be a conspiracy theorist but you make several compelling arguments.

I think what it all seems to come back to is the very unhealthy nature of the relationship between the game and its most visible players, meaning the streamers/masters/predators. It has always been a frustration to me that the people who are in fact the very worst thing for the game are viewed by the developer as the very best thing. Or at least as a necessary evil. They allow them to cheat, to smurf, and to create all manner of unreasonable expectations in the minds of rank-and-file kids who play the game. And very possibly inspire those same kids to cheat as well. And all for views. There never was a sport that wasn't poisoned by popularity and "professionalism" so I guess there's no reason why videogames should be any different.

@PeterN_UK

Loved the whole post. 100% on target.

What I'm curious about though is the assertion that while Tokyo server players are more team-oriented and more polite, "they play way too passively." What do you mean by that? Please describe.

@reconzero I noticed they tend to play more slowly, spend more time looting and not actually engage unless really favourable, not taking risks. I thought I was playing rainbow siege. But they don't 1v3, literally it's like the squad is waiting for someone to volunteer to lead.

However this was 14-15 months ago. I would of carried on but language barrier means can't communicate anything outside of ping system and it's more frustrating to die after 10 mins looting. At least in EU/NA servers 1-2 mins looting and it is straight into the action.

Tokyo server is not an easier server for sure, but at least team mates are polite in loot share and not shouting at you.

Kind of liked it but then because of high pings I stopped, weird things start happening like I am getting beamed and not take any damage and then my gun fire misses hit registration.