When Apex Legends was first released, its ping system was a major hit in the Battle Royale world. So much so, in fact, that Fortnite would add a ping system not that long after. It is a defining trait of the game and all battle royale games because, as the devs noted, people are playing with strangers. Apex Legends’ ping system allows them to communicate and coordinate effectively with their teammates.
While this corrects one chaotic element of massive multiplayer games, there is still one variable: the teammates. Everyone has horror stories of who they matchmake with in Apex Legends, whether it comes down to toxicity, a lack of pings, or too much background noise. Add that on top of the game’s sometimes frustrating matchmaking to begin with, and it can lead to some terrible scenarios—something one Apex Legends fan has come up with a way to avoid.
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In short, Redditor JackVibe posted an idea for a “matchmaking preference” system in Apex Legends. The word “preference” is a good option because, if it limited matchmaking to specific selections, then it could easily become harder to get into a match. Sometimes, these preferences may have to be ignored over one or another, but still, it’s an interesting idea for Apex Legends’ matchmaking.
JackVibe has a couple of examples, citing preferences for chattiness, motivation, and teamwork. One of JackVibe’s examples is wanting to matchmake with players who talk a lot, which is every introverted Apex Legends players’ worst nightmare, or players who are quiet, talk only when necessary, and rely on pings. It could also be whether or not to matchmake with someone who is pushing hard and playing for a W or someone who is looking for a good time in a match.
The final option details preferences for teamwork, which would help eliminate those lobbies where a teammate drops solo, dies in two minutes, and is not around for the rest of the game. Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment could certainly refine and improve these, yet no matter what, if something similar were implemented, it would improve the quality of everyone’s matches.
One other benefit such a system could bestow is a way to sort out toxic players. Not that these preferences specifically would apply such an effect, but that a player’s matchmaking settings could carry hidden values for how many times a player has been reported—or something similar to that. That could lead to toxic Apex Legends players finding themselves in their own lobbies, and sorting less reported players into others. Such a divide isn’t uncommon in multiplayer games, but it’s something that alongside specific preferences could improve the overall player experience.
Apex Legends is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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