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The Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) is underway and the first set of pre-season qualifiers have concluded. Teams are set to compete in the Pro League but there seems to be something amiss in the points system which makes it feel unfair for teams competing at the event.
The difference in points across placement ranks in matches is not much and getting kills also rewards a consistent amount of points. Teams that place lower can simply get more kills and end up being on par with teams that consistently make it to the top three every game. This does not seem like the best way to balance the points system according to TSM’s Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen.
TSM ImperialHal is unhappy with the ALGS points system
TSM placed 4th and 5th in its recent ALGS Pro League games while Noble Esports placed 2nd and 9th, and yet Noble is placed higher on the leaderboard. Noble’s Lucas “Farmerlucas” Watson responded to Hal saying that the system is “awful”. There has been a mixed reception for the ALGS Year 2’s point system but it is unknown if Respawn will be making any changes down the line.
In the current system, first place receives 12 points, second receives nine, and it goes down with each rank. However, in addition to placement points teams receive one point for each kill. The fact that getting nine kills and ending 17th is the same as second place with no kills is worrisome.
What Respawn can do to fix the ALGS points system
There are two potential solutions that would resolve the problem for the later stages of the event and it all comes back to the game’s ranking system. One of the biggest issues with ALGS’ kill points system is that it remains consistent regardless of your placement. However, in the game’s ranked mode your kills are worth more points if you end at a higher placement rank. This incentivized getting kills and getting good placement ranks at the same time.
Respawn could implement the same concept for its ALGS points system which would prevent teams placing low to get tons of points by getting early kills without having the need to place high up. In the current system, there are teams that go all-in on getting kills and if successful, they end up getting more points than higher ranking teams that play for position and endgame.
There should also be more points awarded depending on placement, considering the high-risk high-reward nature of battle royale. In its current state, placements don’t mean much if a team like TSM can consistently reach top five and still be behind teams with less consistent results.
