No longer a place for regular players
I tried taking a break after my last remaining friends gave up on Apex due to terrible SBMM and cheating Smurf scum. I honestly thought a couple of weeks away would be enough to refresh me after over...
Forum Discussion
@swift07I call it PBMM: Performance based matchmaking. And I’m fairly certain it works on a ladder system.
The issue is: Going up the ladder is super easy (just one game can put you in a lobby where 80-90% of the players are Diamond to Pred). But going back down the ladder takes much longer and requires really poor performances (depending on the account, it can take up to 30 matches with no damage and no top 5 placements to get knocked down into easier lobbies). THIS is a huge issue.
It’s a horrible system for a non-ranked mode.
@Axs5626Sxa5001 It's EBMM, engagement based matchmaking and it's basically set up for you to lose a majority of your games. The technical director of Apex explains it on the video.
- @swift07 I think what I’m describing isn’t that dissimilar from what an EOMM system would do.
A ladder system— by design, intentionally makes the game harder after a good performance on a specific “ladder rung”. They want you chasing that feeling of a win, while simultaneously trying to separate people having a good day and people having a bad day.
Theoretically, EA/Respawn wants everyone winning at similar rates, because they want people mentally primed to feel good and spend money. The devs themselves said they don’t want players winning too much or losing too much. The PBMM ladder system sucks but it does succeed in separating the bulk of high skilled players from the lower skilled players. Of course, lower skilled players still have to deal with smurfs.
But yes, the system is definitely based on trying to maximize engagement.- @Axs5626Sxa5001 yes, it's ultimately about retaining players and within their MM system, it is based on the individual's performance in a short period of time (maybe last 10 matches).
@Axs5626Sxa5001 To make it simple, people will play a game if it is fun, even if they lose a lot.
Nobody wants to lose every time, but there are plenty of games in game history where people lose a whole ton, but keep on playing because they had a good time. Apex Legends is for sure not one of those games to have such a retention, not in BR anyway.
The illusion of BR, though, is that you did something even if you didn't win. Which is okay if you like place 10th or better every now and then. It's the ranked system which shows just how flawed that can be, though, where if you don't place top 5 every game, you aren't going far.
So, I can point that obvious point about a game being fun to every dev in existence. But in the end, if it's a Respawn dev, they don't know where their money is coming from, ignore me or anyone who is not a pro, and listen to the pro players...which is about as knuckleheaded a thing you can do since all those people are the super low minority who win a lot, and would have fun with this game no matter how bad it got, as long as they could have a day job doing it. Hit that viewership in the junk and you'll find out how fast your pros leave. Hint: Overwatch.
@Axs5626Sxa5001 wrote:
The devs themselves said they don’t want players winning too much or losing too much.So, winning all of 3 matches, total, this season, is somehow not "winning too much or losing too much?"
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