'Apex Legends' devs responded to fans on Reddit with bad language, insults and excuses. It's a bad ... [+]
It was a wild weekend on the Apex Legends subreddit. Fans, upset about the ridiculous Iron Crown event microtransactions, had been making their feelings known. When representatives from developer Respawn stepped into address concerns, they ended up fanning the flames rather than put any out.
That's because the devs in question called their game's fans various swear words and made statements like "most of you are freeloaders" which, I think it's safe to say, is a ridiculous thing to tell your customers, even if many of them do play your free-to-play game without spending a dime.
That's not freeloading, first of all. The definition of freeloader is "a person who takes advantage of others' generosity without giving anything in return." This is used to describe, for instance, an unwelcome house guest who takes advantage of your hospitality, or someone who leaches off the system, drawing benefits without contributing labor (assuming they're able-bodied and have no excuses).
Playing a free-to-play game without spending money is most definitely not freeloading. Meanwhile, even if some of the gamers on these forums are acting like jerks, having a company representative go out of their way to call them names in public is deeply unprofessional and honestly quite embarrassing for Respawn—a studio I have a great deal of respect for, despite badly fumbling this one.
There's simply no excuse to describe your customers as "ass-hats" or "dicks".
When one user mentioned that the Respawn dev, dko5, wasn't calling another user a "dick" specifically, dko5 replied:
“I think technically I was calling gamers dicks? I dunno. I had a spicy lunch, feelin’ it.”
Yes, nothing like demonizing all gamers with as broad an insult as possible. That always goes so well!
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Perhaps the most hilariously ironic statement made by Respawn in this thread shows just how complete their lack of self-awareness is. This one is from Jayfresh_Respawn, and it's kind of jawdropping:
“So it’s fine for you all to call us liars, full of [expletive], and other personal attacks when we communicate an apology and update to the event but we’re “immature” when we call people out on it. Got it.”
See, here's the thing. When one group behaves badly, you don't even things out by responding in kind. Two wrongs, as the saying goes, doesn't make a right. Stooping to the same level as the worst commenters on an internet forum about video games is a very, very bad idea.
Of course there are terrible people online saying awful and uncalled for things to these developers. But responding with this kind of vitriol is, in fact, immature. It's a bad look for Respawn and EA and it's bad for Apex Legends. If I was a higher-up at Respawn I would be incredibly upset that my company's representatives were conducting themselves in this fashion—even if they are justifiably upset over some of the things gamers have been saying about them online. I've also had mean things said about me, and it can be hard not to lash out.
But you have a job, and that job does not—or at least should not—involve stoking flame wars and insulting your customers, even when those customers act badly. After all, not everyone on these threads is acting this way, and yet Respawn casts a very wide net here, implying wrongdoing from its entire player-base (or at least the freeloaders).
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To make matters worse, the whole thing is Respawn's fault from the outset. The original outrage was over the absurd pricing of special event items during the Iron Cross limited-time event. Respawn is overcharging so egregiously, their position becomes indefensible. Obviously the reaction to this pricing can be over the top, but that's the nature of the internet.
In the thread, dko5 writes this:
"There is a wealth of data available on how monetization works in free-to-play games, and we ourselves have run tests by putting skins on sale in the store. The amount of people who spend is crazy low, most of ya'll are freeloaders (and we love that!) and a change in price doesn't move the needle."
There's that freeloader comment. But the rest of the comment is almost as ridiculous. Apex Legends is an expensive free-to-play game. It's no surprise that most people don't spend money on it given how much skins cost and how bad most of the paid cosmetics have been since launch (though that's improving).
As the top response to this much-downvoted comments notes: "the sales dont [sic] do anything though. You still have to spend 20 dollars on coins to get that "sale" item. Having an item between $10.01-$20.00 still means we have to spend 20 dollars regardless if there is a sale or not since there is no option to purchase coins for 5 dollars or 15 dollars. its a cheap move."
Apex Legends is a very good game and Respawn is a developer I admire a great deal, but they're wrong all the way down on this one. They're wrong about how monetization works in free-to-play games (better pricing would mean more paying players rather than relying so much on a smaller group of whales) and they implemented a terrible "fix" for the Iron Crown event (which simply let's you buy overpriced cosmetics directly rather than only via loot boxes). They apologized for missing the mark when they announced the "fix" and then they stomped all over that apology by attacking their "freeloading" fans.
I guess it's time for another apology. Alternatively they can continue to throw fuel on the fire, upset more fans, tarnish their reputation further and all for what? The satisfaction of getting a few jabs in at the trolls? Really?
You can see the whole reddit thread here.
P.S. Fortnite's skins are also too expensive, but at least they don't have multiple currencies, loot boxes, special currencies and loot boxes for limited-time events, and on top of that their skins and cosmetics are all pretty great. You can't say the same for Apex Legends.
P.P.S I've reached out to EA and Respawn for comment.
Update: Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has issued an apology. Read it here.
