The Apex Legends development team and its community team has long been very much intertwined with one another. For the most part, Respawn Entertainment has a healthy relationship with its fans. There have been examples of ideas that have come straight from the community, and the development team of Apex Legends communicates directly with the Apex Legends faithful via Twitter, Reddit, and the like. Recently the Lead Game Designer of Apex Legends shared some very interesting news with fans on the ongoing development of the game; specifically on the Low Profile passive perk.
The newest Apex Legends event comes with plenty of changes, including a new Heat Shield item, a buff to the Wingman pistol, a nerf to Caustic, and more. One big change also included the removal of the Low Profile passive perk for Pathfinder. The Low Profile passive increases damage by 5%. This is attached to characters that are harder to hit, usually because they are much smaller. It was placed on Pathfinder because of his unusual hitbox and grabbing abilities. However, as Respawn continues to tweak its Legends, Pathfinder now no longer has the passive perk, and others could follow suit.
A fan commented on the patch notes Reddit post asking if other Legends could drop the Low Profile passive perk as well; specifically Wattson. Although she is used in tournament/competitive quite frequently, fans have asked for her to be tweaked more but Respawn has said that it does not plan to buff Wattson any further at this time. However, Daniel Klein, Lead Game Designer of Apex Legends, responded to the request from the fan by simply saying "ok," they will remove the Low Profile passive from Wattson next. Daniel Klein then went a step further.
Klein says that his goal is to eventually remove the Low Profile passive perk from all Legends in the game, which would be quite the overhaul. Currently, characters such as Wraith, Lifeline, and Wattson still utilize it. Before that change can take place, Klein says the team needs to figure out how to nerf Lifeline, since the character is quite resourceful at the moment. Respawn finally figured out how to make Wraith not the most selected Legend anymore, so similar work would have to be done.
The transparency and gentle communication are very much appreciated, but it was not always quite that way. Although the communication has been there, it has been bumpy, as there was a time in which Apex Legends players were called "ass-hats and free-loaders" for being unhappy about a very over-priced limited-time event. This type of communication is much more valued.
Apex Legends is available for free on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and will come to Nintendo Switch on March 9.
Source: Reddit