Fortnite: 6 Changes We Want To See

It feels a little reductive at this point to mention that Fortnite is a Pretty Big Deal. With millions of players and a smartly concocted marketing plan that continuously builds hype for the next addition to the game, Fortnite keeps growing and growing almost to the point where it is unwieldy, as evidenced by Epic’s recent struggles to keep it as stable as the game that launched.

Fortnite’s vision for battle royale is not perfect, but no games really are — even the most acclaimed of games have their drawbacks. For instance, while Breath of the Wild was the standout performer of last year, its Yiga Clan Hideout section can go and drown in the nearest body of water. Fortnite also has its fair share of problems, but with the size of the team now at its disposal at Epic, they’ve shown that they’re willing to work on them and usually pretty quickly, too.

If anyone at Epic is taking a break from fiddling around with how to make jetpacks work, here’s hoping they read some of the changes we want to see in Fortnite.

 

1. Over-the-Shoulder changes

The over-the-shoulder perspective has been a big part of third-person shooters since Resident Evil 4 showed everyone how it’s done. Fortnite adopts the same perspective, but with a pretty big drawback: you can’t switch to different shoulders.

This might not seem a big deal, but it really is. Fortnite’s perspective is currently locked to just the right shoulder, which can create some sticky situations. For example, if your opponent has the corner which favours their right and you are behind one that favours the left, they already have a leg up on you. It’s such a simple tweak that it’s a wonder why Epic haven’t enacted it yet.

 

2. Better squad emotes

The addition of squad emotes were a welcome addition for mic-phobes or when parties are split between Discord and in-game, but they just feel like a concept rather than what Epic eventually want them to be. Unless your teammate is looking directly at you, they may not know that you need bandages because you just walked into a trap like a nimbus.

Instead, there should be a small (non-spammable) sound when you want to hail a teammate as well it being more noticeable in the HUD. A simple idea for this is for the emote to flash by your name in the top-left when you need something, which will probably be ideal for when you spot an enemy. It’s a tiny thing, but will definitely aid communication between those feeling less than social.

 

3. Make banners worth a damn

My eyes glaze over and I fall into a deep sleep whenever I see I’ve unlocked a new icon from the Battle Pass. While it’s cool that they offer customisation, it’s still customisation that almost nobody will see and is ultimately just filler to flesh out the Battle Pass.

To make unlocking icons (and therefore different banners) more appealing, Epic should allow you to use them as sprays alongside your name to perform the ultimate in disrespects to your foes. Likewise, how about including a small area on your skin where you can apply the banner, not unlike a sports kit? That way, the banner can actually have some worth in-game and could even foster a sort of clan movement, not unlike Halo and Call of Duty. This is spitballing, but I simply want my hard work from unlocking a cartoon worm to be worthwhile, damn it.

 

4. Refund system

Not all Fortnite skins are created equal, especially when there are so many new ones pumped out so regularly. The revolving door of skins leads to some impulse buys that you immediately regret — looking at you here, Liteshow, you gigantic moving target, you.

The skins aren’t cheap, either, with the premium skins costing V-Bucks setting you back about half as much as the cost of an entirely different game. There was a refund system in place recently, but Epic had to remove it from the game as it was exploitable, as well as them potentially realising how much money they might be missing out on. There’s been almost no updates on the refund system since it was removed, so here’s hoping it doesn’t go the way of the jetpack.

 

5. Practice arena

Fortnite is a game that’s easy to pick up but incredibly hard to master, so much so that once you think you’re at all good, another player will come along and gently rest their balls on your forehead with some outrageous building that looks like a Jackson Pollock painting.

The fix? Introduce a practice arena that gives players the opportunity to hone their craft. It’s true that learning the hard way is pretty effective, but a practice arena will give new players ample chance to get to grips with Fortnite’s nuances before making the leap to the big leagues. They’ll probably still get turned to dust within seconds, but at least the learning curve won’t be such a ruthless one.

 

6. Stability over additions

It should be no surprise that Fortnite often has performance problems with it even being out of action at one point for an entire day because of an oversight from Epic. As much as new weapons and gameplay tweaks are welcomed, however, the priority should always be the stability of the game.

Fortnite quickly carved an audience for itself by doing what PUBG wouldn’t: constantly updating the game with new content. It feels like Epic are far too beholden to that ethos to potentially the detriment of the game’s longevity, however. They should take a leaf out of Rainbow Six Siege’s book and step back from releasing swathes of new content to focus on the overall health of the game.

I mean, apples? Really?

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