Written by Evan B. 09/15/2022
Image credit to Flickr
Do you ever boot up a match of Apex, dominate the match, then stare at the champions screen thinking to yourself: “damn, that was fun"? Me neither, this game blows.
Recently, researchers at Oxford were curious as to the effects of Apex Legends on one's mental health. They often found their friends who played the game displaying subtle signs of depression, such as lack of sleep, loss of appetite, and repeatedly saying "I hate myself, I am so depressed right now."
Tests were run at the university to study this behavior. Research would record the general mental health of participants (through means of a survey) before playing the game and every hour after they began. The initial plan was to give surveys after every 5 minutes, but no one was able to get into a match and were getting annoyed at filling out our 10-minute survey every interval.
Mental Health was recorded as the average among participants, on a scale of 0-10.
Some complications did arise during testing, for example: 1 hour into the study our only participant received a call from the police about how his mother, father, and 2 siblings died in a head on collision with another car containing his wife and 2.5 children, who also died. Although this could have potentially skewed the results somewhat, we won't jump to conclusions.
So, what causes this drastic decline in mental health? Well, it could be many things. Although the roster contains a vast selection of playable "Legends" of different ethnicities, genders, and sexual identities, most people who play Apex Legends are incredibly prejudiced against minorities.
Another potential issue is the advantages Console players have over PC players, a common area of discussion within the community. Players who use the controller have aim assist, a mechanic which makes their shots more accurate and is something that PC players just cannot compete with.
Switch lite players ruining Apex games, credit to Trusted Reviews
Still, there are many things that keep us in the game; that enthrall its userbase to continue playing. Characters are very charming, and gameplay can feel incredibly satisfying upon the long-awaited win. But these things are so small in comparison to the negative impacts the game has on players.
In conclusion, the game just isn't worth it! So set down your controllers and, wait. Did I just get a 3k game right now? Wow, that's incredible...well, maybe just one more game then.
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