• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Apex Legends // 'You kill me, you're better. I kill you, I'm better.'

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
Deservedly so. Developers need to wake up to the silent majority facts, the vocal 1% that for sure play your game the most and skew all the metrics devs look at just aren't the masses playing the game. Further having a completely fair and balanced esports style game is fucking boring for most people. I'd sooner watch or play some wild ass sandbox over a precision team 4 shotting a turtle game for the millionth time. Same shit happened to Halo and the developer bought it wholesale and continues that esports push in the maps they design and the modes they offer. At least Respawn seem to be pretty reactive, agile and willing to change quickly e.g. over a split or season. I cannot fault them for trialling different things, as long as they're prepared to course correct and quickly.
They will change it at the start of season 14 - mark my words. They're losing money by the day and Fortnite is yet again at the top of BR's.

Ranked shouldn't be ALGS, but it's exactly like ALGS with the new system. I'm almost in plat 3, but I haven't played a lot this split, cause I can't stand getting a top 5 and gain 5-15 rp. I feel like I'm wasting my time playing Apex Legends right now, so I'm waiting for Respawn to change things back.
 
They will change it at the start of season 14 - mark my words. They're losing money by the day and Fortnite is yet again at the top of BR's.

Ranked shouldn't be ALGS, but it's exactly like ALGS with the new system. I'm almost in plat 3, but I haven't played a lot this split, cause I can't stand getting a top 5 and gain 5-15 rp. I feel like I'm wasting my time playing Apex Legends right now, so I'm waiting for Respawn to change things back.

Yep, the outcome of this ranked system is slow turtle games, there is little incentive to push for kills due to the initial penalty being so high. You end up in final circles with 5-10 squads instead of 2-4 as it should be. I hate the matchmaking/smurf levels and agree with the "wasting time", just less about the rank and more about the potential to even win a game. There are pro teams and 24/7 players in those last squads with every time aspect of glitch, meta, soft cheat and more being thrown at you. It's just not fun effectively using the masses to feed the master/pred/streamer/esports 1% their cannon fodder. Any game doing that can just fuck right off.

I believe Respawn are making ranked changes at the split already, so not too long to wait for updates.
 
Last edited:
4 kills, 2 teamkills, 12th place = -23RP wtf :messenger_grinning_squinting:

Nice plays there dude. Solid. Yep the ranking system now wants you to turtle and rat your way into point multipliers to get anywhere. It's stupid. You have no incentive to fight until the final circles now and everything to get punished by even though you'd already killed it gameplay wise.
 
Last edited:
A mate sent this reddit mock up to me...bwahahaha

prwzvd19id491.png
 
4 kills, 2 teamkills, 12th place = -23RP wtf :messenger_grinning_squinting:


They've made the game trash this season. I guess they were having a conference one day and someone said "hey, what if we made the game trash!?" And then no one put their hand up and said "what if we don't make the game trash?," like that meme comic about that one guy who gets thrown out of a window for disagreeing at a company meeting, so they made the game trash.

Maybe it won't be trash next season. That would be nice.
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
They've made the game trash this season. I guess they were having a conference one day and someone said "hey, what if we made the game trash!?" And then no one put their hand up and said "what if we don't make the game trash?," like that meme comic about that one guy who gets thrown out of a window for disagreeing at a company meeting, so they made the game trash.

Maybe it won't be trash next season. That would be nice.
Blame this guy - among others.

Sweet (NRG)
61549c89e428ab778885d188_sweet-min.jpg


He told on stream he was contacted by Respawn to help them "modify" the ranked "experience"...

Achievements​



Guess he wanted to bring in his ALGS experience.
 
One has to wonder if they had not fired lead balance designer Daniel Klein that this ranking bullshit wouldn't not have gone through. Dude was fired in 2021 for controversial social media posts back in 2007. Jail terms for murder are less of a sentence, I don't know the content of those posts etc but you have to wonder if the "right person" in the room was no longer in the room due to those events.

In other news matched a regular Apex buddy in pubs in another squad, he died to another friend in a totally different third squad while live streaming and then unbeknownst to me I stroll along and avenge my friend by killing the victor. LOL, it was a good day.

Also this must be shared -

 
Last edited:

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
Was just watching ImperialHals newest highlights.. He's #20 pred this split. Take a look at the guy who knocked him:

(timestamped)


I have a very hard time believing that guy played with people 2 ranks above him (plat > master), so Respawn had to mix the ranked-playlists, so the preds can feed off of lower ranked players - cause there isn't enough masters. Is this really how Respawn will feed the 1% of their playerbase.

Rainbow Thumbs Down GIF by Mind Pump Media
 
Was just watching ImperialHals newest highlights.. He's #20 pred this split. Take a look at the guy who knocked him:

(timestamped)


I have a very hard time believing that guy played with people 2 ranks above him (plat > master), so Respawn had to mix the ranked-playlists, so the preds can feed off of lower ranked players - cause there isn't enough masters. Is this really how Respawn will feed the 1% of their playerbase.


Yep, peeps don't even want to grind out Gold let alone Plat or Diamond this season so we're seeing hugely skewed matches for the top end to even play. Just like Halo over the years. It needs to be avoided. There should absolutely be a better spread of players across the ranks.
 
Last edited:

Melon Husk

Member
Many long-lived MP shooters I've played have died like this: gameplay and balance catering to extremely competitive players
 
Last edited:
Wiped a squad, saved the banners, got the double respawn, killed a squad, knocked and gold self-revive to stay in it and then just couldn't get a beat on the last guy/team for the win. Ended up second.

Honestly wish the gold revive was shorter or revive with half shields or a smaller radius for how audible it is. You basically never get it off without being under immediate pressure or insta-killed.

 
Last edited:

Jebron

Member
Alright, I think I'm done with Apex for a while. Having played since release, the current matchmaking is absolutely killing the experience for me. Both pubs and ranked are miserable.
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
Alright, I think I'm done with Apex for a while. Having played since release, the current matchmaking is absolutely killing the experience for me. Both pubs and ranked are miserable.
New update tomorrow, tho'. I'll try it out. If it's still shite, I'll play something else until they fix the game.
 
Alright, I think I'm done with Apex for a while. Having played since release, the current matchmaking is absolutely killing the experience for me. Both pubs and ranked are miserable.

Yep, I'm very tired of playing Masters every single game in pubs just to lose in the final squads in a flash.

New update tomorrow, tho'. I'll try it out. If it's still shite, I'll play something else until they fix the game.

I hope they nerf the fucking Wingman, so tired of wingman pinging off your shields then a car follow up to shred you down. At the start of a match last night I picked up a blue shield and a 2020 just to be hit with 3 wingman shots (1 headshot in there) for 178 damage. That's pathetically stupid.


Ultimately died to the circle but a fun game that circled back on itself over the course of the match. Started the matching fighting here - skip to 1.10s -



Ended the match fighting here again - skip to 1.30s -



Died in the circle again, swapped out the heat shield for a respawn and got too caught up trying to save the squad -

 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
I hope they nerf the fucking Wingman, so tired of wingman pinging off your shields then a car follow up to shred you down. At the start of a match last night I picked up a blue shield and a 2020 just to be hit with 3 wingman shots (1 headshot in there) for 178 damage. That's pathetically stupid.
Crafting

  • R-301 and Rampage removed from crafting and added back to floor loot.
  • Wingman and CAR SMG added to the crafting and removed from floor loot.

Maybe that will help a little - although Wingman players will get it 100% everytime they want it now :messenger_grinning_sweat:
 

Jebron

Member
New update tomorrow, tho'. I'll try it out. If it's still shite, I'll play something else until they fix the game.
Nah, I'm so frustrated with the game I'm done for a couple months. This game used to be the funnest BR/FPS on the market, and now it's devolved into this miserable, sweaty, SBMM riddled experience that caters to the streamer/influencer crowd. I just want to play a few game with friends after work, not get shit on every single game by TTV's and Pro's. Ranked used to be quite fun, now it's a miserable, punishing experience. No amount of small tweaks are going to return the fun to the game that's been lost over the past year.
 
Crafting

  • R-301 and Rampage removed from crafting and added back to floor loot.
  • Wingman and CAR SMG added to the crafting and removed from floor loot.

Maybe that will help a little - although Wingman players will get it 100% everytime they want it now :messenger_grinning_sweat:

Oh no. This is just going to make sweatville into a sauna box. FFS.
 
Fun? Fun? Timmyyyyeeeee... affirmative, will do on those changes.

Sadly for half our party play time each night we've taken to 180+ms USA servers for our pubs matches just to get away from masters and preds. We've gone from 1-2 kills a game and dying to the same squads at end game over and over to 4-8 kills per game avg and rolling on squads. It's such a better and free flowing game when the population pools are wide enough that we can actually breath in game and not have to sweat on equipment, loadouts and tight squad tactics. In short, it's fun again even if we have to deal with near 200ms latency. Doesn't even matter if you get wiped as it feels quick and varied enough that you at least had a fair shot at the engagements too.
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
Okay, I thought the split 1 of S13 ended yesterday - but it's first next tuesday..



So no masters on Xbox and Switch.. What a shitshow.
 
Got only a 2man squad filled in trios and went with. Started with a squad wipe mid to late game and pushed as 3rd party on the final two. We nearly pulled it off. Skip to 1.40s.



301 and 3 times is such a beast, love it. Made easy work at the end game FTW. Skip to 1.50s



Fuck I love the movement and map design in Apex, it's all the great parts of Halo of old. Roaming, clean lines and audible/awareness gameplay with ring control FTW. Skip to 1min.



Pushed them out of the circle and chased them down then held them out of the circle. Again that rolling squad play on a clean map is just too good. Skip to 1min.



I'm not great with a 301 and no sights but pulled the solo squad wipe to keep us in it.



Had another 2man squad fill in trios and we really struggled to stay alive in this match, then after some crazy run through and revives held the final circle at 5 squads FTW.

 
Last edited:

Balboa

Member
They need to start putting the shit players in their own lobbies pubs are just straight up unplayable half of the time, the game is just a slot machine at this point
 
There is definitely something really off with all the matchmaking. I've been saying it for ages beyond the current season ranked vs pubs issues. The platforms need to crush this idea of making smurf accounts, they never will though because they get these stupidly inflated unique player counts this way. It's beyond Apex, fucking everywhere e.g. Halo.

We don't even play Australia servers anymore, it's either solo search and garbage teammates against sweats or you go in a full team and play masters and preds every end game. We've been killing it on the USA servers still. Stupidly ridiculous getting 5-7 wins a night out of this broken ass system playing in the wrong region just to find players closer to our actual skill level, where we're aren't playing masters/preds.

Although had a nice run at a solo Aussie game early morning on the weekend before my kids woke up.

Both clips from the same match - Chase a squad down to get things in the end game moving along. Skip to 2mins -


Then followed that up team and solo engaging FTW. Skip to 25s -
 
Last edited:


Level cap increase - finally!

Hope they fix ranked and I'm back in S14.


Nice. Yes, really hoping ranked gets big fixes. It's hardcore going up against masters every single game when I'm barely a legit diamond player and consistently having my mates who are legit plats. Do the work all game just to get trounced in those last 1 or 2 death squads.

This one got intense yesterday, super fun. Skip to 1.35 for the real fun -

 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
I hope they raise the level cap to 1000 and make a prestige system, so you can reset level and get a new level badge everytime you choose to reset.
 

Balboa

Member
In my 20+ years I have never played an FPS with a lower average player skill level, you can spend hours getting matched with nothing but cannon fodder with zero chance of ever winning a match.

Too bad there's nothing else to play...

EDIT: 3 games in a row a player quits before or after the match starts, just straight trash

EDIT 2: next game they both insta die and quit while I'm wiping the other team, this game is unplayable

EDIT 3: They way it puts you in the next game with either one or zero teammates just to kick you in the teeth, fuck this
 
Last edited:

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
In my 20+ years I have never played an FPS with a lower average player skill level, you can spend hours getting matched with nothing but cannon fodder with zero chance of ever winning a match.

Too bad there's nothing else to play...

EDIT: 3 games in a row a player quits before or after the match starts, just straight trash

EDIT 2: next game they both insta die and quit while I'm wiping the other team, this game is unplayable

EDIT 3: They way it puts you in the next game with either one or zero teammates just to kick you in the teeth, fuck this
It needs a solo mode.
 

Jebron

Member
In my 20+ years I have never played an FPS with a lower average player skill level, you can spend hours getting matched with nothing but cannon fodder with zero chance of ever winning a match.

Too bad there's nothing else to play...

EDIT: 3 games in a row a player quits before or after the match starts, just straight trash

EDIT 2: next game they both insta die and quit while I'm wiping the other team, this game is unplayable

EDIT 3: They way it puts you in the next game with either one or zero teammates just to kick you in the teeth, fuck this
I couldn't agree more. The whole game has been tumbling downhill and it's gaining momentum. Apex has been my go-to FPS for over 2 years, but the recent changes to matchmaking and ranked made me quit. Unless there's serious changes, I probably won't ever play it again. The small "tweaks" Respawn have been talking about will either make things worse or won't do enough to make the game fun again.

Apex is so bad I actually went back to Fortnite and tried the no-build mode... :(
 

Balboa

Member
It needs a solo mode.

I couldn't agree more. The whole game has been tumbling downhill and it's gaining momentum. Apex has been my go-to FPS for over 2 years, but the recent changes to matchmaking and ranked made me quit. Unless there's serious changes, I probably won't ever play it again. The small "tweaks" Respawn have been talking about will either make things worse or won't do enough to make the game fun again.

Apex is so bad I actually went back to Fortnite and tried the no-build mode... :(
The worst part is that once you've played the game enough you know INSTANTLY that you're teamed with trolls just by how bad they are at timing the drop.

Just scored a nice 10 kill win feels good, now I can't play the game for a few days because the next match will undoubtedly be a rage inducer. ggs respawn
 

Balboa

Member
Took my chances on another game, both players select their characters and I pick last everything is looking good. We're champion squad the banners are looking promising some decent stats, game starts both players are gone.

This game needs to die in a fire
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
Took my chances on another game, both players select their characters and I pick last everything is looking good. We're champion squad the banners are looking promising some decent stats, game starts both players are gone.

This game needs to die in a fire
It's made for people who always has a team - and that's cool and all, but when running solo there should be a solo mode.
 

Balboa

Member
It's made for people who always has a team - and that's cool and all, but when running solo there should be a solo mode.
That would be nice but it shouldn't be needed, there should be quitter penalties and smart matchmaking that puts idiots in idiot lobbies and let's everybody else enjoy some apex
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
I stopped playing 2 months ago, cause Respawn destroyed ranked and that's all I play in Apex, so I just hope they revert some of the things they screwed up. When I'm playing plat or diamond lobbies, I don't want half of the lobby to be masters/preds.
 

Alx

Member
That would be nice but it shouldn't be needed, there should be quitter penalties and smart matchmaking that puts idiots in idiot lobbies and let's everybody else enjoy some apex
I'm pretty sure such features have been implemented at least at one time, I did have a few prompts warning me that I would be blocked from matchmaking for 10 minutes if I quit (because yeah I started dropping from games whenever both my teammates would do stupid stuff like going each in a different direction ignoring all the pings, or leaving the group during dropdown to go for the nearest hot spot).
In my area I noticed that the level of random players is clearly correlated to the time of the day. During "prime time" gaming (between 7PM and 9PM) you would be matched with braindead teammates that won't follow basic game strategy. Or at best terrible players that will be useless in a fight. It gets better later in the evening.
In any case, it's still a good habit to try and help the team, when you're a lower skilled player it's frustrating to have one skilled player in your team doing his own stuff, not giving any support to his struggling teammates. I consider myself barely average, but I don't mind being in a low-skilled team as long as we play together.
 

Balboa

Member
I'm pretty sure such features have been implemented at least at one time, I did have a few prompts warning me that I would be blocked from matchmaking for 10 minutes if I quit (because yeah I started dropping from games whenever both my teammates would do stupid stuff like going each in a different direction ignoring all the pings, or leaving the group during dropdown to go for the nearest hot spot).
In my area I noticed that the level of random players is clearly correlated to the time of the day. During "prime time" gaming (between 7PM and 9PM) you would be matched with braindead teammates that won't follow basic game strategy. Or at best terrible players that will be useless in a fight. It gets better later in the evening.
In any case, it's still a good habit to try and help the team, when you're a lower skilled player it's frustrating to have one skilled player in your team doing his own stuff, not giving any support to his struggling teammates. I consider myself barely average, but I don't mind being in a low-skilled team as long as we play together.
I definitely get better matches after midnight but that's not really practical for me, also don't get me wrong I love playing with genuine players of any skill level I support them as much as they support me. It's just those troll players that are running rampant throwing games instantly, it seems like almost 50/50 whether you get one or two of these assholes on your team these days! I could write a mile long list of all the dumb shit these people do
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer

Apex Legends new level cap explained: Up to 2000 levels and more Apex Packs​

image


Apex Legends finally has a new level cap, arriving with the Season 14 update. But, it’s not as straightforward as just increasing the number on your badge – here’s how the level cap increase works, and how many Apex packs you can get.

The original level cap of 100 was quickly increased to 500 in year one of Apex, and it has stayed there ever since. For much of that time, the most dedicated players have been calling for a much-needed increase.

The new increase won’t actually take players higher than level 500 though, instead, it operates like a prestige system, where you can grind your way through the levels multiple times.




What is the level cap in Apex Legends?​

Starting on August 9, the new level cap is 2000 – but it will operate as 500 levels, 4 times.

Respawn is adding another three tiers of 500 levels to grind through, on top of the original 500 players could already complete. Each time you progress to a new tier, the color and design of your level badge will change, to show off which tier you’re on.

The colors are green with an Octane theme for tier 2, then blue with what appears to be a Lifeline theme for tier 3, then red for the final tier.

It’s not clear yet if the time to complete each 500 levels is the same in each tier, or if it gets progressively harder.




How many Apex Packs do you get from levels?​

Because new levels are being added, players will also be rewarded with more Apex Packs as they level up.

The 1500 extra levels that are being added (500×3) will provide an extra 345 packs in total. This means the total number of packs you can earn from leveling up is 544 – more than the 500 needed to guarantee an heirloom.

image


Players can be guaranteed an heirloom simply by leveling up to a high level.
So, all players will now be guaranteed to unlock an heirloom, if they dedicate enough time to grind through all of the levels.

Leveling up will also grant more Legend tokens to players, which can be used for unlocking Legends as well as some cosmetic items.

 
Good update, finally a way to guarantee an heirloom. I've only ever gotten one and let my son have at it. Also Mirage's heirloom is so bad but I main Mirage, the pain of it all.

Here's why you should never quit. I respawned these guys twice if I recall, certainly 3 or 4 revives too. Scrambling the circle and fights to get to the end game.

Skip to 1mins for the final fun -

 
Last edited:

Balboa

Member
I'm starting to appreciate the people that want to die and quit straight away, it's better than having to watch them loot 3 empty Poi's then die before they even land a shot.
 
Top Bottom