Apex Legends
I’ve been off the Apex Legends bandwagon for a few seasons now. That’s how it goes with live-service games. Other games come around, other hobbies take precedence, you get it, right? I have thousands of hours in the game, but those hours haven’t been evenly spaced between each season. Sometimes I’m grinding the ranked leaderboard for hundreds of hours, others I barely touch the game.
Recently, I’ve been focused on playing guitar and painting toy soldiers rather than sitting in front of my PC sweating against players far better than I. But something called me back to Apex Legends at the tail end of Season 25. Unfortunately, this is the worst time for me to possibly get back into Apex Legends.
When Not To Play Apex Legends
Via: Respawn Entertainment
I often play Apex to wind down. When I’m in that battle royale mood, I might jump into a match after work in lieu of a commute. I might spend my lunch break getting beamed by Apex Predators who have smurfed into my Gold lobby. It’s a comfort game, and no matter what changes happen season to season, I always enjoy going back to it.
However, there are times when it’s not as good an idea to get back into Apex. If you’re, say, freelance and your job requires excellent time management in order to bring in enough money to feed your wife and kids. And that’s exactly what I’m about to be. My work with TheGamer will conclude at the end of July (a few pre-written embargoed pieces notwithstanding), and I’ll jump back into the world of full-time freelance.
I pride myself on good time management – this isn’t a job application, promise – but I can get easily distracted. If I need to grab a screenshot to support an article, I may well spend an hour faffing about to do so. I could go into the Firing Range to snap a pic of the Bocek (which is now ground loot again, by the way – wild, right?), or I could jump into a real match. A real match that takes 20 minutes or so. And then, if I forget to get the shot or am just high on the adrenaline of reaching the final circle, another match.
As you can see, things can get out of hand quickly. It’s easy to keep a lid on things when you have a strict quota and duties at a full-time job like this, but when your daily tasks are as nebulous as ‘researching pitches’ and ‘sending pitches’, things become a tad more difficult. Is playing a game research? Does anyone want to buy my self-indulgent blog of how I won my first ranked match this season or why I think bows and arrows are inherently cool? No, Ben, they do not.
A part of this job is playing video games. However, a much bigger chunk of it is researching, interviewing, writing, editing, and admin. So much admin. Re-indulging in my Apex Legends obsession at a time like this, when I should be rekindling dormant professional relationships and sending pitch after goshd*rned pitch, is probably not the best idea.
The Joy Of Gaming
The rational part of my brain is telling me not to return to my degenerate days as a ranked grinder, but there’s something key to remember about playing games: fun.
I enjoy playing video games. I enjoy playing Apex. And that’s something that’s easy to forget when you’re so often playing games as a job. This job blurs the lines between work and play, and soon I won’t have to make that distinction any longer.
Via: Respawn Entertainment
So I’m going to indulge myself. I’m going to get back into Apex. I’m going to learn the ins and outs of Sparrow, the new Legend who I’ve barely used. I’m going to main the Bocek and become my server’s own Robin Hood, stealing loot from the rich and giving it to… Well, the next team who comes across me hunched over a death box.
I’ll curb my enthusiasm, limit my play in order to actually do some freelance work between matches, but I’ll have fun while I do it. After all, what else are video games for but putting a smile on your face as you come against yet another three-stack armed with triple Devotions?
