S21 - The State of The Game
Honestly, it's barely playable. I'm not one to call a game dead, even if the game happens to have no players, however Apex is on a fast track to being a "dead game", more so than many players already...
Forum Discussion
@Midnight9746
This is a pretty good (and damning) critique of where we stand at this particular moment in time.
But one of my take aways here is that so many of the things you're calling out are things that honestly affect the top ten or maybe twenty percent of players, that I'm pretty sure the majority of players, who wallow around below the level of, say, gold or low platinum, are really not experiencing the game in the same way that you are.
Yes, the cheating is on fire, but if you're a gold level player then how many of these people do you really see on a regular basis? A few, I'm sure, as they rocket by you on their way to wherever it is they're going. But they just aren't a daily game feature. I'm not saying they're aren't evil, and I'm not saying they don't matter, and I'm not saying they shouldn't burn in hell just because they only ruin the experience of diamond level players. I guess what I'm saying is that the dev's reaction to the problem is slow because they probably don't know what to do about it, AND because they have no sense of urgency in addressing something that might cause them to lose a few higher-tier players who have already probably dumped as much money into the game as they're likely to.
And this same principle applies to teaming, to the entire aim assist debate, and to a lot of other facets of the game: they're diamond problems. Again, not trying to be dismissive. But if you're in a gold lobby you're not seeing the teaming, and you don't notice aim assist because your engagements are often ended by a margin greater than the advantage aa can provide to a top tier player, and so you can't know the difference between aa and someone who is just good at aiming and working their way over you in the ranks.
And the smurfing problem is as old as time itself. It cripples every single shooter that lasts more than 12 or 18 months, and devs could switch it off tomorrow if they wanted to, and they never do. Ever. In any game I've ever played. The "new player" numbers make them look good and that's more important than any degree of toxicity they introduce to sbmm. It's just an immutable fact of gaming.
Well, this all sounds so much more defeatist than I meant for it to. Probably because I've never played any game over two years old where the wheels weren't coming off the bus. At five years old it's a miracle anything at all still works in this game. One thing is still true that's always been true: getting good at a game seems like a natural and desirable goal, but all it does is make you the canary in the coal mine. When crap goes sideways you'll be the first to know, and you'll wish you didn't.
This is a pretty good (and damning) critique of where we stand at this particular moment in time.
But one of my take aways here is that so many of the things you're calling out are things that honestly affect the top ten or maybe twenty percent of players, that I'm pretty sure the majority of players, who wallow around below the level of, say, gold or low platinum, are really not experiencing the game in the same way that you are.
Yes, the cheating is on fire, but if you're a gold level player then how many of these people do you really see on a regular basis? A few, I'm sure, as they rocket by you on their way to wherever it is they're going. But they just aren't a daily game feature. I'm not saying they're aren't evil, and I'm not saying they don't matter, and I'm not saying they shouldn't burn in hell just because they only ruin the experience of diamond level players. I guess what I'm saying is that the dev's reaction to the problem is slow because they probably don't know what to do about it, AND because they have no sense of urgency in addressing something that might cause them to lose a few higher-tier players who have already probably dumped as much money into the game as they're likely to.
And this same principle applies to teaming, to the entire aim assist debate, and to a lot of other facets of the game: they're diamond problems. Again, not trying to be dismissive. But if you're in a gold lobby you're not seeing the teaming, and you don't notice aim assist because your engagements are often ended by a margin greater than the advantage aa can provide to a top tier player, and so you can't know the difference between aa and someone who is just good at aiming and working their way over you in the ranks.
And the smurfing problem is as old as time itself. It cripples every single shooter that lasts more than 12 or 18 months, and devs could switch it off tomorrow if they wanted to, and they never do. Ever. In any game I've ever played. The "new player" numbers make them look good and that's more important than any degree of toxicity they introduce to sbmm. It's just an immutable fact of gaming.
Well, this all sounds so much more defeatist than I meant for it to. Probably because I've never played any game over two years old where the wheels weren't coming off the bus. At five years old it's a miracle anything at all still works in this game. One thing is still true that's always been true: getting good at a game seems like a natural and desirable goal, but all it does is make you the canary in the coal mine. When crap goes sideways you'll be the first to know, and you'll wish you didn't.
@reconzero I understand what you're saying, but this isn't a "diamond and higher only" problem, its affecting the whole playerbase.
If you were to create a brand new account, you'll most likely get the exact same players in your matches right after the orientation matches.
Smurfs, cheaters, bots, they affect all modes at any "skill level", and a lot of them keep their rank around bronze to be in the lower lobbies, which then affects players lower than diamond.
@WTF_Huitzo There's a ton of cheaters from other regions, not just China.
If you were to create a brand new account, you'll most likely get the exact same players in your matches right after the orientation matches.
Smurfs, cheaters, bots, they affect all modes at any "skill level", and a lot of them keep their rank around bronze to be in the lower lobbies, which then affects players lower than diamond.
@WTF_Huitzo There's a ton of cheaters from other regions, not just China.
- @Midnight9746
"If you were to create a brand new account, you'll most likely get the exact same players in your matches right after the orientation matches."
I'm on a five year old account, and while I don't know what my rank would be if I played ranked, I can say I'm certain it would be quite low (remedial accuracy and zero ability to play well with teammates would conspire to keep me well below the average). And I'm pretty sure a new account would get me the exact same quality of matches I have now - not the most brutal of lobbies. Most of the things on your list are things I'm exposed to occasionally or tangentially, but they're not the totality of my Apex experience. Far from. I'm not saying I love the matchmaking, or that there's no room for improvement. The cheaters and xp farmers are something I almost never see. The smurfs I see all the time, but after 20 years of Halo a 50% smurf lobby holds no fear for me.
All of which leads me to the conclusion that these problems, while very real, are also problems that only become truly untenable farther up the ladder than where I currently reside. Maybe I'm a worse player than even I realize, and I'm mostly hanging out in rookie lobbies, in which case I feel bad for the rookies, and you're right to say these problems are uniformly bad across the board. Or maybe I'm better than I realize and competent enough at the game to not feel the pain. Who knows? Anyway, those are just my observations.@reconzero Meanwhile after countless games and reviewing how the audio acts when getting killed by cheaters, I've concluded one thing. That is, cheaters will mostly have no audio.
When I'm fighting legit players, or at least those who seem to be using minor aimbot or strikepacks, I can hear them running around, using their abilities, etc. However, when its a cheater, I don't hear them OR their teammates, even if the teammates aren't cheating.
So the next time you hear no audio, chances are there's a cheater nearby.
This isn't just me assuming or guessing either. I've played games where I was able to hear what I was suppose to hear and then the moment I ran into the squad that was cheating and mowing down the lobby in that match, the audio went out the window and didn't come back until they squad wiped us.
Edited: I would like to know why masters/pred players are allowed to stay in lower ranks for so long, like at this point, isn't this considered smurfing? They also appears to be wall hacking, aimbotting, and using anti-recoil as well.
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