Apex Legend’s “ping” system — gaming UX done right
Respawn Entertainment fight the good fight.
Apex Legends is a hit. It seemingly came out of nowhere, with no advertising, no hype or media train behind it, yet It’s taken the gaming community by storm. With millions of players ditching their shovels and fancy gliders for a piece of the action, this brilliant free-to-play first-person shooter is a ton of fun with its cool movement mechanics and intuitive communication system, or “ping” as it’s called in the game.
Ping is a potential game-changer, and just so happens to be the topic of discussion in this post for good reason. Let’s go.
Communication in gaming — a brief introduction.
Most gamers will know and have come across several types of people online whilst playing their favourite multiplayer game(s).
You get the seasoned smack talker, who’s skills are always superior to those around them (according to themselves) and always seems to find a way to zone in on their teammate’s shortcomings, without ever realising their own (how convenient?).
Then you’ll get the quieter players, who may have good ideas or ways of winning the game, but may not be too confident to say. They may have spotted some loot, or even the enemy! But when you’ve got a raging teammate, is there even any point?
You may even come into contact with the person who plays their music too loud, or decided to find the loudest crisps they could and eat them on max volume. Maybe they want us to hear how awesome their snack tastes *shrugs*
And if you live in the EU, you may come up with a team that has players that don’t speak the same language as you do. Now one of my aims in life is to be a polyglot, but not everyone has the time to learn English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Hungarian, you get the idea. Certainly not for a game they like to kick back and play now and again.
All this doesn’t even bring into consideration the people who may have difficulty or disabilities with speech, who may want to interact with other players online but have no meaningful way to do so, or along with our ‘quiet gamer friend’, may choose to just stay silent because of potential backlash online.
Enter the Ping.
So what exactly is this “Ping” I hear you say? In a nutshell, it’s a contextual communication system that can dynamically tell the user key information about their surroundings, or what the user is doing in any given moment.
The key to its beauty is its simplicity and intuitive design. It uses a single button command (two when you open its communication wheel) and when activated will command the player’s in-game character to vocalise the point of interest.
So for example, you may see some loot that you think may be valuable to your team. Instead of the usual comms channel being the microphone or chat box (mainly used on pc), you simply point your character’s aim cursor on said loot, press the ping button (button varies depending on what platform you’re using) and the character will call out the loot. Done!
And it doesn’t stop there. Literally any point of interest you can think of can be utilised by this mechanic. See an open door? Ping it. Your character will alert your team that enemies may have moved through the area. See a specific item on the floor like a health pack or a weapon? Ping it. Not only will the mechanic call out the specific item, it will also provide helpful hints about how your team could best utilise said item. Want to go to a certain location on a map? Simply guide your cursor over the specific area and — you’ve guessed it — ping it. Your character will alert your teammates to the area you wish to explore. Awesome!
And just in case you actually spot the enemy on your travels, the mechanic still stays simple and intuitive to use. All it takes is a double-tap of the ping button, and not only does it highlight where the enemy has been located, it changes the colour to further emphasise the danger and stays visible for a short period of time for your team to acknowledge they’ve received the intel by — again, you’ve guessed it — pressing their ping button to confirm. It’s just so damn good.
Fighting the good fight.
Apex legends is doing the rounds in the gaming community. It’s getting praise left right and centre for its amazing gameplay and rightfully so, but from a UX designer’s standpoint, the ping system is undoubtedly one of it’s greatest features and achievements. With how easy it is to use and understand, and more importantly how inclusive it is, this could be something that pushes the envelope out further into the gaming world, and makes for more conscious design choices that adopt a methodology that everyone can enjoy.
Here’s to you, Respawn.
