Every single time I think this is the new low...

Agree.

Ranked imo mattered when I started as only tool to separate players with skill gaps = when 1.5 tier difference was in place ensuring that e.g. me like Diamond+ never players gold players who are basically bots to me given the skill difference and effort they play vs how I play.

These days / after cancelling 1.5 tier protection, making major changes to matchmaking and even more so hacking issue - it does not mean anything besides:

• < Gold = casuals, not good players
• Plat = anything between legit good players returning from absence to blunt dumb ego cheaters
• Diamond+ = basically hackers only
• Masters/Preds = hackers that are tolerated by Respawn and not getting banned

Leader board that this point would make sense yet there is a big drawback for Respawn = leaderboard has limited opportunities to have any sort of badges :) and people here like badges. A LOT. Look at this BS with whever that glowing thing on legends backs are now these days...I saw it and my first thought legit was "if I can't turn it off, I will not play this game".

Expand on "rank... means nothing in a BR game."

Expand on why a leaderboard would have value when ranks don't.

I'm not baiting here. I pretty much agree with you, at least on the first part. I'd just like to know your thinking on the subject.

Yeah, the cheating is definitely out of control and is probably why most are leaving.  When I first started apex back in season 16 it was like you rarely even saw a cheater, and when you did it was a memorable rare occurrence.  Now, it feels like they have completely taken the game over.  You can go like 5 or 6 games in a row with cheater lobbies before getting one that is legit without people with aimbot and zero recoil.  If they can't stop all of these cheaters then they need to just legalize these boxes and hacks so that it is no longer cheating and everyone can have an equal chance.  Let's hope it gets better.  I think before they work on reworking maps like Olympus and developing new modes they need to get a handle on the cheater situation fast or the game will keep losing players.

i dont even play ranked anymore. I wish this game just had a leaderboard and removed rank. It means nothing in a BR game.

Well I waited in Q for ranked couple nights ago 10min! LTM has actual bots cuz there's not enough real players in game so the swansong of this game has started already all the legit players don't like it and OG one's flee long time ago. I have 12k hours in apex, also find it funny got banned like a week ago for sayin someone useless, instead of bannin without actual reason they should have take action against cheaters but its too late now game is already dead. I can pretty much agree all you said hands down. Worst season EVER and what comes to LTM 4k and 20bombs what are those? dont mean nothing anymore cuz they add bots!!! and u still able to get a badge KILLING BOTS!!!

Pre selected drop spots are just stupid specially in low rank games like I dont want to sit 37219013730 hours to loot like my fills I want instant action. Old olympus was great there was nothing wrong with it most players waited it to be in rotation to play ranked now its just trash. 

Most likely cuz they change tridents that no one asked for and screw up the audio on that too... I rarely even open entire game anymore. USED TO BE MY GO TO GAME. THANK GOD IM OVER IT

Agreed. Every single season I say, "This is awful, but it's okay because this is rock bottom - it can't get any worse." And then the new season comes around and, of course, it's worse. This season is horrible. And that's coming from a Valk main. I hate it. I hate everything they've done over the last five or six or seven seasons. And I STILL keep thinking, "This is unsustainable and they'll have to reverse course soon." Then they double down on whatever idiocy it was I was thinking of. It's insane.

The entire concept of legend balance is so far in the past now I almost can't remember what it was like to play the game when I knew what to expect from enemies and motion legends were something unique instead of every single legend on the field. LTM **bleep** shows continue unabated, and Wildcard, the one I played the most, is by far the worst. Take all the motion insanity we already have and then add speed boost and wall running. Not sure who thought that was a good idea, but it could only have been someone who plays with an aimbot. Fixed drops in ranked? I don't give a rat's **bleep** if it produces better distribution. You want better distribution? Then engineer it into the system instead of forcing everyone in the game into a homogenous play style. I'm not a pro or a streamer or a cheater and I think it's some pretty big balls on the part of the dev to expect normal players, the VAST MAJORITY of players, to do it the way they're told to do it instead of the way they want to do it. Honestly, it's infuriating. And I don't even know why. It isn't as if I EVER played much ranked at all. It just galls me on principle, I guess. And then there is the ongoing firestorm of cheaters and smurfs. It used to be that a legitimate average player was fairly well protected from cheaters, but now they all use secondaries to get at whoever is left that doesn't cheat. It's tragic. And if I was the dev I would find it embarrassing. But I suppose as long as they can keep cashing the checks....

I personally like the new Olympus map, feels better for how the New ranked drop is compared to the old one. But old Olympus was fine with the old battle bus meta and pubs. Cheaters and sound do need to be looked into heavily though 

All that aside, BUT, HOW did they manage to ruin sound even more? Today in ranked match, a full team ran me over with a trident like a drunk driver, and I DID NOT HEAR A THING!!