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BinGeHD's avatar
7 years ago

A very simple method to greatly reduce hacking...

TL;DR - why not toss players who purchase 20 USD or more of microtransactions in to a prime matchmaking que? I haven't spent money on this game yet, and I would do it knowing that Respawn will put me in higher quality games.

Hi guys.

I come from the Starcraft II generation of gamers. Let me preface this post by saying, I never once encountered a hacker from China for Starcraft II. I will now explain how this relates to the global Apex Legends scene.

I haven't touched SC2 since 2016, now the game is free to play, and it is very possible that the hacker numbers have skyrocketed as a result. However, I will outline the fundamentals behind why there were no hackers from China in the game back when I was active from 2011-2016 - and, yes, I played on the China server quite frequently. Please note I am also not stating that hacking didn't exist. The NA  and KR servers were a bit rampant in late 2014 going in to 2015 as well, but nowhere near as bad as Apex Legends in Asia is right now.

1) In China, there was a monthly subscription model (2 USD / month) for Starcraft II until February of 2012. After February of 2012 you could continue to follow a subscription model or you could just purchase a permanent account for 15 USD on the Chinese server.

2) Registering a Chinese battle.net account and topping up on battle.net points was a hassle that involved going through many 3rd party websites. This likely contributed to the barrier of entry for the Chinese market.

3) This is perhaps the most key detail: I never once encountered a hacker from China on the NA / EU / KR / SEA servers specifically due to the price difference between an American Starcraft II account and a Chinese starcraft II account (39.99 vs 15 USD). Key detail II: There were still many Chinese players who purchased accounts for the Korean server (at roughly 39.99 USD) in 2011-2012 so that they could specifically play against / practice against the world's strongest players. Even today you will find Chinese Starcraft II pro gamers playing on the Korean server to stay at the top of their game.

I like the idea of grouping players who pay 20 USD or more in microtransactions in to a prime matchmaking que or grant us a pass to a "prime server". I haven't spent money on this game yet and I would be willing to if it would guarantee me a better matchmaking experience.

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