Why are people still playing APB:R? RPS Article Discussion

[Rumple 35]

Found this Rock Paper Shotgun article a few moments ago & would be interested in what y'all gotta say.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/05/28/why-are-people-still-playing-apb-reloaded/

I think it's a fair question to ask, even if I felt the article was pretty low effort.

Quote

Then I actually have some fun. The mission is in full swing by the time I arrive – I think we’re supposed to stop some robbers from pulling off a jewellery heist – and arriving late lets me get the drop on them. I sweep in from an unexpected angle, and drop two criminals before they can notice me. They respawn, and as the fight goes on I’m subjected to a seemingly endless barrage of rockets and grenades. We lose.

 

Quote

I’d assumed I’d suffered that rain of rockets at the hands of someone who’d bought an unfairly large stockpile of explosives, though Morphological’s comments make me wonder if I was facing a hacker.

Anyways, I think there's a pretty unique coalescence happening with APB. It's basically the foundation of what people always wanted from GTA:O (long before it was a thing) and so much more. Respect to David Jones for birthing both GTA & APB. I still wish the world could've seen RTW support APB. RIP.

However, the fact is the core basics imo are just right. The customization options are still pretty insane by 2018 standards, especially when you consider this is a game from 2010. Just so many extremely high potential features were implemented with APB and that explains it's longevity. Finally, the most important thing is APB's PvP. I am glad there was never any PvE implemented, this game is fun because it let's you hunt the most dangerous game, humans! Truly, it is the players that keep this game from being boring. Always coming up with new tactics, sneaky tricks, etc. It will always be the human opposition, the brain behind the screen. APB is probably one of the best PvP experiences ever crafted because it's the most human. It's heavily dependent on the player's imagination & creativity.

Even with these battle royale games now starting to gain in popularity, they're years behind APB. Also the opposition in Fortnite & PUBG is mostly brain dead. You know Epic almost purchased APB before G1. I doubt there would've been a Fortnite had that happened. That would've been interesting to see too!

Anyway, APB is a great game that's been operating while being bound & gagged by it's operators. I hope LO can pull this one out as this game always deserved better and now even nearing a decade old can still pull out a clutch victory. It'll take time & commitment, but the upgrades for the Unreal Engine will open up a lot of doors for our little game here.

That's why I still play APB, it's because APB deserves to be played.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Rumple
fixing typo

[vsb 6211]

i really enjoy the way this "journalist" interviews players and then immediately contradicts anything positive they say about the game in the next line, some real a-grade process happening there

 

on the bright side our resident forumer szambi is now famous - dont forget about us peasants when you're getting a star on hollywood blvd

[Rumple 35]

Oh and funny enough David Jones works for Epic now. Hah.

[Rumple 35]

3 minutes ago, BXNNXD said:

i really enjoy the way this "journalist" interviews players and then immediately contradicts anything positive they say about the game in the next line, some real a-grade process happening there

 

on the bright side our resident forumer szambi is now famous - dont forget about us peasants when you're getting a star on hollywood blvd

Yeah, pretty low effort article. I feel like he wrote up his opinion before jumping in game to grab a few screenshots and conduct some interviews. I guess that really does make him a journalist. 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Rumple

[Songbearer 72]

I generally like RPS but yeah that article is rough. A common thing that crops up in APB related discussions is "Why not play GTA Online?" which can be easily answered by playing both games and realising that they're aiming for completely different things.

 

APB is a semi-tactical shooter that requires teamwork and co-ordination, similar to Counterstrike (minus the polish and laser-sharp gunplay). GTA: O is a wide open sandbox with diversions. I've played both for more hours than I'd care to admit, but it only takes a moment to realise that both games offer things that the other one can't.

 

APB's customisation is also used to dismiss the game as nothing more than a barbie dressup simulator, and while this is true for some and a lot of the longterm players generally are in it for the customisation (I wouldn't have played the game for any length of time if the customisation wasn't so good), it's the sense of personality and attachment to your character that you get when you make your character "yours" which you really don't get in any other game that has premade outfits.

 

The article's tone just seems hostile and dismissive from the get-go, something that I'm glad a lot of people have called the author out on. APB has a rotten history, there's no denying it, but for it to have been this tenacious there has to be something to the game. All the players here know what it is, and outsiders can definitely see the appeal, but with its reputation it's a hard sell and it's unfortunate the writer chose to take the approach he did. It feels like he pities the people for playing something he doesn't personally enjoy.

[Rumple 35]

3 minutes ago, Songbearer said:

I generally like RPS but yeah that article is rough. A common thing that crops up in APB related discussions is "Why not play GTA Online?" which can be easily answered by playing both games and realising that they're aiming for completely different things.

 

APB is a semi-tactical shooter that requires teamwork and co-ordination, similar to Counterstrike (minus the polish and laser-sharp gunplay). GTA: O is a wide open sandbox with diversions. I've played both for more hours than I'd care to admit, but it only takes a moment to realise that both games offer things that the other one can't.

 

APB's customisation is also used to dismiss the game as nothing more than a barbie dressup simulator, and while this is true for some and a lot of the longterm players generally are in it for the customisation (I wouldn't have played the game for any length of time if the customisation wasn't so good), it's the sense of personality and attachment to your character that you get when you make your character "yours" which you really don't get in any other game that has premade outfits.

 

The article's tone just seems hostile and dismissive from the get-go, something that I'm glad a lot of people have called the author out on. APB has a rotten history, there's no denying it, but for it to have been this tenacious there has to be something to the game. All the players here know what it is, and outsiders can definitely see the appeal, but with its reputation it's a hard sell and it's unfortunate the writer chose to take the approach he did. It feels like he pities the people for playing something he doesn't personally enjoy.

I agree with you, it's lazy to try and compare GTO w/ APB. And I also agree w/ you on the tone of the article, it just seems this person loathed the game or loathed the task to report on any news regarding it. It's very easy to write a hit piece w/ the premise of "Tell me why this game is worth my time?" and then shoot down every possible reason why said game is indeed worth some time. Comes off very snobby and I honestly haven't found many people that enjoy GTO so I really don't understand why it is even a bar to be measured by any means. The author even says GTO wasn't memorable, but he sure as hell knew it must be better than APB! Just silly. 

Good point on the ownership/connection. I do feel that bond and I bet a lot of folks do, especially since you can easily spend hundreds of hours inside the creative creator. 

[Rumple 35]

I have to go to sleep because I am unfortunately an adult with a career now, unlike when APB was originally released. 

I hope to see some genuine responses to why people still play APB. Don't be shy, I'm legit curious my friends. I suspect at least one person will mention the possibility/promise of the racing district. hah

[TheOppositePolarBear 93]

 

from the article: " The gunplay, for the record, is crap "

also, from the article: " I’ve only played it a little and can’t properly recall how I felt about the gunplay "

 

great, a journalist that cant write 1 article without contradicting himself.

 

sorry, i cant take seriously this guy if he cant tell the difference between GTA and APB, or even worst, if he thinks GTA is a better version of APB.

 

RPS, you're dissapointing me.

 

 

edit: oh, why i still play apb? because i see no other game to fill my niches as apb does:

 

• 3rd person multiplayer shooter: check
• with lean mechanics instead of all the ridiculous "back on the wall" cover system that gives your enemies all the chances they need to put 7 bullets in your back beafore you turn aaaaaaaaaaaaalll the way arround: check
• great costumization: check
• social stuff(social district counts): check
• not p2w or "player with 2000 hours have a really big advantage over the new char": check
• no RPG mechanic like grinding bosses to get pieces of a build to finally use it in PVP and/or TTKs and hipfire accuracy so ridiculously high that makes gunfights into chickendances that lasts for several minutes and takes the players in anime fights for a whole block: check (sorry, i got flashbacks of the division for a moment)
• open map that allows you to attack the objective from multiple angles, with multiple plans, instead of a small, closed map: check
• fun and meaningful gunplay thats not just cod levels of "aim and shoot": check
• open voicechat: check
• cops and robbers theme: check

 

i used to play other games that filled my niches, but they are really outdated for now.

 

im a niche gamer, i dont like FPS, battleroyale, mobas, survival games that makes you stay online all day or get your base destroyed when you're sleeping, soccer, easy hack n' slashes or classic MMORPGs, and with that, i've killed almost all popular games.

 

i love APB's pacing too, not too fast, not too slow, just....RIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by TheOppositePolarBear

[Puffdragon 131]

Very poorly written article.

[Zascha 47]

I've played lots of games over the years, and APB is quite unique. This is going to be a long response:

 

The Nintendo Entertainment System was the epitome of gaming. Games never got any better than they were on that system. Yes, they have become more complicated over the years, but there is something about the limitations of that system and the imagination poured into those limitations which created the finest games ever made:

 

Super Mario Brothers is just as playable today as it was 35 years ago.

The Legend of Zelda is just as amazing today as it was 35 years ago.

Contra

Mega Man

Castlevania

Ghosts n Goblins

Mike Tyson's Punch Out

 

The list goes on and on and on. These games are infinitely playable. They were difficult. Unforgiving. And they were so much fun. You could literally replay them forever and never be bored.

 

APB shares something in common with those games: it really is just that simple a game.

 

In Mario, you run and you jump. That's it. That's the whole game. Occasionally, you shoot a fireball.

 

There aren't a million things to set up. You don't have to do a bunch of reading to learn how to play. You don't have to go through endless load screens. You don't have to micro-manage a bunch of bull$hit. You don't have to go somewhere to set something up just so you can do the thing you want to do. You don't have to spend months or weeks or even days doing a million things you don't want to do to enjoy the thing you do want to do which is the core game loop. You don't have to collect a bunch of crap so you can buy a ticket to get something which once you've collected a lot of, you can trade in for one thing. THE GAME STARTS AT RANK 1, NOT RANK 255!!!

 

In APB, you pick your gun, get inside a car, ride, shoot, press F. Rinse and repeat until you're blue in the face. That's all there is to it. It's the same from the first time you step in, until the last time you ever play.

 

The point I'm making here is APB gets right what so many other games get wrong: The core gameplay is simple, it's fun because it's simple, and there's nothing standing between you and doing that simple, fun core gameplay.

 

I have been talking about this for years. Games don't need to be complicated to be good. They don't. All they need is one or two things, and those things need to work. <-- That is literally the only thing APB does right. For all the complaining we do about whatever it is we complain about, the core gameplay is on point. It always has been.

 

Missions are long enough to be engaging and short enough so you don't get bored. You're always moving. The "level" changes constantly. The requirements of the missions are always challenging you.

 

But then, there is something else about it. You get to make your character from the ground up. And I mean you really get to make it.

 

The reason this game has that special something that no other game has, is because it is simply fun, it works, and it allows you to invest your imagination into it unlike any game that has ever come before it. No other game allows you to do that as a feature to this extent. None. Ever. And not just you, but your car, your music, your art, your expression. It's not just that you can make whatever you want. It's that the game is allowing you to invest your imagination into it. It WANTS you to use your imagination. It WANTS you to have an effect in the game. It WANTS you to exist inside the game.

 

No MMO, no matter how complicated the Classes or the Abilities or the Weapons or the whatever; No Shooter, no matter how sophisticated the ballistics or the physics or the sounds; None of that can compete with the ability to allow the player to invest their imagination into the game. Most people don't even fully appreciate how powerful what I'm talking about is, but let me put it to you like this:

 

You don't have to pay extra cash in a complicated Cash Shop to wear a pair of Blue Jeans one day and a pair of Red Jeans the next day. Your ability to express your character isn't locked behind a Loot Crate. It isn't pre-rendered. It isn't the same thing other people have identical or just in a different color. Of all the things that could potentially be locked behind a paywall, your creativity is allowed to be completely free (Premium is not really a paywall if you ask me. It's not even that expensive.)

 

Do you want to play Mario, except you get to design Mario anyway you want?

How about Legend of Zelda? How many of you would want to play that, except you can make Link look however you want?

 

I'd wager every single person who is reading this, and every single person who didn't. That's who.

 

APB is that game.

 

And Cheaters and bad management have tried their absolute damndest to run it into the ground. We will never get another game like this. Ever.

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Zascha

[LUST 215]

Point of the article: "Games all should be the same, I suck at shooting, and since I don't want to customize--customization is pointless. I just don't want to understand."

 

He gets an answer to his article's title; however, it doesn't sit right with him because wanted to hear comments that belittled the game (and didn't). In the end, he didn't care for anything anyone said; he just wanted to make a snark comment about the game to say: it's not like anything else but he simply cannot respect that.

 

"Gaming journalists" are something else.

[Zealocke 54]

Well this game may not be the best but hell if i tell ya its memorable.

 

One week before LO Bought G1 i saw this video (not intended to sponsor anyone btw)

And by then i didnt had any reason to play it (i didnt played apb for at least 4 years)

The the LO Miracle happened and i came back to check.
Then i remembered why the game was so unique.

 

It has

 

- Not superb but passable shooting and taking cover

- Not superb but passable driving

- Not superb but passable mechanics and missions

 

But if you start to play the very first thing a person will say entering social is :

 

"DOOD IM SURROUNDED BY DIFFERENT CHARS AND NOONE LOOK ALIKE AT ALL!!".

 

And thats the most strong point of APB. You would like better shooting, better driving or better mechanics. But im sure as hell you couldnt think of a better level of customization or personalization in a f2p game. Even the worst of the trolls couldnt say the customization sucks. And because you can choose to be "good" or "bad" you can basically be whathever you want.

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Zealocke

[Meta 13]

[Kimotsi 41]

1.Free

2.Fun

3.Customization

4. Why not? 

[Puffdragon 131]

Apb isn't about good graphics, realistic physics, or intriguing gun play. Apb is about pretending to be cool, and making people think you are cool so you can pretend that you actually think you are cool. Then you stand in social and banter on the mic, until everyone gets sleepy, then all the clans go to there separate spots and draw with crayons.

 

This journalist clearly has no clue.

[Regenance 59]

Been playing since I was a child, 8 years afterwards still returning to the childhood game, so why not? it's free. has unique systems that you can't see nowdays in game such as the customization system and so on. 

[sneekface 87]

Did you guys notice this comment?

 

literally_a_ghost says:

" I worked on this game at RTW and at Reloaded. It’s had a pretty… challenging development, especially over the last few years. I’ve not been at the company since… 2014-ish. The development team was shrunk and shrunk and shrunk until there was basically nothing left but 2 guys attempting to do an engine upgrade that stalled out for literally years, and the publisher just kind of kept it rolling somehow. Little Orbit, I think, are trying to set up a development team but there’s so much cruft in the systems by this point that refactoring all of it would be a mammoth investment of time, money and effort."

 

Who do you think that is?

Edited May 31, 2018 by sneekface

[ninetenduh 40]

Let's be honest, the points made by those he interviewed are Valid, especially this

 

Quote

The game basically is garbage right now. And playing it right now requires actual history with it, because as it is now it’s literally filled with cheaters. And the game doesn’t really ‘embrace’ new people, it more or less shits on them.

1

or 

Quote

little to no fair matchmaking

 

But overall the article was rather biased towards giving the Game negative Press. He Got his Question answered by multiple People, and still goes on to deny everything. Why even ask the question if you shit all over the Answer? 

 

And why is he comparing the Gunplay to Battlefield? Why is he comparing a TPS to an FPS, why compare it to a game that wants to somehow implement a simesque weapons handling with a touch of realism to a full on arcade Experience? Is that guy Mental or something? He goes on to start comparing it to GTA V, someone might tell that idiot that it isn't because People prefer APB but because that is the truth about GTA V, the Gunplay in GTA V is absolute trash. the PVP is laughable and that GTA V is just a Rip off Tactic, they released already in the game cars for no prices just to make people buy sharkcards. 

 

And some of the Comments are no as well, the slogan of the game once was "Be what you can't be" So yes, the Character creator is a major if not one of the biggest points of the game. 

 

But that's RPS for you, same filth as Kotaku and ign. 

[Panicbutton 5]

I have been amazed the last few days on the forums of people who are still avidly playing this game and been opposed to some of my suggestions to wipe everything clean and start fresh.  Why on earth anyone would stick with this game this long is beyond me.  The never ending stream of cheaters was enough to make me and my friends quit years ago.

 

He does bring up one very interesting point in that article though and it really needs to be addressed: They respawn, and as the fight goes on I’m subjected to a seemingly endless barrage of rockets and grenades.

[Seedy 324]

4 hours ago, Zealocke said:

Well this game may not be the best but hell if i tell ya its memorable.

 

One week before LO Bought G1 i saw this video (not intended to sponsor anyone btw)

A.

 

I really hate watching these type of videos. APB Is in my opinion the best game ever made. I dont think I have ever called APB, APB Reloaded intentionally. It is APB! RIGHT!

[Seedy 324]

7 hours ago, Rumple said:

Oh and funny enough David Jones works for Epic now. Hah.

no.. he doesnt. He works at 

 

http://www.reagentgames.com/

 

Its about 1 mile from my front door..

[Panicbutton 5]

After reading the whole article I realize again how much work LO has to do and how long it's going to be before this game is in a playable state.  Hopefully they don't get bogged down by the never ending stream of masochist fanboys on these forums.  See you guys in a few months.

[Rumple 35]

44 minutes ago, Seedy said:

no.. he doesnt. He works at 

 

http://www.reagentgames.com/

 

Its about 1 mile from my front door..

Well he is no longer 1 mile from your front door.

Quote

In January 2018 Jones became Director, Cloud Strategy for Epic Games and ceased being Creative Director for Reagent Games.

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Rumple

[AbuMohammad 105]

As for me, APB is a game with a best clothing designer ever made. I spend most of my time in social, chatting or making something new

[Rumple 35]

7 hours ago, TheOppositePolarBear said:

from the article: " The gunplay, for the record, is crap "

also, from the article: " I’ve only played it a little and can’t properly recall how I felt about the gunplay "

 

great, a journalist that cant write 1 article without contradicting himself.

 

sorry, i cant take seriously this guy if he cant tell the difference between GTA and APB, or even worst, if he thinks GTA is a better version of APB.

 

RPS, you're dissapointing me.

 

 

edit: oh, why i still play apb? because i see no other game to fill my niches as apb does:

 

• 3rd person multiplayer shooter: check
• with lean mechanics instead of all the ridiculous "back on the wall" cover system that gives your enemies all the chances they need to put 7 bullets in your back beafore you turn aaaaaaaaaaaaalll the way arround: check
• great costumization: check
• social stuff(social district counts): check
• not p2w or "player with 2000 hours have a really big advantage over the new char": check
• no RPG mechanic like grinding bosses to get pieces of a build to finally use it in PVP and/or TTKs and hipfire accuracy so ridiculously high that makes gunfights into chickendances that lasts for several minutes and takes the players in anime fights for a whole block: check (sorry, i got flashbacks of the division for a moment)
• open map that allows you to attack the objective from multiple angles, with multiple plans, instead of a small, closed map: check
• fun and meaningful gunplay thats not just cod levels of "aim and shoot": check
• open voicechat: check
• cops and robbers theme: check

 

i used to play other games that filled my niches, but they are really outdated for now.

 

im a niche gamer, i dont like FPS, battleroyale, mobas, survival games that makes you stay online all day or get your base destroyed when you're sleeping, soccer, easy hack n' slashes or classic MMORPGs, and with that, i've killed almost all popular games.

 

i love APB's pacing too, not too fast, not too slow, just....RIGHT

First off, I want to say I appreciate you and your polar ways.

I really do appreciate APB as a 3PS, especially back when APB was one of the only if not only 3PS on the market. It was extremely unpopular compared to FPS and I hated the constant stream of F2P FPS. So I will say the contributed heavily to my interest & investment in APB.

Naturally, I am agreement with pretty much everything else, but also wanted to emphasize the open voice chat! Jeez. so many games today just completely not launching w/ voice support expecting people to use Discord or something. And then when they do have it it's exclusive to your team. I understand people can complain about harassment, but you can do that anyway. I love the open voice chat. I love walking around San Paro and hearing random chat haha