Fortnite: Battle Royale is known for constantly adding wild innovations to the game. However, what many casual players find super is a huge annoyance for professionals. The latest hassle seems to be the “Kugler”.
What is the “Kugler”? The Kugler (Baller) is the newest vehicle in Fortnite: Battle Royale. It is essentially a huge hamster ball and it operates similarly to the hamster hero Hammond from Overwatch. Additionally, you can use the Kugler with a grappling hook to swing around. Also, crazy stunts are possible with the device.
Criticism of the Kugler
How is the Kugler received? Unlike the overpowered airplane from Season 7, the Kugler is well received by many players. Especially casual players love the Kugler and make a lot of fun with it. For them, the Kugler embodies fun and is a reason why they love Fortnite.
On the other hand, there are players who cannot relate to such fun items like the Kugler. Recently, pro gamer Poach from Team Liquid has loudly expressed his displeasure about the Kugler:
“Hamster balls are silly, it’s just like with the airplane.”
What does the professional mean by that? Poach likely refers to a trend in the competitive scene that was already problematic with airplanes. Namely, players just flew around with the plane and only got serious in the endgame.
With the Kugler, it seems to be similar: players roll relatively unattackable around and only in the endgame do they build massive fortifications and actively participate in the game. Items like the plane or Kugler make the game boring.
Fortnite between Fun and Seriousness
With his statement, Poach has once again ignited an old discussion in Fortnite: Namely, whether the game should be tailored more for casuals or for professionals.
This is what casuals want: Casual players usually want a maximum of fun. Whether they win or have good stats is rather secondary. It’s more about having a good time.
Scenes like a plane crashing through buildings or a hamster ball sailing through the air are ideal. You laugh and have fun.
This is what professionals want: Pro gamers earn money with Fortnite and take it professionally. They care about effectiveness and reliability. A game that changes constantly and then also brings silly fun items that ruin game balance is a horror for them.
Moreover, Epic is notorious for introducing such innovations without warning shortly before major tournaments. Just imagine if suddenly 15 players per team were allowed in the next Champions League football match and the ball was twice the size.
This is the dilemma: The majority of players in Fortnite are casuals, yet the professionals are the face of the game as streamers and influencers. Therefore, Epic needs to find some kind of compromise, but currently the balance seems to tilt in favor of the casuals. There are funny items like cannons and hamster balls. Hence, some professionals are upset.
These are possible solutions: On Reddit, a post with 4,500 upvotes is actively discussing how to reconcile the interests of casual gamers and professionals.
Some games, including LoL, use the previous patch version for tournaments, not the current client. This way, they have a refined game and are not surprised by intended bugs and new items. Especially at the tournament in Katowice, where many bugs from the new version struck, this approach could have avoided a lot of trouble.
Other proposals want to have two different games: a wacky Fortnite filled with random fun stuff and one that remains largely unchanged and is specifically tailored for exciting tournaments.
And again, other players would be satisfied if Epic would let the most important pros and influencers take part in the development or at least allow them to test new patches in advance.
These are the counterpoints: On the other hand, it speaks against that Epic hardly wants to develop two separate games. And that the viewers certainly want to play the game they see in the tournaments, not a completely different one.
Some players also have no understanding for the “whining” of Poach and co. The hamster ball is much more harmless than the airplane, which had more health and a turret. The hamster ball, on the other hand, is just a fragile little thing with a grappling hook. He should just stop acting up!
What is your opinion on the discussion? Should Fortnite be tailored more for the pros or the casuals?
