I would like to apologize sincerely Autumn guys plow. I fell into the slime. I thought we were gone. So I quit. I didn’t realize how much that screwed you guys (trap) guys! It won’t happen again, I promise.
Yesterday as part of the platform game royale season four update Autumn guys received a squadron mode. Instead of traditional solo matches – where you qualify for new rounds, depending on your personal rankings – you play with up to three other team members. At the end of races, you earn points based on how fast you finish. Survival rounds, meanwhile, give you more points the longer you survive. The total score of all four members determines whether your team advances to the next round.
Better yet, if your team makes it to the final round, only one member has to win for the whole team to claim victory. That gives each of you 20 Crown Shards. Earn 60 of those and you get a crown.
On paper, this all sounds divine, especially to those of us who are engaged in an eternal battle to actually win a final round. And when it works, the squad mode is really great. Not only is the sense of camaraderie a nice addition to this notoriously killer game, but playing with a team significantly lowers the barrier to earning those sweet, sweet crowns. Well, sometimes. There is a troubling trend where players quit if they fail personally, effectively doom their teammates to disqualification.
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Let’s say you play a round of Block Party and somehow get knocked into the slime within the first few seconds. Muscle memory would tell you you’re done, it’s time to stop and try again because you’re not in the qualifying block by any means. However, in squad mode you still have a chance. Yes, falling early has made it harder for your teammates, but there’s still a chance they (and by extension you) will hold out. Maybe they play really good. Or maybe all other squads are playing really bad. The point is, there is a chance.
What is almost certain, however, is that your team will fail in the next round if you quit. Think about it. Your score is determined in totality. Putting a team of three beans against different teams of four puts the team of three at an immediate, practically insurmountable disadvantage. I played there for a few hours Autumn guys‘squads mode last night. Not once have I seen a three-person team qualify after a round.
After the fourth season of the game went live yesterday, players took to the Autumn guys subreddit and fast pointed out the problems with players who throw in the towel prematurely. You could attribute it to poor posture or muscle memory. In fact, you could argue that it is the result of a lack of attention, but the elimination screen is pretty clear that you have to stay in the round until the end to see if you qualified. (See above.) Those people – and yes, I say this as someone who is guilty of such a sin and totally apologizes for it – deserve a single attack.
In terms of criminal Autumn guys behavior, I would put early risers above those much-hated grapples who hold you back from victory at the last minute. In solo mode, Autumn guys is a dog-eat-dog glove. Bad sportsmanship does not deserve praise, of course, but it is expected demonstrably justifiableWhen you play squads there is an implied level of confidence. You are a team. You are in it together. To betray that trust – whether malicious or careless – is indefensible.
The logical change would be to switch squad squads from a linear total to a calculated average. That way, squads of three or even two can potentially take on full matches.Kotaku contacted Mediatonic, the game’s developer, about possible plans to implement this, but did not hear back in time for publication.)
That’s not the only problem with squads right now. Like a kind of flashback to the game server problems on launch day, loading into a squad game is a bit of a mess. A match starts as soon as 40 players are in line. But, according to to Mediatonic, once a match is full, spots cannot be refilled when someone leaves. This prevents the game from starting, so if you see the number of players going down instead of up, stop at the title instead of waiting.
But squad mode is, for the most part, a delightful addition to Autumn guys, and I love the fourth season in general. I stepped out Autumn guys for seasons two and three, so there are plenty of new levels for you to enjoy, including the seven added this season. The all-new Big Shots stage – where you balance on a seesaw and dodge huge projectiles being blown out of cannons – is a real standout.
There is a wonderful intensity to play squad. Yes, there is pressure to do your best as other people rely on you. But spectator mode also puts you on the edge of your seat. When you complete a race before your teammates are, the camera will focus on laggards, defaulting on your partners. You can watch with bated breath as they travel the trail. In solo play, spectator mode has traditionally been a moment of downtime for me, where I checked my phone or got a drink or whatever. In squads I can’t bring myself to look away. I’m just so focused on rooting for my fellow beans. It’s not a strange feeling, but it’s a new feeling. I don’t know how long this will take, however Autumn guys has its hooks in me again.
I’m just sorry I messed up that one game.