QOL Improvements
"Party up (requeue) button" for random teammates after each match for all game modes.
Adding a "party up button" to Apex would promote playing together. Specifically, for Ranked, adding a party up button for random teammates after each match would push more stacked teams into queue resulting in better competitive matches.
"Party finder button" on the main screen for all game modes.
Adding a "party finder button" to Apex would promote networking and communication. Specifically, for Ranked, adding a simple "party finder button" could give players an opportunity to find other like-minded players who are using their mic before starting a match. Each game mode would have its own channel. Ranked channels would be separated by rank tier groups.
Ping volume slider in Audio Settings.
Ping spamming in Apex has always been annoying. Having volume control over the ping sound would make playing and focusing much better. Unfortunately, when muting pings players are unable to see where and what their teammates are pinging; the visual ping is hidden.
Revamp Ranked through a better reward system.
The #1 ranked player deserves a one-of-a-kind mythic gun skin for each split. From there the top 10 players deserves a one-of-a-kind legendary gun skin. From there the top 50 deserves a one-of-a-kind epic gun skin. From there the top 500 deserves a one-of-a-kind rare gun skin. There should be variations of each gun skin for each split with an "Apex Predator" theme. Adding a reward system like this would give players something beneficial to grind for, promote player engagement, help streamers and content creators, and make Ranked more exciting from the top down. Additionally, a better reward system would create a more competitive environment. Adding these changes and then creating a promo video with everything in it would create a lot of excitement. Furthermore, it would be cool if there was an online "Apex Predator Tournament Invite" after each split for monetary rewards. Viewership would be crazy for this type of setup or something similar.
Add an icon for cinematics to the main screen.
To access the cinematics from the main screen you must press the "options button". There's no icon on the main screen that represents this action. Most players are unaware of how to access cinematics for the game.
Last Thoughts... For now.
Overall, I really love Apex for the characters, gameplay, and lore. Although, without the small fundamental things Apex is currently falling short. Right now, Ranked is too causal and solo queuing is horrible and toxic. I think Ranked needs to be more competitive and push non-competitive players to public matches. That's how it should be.
IMO, solo queuing in Ranked shouldn't be allowed. But since it is, solo queuing needs to be managed using the "party up button" and "party finder button" suggestions above. The goal for Ranked should be to push as many stacked teams as possible into queues by any means necessary. Players can still solo queue if they want, but it should be discouraged. Additionally, there should be a message when Ranked is selected that states "You are entering into competitive matches. Ranked matches are not easy." or something that denotes a little seriousness. If players aren't playing to win every game in Ranked as developers, you all should be redirecting these players by any means necessary to public matches. Right now, it's pure sabotage solo queuing in Ranked, it's impossible to play the right way. Solo queue teams are just being stomped on by stacked teams most of the time. From my experience solo queue players care more about "getting lucky and winning" instead of "playing the right way and winning a lot more". A lot of solo queue players don't care if they lose or get stomped on. Since it's hard to team fight against stacked teams most solo queue players just run away and craft then respawn their teammates the "whole match", it's pathetic and boring. Ranked is the heartbeat of Apex and needs proper and logical attention.
Furthermore, as a Wattson main it's very disappointing that she doesn't have a prestige skin after all these years. There haven't been any Town Takeovers, Stories of the Outlands, Voice actors, etc. All the things that were exciting and that worked for Apex have been sidelined for some odd reason. Currently, the only exciting things about Apex is the competitive scene and new content. I hope something changes soon to encourage more player engagement.
Lastly, I believe the suggestions above can have a great and immediate impact on player engagement. Currently, basic player engagement tools aren't being used, resulting in a stale game. I mentioned some of these same suggestions years ago but haven't seen any changes. There are other things that can be done to make player engagement better, but if the concerns above aren't addressed and implemented then nothing else matters. I met a cool random a month ago who shared my same concerns about how hard it is to link up with like-minded players "in-game", compared to other games such as Rocket League and many others.
