Apex Legends is a bad game

Today, we take a critical look at popular Battle Royale game, Apex Legends and discuss the ethics and morality of Free to Play games... this one is quite the critical essay and I have a lot to say about the industry and the current state of gaming in 2024.
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[@hugetapewormBIG]

As someone with 2.5k hours in this game, the only reason I still play it is because the skill expression and core gameplay is incredible, I hate the monitization of it and it's such a shame considering where Respawn came from with the micro transactions in Titanfall 2 which were fair and transparant.

[@spoonnn1738]

If a game is based on a skill, this is not a game, this is sport. And every sane person knows that sport in itself is a bad thing. Mentally and physically draining it leaves no space for fun if you are constantly losing. Thats why apex fell off massively, whith movement abusers and hardsweats arrival game lost the essence of shooter and became an arcade-platformer soybased copy of a proper gun game. Why bother playing (and god forbid learning) this abomination if i can just go and get some action in other games. Thats why Apex lost its playerbase, not because microtransactions, but the steep and long stretching learning curve, bad matchmaking and overall wrong core mechanics.

[@john_titor8074]

I really liked Apex Legends for a while. Then I played Titanfall 2 and realized that Apex is just a watered down version of that masterpiece. 😢

[@tastynoobr3685]

i only play apex because of the constant updates

[@john_titor8074]

@@tastynoobr3685 As a regular Titanfall 2 player, you have found the phrase that injures me the most. Well played, sir

[@Nuggohmed]

Helldivers 2 and Arrowhead have really shown how being loyal to your fanbase and not screwing them over can make a big impact in player retention. every battle pass they release, stays permanently, and you can pretty easily find premium currency just by playing the game. It's the perfect example of what every online game should do

[@hugetapewormBIG]

They've changed the matchmaking like 5 times, each time they ruin the game for a different group of players

[@bennifer94]

Warframe may be the only F2P games I've ever played that's monetized "fairly".

[@TheGeekFactor]

God I haven’t played that game in years

[@bennifer94]

@TheGeekFactor_ I started playing for the first time last year in November, I have 500 hours in as of today. 😵‍💫 I'm an avid F2P and MMO hater but I love it, May be worth checking out. 🙌

[@Emmycron]

Apex's collection events are ***EVIL*** and the fact i have friends who've fallen for several of them is infuriating. "Happy event! Come celebrate by giving us 3 weeks worth of groceries out your paycheck!!!"

[@TheGeekFactor]

I heard they also just made their battle pass system no longer buyable with in game currency meaning players can’t grind currency in game to buy next season’s battle pass, they are forced to pay with real money.

[@presidentbruh401]

That pathfinder skin you mentioned was actually part of a different, equally scummy practice. The full price was based on the fact that there's two items in the bundle, the reduced price is more than one but less than both. But they don't let you buy them individually, so most players will be spending more for one

[@TheGeekFactor]

Thank you for pointing this out

[@presidentbruh401]

@TheGeekFactor_ Sometimes they'll do that by putting 20 apex packs with a skin then adding close to 20 bucks to the bundle cost. overwatch 2 got slammed for doing the same thing. They got forced to make skins/charms/whatever individually purchaseable to avoid false advertising lawsuits I believe. Apex might be getting away with it because they started before the ruling? Because that's why they're the only modern game that has lootboxes still, they came out before lootboxes got banned.

[@Brian-l999]

Only reason I stopped playing the game was it was just boring since I had over 2k hours in the game started in season 7 I just hope they bring back the arena mode or reduce the prices on the apex coins. Or make more updates to the older maps make new Ltms and not make almost every character gay

[@mindless_drift]

The strat to get good at apex legends is to hope all the money made from the horrid microtransactions are funding Titanfall 3, then download Titanfall 2.

[@TheGeekFactor]

After 5 years and no sign of Titanfall 3, I think they’re done with it haha

[@mindless_drift]

@@TheGeekFactor I know it's more likely that a random guy with to much spare time will fully make a pseudo sequel to Titanfall 2, than ea actually making titanfall 3 even though there's a guaranteed player base that would play it. (I won't lose hope and will keep coping lol)

[@presidentbruh401]

I used to be a hardcore apex player cause it was something new for me. I'd mostly played call of duty with other assorted singleplayer games. (Largely from the summer before I got my pc where all I had was a hand me down xbox with gamepass and gameshared cold war.) So eventually I fell down the pipeline. I won't say I regret it necessarily. I met some cool people, I did have some fun. However, I haven't played in a year and probably won't. Once the new feeling wore off I realized I wasn't really having fun. That even though I'm just a decent/average player the matchmaking thinks I can handle top 500 algs competetors. That the devs really don't be caring.

[@skycap3081]

I don't particularly appreciate that Apex sells legends. If a new hero comes out and is OP your selling power. Skins and emotes and the like are fine but everyone should be on the same playing field.

[@MizuShadowWolf]

skill-based matchmaking DOES exist in apex. My friend that I usually play with is an actual apex pro, so when I play with him I'm against top500's, masters, etc, and it is PAINFUL. The second I go into my own lobbies, by myself? I can suddenly hold my own and fight people who aren't in the top 1% of the playerbase. It may not feel like there's SBMM because you're the newest of new, but there absolutely is. I wish there wasn't - i'd have more fun playing with my friend if we weren't constantly seeing head-glitching top 500s lol. The legend tokens system made sense when the game launched - I have 180k tokens just because the first 7 legends were free and we only got one legend per season or even two seasons. by the time the next legend came out, you had more than enough legend tokens even if you only played casually. The system doesn't work anymore for anyone who's new - there's too many legends and it takes the same amount of time as it did before to get the amount of legend tokens 5 years ago. It makes it impossible for new people to 'catch up' to the pace of characters unlocking. (I agree with all the bullshit about microtransactions, though.)

[@davidmingle5910]

Sbmm sucks. It provides little incentive to improve, while forcing skilled players to sweat every single match.

[@TheGeekFactor]

I agree and disagree. There should be a “newbie” playlist to let new players fight amongst themselves, then let them get thrown into the ring with the big boys

[@moonsliced]

i’ve never played apex but I personally think titanfall2 is really kind to new players. It is the only competitive shooter that I actually enjoy (although i haven’t played many), and I think this mainly has to do with how expertly crafted the single-player campaign is. As someone who almost never plays multiplayer fps games, I was hooked and would just play the campaign over and over. once I switched to the multiplayer side of things, it just felt like a natural progression.

[@hugetapewormBIG]

Worst thing is is that the new currency buys recolers of old battle pass gun skins (Also hi! third comment)

[@comb-t]

Somewhat glad Apex didn't become Titanfall 3 as it originally was going to be because that thing would've been riddled with paid cosmetics and probably would've undermined the existing level up cosmetic system, though tbf the rest of the skins you can get easily from just playing the game are all kinda crap.

[@nikonja_industries]

Plants Vs zombies 2 has a similar problem, EA ruined it with micro transactions

[@TheGeekFactor]

Yeah EA kinda ruined the chances of Plants Vs Zombies 2 to really thrive with the micro transactions

[@propiranna]

im like 90% sure that they added a bots version of the battle royale during season 20(or near the start of jan 2024) for new players. so im not sure how you didnt run into that. also mix tape is great for learning the movement and feel of all the guns, especially since it forces you to use random loadouts. for something regarding learning the in and outs of a battle royale, besides the bot mode, there isnt anything. never played fortnite but for the most part any br game i played didnt really have a proper introduction to play the br. I did stop playing this game though becuase of the monetization though, and thats despite absolutely loving how the game plays. After ~1.74k hours of playing this game i have one heirloom, i simply refuse to spend $100+ each time they introduce a new one to get a cool melee weapon or skin.

[@presidentbruh401]

For the first five levels or so many matches you get put in lobbies with 3 real teams rest bots I believe. They don't actually say that this is happening. You also skip this step if you queue with a friend I believe.

[@propiranna]

@@presidentbruh401 ah, i remember reading the patch notes for it. I believe when they introduced it they had an ingame msg for it too, guess it isnt display anymore. Completely forgot about the friend thing though.

[@ImminentFates]

people conflate sbmm with ebmm which is of the devil but every game should have loose sbmm with some people above your weight class otherwise you wont learn

[@TheGeekFactor]

I generally agree with this, however a specific mode with skill based matchmaking on for new players below a certain level is ALWAYS good. It allows new people to learn the ropes without being absolutely stomped on.

[@ImminentFates]

@TheGeekFactor_ yeah I can see not 100 percent sure if I agree I'd have mull it over for a bit but I get it at the least btw great video love the stuff you've put out on minecraft I definitely intend on sticking around for a bit

[@agentboi4794]

Idk as someone who played Apex since season 2 I don’t really get what’s hard about getting into it. Like it’s Battle Royale, you drop in you either die or you don’t. It never discouraged me dropping in and getting skill gapped, i just learned from firsthand experience, I’m not some Pred player running lobbies but I’m not giving out free kills to my enemy either. The game has sbmm but it’s been changed so much and with cheaters and smurfs it’s basically useless. But aside from that yeah the monetization sucks balls but that’s just typical EA. All players of live service games know the mortality of the game, sure in 2030 Apex might be dead but it’s what we signed up for and we’ll have the memories of it. That’s just my take tho, all big gaming companies have overbearing flaws and the games they make just reflect it.

[@kingducky7123]

Fps series ?

[@TheGeekFactor]

Maybe! Haha!

[@therealyojames]

I love how half the video was you whining about your skill issue. I agree about the monetization practices being scummy, but the first half of the video kinda put a damper on that

[@TheGeekFactor]

I say I’m bad at it, yeah. But none of my points, you’ll notice, are made without that in mind. I say “does this mean apex is a bad game? No. I’m bad at it.” I don’t think any of that dampers my points about the game being really hard to get into with issues of skill based match making and extremely high skill gap. Which isn’t necessarily the fault of the game as it is the nature of this type of game. Online competitive games are just harder to break into as time goes on. But yeah, all the micro transactions make this game a joke to play. $30+ for a gun skin is actually downright evil and greedy. It’s sad to think people would pay for that stuff, but it is what it is. I think the game could be really fun if there was a more, non competitive BR mode like three strikes. It sucks that it’s not permanent. I really enjoyed it. Apex desperately needs casual appeal if they want to bring in new people

[@therealyojames]

​@@TheGeekFactor I understand your point, but for me the entire first 13ish minutes being nothing but you complaining about how hard the game was and lack of accommodations for more casual players (despite the disclaimer) just didnt sit right and annoyed me for some reason. It's probably just a personal thing though. I feel like you should have led with the second half of the video, would have left a better impression probably.

[@Sevensided7]

Considering your very new I don’t think you were wrong abt any thing but with times you learn a little more that might contradict what you think a little

[@WooleyMoley]

You should try the game ULTRAKILL next. It's one of the best fps games in recent years.

[@mouse8874]

Capitalism, the video

[@Scaryland42]

scary