No, Apex Legends doesn’t “force” you to play Arenas

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Since the introduction of Apex Legends’ three-on-three arenas, developer Respawn Entertainment has encouraged fans to try the mode in a variety of ways.

Exclusive skins, flash events offering metalworking scopes and loot crates, and battle pass points are some of the methods Respawn has used to thrill players for VALORANT and CS: GO-style arenas. The decision to create a mode outside of the game’s traditional battle royale was divisive, with some fans saying they loved the mode and the opportunity to do something new, while others said the move was a bell. to dead for the game.

Image via Respawn Entertainment

Even though Arenas has been out for nearly a season and a half, some players are still angry about Respawn’s mode promotion methods, going so far as to ask Respawn to focus his attention on the battle royale. They cite problems with the mode itself, such as the time it takes to enter a different game if you lose versus the relative ease of doing so in battle royale, and problems with the surrounding material, such as flash events that seem to take more and more tiring to get those. manufacturing metals and loot boxes.

“Yes, yes, nobody is ‘forcing’ anyone to play [Arenas]”a Reddit user said.” But come on, half of the progression for the battle pass is on Arenas and not everyone can just grind it without those challenges. “

The truth is that this person is partially right: Respawn doesn’t force anyone to play Arenas. The company is simply encouraging people to play a new game mode, something that certainly took a lot of time and energy to create and sweeten the plate with those exclusive skins and loot boxes. As those familiar with MMOs know, grind cannot be avoided at times and there is nothing wrong with Respawn encouraging it through Arenas challenges.

An economy of stars and points

The aspect of Arenas that many seem to have more trouble with has almost nothing to do with the mode itself: the stars of the battle pass.

Since the launch of Arenas, players must now complete weekly challenges in both Arenas and Battle Royale to earn the maximum number of stars for new cosmetics. While some may complain about having to play arenas to complete these challenges, doing so is no different than getting some of the more unsavory battle royale challenges. When I started playing Apex, I was sadly stuck with three monthly challenges for using LMG. At the time, most of the LMGs were pretty awful, and as a new player, I found most of them too bulky. Each player has their own weapon preferences, which means that each player has a chance to get stuck with a long-term challenge that they know they will never complete. Even so, you don’t see players complaining about those.

Image via Respawn Entertainment

While some have argued that players should be able to choose whether their weekly challenges are for battle royale or arenas, Respawn never would. Challenges are his way of encouraging players to spend more time in the game and forcing them to diversify their approach. If you’ve never used sniper weapons but received three sniper takedown challenges, you’re about to get familiar with the old-fashioned, longbow-loaded shotgun. Allowing players to choose the direction of their challenges completely removes the “challenge” aspect and would likely eliminate the motivation for much of the player base to play arenas in the first place, making queue times and matchmaking a nightmare for. those who really love the mode.

Another moot point is the progression into the Arenas flash events themselves. Players complain that they have to play in arenas so they can earn the exclusive skins and loot chests contained in the event (mainly in hopes of building an heirloom). The skins in these flash events are never of a higher level than rare. As such, they are usually just funky colors of a legend’s existing dress pattern. The community’s frustration would be understandable if Respawn was blocking legendary skins behind flash events, but the developer has yet to do so. If one of the Arenas skins seems to be your alley, you may just have to suck it in and play some Arenas nights. There is nothing extraordinary about this; many games make you grind down unsightly tasks to get a reward. It’s the whole mechanics of genres like MMOs and JRPGs. That doesn’t necessarily make it fun or enjoyable, but it’s not as unprecedented as the community makes it seem.

But what about the battle royal?

Some have suggested that Battle Royale players should receive additional incentives or rewards to match those given to Arenas players, to which we would say … why? Battle Royale is still the main mode in Apex and is why most people play. The battle pass and all of its legendary items can still be completed without playing any arena. Sure, it will take you longer, but it’s a choice you make, not a decision Respawn imposes on you.

Despite Respawn’s focus on Arenas, the battle royale isn’t going anywhere. The newly announced Evolution event is bringing a ton of new content to the game, much of which has to do with battle royale, including the takeover of the entire city of Big Maude. No Arenas flash events even come close to Evolution’s size. Arenas receives small flash events so frequently because Battle Royale receives major events like Evolution. If Arenas got nothing, the players would complain anyway.

If you never want to play Arenas, you don’t have to, there are only additional rewards for those who love the mode or are willing to challenge it because they desperately want a skin or an heirloom. Whether players are in arenas because they like it or just to get skins, the player count data looks the same for Respawn.

Image via Respawn Entertainment

On the other hand, some have argued that Arenas’ rewards are too small to justify slogging through the mode and its more onerous requirements. That’s a fair critique, but also consider that these events are generally shorter in duration (usually about a week or so) and the challenges are usually less specific – many of them are more in the “get two knockdowns” mood than to “deal 5,000 damage with assault rifles”. The flexibility allows players to approach arenas in any way they want, which is much better than being forced to play with a particular weapon category. (Sorry, LMG.) All of this makes up for the fact that the rewards are only at a rare level.

While it may seem that Respawn’s attempts to push and popularize arenas are misleading at best or even harmful at worst, the truth is that the team is just doing what any game developer would do: give people incentives to play a mode they might not otherwise try. The development team took a risk with Arenas and we’re sure they knew how difficult it would be to convince a battle royale-focused fan base that this mode is worth playing. You don’t have to love arenas. Heck, you don’t even have to play it. At the end of the day, that choice is yours.

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