Competitive Fortnite fans are no strangers to Arten ‘BallaTW’ Esa – the voice of competitive Fortnite. Balla is a broadcaster, analyst, and is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative sources on the competitive side of the game.
In the qualifying match of the FNCS Solos, Balla tweeted that he would be, “The biggest blog hit on why Solos should not be played for big events,” once the league ended. When it did, he followed through on his promise.
The blog contained more than 4000 words about why Solos is the worst game mode for big events. He outlines the multiple issues with Solo Fortnite from both a viewer and a competing point of view. Most of these issues are not as prevalent in larger team modes, as he states in his blog. We recommend that anyone interested in the topic of competitive Fortnite have it read (link in the tweet, below).
Balla touches on some of the primary issues with Solos in his blog: that the most popular players hardly ever win; that tension, grief, and drop-splitting are rampant; that narratives are shallow and difficult to make; that the random elements of Fortnite have more effect this mode than any other.
In the blog, Balla devotes a large section to the toxicity in Solos. You may not agree with everything Balla said in his blog, but he is dead-on in this department. Solos is the most toxic of all Fortnite modes. Competing players quarrel, end their streams, hurt each other, and complain persistently on Twitter.
Solos bring out the worst in everyone. It is the most anger-inducing game mode on any level. Many casual players even hate the mode. Anyone who follows competitive Fortnite knows that Fortnite Twitter is a cesspool at solo events. Teachers quarrel, stop and tell Epic how bad they are on their job. Here is a tweet from Bizzle that Balla used in his blog, but this is just one of hundreds of similar tweets.
As Balla states, tweets like these are bad for everyone. Remember this: if a group of MMA fighters came out and said how the UFC is uncompetitive, imperfect, and that they do not want to compete with the organization again – would this not harm the product? Why would you see anything when the most notable attendees at the event openly reveal how much they hate it, how random chance dictates everything, and how everyone rides and joins forces?
Again, we recommend giving the entire blog a read. Balla talks about many more topics such as the need for a “main” competitive Fortnite mode, how to solve some of the problems with larger team modes, and his idea for an “ideal tournament ecosystem.”
Fortunately, we already know that Season 4 Trios will appear as the FNCS game mode. This mode is a lot more fun to watch and – from what the pros tell us – a lot more fun to engage with. Hopefully Epic Games takes Balla’s advice forward with these solo events. We’ve come a long way from the World Cup, and it’s time for the competitive Fortnite formats to evolve.
