Riot Games has had the controversial VALORANT map Abyss under examination for some time and users are participating in giving their input. The latest changes have caused a division in the community – while some are very eager and praise the change as a massive one, others think it is a step back. The discord is absolute and this is a typical case of reactions whenever the competitive environment receives major map revamps.
So, what have the mods worked on? It looks like the developers are primarily attending to the mid and the B site, which are accompanied with the most conflicts. The mid has been a significant transformation that is literally rewriting the way the teams are taking their rotations and controlling the respective area. According to B site modifications, the attackers are supposed to be a little more to be hopeful once they get onto the bomb site. However, some people still stand firmly on the side of not believing these changes are beneficial and the map has not come off better.
The reaction from the players has been… tumultuous to put it mildly. For one, a player by the name of Face referred to them as “the single greatest map update changes to date in valorant” while another by the username ABRACADABRA outrightly claimed they “made a bad map worse.” And this is just a glimpse of the wild opinions expressed.
The changes in mid seem to be the center of attention. A number of players have described the mid rework as a new experience to them, and that they will have to adapt. JaceThyFather stated they are a “big fan of mid changes” whereas Expiry had a different view saying “I don’t think mid needed the changes.” Hanvas pointed out that with the new layout “the threat of attackers sneaking up is stronger,” which may result in vibrant gameplay.
Modifications in B site seem to be receiving a little negativity from players but they still consider it a bit positive change. Enkels said it is now “easier to defend B”, and Stefan Hans affirmed that “retake is much doable” due to the new playing spots around. But even so, there are players like acoma who are mourning the changes, “they ruined my favorite site” along with crying emojis and everything.
The annoying puzzle of falling off the map? As per multiple comments, it still is very much the case. Face confessed that “falling off the map still sucks tho, rito” and in support texturelover referred to it as “the whole gimmick of the map.” Is dying a death fall an exhilarating thing or rather a nuisance? The argument is still on.
Some players are raising a red flag against A site saying it has converted to the biggest unsolved problem. BA⛽️ observed that “doing post-plant defense is horrible at A site” while tpWeavile told them to “simply fix A site and the map will be good.” Insane grumbled that “it is very hard to get in there and also there are too many angles to keep watching” on A, and Arthur Aguiar merely asking in Portuguese that they “change the bomb site A too.”
The Sage wall on spike plant strategy? Apparently, it is still a hassle. AlbanoCule pointed out “always sage walling the spike in that space” which allowed the opening of a whole discussion on whether breaking the wall makes defusing fine or it is just a silver rank problem. Naturally, someone had to bring the rank issue up.
Some players already start to draw parallels between the Abyss rework and other previous map updates. TpWeavile argued they “gave abyss the lotus treatment” and “turned an AWFUL map into a much improved one” while NWNMHOODRICH is just nostalgic and only wants “the old abyss” calling the new one “so ass.” It is the classic conflict between nostalgia and improvement which happens every time there is a change in the gaming world.
And then there are still those players who just don’t get the map at all. Malims admitted, “I tried once. I don’t get this map. why? I don’t know. Ask Riot,” and honestly? Same here. Sometimes the map is just not relatable to some players and that’s okay.
The big picture is that Riot continuously pushes their maps’ limits keeping in mind the community’s opinion which is cool to see, even when not all changes are perfect. Some players like LGS are already telling them to “change Pearl again” while others just rejoice over Abyss being given a makeover. KP put it beautifully when saying they’ve “played only a few games, but I like the changes. Better than before at least.”
Map changes are always going to be an area of contention because players adjust to the layouts and come up with complete strategies around them. At the point when layouts get altered, players take some time to adjust and some never really do. However, Riot’s readiness to make such changes demonstrate that they maintain closeness with the community even when their handling of the situation does not meet everyone’s approval.
The Abyss experiment is still ongoing, and it will be interesting to see whether these changes will stick or if we are going to have yet another round of changes down the line. For now, though, players just have to get used to the new layout and hope that their ranked games will not turn into complete chaos due to someone constantly falling off the map or getting walled off by Sage.
PlayStation and Xbox gamers have also been sharing their opinions on recent game updates.
