I only hear negative voices now around Apex…
Lots of people play Apex. Play count is up and down, we hit some lows in the early part of this season but to me that was the OW2/COD MWII/WZ2 effect. Player count is rising again as people move away...
Forum Discussion
@ChemicalRelay If you hear voices around Apex, that's probably a bad sign...
Seriously, though, is this so surprising? The game's Steam charts are continually descending, which means a large number of people aren't "still playing every day."
The ones who do come to the forums to say why they're not happy. Isn't that a good thing? Which is better for the company: that someone leaves without saying why or sticks around while saying why they're thinking of leaving?
People who enjoy the gameplay can still disagree with the direction the game is taking or its priorities. Also, you could say there's a big problem when a large number of people who used to play for hours every day for the fun of it now only log in for 30 minutes, finish the battle pass and then go on to a different game. That's not being negative, it's being realistic about the state of the game.
Take this collection event as a case in point. There's no doubt that something hugely different has happened: The devs have chosen to include recolors of past skins while charging a premium for them, something that hasn't happened before. The backlash is a direct result of this decision, not as if tons of players suddenly went from "love Apex" to "hate Apex" unprovoked.
Seriously, though, is this so surprising? The game's Steam charts are continually descending, which means a large number of people aren't "still playing every day."
The ones who do come to the forums to say why they're not happy. Isn't that a good thing? Which is better for the company: that someone leaves without saying why or sticks around while saying why they're thinking of leaving?
People who enjoy the gameplay can still disagree with the direction the game is taking or its priorities. Also, you could say there's a big problem when a large number of people who used to play for hours every day for the fun of it now only log in for 30 minutes, finish the battle pass and then go on to a different game. That's not being negative, it's being realistic about the state of the game.
Take this collection event as a case in point. There's no doubt that something hugely different has happened: The devs have chosen to include recolors of past skins while charging a premium for them, something that hasn't happened before. The backlash is a direct result of this decision, not as if tons of players suddenly went from "love Apex" to "hate Apex" unprovoked.
@LaughingSharko wrote:
@ChemicalRelayIf you hear voices around Apex, that's probably a bad sign...
Seriously, though, is this so surprising? The game's Steam charts are continually descending, which means a large number of people aren't "still playing every day."
The ones who do come to the forums to say why they're not happy. Isn't that a good thing? Which is better for the company: that someone leaves without saying why or sticks around while saying why they're thinking of leaving?I admit part of the reason I stick around is I love the lore/setting of the Titanfall/Apex universe. It reminds me a lot of the Battletech Universe without the suspension of disbelief you have to make for the Succession Wars and the sheer size of Battlemechs (Looking at you Atlas, you take a step and physics says you fall apart while the surrounding area gets hit with a shockwave like 30 tons of TNT went off).
Apex is not really expanding too much more on the after affects of the Militia / IMC war, but they do slip bits in there. And it seems like they are setting up groundworks for the next civil war in the area (Silva vs other Syndicate, maybe even a 3 way war with the rebel faction that Maggie started).
And the movment/gunplay from Titanfall 2 was top notch, and it mostly carries over into Apex. I just wish it had single player content.
@LaughingSharko wrote:
People who enjoy the gameplay can still disagree with the direction the game is taking or its priorities. Also, you could say there's a big problem when a large number of people who used to play for hours every day for the fun of it now only log in for 30 minutes, finish the battle pass and then go on to a different game. That's not being negative, it's being realistic about the state of the game.
Take this collection event as a case in point. There's no doubt that something hugely different has happened: The devs have chosen to include recolors of past skins while charging a premium for them, something that hasn't happened before. The backlash is a direct result of this decision, not as if tons of players suddenly went from "love Apex" to "hate Apex" unprovoked.Well, another reason a lot of us play less is the matchmaking. If I play regularly, the Matchmaking punishes me by making me fight Masters/Preds and the like in Pubs, when I have never gotten out of Bronze in Ranked. Admittedly, that is because I quickly gave up on Ranked as a solo player. But as I am a very causal player I expect I would still cap out somewhere in Silver.
If I take a couple weeks off in between playing, it at least treats me like a "new player" for the first few matches, and I can feel like I am contributing. Maybe even get some decent kills.
These online only multiplayer only games need to realize that casuals will NEVER turn it into a 2nd job with the games skill floor and ceiling, and make modes they can play and enjoy too if they really want retention.
They really need to either add a single player or cooperative vs AI mode to this game for the casuals. Or finally reveal if this new PvE game they are working on is Apex Legends: Rebellion or Titanfall 3.
Complaining and negativity is good.
Seriously, first off, nobody needs a giant head. But second, whether it is complaining or accolade, it's just a matter of being useful, and negativity, I hate to say, is generally a lot more useful.
If someone wants to go on with telling Respawn what's good about their game and why, that's not just positive, it's useful. Saying, "I think your R-301 is perfectly balanced (likely because it is the gun all the other guns are balance off of but moving on), then that's good. Or that Mad Maggie's abilities are interesting and fun to play with, even if they might need a little tweaking and how, these things are useful. "I think your game is the best ever!" is nice, and a lot less useful.
However, there is everything right and nothing wrong with saying, "Your ranked scoring system is terrible, and it's terrible because it encourages people to work less as a team, and is less fun, even though you say your goal is to make people work more as a team." That's negative and absolutely needing to be said. And WAY better than, "Nuh, I think it's AWESOME!"
I get on this because, sure, positivity is great. But useful is even better. And there is nothing wrong with useful negativity, which is how things get better. Besides, no, it's not a customer's job to be a certain way, except if they want to be. On the other hand, a company producing a product, they should always want to do better.
Is what I'm saying positive or negative? You decide :P
@KelRiever If your reply was simply “complaining and negativity is good” then I’d be extremely worried.
Criticism can be good.
And the points you make I agree with. I think for someone to just ignore the problems and say the game is “just awesome” and without flaws would be just as ridiculous, even more ridiculous.
Things don’t need to be absolutely “one thing or the other”. That’s exactly what I find wrong with it all. It’s exactly what’s wrong. Not just with Apex but with everything it seems.Not everything is “this or that”. This is why no one can agree and no one ever seems to get it right. How can you achieve balance when in the eyes of those looking on it’s either one thing or another? We can’t have everything we want. For that to ever be possible Respawn would need to make a different version of the game for each individual player based on their own personal requirements.
I think Apex has a lot to work on. But I hate seeing that EVERYTHING is a complaint.
There are some that complain for one thing while others complain against the same thing. And won’t settle for anything but getting EXACTLY what they want.
The game needs to be balanced so players should expect that this means they can’t have everything.
Great reply though and it gives food for thought and while I agree that things need to be fixed, I don’t agree that “complaining and negativity is good” because they are by their very own definition negative. They are “necessary” to some degree but without balance or consideration of other views they are nothing but problematic and detrimental to achieving what everyone would like to achieving something better.
@Kyldenar Another great reply, another brilliant perspective. Love that.
And matchmaking? If there had to be one thing that absolutely deserved some complaining - it would have to be that for me too. And for the same reason with the unbalanced lobbies. Being absolutely * on by Master and Pred 3 stacks in lower ranks is no fun at all. It’s painful.
I also really hope that the touted upcoming single player content/game mode/game (whatever it is) comes to fruition for players like yourself who love more of a solo/campaign/story driven experience.
@LaughingSharko I do agree too mate, lots of things should have been done differently or better, and a lot if the noise completely justified but it just feels like the last few months have been just a bot too much and some of the complaining is a bit ridiculous and seems like complaining just for the sake of complaining.
Steam charts are only part of the story but Apex currently still just above WZ2 on there. For a game that’s almost 4 years old it’s doing alright.
Does it need work? Yup. Need freshening up? Also yup. Respawn need to prioritise tasks better? Also yup, yup!. But I just think it also needs a bit of a break from the “extra” that some folk seem to just pile on for the sake of it.
The good, constructive noise that some people are making is a lot harder to find and listen to when it’s smooshed into the larger pile of nonsense from those just hating for hating’s sake.
Oh, and the voices? Yeahhh…that’s just normal. Right? 🤨
