Rant on why I'm beginning to hate this game

@E9ine_AC That must explain why I wouldn't dream of paying 25 dollars/euros for something that has a value of 25 cents at the most. My favorite hobby is finding good deals and save money.

@reconzero Here is some insight into how these games actually function. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1469540521993930
and make no mistake here, this is the root of it. The way this game is designed is to make money. Every aspect of it.

@ematt84

I have to say that I was expecting some kind of smoking gun theory, and what I found was a description of the monetization side of a game I've been playing for three years and already know pretty well. Here's what I took from that paper:

"If you are not playing Apex Legends, you are constantly encouraged to reflect about what you are ‘entitled’ to."

Possibly true concerning the very young, the feeble-minded, or various other groups of people whose defining characteristic is their inability to understand the value of money. This is akin to saying that advertising in any form is unfairly coercive and creates a hostile environment for consumers.

"If you are not playing Apex Legends, you are shopping in Apex Legends."

What a load of garbage. If I'm not playing Apex Legends then I'm out somewhere living my life, not rifling through the store or checking to see what I'd have by now if I'd ponied up for the battle pass. That has never happened once in three years. Because I am neither young, dumb, or rich.

"The battle pass encourages players to stay engaged with the monetization layer of the game."

I don't think anyone needed a piece of descriptive scholarship to point out to them that battle pass is designed to encourage expenditure. Is EA supposed to make payroll and keep the lights on from customers' good will? Or maybe unicorns and sea monkeys will weave gold out of air and give it all to EA so they can keep going.

Believe me when I say that it pains me to be put in the position of having to defend any big corporation, especially one as odious as Electronic Arts, but I can't see what you're getting at if it isn't some wholesale indictment of capitalism and the profit motive. I mean, that's a discussion we can have, and you might be surprised that I'm NOT the guy who will come down squarely in favor of "profits above all else" or the post-industrial capitalism that does just that. But until the revolution comes this is the system we live in.

@reconzero So what exactly is "keeping the lights on"? They make billions of dollars. All I was saying is lower the god damn prices. That's what I've been saying all along. This isn't some hit piece as much as you'd like it to be. I'm saying lower them, not get rid of them. Of course they are going to do whatever they want, and me as a consumer can say whatever I want about it. What I'm showing you is WHY they are doing it. They aren't just inflating prices just because. There is a specific reasoning behind it. You and I are not the target of this type of business model. It's people that have problems with money, addiction problems, children, gambling problems. All of which can be associated directly or indirectly to this game and how it operates.
I'm done with the conversation. It's clear that neither one of us is going to budge on this one. I think EA uses tactics that are manipulative and ask far too much from the audience it needs to operate. You think EA can do what it wants because you have the choice to opt out. We are not going to come to a middle ground here. It's fine. We can agree to disagree.
Have a good one though. See ya on the moon. 😉

@ematt84 Waited a bit to respond to this one.

Simply put, from my perspective, the Matchmaking in this game does not respect your time or real ability at the game.

The only way I have found so far to get good matchmaking, and ONLY for a few days, is to not play for at least a month (I am testing if a period of 8 or 9 days works at this point, I am done with the season and waiting for the new season to launch before playing again, I will let you know if it works).

Which seems odd to me, if the only way to get decent matches is to not play for extended periods of time, would that not reduce player engagement?

Or are more people just willing to let the game abuse them like that for the rare dopamine hit? I can get that easier just by leaving the game and having a nice sandwich.

@Kyldenar

"Or are more people just willing to let the game abuse them like that for the rare dopamine hit?"

That is the nature of addiction after all.

I think that the algorithm they've come up with probably works very well for "optimum engagement" and "reduced churn" because the average player probably doesn't take the game as seriously as some of us forum-goers. I doubt most of them examine very closely the nature of their failures, or even have much of an understanding of how much of their failure is their own and how much is Respawn's sbmm. If they get wiped by a lucky first-timer or a master smurfing as a bronze, all they know is that they're dead and it's time to queue up for the next match. Honestly, I envy people who go through life blissfully unaware of everything that goes on around them. Did you say, "sandwich?" Hmmmmm.

@reconzero Nah people know about all that. Lots even blame it when they make huge mistakes. That's the biggest thing I see- people not taking responsibility. The other stuff exists and the sbmm is programmed to drive engagement but most will never admit they overpeeked or rushed into a spot they shouldn't have or simply missed their shots. When they do good its cause they were better than their opponents every time. Just today we had a conspiracy thread by a really great player on here.