It is during a long TwitLonger (it’s in the name, logic) that John larson, Game Producer of Apex Legends, spoke in order to give his opinion and the avenues being explored by the development team of Respawn regarding certain problematic points of the game. a series of tweets published by PVPX in which the C9 player said he hoped for certain changes to the game in the near future.
The “tap-strafe” with a joystick
To put it simply, John Larson is not really in favor of introducing this system for controller gamers. In fact, for him and his team the real problem is the lack of readability of the “tap-strafe” rather than the fact that it is only available to Keyboard / Mouse players. If a player is able to predict and react to tap-strafe, then it doesn’t matter whether this mechanic is accessible to everyone or not since it can be countered.
However, in the current state of things this is not possible and, taking the example of a player exploiting this mechanic in the corners of a wall to break the line of sight, then he quickly becomes the source of ‘a problem akin to balancing, when not really in reality. For John Larson, a movement considered pleasant to exploit must not become so abusive that it completely changes the game.
My gripe with tap-strafing isn’t that it’s only accessible by MnK. As I mentioned in the post, it exists as a design problem (not a balancing mechanic) where the lack of readability and how it compounds with movement abilities are the biggest causes for concern. Take something like Path grapple, arguably the highest skill-ceiling ability in the game. There are identifiable cues and constraints where players can learn, “If grap attaches at x point and Path is moving in y direction, he’ll move roughly along this arc.”
In most trivial examples, sure, I can learn a player will tap-strafe around corners to cut off LoS faster. But add things that enhance mobility, and learnability and counterplay quickly become clouded. If a sweaty Path is grappling near me with a shotty, I know the tap-strafe into my face is coming, but even with the quickest of reflexes how can I improve my chances? And aside from the fact that I’m slow and washed up, mobility creep is a real concern. If something feels good (ie movement in Apex), doubling down on that too much can warp gameplay in the grand scheme of things.
Pick up loot on the go with a controller
John Larson says straight away that, unsurprisingly, being able to pick up loot while moving is a bug. However, he claims that this will remain as it is and that the dev team have no plans to fix it since this mechanic has become an integral part of Apex Legends combat, and the team is enjoying it.
Regarding controller players, John Larson and Jordan Rapp are more of the same opinion: for game balance it is normal that this option one day becomes accessible to controller players as well. However, this is something quite difficult to implement since not all players themselves agree on the best way to integrate it into the game. Jordan Rapp, however, announced that he had discussed it with Respawn Lead Designers before exploring some avenues for the technical implementation of this feature.
It is therefore likely that this will be deployed one day, nevertheless it is not one of the major priorities of the development team, so we will have to be patient.
This may come as a surprise to some, but moving while looting is a bug. Is it a bug we’ll ever fix? No. If I were to rewind to early Apex development, I suspect I’d agree with the design decision of stationary looting. Soon after Apex released though, I saw an efficient looting meta-game emerge pretty quickly (this was before joining Respawn, and as a player I thought, “Huh, I bet they never thought this whole shield swapping mechanic would end up being such an integral part of combat! ”).
Fast forward a bit, and stuff like menu cursor speed options and gold armor / finisher reworks signaled acceptance of this emergent looting gameplay. In an effort to improve parity between input types, it seems reasonable to think moving while looting on controller should be an option. I’ll defer to fellow dev @ rappstar’s replies to a control scheme Snip3down proposed (looting cursor with right stick, moving with left):
“So this type of UX control is more my wheelhouse than @RSPN_JayBiebs. And absolutely yes I’ve thought about your suggestion. I like it. But I also like a lot of the other – incompatible – suggestions for how to solve it. That’s the primary issue with this. Either need overly cumbersome & intractable customization menu that’s hard to maintain & is used by v. small minority. Or pick system that minority of small minority likes & others hate. We have 16 inputs for controller; that’s a huge obstacle for nuanced problems like this. But @ Snip3down absolutely I’ve read your suggestions, talked them through with design leadership, explored technical implementation, etc. Happy to talk more (Twitter isn’t great for discussion). ”
TLDR; it’s not as simple as adding a menu option for “loot with right stick.” The fact that the left analog stick moves the cursor when menus are open is very much hardcoded, and adding it (along with other advanced interact controls) requires UI, code, and design support that isn’t a top priority right now for the aforementioned reasons.
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Added more interaction options for controllers
Very much related to the previous problem, this type of addition is something that John Larson is currently working on. He mentions in particular the fact of having to reload a weapon near a door while an allied player is on the ground nearby, a rather … problematic situation with the controller so to speak.
The Game Producer explores avenues for integrating new options for interactions. Nonetheless, he seems less optimistic about the separation of shortcuts.
If this is referring to the classic controller conundrum of having to reload on a door with a knocked teammate by your feet, I hear you. I’m exploring options here in improving the interact system’s design, but keybind separation is a little trickier as @rappstar points out.
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Rethinking Aim Assist Balance
John Larson does not make any great promises on this subject, nevertheless he claims to have heard the complaints of the community very widely. He admits that he is not surprised that significant variations in gameplay are observed depending on the lobby selected (Keyboard / Mouse between them, controller in PC lobbies or Console in PC lobbies).
Nothing to promise for the moment, however, the development team is on the spot and is evaluating the possibilities available to it in order to make this system more balanced and adapted to the different versions of the game.
We hear you loud and clear. Considering we offer different input options, it’s not awfully surprising that there are gameplay-affecting variations between MnK, controller in PC lobbies, and console in PC lobbies. Anyone who’s experimented with different platforms or input types can attest to this. So while I can’t make any promises or provide specifics at the moment, I can say we’re actively evaluating it.
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A real problem, especially at high level, the visual clutter during the fights of Apex Legends has been debated for many months now. It was on Twitter that the game’s Game Producer, Josh Medina, claimed that the development team would look into the matter soon.
