@A7RDFYeah, we'll hold on and try it some more into season 2 to see how the matchmaking goes. I will say if we have many more Apex sessions like we've had the past couple weekends then we'll be done with it. It's either loot in a low/no pressure area for 10 minutes and get smoked by our first encounter, go to a higher pressure area and get rocked whilst trying to engage in more battles to improve our skills (doesn't work), or some other strategy to try to overcome the huge skill level disparity.
There are some really cool randoms we've played with who were spectacular players and carried us to like the top 5, great teammates. But for every 1 of those great player/teammate types there have been probably 5-7+ who have left the match after seeing our stats (when we play as a party and solo), who leave the match when they get downed early, etc.
I get it, if I were really good and playing with randoms I wouldn't want to keep playing with novice players game after game. That would be just as frustrating as the position we're in..
So thats why it seems like the solution is better matchmaking to improve user experience for casual, semi competitive, and very competitive players. That will keep the game fun for all, decrease poor player conduct (leaving match before its over, even starts), and help new players get started with Apex.
And Btw, it's not rage quitting if we were to not play Apex any longer. It'd be moving on to some other game that is fun since that is the point of games in general, to have fun. "Fun" is different for everyone, but I can tell you it's not fun playing a game that you have almost zero chance to win, and slightly better odds to even be competitive.
To use an analogy, the Apex matchmaking we've experienced has been about like having a high school JV basketball team play against a division 1 team. Sometimes Apex throws one D1 basketball player onto the JV team to make it more competitive. NO FUN for anyone. Is your solution to tell the JV players to "keep playing against the D1 players, you'll eventually be able to compete."?? If you did that, almost all the JV players would stop playing...
@xIronFist42xThis is genuine info from someone who leaves once I establish I'm going to get 0 cooperation from team-mates. You'll forgive any assumptions here I hope, as this advice is for someone who might be a lot newer than you two are. If so: apologies in advance for teaching you to suck eggs 🙂 Whilst I accept we were all new once and that there is a rich and varied tapestry of different play levels - if you're going to have a random in your group :
1) make sure you use voice chat so you can communicate. I'm less inclined immediately to help anyone when I see they're in private voice chat at the start of the game.
2)Don't panic loot everything - try to cultivate an awareness of what you actually need instead of grabbing everything to sort through at leisure - especially at the start of the game this will alienate more experienced team mates as that 20 light ammo you just grabbed for your havoc might be what keeps them alive :D
3) Show willing by sharing ammo/meds, especially at the start. I've left games before now when I've seen someone picking up literally 100+ of ammo while I'm on 17 and then refusing to drop any, especially when they're not the one plowing face-first into enemy teams. If someone is stood looking at a shield battery it means they're making space to collect it because it's more important than something they've already got, so don't slide between their legs and grab it.
4) Ping primary weapons that you're not going to grab at the start. If someone doesn't have armor yet - ping armor.
5) Communicate that you need someone to wait if you do, and explain why. Tell the guy running off what you're looking for if you're still looting. Chances are good that the person charging towards the noise at skulltown has enough that they can spare some. Better players will loot faster and more comprehensively as they know exactly what is enough for their first fight. If they didn't grab something you need, they'll probably remember which building it is in at your drop site.
My experience really is that I will stick around to the death for people who are trying to play WITH their team. You guys being a duo inviting someone in as your 3rd means there's a dynamic where if you don't include someone in your game, they'll be a crap team mate to you no matter how good they are as a player. If your 3rd gets the impression that they're only going to get ammo/meds etc by beating you to them, the whole thing becomes counterproductive. Most will just start sprinting off on their own to get ahead, some (like me) will just leave in search of greener pastures.
Everyone who queues solo accepts that they're just as likely to get into a game with people less experienced than them as not if they've played for an average amount of time. Everyone who has played a LOT knows that they're incredibly likely to get into a game with team mates who haven't played as much as them. When you see someone's banner you're waiting for them to confirm all your prejudices about how people with x, y, z stats play. If I see someone with 35 kills who picked my main whilst I was hovering over him, I'm waiting to see if the guy doesn't break off from jumpmaster and if he starts spamming the resource bin I just opened - I know who I'm dealing with then.
The way to avoid team-mates leaving is to avoid confirming that kind of prejudice. Some players will leave anyway if you use the legend they main. Some will drop solo and leave when they die as they're farming kills or whatever. Some won't wait to see if you're team players or not. Of the players you can realistically retain as team-mates - all we want to know is that you're team players.
Lastly : don't drop bunker 😛
In fact - this is the last thing, but probably should have been the first.
While you are new to the game or still building up to being a stronger player : always defer on character selection. At this stage in the game, it's been out long enough that there are a lot more experienced players than brand new ones I'd bet so there's a good chance that the guy hovering over Bangalore has a lot more kills than a newer player. The kill value itself isn't a big deal, as once you're into the thousands it really is about who plays more hours. But until you've played long enough (I'd say level 50-100 depending on your experience in FPS games) to really commit to a main if thats your thing : don't deny someone else theirs when the character you play is an arbitrary selection anyway. It immediately gets people who main a character off-side. I don't want to debate the ethics or culture around this - I'm just telling it as it is.
If you've decided to main someone and you're going to take them ahead of another guy on your team : just say that you've decided to main that character and that's the reason you're taking it. You've not just decided that you're playing that character for this game and to hell with anyone practising a main for more rigorous competition later.
I've got just over 11k kills on my main, and whilst I try to be the bigger person because not everyone is even aware of the culture around 'maining' a specific legend in Apex when they're new : it is aggravating to be bumped out of the way by someone who is literally rotating around the characters each game still to decide who they like. Those prejudices waiting to be confirmed from earlier - When someone decides "I don't care if this guy plays this legend primarily and I don't care that it makes no difference either way to me whether it's Path, Banga or Octane - I've decided that this game for no reason other than 'why not, YOLO' I'm playing it and nothing will change my mind" - it's a red flag. 9 times out of 10 this person will then either solodrop and die/quit instantly, or they'll be the kind of team mate who inhales every piece of loot within a 12 mile orbit.
@Anlbrd is there a way to get the players stats on the selection screen? Of the guy hovering over a particular legend?
I typically pick the legend I want in the lobby prior to the selection so everyone knows who has what legend before selecting.
If I know the player is rocking Bangalore , my main then it's pathfinder, then lifeline for me and is way better player I would definitely go with some other legend.
Again, not to beat a dead horse here, but better matchmaking would help this situation too.🙂
@xIronFist42xUnfortunately - there isn't a way to display your banner before character selection. I don't think more kills should mean you get the character by default. If someone had 50 kills but told me they were maining Pathfinder, unless they were incredibly unconvincing I'd just bite my tongue and go with it 🙂
I only say defer until you've decided on a 'main'. You'll know when this happens really. I played to a couple of hundred kills then switched main from Bloodhound to Pathfinder but I've played him ever since. If you gel with and want to practice a character to the exclusion of all others because you've found you naturally do better with that one - that's your main. If people throw a tantrum because they've got more kills : explain that you DO main the character, and everyone had to start maining him/her somewhere. People will be dubious until you've got a couple of hundred kills but only the most toxic would have a problem and start raging. In which case : they've confirmed the kind of team mate they are and you know to abandon any hope of them acting in good faith. Detach from jump master, party up with your daughter and play as though you're the only 2 in the game.
Re: the panic looting thing. I know it might feel like you have to do it, especially early on - but you'll find you play better and have better team synergy to try to get into good habits early, even with random unresponsive players. A lot of the time I've found randoms who do it will change their behaviour when you drop ammo and ping it infront of them. They realise "I don't have to just scoop up everything and hope I get it before them". Not all the time: but again, I'm only interested in playing WITH people. As soon as someone proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're not playing with me I either leave or go solo if I can lose them. Pathfinder main means I can get to areas that take them a long time to get to or just leave them in the dust to die.
I agree with you that the matchmaking needs to be a lot better, even in unranked. Personally I don't mind playing with more casual players that I wouldn't get to play with if there was more rigid matchmaking. A lot of players with massive kills got there because they're willing to play with people they don't like to do it - for them the social side to gaming is borderline non-existant in the context that I understand it through. I have to wade through game after game of garbage players, but I play with some people who by their own admission are bad at the game - but they're good folk and we have a laugh.
@Anlbrd Thanks for the genuine feedback and comments. Especially points 1 and 2.
When in a party we only allow communication within the party because I don't want someone raging whilst my daughter is listening. So we have to make sure to ping lots at the beginning to send out the "we're team players" impression.
Also, I do what you call "panic" loot at the beginning out of habit now. Mostly from playing with randoms who do the same and feel like if I dont theres a good chance I won't be ready for that first engagement. Seems like the better players do the same and then take off running. I've found the best strategy for me is to "panic" loot then drop extras after the inital battles. Never considered that sent the message of not being a team player to some, good to know.
That all said, I feel like we are good team players, probably above average from what I've experienced. We rarely leave a game, leave a player down, or not go for a teammates banner. We even stay in games when our party connection gets dropped from the lobby to the legend selection screen so as not to leave that squad at a disadvantage.
So I dont think people leaving our squad prematurely is from our lack of teamwork, it seems to be our lack of skill compared to the better players who leave wanting a better chance for a competitive match. Most people want a competitive match whatever the skill level, don't you think? Or do you like the mismatching if the skill and the challenge of carrying novice players?
Personally, I prefer mostly competitive games with a few really tough and easy matches sprinkled in. I realize this is a BR so wins are not the norm, I just want to be able to win a couple few battles before going down in a blaze of glory. Recent experience has been almost all really tough and brutal matches
i gotta be honest, i sued to do panic loot. I took 3 days to completely stick a finguer to whoever wanted it, and took my time taking a look at my loot, now i dont panic loot, what you saying the better players panic loot, they dont. they already know what they need or not depending on their loadout, so they just go and grab ONLY WHAT THEY NEED, making it look super fast, cuz they already got the info and knowledge. Also IF TYHEY ACCIDENTLY GRAB STUFF, YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT YOU CAN KEEP RUNNING, WHILE PRESSING TAB AND DROPPING STUFF,. That way you can get rid of the stuff u dont want and keep mving. You gotta be fast tho, other wise once you know, your team is in skull town and your finally decided what you dont need and you already arriving in the slums
@Anlbrd and @A7RDF ...maybe the good players are getting just what they need, REALLY FAST. Generally I try to loot in a different area than my squad mates while staying in the same proximity as my squad, when the situation allows, to avoid the intra-squad race for loot. I'll try to unlearn the "panic" method and get better at looting more judiciously 🙂
MATCHMAKING IS GARBAGE CAUSE OF THIS RANK SYSTEM !
I'm gold with 3k dmg badge, more than 6k kills and i got only plebs as mates. They are ranking up cause they are avoiding ALL FIGHT and they are bad as *.
Game deleted until you do something releveant and not a minecraft game.
@NeariXz thanks for confirming what makes total sense IMO: poor matchmaking in whatever format ruins the game experience for players of all skill levels!!
I totally understand why you wouldn't want to have me on your squad beings you'd be carrying me, and my daughter, the whole time!!
Not fun Apex dev, not fun :/
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