Apex Legends’ limited-time solo mode provides an enjoyable change of pace from the frantic, team focused default. It’s a chance to be more tactical. Unfortunately, solo mode is being completely ruined by sneaky players coordinating to make unofficial teams.
Apex’s solo mode, which started on Wednesday and lasts until August 28, kicks arse. It is so good, offering a delightful change of pace from the squad-focused standard, that it really should be a permanent game mode.
You miss out on the complex interplay of various hero characters, but you get to feel like a self-sufficient badass if you secure a high rank or win a match. That can only happen if everyone is on an even playing field. According to community forums like Reddit, that’s no longer the case, as friends have started to team up even when they should be fighting one another.
The core of the problem is how Apex Legends currently handles match selection. If a group of players elect to play a solo game and queue at the same time, there is a chance that all three players are dropped into the same match.
I tested this earlier with Kotaku US Editor at Large Riley MacLeod and ended up in the same match as him on our first attempt. This exploit makes it incredibly easy for those players to coordinate using chat programs like Discord and plan joint assaults against solo players. It’s led to numerous stories of players losing out to groups that are “teaming.”
How bad it is? One of the top posts on the Apex Legends Reddit is simply titled “PSA: If you team with your mates in Solos, you’re a piece of shit..” Searching for the term “teaming” reveals numerous threads on the subject.
“Just went up against 4 guys,” one player said. “Absolutely ridiculous. Can’t see solo mode being a staple mode if this doesn’t get resolved somehow.”
There’s nothing wrong about wanting to play with friends or best them in a battle royale. But the current system in solos makes it far too easy to exploit. Whether that’s teaming up to kill folks or meeting up to shoot each other and artificially increase your damage stats, there are a lot of ways to game the current system.
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