When Season 9 ofApex Legendskicked off, it introduced a new 3v3 Arenas game mode. At first, when the game mode was brand new, there was no punishment for leaving matches early. Now, just as quickly as a penalty system for abandoning Arenas games was implemented inApex Legends,it has been taken down pending fixes.
Though Arenas introduced an entirely new style of gameplay, its fast-paced nature also madeApex Legendsplayers already frustrated by matchmakingmore likely to leave early. Since Arenas is a heads-up game mode against another squad, it’s relatively simple for most players to tell when they’re outmatched and likely to lose. In order to combat this increased abandonment rate, Respawn finally implemented a punishment system that would operate in a similar fashion to the one for its battle royale game mode.
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According to Respawn, the system has been disabled because it “sometimes [issued] inappropriate punishments.” As many fans have pointed out, this is likely tied to the fact that the abandonment system was punishing players for trying to leave a match after the game was over. So that in simply trying to return to the lobby, many players were hit with a punishment. As part of theApex Legendsupdate that introduced abandonment penalties, players that were unlucky enough to be randomly matched with a leaver would not receive punishment after that player had left, but if the leaver was part of their pre-made squad, they would be met with similar punishment.
Even during the brief window that the punishment system was implemented, many observed that the relatively soft penalties did not deter abandonment. While many fans suggested a punishment system that gets incrementally worse for repeat offenders, the issue arises regarding players who did not intentionally abandon and left the match due to connectivity issues. Unfortunately, until Respawn addresses theunderlying balance issues amongApex Legends' passives, players are still likely going to be matched with leavers.
Because ofApex Legends' varied character choices, balancing changes tend to have immense ramifications. For instance, arecent bug with Wattson’s fences—which was partially addressed in the latest update—saw the character fall from an already niche status to virtually unplayable with a dismal pick-rate of around 1%. Due to Wattson’s ineffective state, already disgruntled teammates were likely to leave upon seeing the character picked in Arenas as players are hesitant to stray from the meta.
Apex Legendsis available on PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One.
