I’ve spent some time reflecting on our discussion. It seems we’ve reached a common understanding regarding the complexities of Matchmaking in Unranked and Ranked modes, so I’d like to move past that.
Instead, I want to focus on Bot Royale—specifically for those of us who simply want to introduce the game we love to our friends. I want to share a story about my friend, 'C'.
In our group of long-time friends, only Friend A and I are experienced Apex players. We’ve been trying our best to welcome Friend B and Friend C into the Outlands as newcomers. C, in particular, genuinely loves Apex—the theme, the characters, and especially the top-tier Gunplay.
Now, let me be clear: C is capable of playing Unranked or even Ranked matches. She understands the mechanics, but after a long, exhausting day at work, she finds those modes far too stressful. She just wants Apex to be her 'safe space' to unwind. She isn't a hardcore FPS pro, but she loves how this game feels. She wants to play 'chill,' complete her Daily Challenges, progress through the Battle Pass, and admire the skins she collects. She is exactly the kind of loyal, long-term player and customer that any live-service game should strive to protect.
However, she became a victim of the current system. Instead of a sanctuary, she was repeatedly hunted down by Master and Diamond-level players who entered her Bot Royale lobbies. And the worst part? She was even T-bagged and mocked by these high-level players in a mode meant for practice. It’s heartbreaking that even in Bot Royale, she can't escape being ridiculed while just trying to finish her Battle Pass quests or practice with weapons she isn't familiar with.
After being 'stomped' and mocked match after match, she felt discouraged and hasn't logged in for a month. Her parting words to me were: 'When I can finally practice and relax in a true Bot Royale (100% Bots), I’ll come back to play, finish my quests, and buy all those skins I’ve been eyeing.'
She is still waiting for that change because she truly loves this game, but I’m honestly terrified that this change might never come. Is it possible for a 100% Private Bot Royale to be an 'Option' that we can choose? Sometimes we just want a place to relax after work, or a space where players like C can practice with weapons they aren't comfortable with yet, without the fear of being mocked by strangers.
I truly hope the developers realize that by letting this 'broken promise' and toxic interference persist, they are driving away the very players who are ready to love and invest in this community long-term. I don't want technical excuses—I just want a sustainable way for us to share this game with the people we care about.
A couple of things here really hit home.
I'm currently going through the same thing that your friend C is, except I'm doing it in Marathon. Which it turns out I hate. Oh well. It's just another sweaty shooter with no space to learn other than by abject and repeated failure for someone else's benefit. So that's been shelved indefinitely.
I truly believe that most of these games are built and run by people who love and live and breathe the shooter genre. And they all of them came of age in the era of team-based multiplayer games. For me it started with Halo 2 and Xbox Live, and I bet that's an experience a lot of these devs could relate to. And sadly it's locked them into a way of looking at their own games where they see it as one thing and one thing only: a team-based multiplayer shooter. Halo is now 26 years old and it still hasn't grown beyond team slayer in any meaningful way. CoD at least bought into battle royale as a game mode. But most of these titles are still all about the team, and they are all about player vs. player. Even Respawn has said that they view bots as a mode for warm up or wind down. Before or after a grind session. And that's the problem right there. They need to stop designing the mode around how they think people will use it, and start making it completely use-agnostic so that any individual player can use it in whatever way they want and for whatever purpose they want.
Player vs. Player is not the answer to all shooter questions, Respawn. It just isn't.
Thank you so much, You captured exactly what’s missing in modern shooters. The phrase 'Use-Agnostic' is perfect.
As for Marathon, that was actually a game my group of friends was considering! But hearing your experience definitely gives us pause (lol)—thanks for the heads-up. We might have to reconsider that one.
I also really appreciate you understanding C. She’s quite sensitive about being mocked or ridiculed for not being 'good enough,' which is why the toxic interference in Bot Royale hit her so hard. She just wants to enjoy the world of Apex at her own pace without that fear hanging over her.
At the end of the day, we are just a group of working adults who happened to fall in love with Apex Legends (lol). Our skills might not be what they were in our younger days, but we certainly have more purchasing power now. We still find ourselves browsing through skins, admiring the designs, and wanting to own them. But right now, B and C are hesitating to invest because of the current state of the game.
Respawn shouldn't decide how we use Bot Royale. Whether it’s for warming up, practicing a new gun, or simply enjoying the game's beauty after a long day at work without being someone else's 'target practice,' that choice should belong to us.
Is there any way we can actually get our voices heard by the Devs regarding this Private Bot Royale? I truly hope they hear your closing words: PvP is not the answer to all shooter questions, Respawn. It just isn't.
