Introduction
I’d like to dedicate this page to explain myself, express my thoughts and experiences to some degree. This will most likely only interest those who I already know, and maybe those who enjoy what we’re currently in the process of building. With that being said, I hope you enjoy this read and thank you for being here.
Before Apex Fundamentalists
Interested in playing PC games, I desperately bought a PC around the same time Apex Legends came out and decided to use this opportunity to learn using a keyboard and mouse. Playing Apex Legends has been one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had, rivaling some of my most impactful moments from other First Person Shooters (FPS) and MMOs. In my eyes one thing that has made Apex Legends unique, is how brutal the learning process can be for the experienced and the new. From playing games like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Halo all the way up to Overwatch on console. I’d like to think I’m vastly experienced in the FPS genre. However, making the transition to a Battle Royal whilst learning the keyboard and mouse made my experience much tougher than expected. In Apex Legends I could empty 3 clips of the R301-Carbine on an enemy caught off guard and still be killed by them. This is how much trouble I was having… Rough times.
Though I never played as much as I could have, it still was my FPS game of choice. Eventually, I grew strong enough to frag people using 2 clips of the R301-Carbine (Provided the stars aligned and there wasn’t too much standing in my way). Apex Legends was always brutal and unforgiving. As I started to get more accustomed to using the keyboard and mouse, I had easier times climbing in ranked, eventually reaching Platinum Rank in the first few seasons. But it was always a stressful and frustrating experience. The one thing that I did not believe, is that it was because I was solo queuing. In fact, I believed it was my own mechanical proficiency bringing my games down.
It wasn’t until one of my longest online gaming buddies (Cisco, who goes by many different aliases. One of them being “ImPlanC”). He expressed how he has always enjoyed watching “How I play and improve in video games”. He held this sentiment since our Halo 2 days on XBOX Live. Since we were both interested in improving in Apex Legends, I decided to record him a video explaining small things for us to be aware of in game. I ended up posting this video on
r/apexlegends.
The Reddit Journey
I decided to share my video on reddit. Not because I thought it was good, but because I thought it might help the many players also struggling to make progress in their own Apex Legends journey. The post got about 10 likes, along with someone mentioning to share on r/apexuniversity, which I didn’t know existed at the time. Regarding r/apexuniversity I immediately thought… “This is where I belong”. I mean, a place where everyone is sharing ideas and trying to improve, this is perfect.
However there was one small issue... There seemed to be a lack of appreciation or not much emphasis on the universal concepts and reasonings used in Apex Legends. It was there, but often buried and overshadowed by what people already wanted to hear. Such as “Here is how I used movement to win this 1 v 3”. Not so much the “Here are the elements that help one win a 1 v 3”. The popular content didn’t seem to solve the issues the majority were having, leaving us wondering “what actually makes a player consistent”.
Some players are intelligent enough to instinctively read in between the lines, however the majority are going to learn movement skills and incorrectly apply them and still end up lost. I thought, instead of arguing, I’d make my own guide, throw out my own 2 cents and let those that can connect the two do so.
Initially I decided I’d keep updating this one post for those who caught and appreciated it. I figured maybe we could even grow and learn together.
The rest is history.
Oliver
Regarding the development of Apex Fundamentalists, there are many people who have had significant impacts. My thanks goes out to each and every one of them
What first drew people’s attention are the guides I originally wrote. I did write them, but it was Oliver who proofread them. He improved the guides, my writing increasing the quality and as a byproduct he improved me. If you’re wondering what my secret is to writing these guides, it’s having “an unbiased intellectual opinion”. It’s thanks to Oliver’s encouragement, appreciation, kindness and willingness to help and assist me whenever I called. Especially when he didn’t have to.
It was Oliver’s words that really made me feel appreciated and drove me to continue writing and posting, even if no one else cared.
When building the discord, it was Oliver’s questions and well thought opinions which led me to make the decisions I made and still making now. I had other people’s opinions but I valued Oliver’s more. Clearly he was intelligent and a deep thinker. I consider myself lucky to have met him.
How we met
Through my Solo Queue endeavours in Apex Legends, I met two awesome players who invited me to their game afterwards. Oliver is the friend of those two. He was simply in the discord channel they invited me to for VC comms. They all encouraged me when I was posting videos of myself getting kills or shooting (very mediocrely) at enemies in Apex Legends.
Fun Fact: Oliver doesn’t even play Apex Legends.
Thank you Oliver.
Our Community
I tried to build a place where players could enjoy the game regardless of their current skill. For most, playing ranked was too intimidating. Yet it’s all I've played, since I started. Ranked is not just for the skilled, it’s for everyone and it’s the best place to practice. The sad part is the in-game chat will have more discouraging words than positive ones. I thought about how I could create an environment where you could play and not have to deal with the negativity.
Our Apex Fundamentalists community is built on kindness and understanding. From helping each other, to just having a good time. This is why we may always have the welcome process, when joining our discord group. Just to emphasise to everyone, that one should be respectful, understanding and kind as much as possible. This must be universally understood before joining, anyone against this can simply find another place to join.
My Goal
I plan to always share my knowledge and assist those who wish to improve. If our content has helped you in any way, or if you’re simply enjoying meeting people in this environment. I have achieved my initial goal as the founder of Apex Fundamentalists.
My secondary goal is to build a community that is self sustainable, one where the people of the community control the direction it goes. Forever using the vision that initially started it all. I hope this is what I can eventually achieve.
Thank you for reading.
Etro
