Pro Fortnite players aren’t enjoying Epic’s decision to force peripherals and settings at TwitchCon’s Skirmish event
Ever since Epic Games announced the full rules for TwitchCon’s Fall Skirmish finale, pro players have taken to Twitter blasting the decision.
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Much like Fortnite’s Summer Skirmish finale at PAX West, all participants at TwitchCon’s Fall Skirmish event have to play on the max graphics settings and with a specific set of peripherals.
Pro players weren’t happy about the rule for PAX West and things aren’t any different this time around for TwitchCon.
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The conversation got started when esports consultant Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau tweeted a picture of the rules, stating “This is not competitive. It’s amateur dressed up as esports.”
Epic Games is hosting a close to $2 Million Fortnite esports tournament at TwitchCon and is forcing all players on both PC and console to use on-site peripherals (mice/keyboard/controllers) AND max video settings.
This is not competitive. It's amateur dressed up as esports. pic.twitter.com/gat5kWNowV
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) October 11, 2018
Since then, the outrage hasn’t stopped with players at all levels speaking out against the decision.
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Team Liquid’s Jake ‘POACH’ Brumleve expressed his worry about even being able to stream with the high settings, saying that he could start using the specific keyboard and mouse that’s allowed but would be “torturing [himself] with shadows yet.”
Tomorrows stream will entail me using 1920×1080, a wired G-Pro mouse and keyboard and possibly some high settings, no way I'm torturing myself with shadows yet. Don't even know if I can manage streaming on these settings. I'M GOING TO HAVE A BLAST DON'T MIND THE RAGING.
— POACH (@LiquidPoach) October 20, 2018
POACH’s statement was one of the most enlightening as it demonstrated that many players like himself might not even be able to practice on the higher settings due to limitations of their home setups.
He wasn’t the only one to express his reservations about practicing with the higher video settings, as many other players shared similar stories of their own.
Only way for me to practice for TwitchCon is wearing sunglasses while playing. There is no way my computer can handle max settings on 1920. :upset:
— Brady (@StrugsFN) October 11, 2018
I just tried to run epic settings in Fortnite and my computer sounded like I was shaking up a can of screws and bolts
— OpTic Marz (@MarkyWap) October 16, 2018
Forced equipment is disappointing. You can’t ask kids who’s dream to make it pro one day to change their gear nor an experienced pro to do the same. It’s becomes not about the game anymore, it’s how good someone can be using Logitech. Encourage to reconsider for the dreamers
— Steve Arhancet (@LiQuiD112) October 11, 2018
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Even players who do have the necessary equipment required to run the game at the highest of settings don’t do so since it makes it harder to see enemy players, something that Cloud9’s Jacob ‘Hysteria’ Reiser outlined in a Tweet of his own.
yeah the big issue is the in game settings being forced to max. I'd say 99% of pro players/streamers all play with shadows and post processing shit off. It makes it legit hard to see and therefore lowers the level of play
— C9 Hysteria (@JacobHysteria) October 22, 2018
Despite the widespread backlash from the pro community, Epic Games has yet to comment on the issue, sticking to their guns on the TwitchCon ruleset.
With the Fortnite World Cup Qualifiers slated to start sometime in 2019, players will no doubt have their eyes peeled when it comes to the ruleset for the major event.
