It’s been a couple of weeks since players have had their hands on season 10 of Fortnite and things are, well, divisive to say the least. This is only natural, as any large changes are going to ruffle some feathers. With a player base which measures, according to this article by Engadget, around 250 million registered accounts, there are bound to be a lot of loud voices in the crowd.
So, what are the changes brought about by season ten, and how have casual and hardcore players responded? We take a look.
The Changes
The official title for the season ten story and patch is Out of Time. As the trailer below so carefully explains, this is born from the explosion of the recently appeared singularity.
One of the coolest aspects, which has been met with near-universal acclaim and approval, is the reappearance of old areas which had disappeared due to the changing story, or simple balancing changes. All is not the same, however, as, in returning, these have shifted, offering new and (hopefully) more balanced takes on older arenas.
Before we go any further, we need to address the elephant in the room. This elephant, as it turns out, is called the B.R.U.T.E. Probably standing for the Battle Royale Universal Terror Engine (don’t quote us on that), this enormous mech builds on the idea of the planes as introduced in season 9.
The B.R.U.T.E seats two, and while it is possible to pilot it solo, this is not recommended. Piloted properly, one player controls the movement, while another focuses on using the included shotgun and missile launcher.
The final big change comes from modifications made to the missions included in the season passes. As explained by Epic, these are thematic objectives which apply to the story, with changing goals available each week.
The Response
When it comes to the B.R.U.T.E., the response from both hardcore and casual players has been generally negative. While a cool idea in concept, the nature of the mech throws a major wrench in the balance which the game has been building for years.
Casual players might be enjoying themselves fighting on an even playing field, for example, on to find themselves instantly wiped out from an unavoidable rocket volley. While it is true that more casual players might not give an accurate illustration of the full community opinions, it should be noted that even the best of the best have taken issues with the B.R.U.T.E.
Everybody keeps asking my thoughts on the new mechs pic.twitter.com/0AHsXYhlg5
— dk (@dakotaz) August 2, 2019
As you might have known or even watched, Fortnite recently held its 2019 world champion eSports event. Not only did this draw in hundreds of thousands of viewers, but it also drew the attention of major betting services such as Betway eSports. With real money on the line, the players here were the best of the best, and, as it turns out, they take issues with the B.R.U.T.E as well.
Solo world champion Bugha posted this clip recently to Reddit, where he found himself ‘outplayed’ by a random missile barrage. Response to this being as negative as it is, we wouldn’t be surprised to see these mechs soon relegated to the vault.
Not to be outdone, the changes to the season passes also caused a lot of concern. While many activities played the same as they always had, these addition missions added more variety and gave players a greater feeling of involvement with the game’s overarching plot.
The issue here was that they come with strict time limits, with many missions only being available for a week. This is no concern to streamers or hardcore players, but the inevitable result of such ideas is that more time-prohibited players could miss out on some of the best drops or loot.
This is an especially tricky issue to solve, as the more involved missions are themselves a good idea, but the integration is in definite need of more work.
What’s Next
Fortnite devs have earned a lot of good press for their willingness to listen to fans, which is why they are our choice in the battle royale genre. With that in mind, they do have their own plans, and they’re not exactly slaves to the will of the players. Their vision for the game might be quite different than what many players want, which raises the question of where exactly the equilibrium will rest.
In the end, we would expect refinement over abandonment, though only time will tell the next form Fortnite will take.
