Respawn Entertainment Dev Opens Up on Communication Issues with the Apex Legends Community
The state of the Apex Legends scene is quite fractured at the moment.
On one hand, you have esports organizations such as TSM and 100 Thieves committing themselves even more to the space, confident in the title's direction moving forward. On the other, you have players review bombing the Apex Legends listing on Steam and planning a Halloween Event boycott in outrage of EA and Respawn Entertainment's apparent lack of communication about the state of the game.
With the dialogue between players in the Apex Legends community and its developers seemingly deteriorating, Respawn director of communications Ryan Rigney took to Twitter Wednesday morning to post a thread about their perspective on the matter.
Comms Strategy Thread ?
— Ryan K. Rigney (@RKRigney) October 13, 2021
How do you talk to customers when you've got problems? When the product doesn't work, something's screwed up, etc.
There are only two things people want in these situations: They want to know what you're doing to fix it, and they want it fixed ASAP.
Dubbing situations such as the one they're currently facing as "The Hurt Box," Rigney wrote that at times, there are simply issues in games that take more time for developers to get right. That ultimately, the main way to go through it is by being owning up to the mistakes, and keeping your fingers crossed as you work quietly and stand by your team for as long as it takes.
Rigney also cited in the thread that often times, game devs can't be fully transparent with their audiences due to legal, contractual or regulatory rules that actually prevent them from doing so.
"In those situations where you're not able to talk," Rigney wrote, "the audience will tell you repeatedly that 'all we want is communication.' But this is actually a trap. If you repeatedly promise fixes for a problem that may take a long time to solve, they'll come to resent you more."
Apex Legends continues to be hampered by a number of ongoing bugs, server issues, and core structural peeves that many in the community believe there are no excuses for.
From updates on existing in-game issues, to suggestions on how Respawn devs can better optimize their communication strategy, Rigney went on reply to a handful of players on both Twitter and Reddit.
While there's still plenty of work to be done, it remains clear that a healthier state of Apex Legends is something all parties are looking for, and remain very passionate about.