‘Fortnite’ Needs To Make Some Big Changes For Season 12

Epic Games needs to make some big changes to Fortnite when Season 12 comes out in 2020.

Credit: Epic Games

Everyone was pretty stoked for a brand new map in Fortnite. After ten seasons with the same, but ever-changing, map it was time for a new start. The new map is a nice change of pace, and many other little changes to the game in ‘Chapter 2’ were also nice, like the ability to swim.

For many more casual gamers, the inclusion of bots and skill-based match-making (SBMM) were also niceâ€"if deeply controversialâ€"changes. Now players who aren’t really, really good can win a Victory Royale from time to time. That’s fun! At least, it’s fun for players who aren’t top-tier or pro.

Alas, there is a great deal that Epic has also gotten wrong.

Show Me The Content!

First and foremost, the game seems to have hit something of a standstill at this point. No meaningful map changes have been added. Very few new items or weapons have been addedâ€"while many were vaulted at the beginning of the season. The upcoming live event appears to just be a scene from Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker, which isn’t nearly as exciting as previous season-ending events.

Then again, the season itself isn’t even ending until February despite weekly challenges being over and not much happening. That’s another two months of . . . what? Hopefully some Christmas stuff, but I can’t imagine what else.

No Locked Challenges!

Challenges themselves have been incredibly frustrating since Season X when Epic got rid of normal weekly challenges and started calling them “missions.” These are themed, sort of, around the Battle Pass characters or specific types of actions. That’s fine, but what’s frustrating is the fact that challenges are now all locked.

Now, only three challenges show up per mission, with the rest unlocked by solving the first challenges. This means that you can no longer tackle challenges in whichever order you like. Instead, you have to complete specific challenges first. It’s annoying and makes the game feel more grindy and tedious.

Nor can I fathom what, if anything, locked challenges add to the game, and I’m honestly perplexed why Epic would even bother changing a system that worked just fine before. By all means, have multi-part challenges that unlock as you go, but have the entire batch available from the moment the mission goes live.

Down With Chapters!

I also don’t like the use of “Chapter 2” which just extends any discussion of the game for no apparent reason. Before, one could write “Fortnite Season 3” and be done with it.

Now we have to say “Fortnite, Chapter 2, Season 3” instead. It’s a small thing, but it illustrates exactly how Epic keeps making unnecessary changes. Why not just have Season 11? You could still say “Chapter 2” to describe the game’s new phase, but people could refer to seasons as Season 11, 12, 13 etc. without the ungainly Chapter 2 tacked on.

It’s kind of like how Epic called Season 10 “Season X” for no good reason. Why use regular numbers for nine seasons and then switch to a Roman numeral? It’s silly. What is this Apple?

Throw Us A Bone!

With regards to the changes in update frequency, I’m less bothered than many. I don’t think we need a new item every week or incredibly elaborate seasonal events. One of the best moments in Fortnite’s history was the arrival of the comet, which was just a speck in the sky for weeks. That kind of thing is funâ€"but even something that minimalistic has been missing from Season 11 (er, Chapter 2, Season 1) until this Risky Reels business began. And there’s no mystery thereâ€"signs everywhere are promoting the Rise Of Skywalker event/scene viewing.

And while I don’t think we need new items every week, it wouldn’t hurt to at least unvault old weapons and items more regularly if only to mix things up. That doesn’t require much work. If Epic really is throttling back its crunch-timeâ€"which is terrific news for employeesâ€"they can still dip into the vault to make things interesting.

SBMM / Bots

As for the larger controversiesâ€"SBMM and the inclusion of botsâ€"I’ll just have to disagree with many in the community who are against these additions, probably because I’m not a pro-tier player and I benefit from these things, as do many others I’m sure. I find similar complaints over SBMM in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare also overblown.

But I understand that this is a big change for many, and I get why people don’t like the change. A solution would be a Casual and a Competitive playlist with the former utilizing SBMM and bots and the latter utilizing region-based match-making and no bots. I think Fortnite has a large enough player-base to sustain this, but I could be wrong.

The Extension

Epic Games have extended Season 11 into February 2020, even though the last week of challenges dropped a week ago. I’ve already hit Tier 100 and now it’s just the Alter Ego grind left, I suppose, and earning XP from completing challenges that won’t unlock any new Battle Pass rewards.

I do understand why they’re extending the season, but I don’t really understand why it’s being extended this far out. Surely mid-January would have made more sense, or even a bit earlier. Kick off Season 12 with the new year, or close enough. Now we have the Christmas event to look forward to and then a big, empty January and part of February to slog through. Maybe there will be Overtime Challenges to help sustain us. Either way, making this of all seasons the longest one ever is a bad idea.

For my part, I’d like a more straightforward Season 12. Give us back normal challenges. Call it Season 12. Have some kind of subtle but interesting “story” kick off sooner that we can follow. Change up which weapons are available even if mostly it’s recycling old weapons and items instead of making new ones. The last two seasons have been weirdly convoluted and disappointing (minus Season 10’s epic conclusion).

I still love the game and I’ve had a lot of fun this season, but I think some small changes could go a long way . . . in Season 12.

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