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I already have 900 coins, so just 50 more to guarantee another Battle Pass, and I am honestly tired of playing the game. The new train mode is nice but it sucks that half the time your team loses the first station at least one teammate leaves the game and ruin everyone else's fun. There should be penalties for leaving the game. Yesterday twice I had a full team at first but once I reached the ground and zero bullets had been fired both of them left the game . Cool.
Game is great but people are just stupid and for some reason waiting less than a minute for a new round is too much and they prefer to go baco to the main menu... where they will wait over a minute for a new match.
Game is great but people are just stupid and for some reason waiting less than a minute for a new round is too much and they prefer to go baco to the main menu... where they will wait over a minute for a new match.
I almost certainly won't be picking up next season's pass, at least not at first. I no longer feel compelled to play every time I sit down at my computer, and have been enjoying a lot of library a whole lot more. I'll still play most days, but I'm not down for another season of stressing BP challenges.
If they put more music on the BP I'm fucked though, I legitimately love getting new music tracks. Please keep them for event unlocks!
If they put more music on the BP I'm fucked though, I legitimately love getting new music tracks. Please keep them for event unlocks!
I uninstalled a few days ago.
I was finding the game way too frustrating, constantly matching with quitting team mates in the new mode, being lagged killed a few times, having players one burst me after I put in an entire purple R-99 clip into them and getting an abusive PM for stealing the golden body shield in the vault..... I took a step back and asked myself 'am I really enjoying this?' and more often than not, the answer was no.
I'll probably be back towards the end of this season. I have enough coin for the next battlepass and I'm currently sitting on level 107, so I'll finish this season off and see what next season has to offer.
I was finding the game way too frustrating, constantly matching with quitting team mates in the new mode, being lagged killed a few times, having players one burst me after I put in an entire purple R-99 clip into them and getting an abusive PM for stealing the golden body shield in the vault..... I took a step back and asked myself 'am I really enjoying this?' and more often than not, the answer was no.
I'll probably be back towards the end of this season. I have enough coin for the next battlepass and I'm currently sitting on level 107, so I'll finish this season off and see what next season has to offer.
Haven't touched the game in a week and really don't have any itch to sit back down with it. Granted, most of that's because its xmas and I'm busy with work, family and friends but usually I make time to jump on. The game got way too stressful and everyone I was playing with was feeling the same way.
PS4 codes are never global. Currently there's 5 PSN regions: Americas, EMEA+NZ+AUS, Japan, China, rest of Asia. The region for that code will be wherever you bought it from.
I think it's healthy to take breaks from games like this. It actually sometimes helps your play as well especially if you just watch matches before returning.
With that being said this season is way too long. At first I was glad cause you had extra weeks to complete the battle pass but seeing the time left.. it's just dragging on. I also think they need to roll out legends a little quicker than what they are doing.
I would love for short ranked seasons with a monthly leaderboard/stat tracker. And I mean robust tracking (kills, assists, revives, downs, ect...). Even have it sortable by legend. It would be great seeing where you stand month over month and would freshen things up outside of the regular rank levels.
With that being said this season is way too long. At first I was glad cause you had extra weeks to complete the battle pass but seeing the time left.. it's just dragging on. I also think they need to roll out legends a little quicker than what they are doing.
I would love for short ranked seasons with a monthly leaderboard/stat tracker. And I mean robust tracking (kills, assists, revives, downs, ect...). Even have it sortable by legend. It would be great seeing where you stand month over month and would freshen things up outside of the regular rank levels.
I have been going all out with throwables the last week or so and really causing havoc. I've gotten so used to using them to control fights that if I run out I find myself nearly helpless and feel at such a disadvantage in the fight. My standard loadout is now 4 of each.
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Such a miserable experience to play this game solo when you're an average player. It always pairs me with a person around my level, and a new player.
I had a 22% win rate in Season 2 by playing with a friend, now I'm at 7%.
Also around a week ago I distinctly remember that I tried to finish a Bloodhound with a point blank Peacekeeper shot immediately after he got downed, and it wouldn't let me. I thought the game implemented a "can't take any damage" interval between getting downed and pulling up the shield... yet today I get this:
I had a 22% win rate in Season 2 by playing with a friend, now I'm at 7%.
Also around a week ago I distinctly remember that I tried to finish a Bloodhound with a point blank Peacekeeper shot immediately after he got downed, and it wouldn't let me. I thought the game implemented a "can't take any damage" interval between getting downed and pulling up the shield... yet today I get this:
I tried the game on base PS4 for the first time after always playing it on Pro.
Performance is unacceptable for a competitive game IMO, constantly dropping frames and as a result CQC is a complete clusterfuck where it only comes down to luck because you can just forget about aiming so you're just spraying wildly and hoping for the best.
For anybody here playing this way and wanting to improve your skill, I'd look in to switching consoles, because with that kind of shitty performance you're bound to hit a ceiling pretty quickly.
Performance is unacceptable for a competitive game IMO, constantly dropping frames and as a result CQC is a complete clusterfuck where it only comes down to luck because you can just forget about aiming so you're just spraying wildly and hoping for the best.
For anybody here playing this way and wanting to improve your skill, I'd look in to switching consoles, because with that kind of shitty performance you're bound to hit a ceiling pretty quickly.
I was always wondering how much better it would be on a Pro but don't think I've read impressions from someone who's played a lot on both...
It does run pretty bad on a standard PS4. :/
I mean I remember a slight jump in quality when I upgraded to the PS4 pro in September, but I don't think the game ever has been unplayable on base PS4 to begin with, it didn't noticeably change my Apex life in any major ways either? Granted, it was still Kings Canyon back then so I don't quite know how my base PS4 would have dealt with the new map.
Well I'm glad the code ended up working in the end though! A bit sad I couldn't enjoy it, so please enjoy it all the more for the both of us then! 😊
Well I'm glad the code ended up working in the end though! A bit sad I couldn't enjoy it, so please enjoy it all the more for the both of us then! 😊
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as a base PS4 user, i've noticed the game can chug pretty hard sometimes - especially when fighting in certain parts of the map. it's definitely not unplayable and most of the time it seems to run okay, but it does drop enough for it to have become noticeable. it doesn't feel like a completely smooth experience.
it bares pointing out that the bulk of my playtime has been during this season, so i wasn't massively acquainted with King's Canyon outside of the game's launch and therefore whether the game ran similarly to what it does currently on that map, especially with all the changes it undertook
it bares pointing out that the bulk of my playtime has been during this season, so i wasn't massively acquainted with King's Canyon outside of the game's launch and therefore whether the game ran similarly to what it does currently on that map, especially with all the changes it undertook
Glad we got it sorted and someone got to enjoy it! Bless.
I wouldn't call it unplayable, but the difference in smoothness and visual clarity was massive and it has to give an edge to Pro users. I know it felt awkward as fuck to me on base PS4 even though I managed to get some kills.
I wouldn't expect a lot of people to go from Pro to base though, so the experience has to be different when you're doing it the other way around.
I was especially surprised considering I remembered games like Overwatch and (mostly) Rocket League ran well enough on base. With Apex though I legit never felt like it was running at 60.
Interesting you'd mention Overwatch, playing a bit of that on a standard PS4 after 1000+ hours of Apex made me instantly question why Apex wasn't as smooth. Standard PS4 is the only system I've experienced Apex on.
I have three 20 kills badges and hit Predator both seasons so it's definitely not unplayable, but the performance on a standard PS4 is really not optimal. And optimal would be a locked 60 here, I can only imagine what it would feel like to try Apex at 144hz...
Ever since the Pro came out plently of games have turned out to run badly on base, so in that sense it's par for the course... I just never expected that to happen with a competitive game because a locked 60 is way too important.
On the other hand games like OW and Rocket League were developed with only the base console in mind, hence the near perfect performance.
I have been off of work for 4 days and haven't played Apex once. Houston, we have a problem.
Same, haven't touched it since before Christmas Eve, probably the longest I've gone without playing Apex since its release.
Me too. Can't believe how much of a 180 this game took for me. A month ago this game could do no wrong but now I almost dread playing it unless I know my friends will be on. Solo cueing is just a big huge fucking NOPE now.
Yeah, the drip is so insanely slow. Even something like Armed and Dangerous would be appreciated. It just feels like the game is sitting collecting dust.
Season has been too long. While they've definitely increased the amount of LTM events, one character addition this season doesn't really cut it(especially considering how unpopular he is). One more POI takeover along with another character would've been nice. I finished the pass a few weeks ago so I'm taking a break until the next season at this point.
I'd really like to see them work on rebalancing some of the characters we already have. Crypto and Bloodhound in particular are badly in need of some love.
Do we have any idea what's coming with the new season via datamining yet?
I'd really like to see them work on rebalancing some of the characters we already have. Crypto and Bloodhound in particular are badly in need of some love.
Do we have any idea what's coming with the new season via datamining yet?
I haven't been able to play since I hit Diamond a couple months ago, which is a shame as I really do miss playing this game. I'm not against sbmm, but this has been my least favorite implementation of it as I can't even play anymore. Still, if it makes the experience better for the majority of the players then it is what it is
I wish they would at least toss out a permanent solo or duo playlist, I'd still be able to play if that was the case. I think the duo playlist might have been the best way to play this game
I wish they would at least toss out a permanent solo or duo playlist, I'd still be able to play if that was the case. I think the duo playlist might have been the best way to play this game
Said it about a week ago.
-Season is too long.
-Need more than one legend per season.
-Have monthly leaderboards for a significant amount of stats.
-ranked seasons shouldn't follow the battle pass season and if it does it should have mid season refreshes that make significant changes to character balance and play change.
-Season is too long.
-Need more than one legend per season.
-Have monthly leaderboards for a significant amount of stats.
-ranked seasons shouldn't follow the battle pass season and if it does it should have mid season refreshes that make significant changes to character balance and play change.
This is probably the longest I've gone without playing the game. Watching Viss play early in his stream before he squads up and it's just sad and 100% accurate with my experience as well.
The moment you hit "good" tier in the game, your solo experience is just dead. Hope you enjoy fighting against 3-stack predator squads every single game while your teammates are literal donuts who have absolutely no game sense.
I think the number of players playing during non-peak hours amplifies the issues even moreso. But honestly, I think even during peak hours, the system is not working particularly well.
They can fix this by removing SBMM or by re-adding solos. I firmly believe that the devs will do one of those things at the start of S4, but not both. And that's a fuckin' shame.
I struggle to understand why they added SBMM when the entire point of ranked was to add a SBMM experience... Now your modes are just ranked and ranked.
Lastly -- I've said it before, and I'll say it again... The fact that they added SBMM without saying anything at all is just awful.
The moment you hit "good" tier in the game, your solo experience is just dead. Hope you enjoy fighting against 3-stack predator squads every single game while your teammates are literal donuts who have absolutely no game sense.
I think the number of players playing during non-peak hours amplifies the issues even moreso. But honestly, I think even during peak hours, the system is not working particularly well.
They can fix this by removing SBMM or by re-adding solos. I firmly believe that the devs will do one of those things at the start of S4, but not both. And that's a fuckin' shame.
I struggle to understand why they added SBMM when the entire point of ranked was to add a SBMM experience... Now your modes are just ranked and ranked.
Lastly -- I've said it before, and I'll say it again... The fact that they added SBMM without saying anything at all is just awful.
The point of adding ranked is so people could visualize going up or down rank tiers, a carrot on a stick with the fancy Apex Predator title/badge at the end and exclusive drop trail rewards along the way. Casual is just that, casual. The games don't matter.
The ranked or ranked argument is downright silly. Argue for SBMM being tweaked sure but the whole, "I have to sweat in casual" stuff is laughable. Makes me wonder what other multiplayer titles people are playing. Rocket League and Overwatch are the only other multiplayer titles besides Apex that I've been hooked on this gen and both have SBMM and MMR behind the scenes for casual.
The ranked or ranked argument is downright silly. Argue for SBMM being tweaked sure but the whole, "I have to sweat in casual" stuff is laughable. Makes me wonder what other multiplayer titles people are playing. Rocket League and Overwatch are the only other multiplayer titles besides Apex that I've been hooked on this gen and both have SBMM and MMR behind the scenes for casual.
The point of ranked is that more serious players with equal skill levels will eventually end up playing against each other. If you're an above average player then you'll naturally plateau in Plat or Diamond and all of your matches will have you playing against others in that level. If you're an excellent player you'll hit Predator. The point of casual is that you should be able to "relax" and enjoy the game with a wide skill set so every encounter doesn't feels sweaty - which is what ranked it all about.
I'm a mid plat player who's "good" at the game, as Tesseract mentioned, and now all of my casual games are going up against players with 30K kill champion squads. How is that fair to players on my skill level?
Also agree with Tesseract here - the fact Respawn flipped the switch and turned SBMM on with no warning is not cool. Respawn has never been good at adjusting or tweaking their games (as evidenced by the over nerf to the Wingman) but they're very good at coming up with compelling gameplay ideas (as evidence by Apex and Titanfall). The fact they magically tweaked SBMM behind the curtains without telling the community was bush league. We had to find out from a random tweet from one of the devs. That's some amateur hour messaging right there.
Edit: Toned my rant down.
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The squad-based aspect of this game is what screws everything up with SBMM. I don't play other FPS but the idea that 3 predators can join up together and are freely able to go against other squads made of solo players is just not fair at all. It is perfectly fine for those 3 predators to be broken up and given an equal chance, as everyone else, to be teamed up together. In 200 games, I've never been paired with someone that had anywhere close to as good of stats as me and I suck.
I just don't agree with that. Why should you be able to "relax" while some player in the 90th percentile who is trying to win gets stomped on? It's Casual in the way that there are zero ramifications for playing vs Ranked so you can relax. You can go off meta, play less conservatively, or even quit out at drop if you so choose because it doesn't matter. I don't know how to perceive "so every encounter doesn't feel sweaty" any other way than " I want to pub stomp."
The current implementation most definitely can use tweaking and Respawn has even hinted that it's already been softened a bit. I'm sure it stabilizes a bit over time over time as well as players land at their correct MMR. The problem with squads definitely needs to be fixed, seems like more a matchmaking issue tbh. I think solo players and squads should be separated completely but I'm biased as someone that solely solo queues.
I can only see SBMM as a positive, it will help with player retention and most everyone should be on a similar skill progression track.
The sbmm in this game just isn't fun to deal with. In MW, for example, I'll get some really solid teams with people who can actually work their controls and get kills, so there's at some usefulness there. In Apex, though, the randoms are so bad: can't deal damage, make bad plays, won't cooperate, won't support the team, etc. I'd rather not play ranked because Diamond tier is boring (lots of camping, lobby full of players who just wait to get a third party, etc), but man casual is just messed up right now. I routinely go against squads made up of platinum, diamond, and apex predator tier players, yet my squadmates are unranked, barely lvl 20 players with, maybe, a dozen kills on whichever character they play. It's just not worth playing right now, unless they do some adjustments. I won't even be able to finish the battlepass, because it's hard to muster the desire to play any matches when I'm stuck like this. It's a shame that the rumor about them adding solo and duo mode back for Christmas didn't come true, as that would have been my opportunity to play again
In the end, it was what it is. If it's helping keep the lower tier players playing the game, then I can't blame Respawn for keeping it how it is.
In the end, it was what it is. If it's helping keep the lower tier players playing the game, then I can't blame Respawn for keeping it how it is.
The thing that gets me is I don't see the point of a ranking system if it can/will pit you against higher tiers anyway based on stats.
I only play ranked in a group of 3, but we didn't really play it this season until nov/dec since we were playing a lot of different games for awhile. I think I started at silver or gold? I forget what the decay was, but the games were INCREDIBLY easy and honestly kind of a waste of time. I'm in platinum and the games are still easy, far easier than pub games where I keep seeing diamond/preds. Ranked itself I'm sure will change when I actually hit diamond, but...that feels weird to me.
Why am I even on this point hamster wheel? The game says I'm already better, and my stats look super inflated just looking at ranked only since the matches were so much easier. I get that it would be massively exploitable if you could ignore ranked and only go against low ranked people all the time, but it's really awkward to see such a dramatic player skill difference (downward) by ENTERING the ranked mode, lol.
I get the idea behind SBMM but I have an opinion that it looks weird in the opposite way, and makes ranked feel superfluous.
I only play ranked in a group of 3, but we didn't really play it this season until nov/dec since we were playing a lot of different games for awhile. I think I started at silver or gold? I forget what the decay was, but the games were INCREDIBLY easy and honestly kind of a waste of time. I'm in platinum and the games are still easy, far easier than pub games where I keep seeing diamond/preds. Ranked itself I'm sure will change when I actually hit diamond, but...that feels weird to me.
Why am I even on this point hamster wheel? The game says I'm already better, and my stats look super inflated just looking at ranked only since the matches were so much easier. I get that it would be massively exploitable if you could ignore ranked and only go against low ranked people all the time, but it's really awkward to see such a dramatic player skill difference (downward) by ENTERING the ranked mode, lol.
I get the idea behind SBMM but I have an opinion that it looks weird in the opposite way, and makes ranked feel superfluous.
That's the problem though. Apex fell from #2 to #9 on XBL over the last month and I think that's due to two things:
1) Modern Warfare dropped and clearly there's a crossover between people who play Apex and COD because the shooting mechanics are almost identical so they lost a bunch of the playerbase to this alone.
2) SBMM was implemented in the same time period and people got fed up and left the game.
If Apex had it's claws into people the way it should - because at it's core it's an excellent game - then I don't think you'd see R6, Roblox (what the fuck is the game, btw?) and other really old games creep back into the top 5. Granted, this is off sheer conjecture since I'm basing it off the xbox live most played charts but there's also a correlation from talking to my current Apex friends about how they hate SBMM and have stopped playing and how many of my friends on XBL have moved over to Modern Warfare.
TL;DR: I think Apex's popularity is dwindling because of Modern Warfare and the new SBMM combo punch.
Yeah, you definitely have a point. Even though I'm on PS4, I like looking at the xbox charts as it gives a pretty good idea of what games are the most popular on console (I imagine ps4 placements to be pretty similar). IIRC, Apex was just behind MW during it's launch week. Since then the sbmm controversy has definitely worsened, and it's been dropping. It's hard to say whether the sbmm is the sole cause, as there's been other issues (some people miss King's Canyon, the season has been longer than usual, some are frustrated with bugs/glitches/bad loot, etc).
Still, it's clear something is wrong. Hopefully Respawn does something. Personally, I'd play more if they just added a solo and duo queue. I only play Apex with one other buddy, and we thought duo queue was the best way to play the game. Even if he wasn't online I'd probably play a few matches of solo. As it stands none of the current playlists are offering me any fun - diamond queue is boring, and casual is just whack with how it expects me to carry new players against diamond/predator players every single match. I genuinely miss being in platinum queue, I'd gladly derank from diamond if that was somehow possible.
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