NeteaseFragPunk has gotten off to a strong start thanks to its unique blend of Lancers and game-changing Shard Cards. While the free-to-play shooter recently broke its launch day player count on Steam, players want the devs to remove one feature that is “ruining” ranked matches.
Just like Valorant and CS: GO, FragPunk features a ranked mode where players can put their FPS skills to the test. While using FragPunk’s best weapons and Lancers can help to give you an edge on the battlefield, there are times when a loss is simply out of your hands.
These losses can come from various reasons, but the most frustrating by far is when the players are thrown into bot lobbies. FragPunk isn’t the first F2P game to feature bot lobbies — both Fortnite and Marvel Rivals include these computer-controlled competitors.
However, players are now calling for devs to remove these computer-controlled players from ranked mode as they “ruin” matches.
FragPunk players call for removal of bots
Posting on the official FragPunk Reddit page, one player uploaded a short clip of a bot who has gotten stuck on the map. Instead of running around the map, the AI repeatedly ran against the wall. To make matters worse, the clip was taken from a ranked match where losses and victories carry high stakes to one’s own ranking.
“That’s happened to me twice with two teammates stuck in that position in the same exact place,” wrote one player. Others were keen to point out that having bots makes no sense, considering how active the community is.
“I just don’t understand the choice. Your first few quick play games I get – [they help] to introduce you to the game. But after that, the only reason is to fill gaps in player count but this game has like 100,000 players it’s just not necessary.”
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Having both your team and the enemy team consisting of bots can make it tricky to improve your skills in the game, especially when the AI can’t even make its way around the map. Because of this, many players in the FragPunk community end up in Diamond regardless of their skill.
“I was pretty much pushed into Diamond just from playing a lot,” wrote one player. “I feel I don’t deserve it and am not as good as the players there. The ranked system is weird. I go negative and am in last place almost every game, and the rank system funnels me to Diamond.”
Whether FragPunk devs will change the way it uses bots in ranked matches remains uncertain, but for now, it’s clear the community wants to see improvements in the current system.
