Video from Garbaj here.Quote of importance:"If all you do is complain about a problem and then log in to play the game regardless, you're signaling to the devs that it's not actually that big a deal and they can safely ignore it." This is also why I think that at least half of the feedback that I get here (in particular calls for nerfs or hating on maps) isn't actually that gamebreaking, because at the end of the day the player knows deep down that they are responsible for how the outcome of a particular match went. But this game is far more operable than Battlefield 2042, which is also cited in Garbaj's video. The devs had to scramble to keep their players happy. Sorry, but most of the complaints here are vocal minority or even "groups of individuals" who want the same thing but for their own selfish reasons. The game is alive and well, and holds steady numbers successfully. For me, I think the game is in a fine state, and I will continue to play it.

Good developers listen to their users. Someone who doesn't play the game isn't a user and that's how devs think. I just wish they'd communicate more on what community feedback they are going to do something about and what they are going to ignore. For an ongoing game based on seasonal releases, I'd expect better communication with the community, not just pros and streamers. At the moment, I'd like to know if they even care about all the bugs they introduced or reintroduced this season, cheating, SBMM, ranked, etc. Silence is interpreted negatively most of the time.

@NullEffective9 I don't think the motivations of the game producer and the player align. That's why a lot of what you experience in games these days often doesn't seem to make any sense.When there is a drop in player count, the game producer will market the game more on social media like YouTube and Reddit or wherever, using influencers and all of that rubbish, to entice players in.If they see that players are trying to boycott the game, they will probably try to discredit the boycott in one way or another. Or just ignore it. If you know that players are going away for one particular month and then coming back, then what's the point of even worrying about it?If a game producer had to rely purely on the quality of gameplay to sell the game, and not on microtransactions and loot boxes, then the quality of gameplay would increase. You also wouldn't see so much of the really manipulative gameplay design in games like Apex. This is how games used to be. Then there was a lot of manipulative gameplay design but no so much of the microtransactions or loot boxes. But then all of it was combined and at that point people expected governments to step-in and regulate the industry. And some did take a stand. But most haven't and this has been a really weird situation, especially in light of some of the horrifi stories about addiction and spending on loot boxes.Even in the last day, in the UK, the Online Safety Bill has been delayed again. Even though it's been drafted since 2019. Some people say the bill is not very good anyway.But this has been the way of the world for a long time now.The sad thing for the gamer is that these massive companies like EA, Microsoft, Blizzard, Ubisoft etc. control all of the production. So if you want to play the best games you have to just put up with it.

Well, that for SURE is a mistake.I mean, on the surface, that makes sense. But that's like fail 101 in understanding people. People who complain and who log into a game are the ones who care about your game, but want to see changes. And when you ignore that, yeah, you know what? They eventually leave. And then, duh, some dev 'Wonder's why?'It's not some big mystery. Those who don't care, really, about the game, ditch it immediately. Those who play and don't complain are the ones who are fine with the way things are. But if you care about expanding your own game, you should care an awful lot about what those who play, but complain, and who you might lose, are saying.Garbaj needs a good knock in the head, but I doubt he has any real experience on what feedback is supposed to be used for. I mean, devs probably don't have that much either. It's pretty obvious that games that have lost popularity have had a lot of people complaining while they played, and then those people quit. See 'OVERWATCH' for a constant list of failure in this department :P. although it isn't the only one.

@KelRiever On a related note, Overwatch is also a shining example of a problem that also plagues Apex, which is that balancing decisions have to be made with highly different segments of the player base in mind. A great example is the current concern over Valkyrie. What makes her a problem for the average player is not the same as what makes her a problem for competitive play. Overwatch definitely made a lot of decisions that were good for OWL play but bad for the average player base. I won't pretend to know what is the best approach to this problem, but I'm not sure the developers do either.

@KelRiever @pandareno1999 I hated almost every big change they did to overwatch but darn it they caught me and I’m hyped for OW2. I guess I’m just hungry for an arena hero shooter. So far they’re doing a pretty good job correcting their past mistakes by having better communication with the community with the recent AMA. We’ll see if the game holds up at launch. On topic. I agree to both of you guys. It’s Respawn’s job to filter out the complaints and to discern which ones are valid. Apex is a wonderful game and its core gameplay is amazing. It has these small bugs but add them all up it becomes this one big mess of a game. I have a lot of respect for the devs at Respawn and developing games is not easy but I would be lying if I didn’t say they’re slow in fixing these bugs.

This Is Why AAA Devs Ignore Your Feedback

19 Replies

BigMacAttack8u
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
@NullEffective9For those that feel that the state of legends in apex is fine, or mostly fine, but the bugs are out of control, you can participate in no apex August. This is not about not playing, it is about not spending any more money in apex for the month of August. This does not include crafting materials or legend tokens, only the purchase of apex coins.
swift07
4 years ago
I haven't played this game for 3 years and was excited when I started playing again almost 3 months ago but there's a lot of bugs and issues on this game. It's getting to a point where I'm frustrated more than half the time. I stopped spending on the game because I'm not sure if I want to invest anymore on it.
KelRiever
4 years ago
Well, that for SURE is a mistake.
I mean, on the surface, that makes sense. But that's like fail 101 in understanding people. People who complain and who log into a game are the ones who care about your game, but want to see changes. And when you ignore that, yeah, you know what? They eventually leave. And then, duh, some dev 'Wonder's why?'
It's not some big mystery. Those who don't care, really, about the game, ditch it immediately. Those who play and don't complain are the ones who are fine with the way things are. But if you care about expanding your own game, you should care an awful lot about what those who play, but complain, and who you might lose, are saying.
Garbaj needs a good knock in the head, but I doubt he has any real experience on what feedback is supposed to be used for. I mean, devs probably don't have that much either. It's pretty obvious that games that have lost popularity have had a lot of people complaining while they played, and then those people quit. See 'OVERWATCH' for a constant list of failure in this department :P. although it isn't the only one.
pandareno1999
Hero+
4 years ago
@KelRiever On a related note, Overwatch is also a shining example of a problem that also plagues Apex, which is that balancing decisions have to be made with highly different segments of the player base in mind. A great example is the current concern over Valkyrie. What makes her a problem for the average player is not the same as what makes her a problem for competitive play. Overwatch definitely made a lot of decisions that were good for OWL play but bad for the average player base. I won't pretend to know what is the best approach to this problem, but I'm not sure the developers do either.
Cheese9Man
4 years ago
@BigMacAttack8u wrote:
@NullEffective9For those that feel that the state of legends in apex is fine, or mostly fine, but the bugs are out of control, you can participate in no apex August. This is not about not playing, it is about not spending any more money in apex for the month of August. This does not include crafting materials or legend tokens, only the purchase of apex coins.
From what I’ve read in reddit, they really want people to stop playing at all. No way this thing will be successful. One is that the most common bug of the Loba Q and Wraith hit reg problems were fixed today. Another is August 8 will start the new season. And lastly, correct me if I’m wrong, August is still part of kids’ summer vacation in a lot of countries.
Cheese9Man
4 years ago
@KelRiever @pandareno1999 I hated almost every big change they did to overwatch but darn it they caught me and I’m hyped for OW2. I guess I’m just hungry for an arena hero shooter. So far they’re doing a pretty good job correcting their past mistakes by having better communication with the community with the recent AMA. We’ll see if the game holds up at launch.
On topic. I agree to both of you guys. It’s Respawn’s job to filter out the complaints and to discern which ones are valid.

Apex is a wonderful game and its core gameplay is amazing. It has these small bugs but add them all up it becomes this one big mess of a game. I have a lot of respect for the devs at Respawn and developing games is not easy but I would be lying if I didn’t say they’re slow in fixing these bugs.
pandareno1999
Hero+
4 years ago
@Cheese9Man I put a !RemindMe on several of the reddit threads so I can have a good laugh at them next month.
HappyHourSumwur
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
Good developers listen to their users. Someone who doesn't play the game isn't a user and that's how devs think. I just wish they'd communicate more on what community feedback they are going to do something about and what they are going to ignore. For an ongoing game based on seasonal releases, I'd expect better communication with the community, not just pros and streamers. At the moment, I'd like to know if they even care about all the bugs they introduced or reintroduced this season, cheating, SBMM, ranked, etc. Silence is interpreted negatively most of the time.
Lord_Scorpion34
Legend
4 years ago
@Cheese9Man Number one should be better servers lol.
MandatoryIDtag
4 years ago
@Lord_Scorpion34 asides from the cases where the servers really went Into meltdown, which to be fair the devs acknowledged and repaired, I really don't think they're THAT bad overall.
There's a lot of factors that can effect server experience on a player to player basis...and some of these just can't be worked around without technological improvements frankly.
That's not to say there isn't some sketchy moments of course...but there's definitely worse offenders out there than apex.