So myself and pretty much every diamond+ player has made it very clear that they're extremely frustrated with SBMM being implemented in pubs, especially when ranked is a thing. It honestly ruined pubs for me to the extent that I stopped playing and have hardly played in the last month or so. Well, last week I ended up going back to Fortnite. I played from season 2-5 (its now season 11) and quit. I went back last week on a brand new account and honestly…. sbmm is amazing for the demographic that it was implemented for (though I don't think pure sbmm is the solution)
When I went to Fortnite I got to play against other brand new and very bad players (plus there is literal AI in extremely low level pubs) it was actually really nice. If I got absurdly outclassed by a pro player every game it wouldn't have been NEARLY as fun as it was and honestly, if I weren't a player who loved a challenge and learning high skill games, I'd have quit. 100%.
Just imagine starting a new FPS game with little to no prior FPS experience and not getting a single kill in your first 20 games. That's what SBMM has been implemented to stop.
So, think back to your first days in Apex. Were you decent, or absolute dogshit? Because with Apex being my first FPS on PC, I was such a fucking bot it was disgusting. I died to experienced players without even knowing what happened (and I played 70 hours in the first few weeks after launch so its not even like I wasn't trying.)
The only thing that kept me going was the thought of improving, but fact of the matter is… not many people at all are like me. The casual gamers will straight up quit if the game doesn't seem at least learnable within their first few play sessions.
So while SBMM is the worst thing that could POSSIBLY happen for a lot of us… its really amazing for other people (I've even seen people on the sub saying they've seen their stats improve recently and are having more fun)
Also, News Flash Respawn… but if you add sbmm to protect new players but accounts are free… you're basically BEGGING good players to make new accounts to absolutely fucking steamroll new player lobbies. Pretty counterproductive imo.
So my suggestions:
– First of all, remove all the bullshit glitches that allow you to glitch into new player/low level games. They just can't exist or badges will be devalued to the point that I would honestly just unequip all my badges.
– Add literal AI to extremely low level games — like level 1-30 range. This will make queue times basically non-existent for new players AND will drastically reduce the odds of a much more experienced team being matched with new players because of low server population (off hours, low playerbase servers)
– Extend the "new player lobbies". If you go make a new account right now odds are very good that for your first 10 levels or so you will be against other completely new accounts. . Instead, it should really be your first 30 or so levels.
– Firing range would still need some improvements but its a good start obviously
– Stop making bullshit balance changes that cater to new players so aggressively. Things like repeated Wingman nerfs, shotgun buffs, pellet size buffs, removing bunny hopping, continually ignoring that muzzle flash is such an issue etc… they just all need to stop. You can't cater to new/bad players with matchmaking AND balance changes. Imagine Fortnite made building less important and added things like the hamster ball back? Bye bye Fortnite. (For reference, when Apex launched and was a very possible contender for killing Fortnite, I believe thats when shit like the mechs and hamster balls were in the game that were basically ruining the game.)
And finally, remove sbmm or make it MUUUCH looser. SBMM should not exist above like level 75.
This post is a bit long winded and honestly might be pieced together weirdly but…idk. Lemme know what you think I guess.
