There were some major announcements coming out of Respawn Entertainment for Apex ranked grinders: Beginning this weekend, the ranked ladder will now start counting your performance after only FIVE placement matches, down from the usual TEN. Half the time to wait, half the pain?? This means that, essentially, at the mention of the clown, you can socialize coat the ladder and work towards thematic rewards without drowning in too much time.
The announcement came from the official Apex Legends Twitter handle, saying: “New as of this weekend: Ranked Ladders now only require 5 placement matches to start climbing. We’ve moved this down from the previous requirement of 10, so you can start faster and begin fighting for your rewards!” And this announcement was loved by a great many. No one really enjoys the placement matches; in the minds of many, it’s a test of endurance before all the real stuff begins. Cutting the time by half,—a very good thing for casual grinders just wanting to get to their real rank and start fighting.
Yet, as before with every other change to Apex, the reception so far has been varied, if not altogether mixed. Reply sections were a combination of hype, salt, and utter chaos—it’s pretty much been the trend over on Apex Twitter for some time.
Some players were glowing immediately with joy upon hearing about this change. District even called it “the best update ever,” after replying to another comment, although he did state that having a rotating playlist area for Ballistic’s “Bat” would be cool too. But then… the others came. So many with… concerns.
A strong majority of the responses weren’t even referring to the change in ranked queuing itself. It kind of felt as if the announcement had just opened the floodgates for every single gripe players ever had. Third-partying was among them. One user stated, “It’s perfect and all, but can we do something about 3rd parties to make the game less aggravating. It’s becoming a big pain for solo queue and it gets to a point where I don’t want to play anymore.” And honestly? Felt that. We’ve all been there, getting absolutely rolled by a third team the second you finish a fight.
Next heard was the cheating issue. It was brought up again and again: “GET RID OF THE CHEATERS IN CONSOLE LOBBIES,” shouted user jolbzz. Another player, Josh Merrick, went on an entire rant that must have called for bans against “smurfs, zen, xim, SD chips, anti recoil movement tap strafing” and a whole list of other exploits. It’s a constant fight against the cheaters and people carrying hardware for unfair advantages in Apex, and apparently, a lot of players think it’s getting worse instead of better.
Then, there were ones just plain confused as to why Ranked Ladders were even in discussion. User HotCocoaHyena asked, “What is the point of ranked ladders at all? They seems like a complete waste of development time and $ along with the new accolades system. Should’ve kept the map team instead…” Ouch. That’s a pretty harsh jab, implying that resources could have been better spent elsewhere.
And, of course, you can’t have an Apex thread without the classic, “Make Titanfall 3.” User mryWniP, with a display name that literally translates to “Telling Respawn to Make Titanfall 3, Nigga,” carried the dream forward with a succinct command. That has become a tradition by now.
Other random complaints soon followed. There were cries that the new auto-drop system is “trash.” Then there were those begging for an option to disable V-Sync on consoles to lessen input lag. Yet another one got riled up over the Raptor’s Claw melee visual effects being broken compared to other mythics. One more was angry about the colors on Maggie’s prestige skin. It was a chaotic mess.
There were some dismissive comments from some folks. “Useless change no one asked for,” tweeted HorizonsAudio. Another, no_name_machina, joked with, “No one was talking about Ranked Ladders, so I thought that meaningless mode had disappeared without achieving anything. HAHAHA.” So yeah, not everyone is enjoying this.
However, perhaps those complaints which maybe even the most telling extend beyond just placement matches and touch on the ranked system at large. leothelion316 pinpointed a huge problem: “Can you make our ranked ladders actually against people in the same rank? Why am I fighting for my life in diamond, and someone that can fly through silver is in the same group as me.” Matchmaking has been an eyesore for three seasons now, with players in Platinum and Diamond often finding themselves at the mercy of top-tier Predator squads, which is more a balancing act of pain than anything else.
So what’s the real takeaway? Respawn went and made a very accessible quality-of-life change that should, on paper, make the ranked grind easier and shorter right at the beginning. That’s objectively something that opens more doors toward the climb for those wanting to dive into the competitive scene. But this single tweet ended up acting almost as a spotlight shining on all of the other bigger problems the community feels are slowly being eaten away at Apex Legends. From cheatings, third-partying, and match issues to a bunch of even more confusing bugs and glitches, there’s actually quite the laundry list in the minds of the players. A shortened placement match is a nice gesture, but many view it as a tiny Band-Aid on a huge gaping wound. They’re happy for quicker climbs, but they’re also wondering if the ladder is even worth climbing right now. Only time is going to tell if Respawn addresses the bigger ones, but for now, through those five matches you go! The climb awaits, for better or worse.
