An Unlikely Civil Discussion about Solo Mode
I'd like to throw my worthless hat into the ring and say my peace about the team element in Apex Legends. I will list, in as succinct a way as possible, my gripes with the team component and why solo mode should be introduced ASAP.
- I enjoy every element of the game except the team-play, and in no way want to rely on others for my happiness with the game. This includes, but is certainly not limited to:
- Having to make sure that others find suitable weapons and armour early on
- Deciding on where to go, and then inevitably getting split up and having to back-track because everyone wants to be independent
- Having the wannabe shroud run in and try and take on 2 teams by themselves only to die, d/c, and leave me another another to fend for ourselves
- Basically, everything that involves not having your own agency within the game and having your game directly affected by others of your own team
- The faults within playing in teams is numerous and includes, but again is very much not limited to, the following:
- Some people are just inherently toxic and will grief, be profane, ditch the team, or d/c when they don't get their way (pick of their character, etc.)
- Many players, anecdotally about 80% of the players in my teams, do not have a microphone and/or lack the ability to communicate efficiently in game
- Being matched with players of a skill level below you will result in you having to baby-sit another player as they absorb a bukkakes' worth of bullets and just leave when downed
- When matched with a premade team of two you are pretty much third-wheeling on their date, and will likely have to follow along and take orders from the majority
- Playing with friends, or making new friends in game, only marginally increases the positives of team-play. Most of the time the underlying faults remain.
- And lastly, the contention that you are at a severe disadvantage when in a random-group that is up against a premade team cannot be waved away. Some might say 'pfft make a group then' and will have completely missed the point. To those who can rub two brain cells together can understand why this is an inherent problem that has absolutely 0 in-game solutions. There's no 'stay in same group' option, there's no proper MMR matchmaking system, hell, there isn't even an 'add friend' option within the game. But even if all those things were there, there will still be groups out there stranded with 2 other random players facing all the issues listed above.
Now, no more descriptive because it's time to get prescriptive. Firstly, this game is great because of it's core gameplay sans team-component - the guns feel great, the movement is fun, the character classes are unique and fun to the BR formula, and the quick from start-to-game time is terrific, the map design is fantastic, and all of this leads to you always being in the action. KEEP ALL OF THIS. However, you can very easily, including keeping the classes as are, just simply release an option for a solo-mode. So easy, right?
Firstly, people will choose whatever classes they want to play, and while this of course will result in some falling to the wayside, it would still work - and, at worst, can be tweaked along the way. Secondly, I'm sure that Respawn and EA might not have thought this game would be as much a hit as it is and figured that the player count might be too divided if both modes were released simultaneously - guess what? Your game is a smash and you have enough players. Lastly, there is, as far as I can tell without having Respawn's statistics on player counts and feedback, no downsides to releasing a solo mode. To those who want to play as a team, more power to you! Don't hate on those of us who want a solo experience as well.
tl;dr - solo mode will not negative affect those of you who want to play in teams, but will give an option to those of us who see a problem with the team component to enjoy the game
/rant.
