Just when the game was recovering from the July 4th fiasco last year, we get the highly accessible OP defender releases that’s just as bad if not worse. Kabam’s apparent solution is to roll out a hard counter once a month for these defenders…which makes the BG champion pool ridiculously small. And it still reduces the mode purely to the haves vs have nots.
Literally this, if they don't nerf bullseye because of negasonic hard counter then Kabam are taking the mick... one hard counter does not replace a nerf on an over powered defender
I may have some good news. I tuned into one of DLL’s streams a little while ago and they were talking about rebalancing in general. I don’t remember if bullseye specifically was mentioned, but he did say that when they rebalance a champ, they won’t take into account the fact that another champ hard counters them. It’s only based on how that champ on its own performs.
I don’t fully understand how this works, since I assume a new hard counter would affect a champ’s winrate on defense. But if I were to guess it just means they won’t just say “oh we introduced negasonic and sinister for bullseye so he won’t be tuned down because now there’s more counters!”
Take everything I said with a grain of salt though, I had to wildly paraphrase since the stream where he said this was a little while ago and I don’t remember his exact words. Im gonna try and go find the stream for more correct wording and if I do I’ll come update this post.
I don't know how they do it either, but I imagine they got certain goals for bullseye. The way they probably look at his data is based on how champions counter bullseye. This gives us 4 groups. Doesn't counter at all, bleed immune, evade counter, and bleed immune with evade counter. They would then look at all the stats of fights with group A and see if they match the goals of where they wanted bullseye to land as a defender. Then do the same with all the other groups. If they find that bullseye is performing a lot better against group A than they would like, then they would decide if they want to change him.
I'd personally be a fan of killer instinct falling off during his special attacks so he stalls you less on time if you don't have an evade counter.
Just when the game was recovering from the July 4th fiasco last year, we get the highly accessible OP defender releases that’s just as bad if not worse. Kabam’s apparent solution is to roll out a hard counter once a month for these defenders…which makes the BG champion pool ridiculously small. And it still reduces the mode purely to the haves vs have nots.
Literally this, if they don't nerf bullseye because of negasonic hard counter then Kabam are taking the mick... one hard counter does not replace a nerf on an over powered defender
I may have some good news. I tuned into one of DLL’s streams a little while ago and they were talking about rebalancing in general. I don’t remember if bullseye specifically was mentioned, but he did say that when they rebalance a champ, they won’t take into account the fact that another champ hard counters them. It’s only based on how that champ on its own performs.
I don’t fully understand how this works, since I assume a new hard counter would affect a champ’s winrate on defense. But if I were to guess it just means they won’t just say “oh we introduced negasonic and sinister for bullseye so he won’t be tuned down because now there’s more counters!”
Take everything I said with a grain of salt though, I had to wildly paraphrase since the stream where he said this was a little while ago and I don’t remember his exact words. Im gonna try and go find the stream for more correct wording and if I do I’ll come update this post.
I don't know how they do it either, but I imagine they got certain goals for bullseye. The way they probably look at his data is based on how champions counter bullseye. This gives us 4 groups. Doesn't counter at all, bleed immune, evade counter, and bleed immune with evade counter. They would then look at all the stats of fights with group A and see if they match the goals of where they wanted bullseye to land as a defender. Then do the same with all the other groups. If they find that bullseye is performing a lot better against group A than they would like, then they would decide if they want to change him.
I'd personally be a fan of killer instinct falling off during his special attacks so he stalls you less on time if you don't have an evade counter.
Makes sense. I’d assume they’d look at it from a more overall standpoint too, such as “how often does he get matched against each group? Are there too few or too many occurrences where he matches against group (1,2,3,4)?” Obviously I don’t know for sure. I’m still trying to find where he said the info in my first post but got sidetracked by SoS.
The very premise of your first sentence is as wrong as it gets. BG has never been more popular, the requirements to get season rewards have never been higher. Last season I had 320k points. Never had a higher score, and at the same time never had lower rewards paid out.
Yes, Onslaught, Photon, Bullseye, Maestro, Serpent, Dust and now Sinister can be challenging, but all of them have counters that make them look like the worst defenders in the game. Most of the players who are in the GC have these counters available, and none of them are new and hidden behind a paywall.
But yes, for new or weak paragons and lower, BG is probably a little hellish...but it should also be that in P1 and above, in the first weeks, when they face decks full of R5s and 7R2+.
I think you're conflating popular with forced; which is how many feel. You HAVE to do a fair amount of BGs to get deathless pieces, currency for NC, etc. If you're not prepared to whale to get those, then your only option is to do battlegrounds. That explains a lot of the activity, if we're being honest. Not ALL of it, mind you. The slightly better rewards and the valiant store has definitely made BGs more alluring, but incentivization to play the mode is the driving force. Not enjoyment of the game mode itself. This is just the general feel and sense of feedback you get from talking to your average player; it's not fun but fear of missing out on the rewards is a powerful motivator to play a game mode that is riddled with problems.
The very premise of your first sentence is as wrong as it gets. BG has never been more popular, the requirements to get season rewards have never been higher. Last season I had 320k points. Never had a higher score, and at the same time never had lower rewards paid out.
Yes, Onslaught, Photon, Bullseye, Maestro, Serpent, Dust and now Sinister can be challenging, but all of them have counters that make them look like the worst defenders in the game. Most of the players who are in the GC have these counters available, and none of them are new and hidden behind a paywall.
But yes, for new or weak paragons and lower, BG is probably a little hellish...but it should also be that in P1 and above, in the first weeks, when they face decks full of R5s and 7R2+.
I think you're conflating popular with forced; which is how many feel. You HAVE to do a fair amount of BGs to get deathless pieces, currency for NC, etc. If you're not prepared to whale to get those, then your only option is to do battlegrounds. That explains a lot of the activity, if we're being honest. Not ALL of it, mind you. The slightly better rewards and the valiant store has definitely made BGs more alluring, but incentivization to play the mode is the driving force. Not enjoyment of the game mode itself. This is just the general feel and sense of feedback you get from talking to your average player; it's not fun but fear of missing out on the rewards is a powerful motivator to play a game mode that is riddled with problems.
Battlegrounds is hella fun. People always say riddled with problems and then don’t elaborate lmao. It has its issues but it has more positives than negatives
The very premise of your first sentence is as wrong as it gets. BG has never been more popular, the requirements to get season rewards have never been higher. Last season I had 320k points. Never had a higher score, and at the same time never had lower rewards paid out.
Yes, Onslaught, Photon, Bullseye, Maestro, Serpent, Dust and now Sinister can be challenging, but all of them have counters that make them look like the worst defenders in the game. Most of the players who are in the GC have these counters available, and none of them are new and hidden behind a paywall.
But yes, for new or weak paragons and lower, BG is probably a little hellish...but it should also be that in P1 and above, in the first weeks, when they face decks full of R5s and 7R2+.
I think you're conflating popular with forced; which is how many feel. You HAVE to do a fair amount of BGs to get deathless pieces, currency for NC, etc. If you're not prepared to whale to get those, then your only option is to do battlegrounds. That explains a lot of the activity, if we're being honest. Not ALL of it, mind you. The slightly better rewards and the valiant store has definitely made BGs more alluring, but incentivization to play the mode is the driving force. Not enjoyment of the game mode itself. This is just the general feel and sense of feedback you get from talking to your average player; it's not fun but fear of missing out on the rewards is a powerful motivator to play a game mode that is riddled with problems.
Battlegrounds is hella fun. People always say riddled with problems and then don’t elaborate lmao. It has its issues but it has more positives than negatives
I mean, the same issues that are repeated ad nauseam are the ones I didn't allude to because I didn't think I needed to. You admit that there are issues, so let's forgo an irrelevant conversation about those issues and just agree that most players don't like the way it's currently set up.
Myself? I enjoy it thoroughly but I am just conveying the general tone from the average player.
They aren't unjustified quips, they're not solely complaining because they're bad at the mode as was foolishly implied by Jax. Until those issues are addressed, they game mode will remain unpopular even if the incentives drive the player base to participate in the game mode itself. Looking at how many people participate doesn't paint the whole picture. The general sentiment I hear from most is that the game mode is not enjoyable due to key issues and people suffer through it solely for the rewards. Ideally, you want a game mode people enjoy playing AND want to excel at for better rewards. Not one that appeals only to the masochistic such as myself.
The very premise of your first sentence is as wrong as it gets. BG has never been more popular, the requirements to get season rewards have never been higher. Last season I had 320k points. Never had a higher score, and at the same time never had lower rewards paid out.
Yes, Onslaught, Photon, Bullseye, Maestro, Serpent, Dust and now Sinister can be challenging, but all of them have counters that make them look like the worst defenders in the game. Most of the players who are in the GC have these counters available, and none of them are new and hidden behind a paywall.
But yes, for new or weak paragons and lower, BG is probably a little hellish...but it should also be that in P1 and above, in the first weeks, when they face decks full of R5s and 7R2+.
I think you're conflating popular with forced; which is how many feel. You HAVE to do a fair amount of BGs to get deathless pieces, currency for NC, etc. If you're not prepared to whale to get those, then your only option is to do battlegrounds. That explains a lot of the activity, if we're being honest. Not ALL of it, mind you. The slightly better rewards and the valiant store has definitely made BGs more alluring, but incentivization to play the mode is the driving force. Not enjoyment of the game mode itself. This is just the general feel and sense of feedback you get from talking to your average player; it's not fun but fear of missing out on the rewards is a powerful motivator to play a game mode that is riddled with problems.
Battlegrounds is hella fun. People always say riddled with problems and then don’t elaborate lmao. It has its issues but it has more positives than negatives
I mean, the same issues that are repeated ad nauseam are the ones I didn't allude to because I didn't think I needed to. You admit that there are issues, so let's forgo an irrelevant conversation about those issues and just agree that most players don't like the way it's currently set up.
Myself? I enjoy it thoroughly but I am just conveying the general tone from the average player.
They aren't unjustified quips, they're not solely complaining because they're bad at the mode as was foolishly implied by Jax. Until those issues are addressed, they game mode will remain unpopular even if the incentives drive the player base to participate in the game mode itself. Looking at how many people participate doesn't paint the whole picture. The general sentiment I hear from most is that the game mode is not enjoyable due to key issues and people suffer through it solely for the rewards. Ideally, you want a game mode people enjoy playing AND want to excel at for better rewards. Not one that appeals only to the masochistic such as myself.
The only issues I have are with the AI which sucks everywhere and the node choices being meh. What other major issues are there? Matchmaking is set up how it is for a reason and everything else comes down to skill and roster development. A lot of the complaints are unjustified and Jax’s post was satire
The very premise of your first sentence is as wrong as it gets. BG has never been more popular, the requirements to get season rewards have never been higher. Last season I had 320k points. Never had a higher score, and at the same time never had lower rewards paid out.
Yes, Onslaught, Photon, Bullseye, Maestro, Serpent, Dust and now Sinister can be challenging, but all of them have counters that make them look like the worst defenders in the game. Most of the players who are in the GC have these counters available, and none of them are new and hidden behind a paywall.
But yes, for new or weak paragons and lower, BG is probably a little hellish...but it should also be that in P1 and above, in the first weeks, when they face decks full of R5s and 7R2+.
I think you're conflating popular with forced; which is how many feel. You HAVE to do a fair amount of BGs to get deathless pieces, currency for NC, etc. If you're not prepared to whale to get those, then your only option is to do battlegrounds. That explains a lot of the activity, if we're being honest. Not ALL of it, mind you. The slightly better rewards and the valiant store has definitely made BGs more alluring, but incentivization to play the mode is the driving force. Not enjoyment of the game mode itself. This is just the general feel and sense of feedback you get from talking to your average player; it's not fun but fear of missing out on the rewards is a powerful motivator to play a game mode that is riddled with problems.
Battlegrounds is hella fun. People always say riddled with problems and then don’t elaborate lmao. It has its issues but it has more positives than negatives
I mean, the same issues that are repeated ad nauseam are the ones I didn't allude to because I didn't think I needed to. You admit that there are issues, so let's forgo an irrelevant conversation about those issues and just agree that most players don't like the way it's currently set up.
Myself? I enjoy it thoroughly but I am just conveying the general tone from the average player.
They aren't unjustified quips, they're not solely complaining because they're bad at the mode as was foolishly implied by Jax. Until those issues are addressed, they game mode will remain unpopular even if the incentives drive the player base to participate in the game mode itself. Looking at how many people participate doesn't paint the whole picture. The general sentiment I hear from most is that the game mode is not enjoyable due to key issues and people suffer through it solely for the rewards. Ideally, you want a game mode people enjoy playing AND want to excel at for better rewards. Not one that appeals only to the masochistic such as myself.
The only issues I have are with the AI which sucks everywhere and the node choices being meh. What other major issues are there? Matchmaking is set up how it is for a reason and everything else comes down to skill and roster development. A lot of the complaints are unjustified and Jax’s post was satire
How about creating rules that aren't enforced, so you either gimp yourself and play by the rules or break them like most others and remain competitive? Pausing the fight to avoid dying to an sp3, or to avoid NF's 2nd life? All too common yet was deemed to be a bannable offense at one point. Same with point farming. It was barely enforced for one season and now I'm seeing TCN whales with 7m rating forfeiting in Diamond 2 and this behavior continues with impunity. This is a huge reason as to why the "unfair matchmaking" crowd is justified in their complaints. Not that the point farmers aren't justified in what they're doing either, though. If the game mode incentivizes you to use elder marks and you find an optimal way of spending those marks and it's widely accepted as fine, then why change? It's simply how the game mode is designed, and simply why it's plagued with complaints.
The general sentiment I hear from most is that the game mode is not enjoyable due to key issues and people suffer through it solely for the rewards. Ideally, you want a game mode people enjoy playing AND want to excel at for better rewards. Not one that appeals only to the masochistic such as myself.
I hear the exact same complaints about AW, AQ, monthly questing, side quests, Incursions, pretty much all the content. If BG is bad and people are only doing it for the rewards, what in the game is everyone doing just for the love of the game?
People said fewer and fewer players were playing BG. But the numbers said that was false. So people said people were playing, but were doing fewer and fewer matches. That also seems to be false. So now people are saying people are playing it but they just don’t like it, which is easy to say because it is impossible to disprove (or prove).
What’s your standard for content players do because they love it and not for the rewards that BG should follow? Something that everyone from UC to Valiant players can participate in. What content in MCOC should BG try to emulate in terms of creating something players just enjoy playing, period, that we don’t see non-stop complaints about being boring, unrewarding, too difficult, or broken?
The general sentiment I hear from most is that the game mode is not enjoyable due to key issues and people suffer through it solely for the rewards. Ideally, you want a game mode people enjoy playing AND want to excel at for better rewards. Not one that appeals only to the masochistic such as myself.
I hear the exact same complaints about AW, AQ, monthly questing, side quests, Incursions, pretty much all the content. If BG is bad and people are only doing it for the rewards, what in the game is everyone doing just for the love of the game?
People said fewer and fewer players were playing BG. But the numbers said that was false. So people said people were playing, but were doing fewer and fewer matches. That also seems to be false. So now people are saying people are playing it but they just don’t like it, which is easy to say because it is impossible to disprove (or prove).
What’s your standard for content players do because they love it and not for the rewards that BG should follow? Something that everyone from UC to Valiant players can participate in. What content in MCOC should BG try to emulate in terms of creating something players just enjoy playing, period, that we don’t see non-stop complaints about being boring, unrewarding, too difficult, or broken?
The general sentiment I hear from most is that the game mode is not enjoyable due to key issues and people suffer through it solely for the rewards. Ideally, you want a game mode people enjoy playing AND want to excel at for better rewards. Not one that appeals only to the masochistic such as myself.
I hear the exact same complaints about AW, AQ, monthly questing, side quests, Incursions, pretty much all the content. If BG is bad and people are only doing it for the rewards, what in the game is everyone doing just for the love of the game?
People said fewer and fewer players were playing BG. But the numbers said that was false. So people said people were playing, but were doing fewer and fewer matches. That also seems to be false. So now people are saying people are playing it but they just don’t like it, which is easy to say because it is impossible to disprove (or prove).
What’s your standard for content players do because they love it and not for the rewards that BG should follow? Something that everyone from UC to Valiant players can participate in. What content in MCOC should BG try to emulate in terms of creating something players just enjoy playing, period, that we don’t see non-stop complaints about being boring, unrewarding, too difficult, or broken?
Whataboutism isn't a good way to counter an argument. Other game modes are irrelevant. Point farming and avoiding deaths by timing out isn't something that is replicated anywhere else. Stop being disingenuous. The only commonality is the incentivization. On that, we can agree. I don't find AW or AQ particularly enjoyable, so I don't play those modes. I find battlegrounds enjoyable once I get into GC as there are rarely any point farmers in GC and while you do run into people timing out to win, it's not as common.
As far as what to emulate, that's probably indicative of a larger problem when there isn't a good template yet to build off of, to be honest. Fixing easy issues would go a long way, but these issues don't seem to be going away anytime soon. I've made my peace with how broken battlegrounds is as an experience and work around it while still finding ways to enjoy it. I think my experience is anomalous though, based on conversations with people in global chat and a plethora of line and discord groups.
So I've been thinking about why BGs have been on the decline so much over the last few months and I think I've realised.
Precisely how much has it declined over the past few months?
Do you get into GC? Idk about last season but season before nobody finished in URU, straight to gamma meaning numbers were so low the minimum wasn't even hit
Uru was filled last season and the season before it filled up at the end. I finished in Uru 2 seasons ago
The general sentiment I hear from most is that the game mode is not enjoyable due to key issues and people suffer through it solely for the rewards. Ideally, you want a game mode people enjoy playing AND want to excel at for better rewards. Not one that appeals only to the masochistic such as myself.
I hear the exact same complaints about AW, AQ, monthly questing, side quests, Incursions, pretty much all the content. If BG is bad and people are only doing it for the rewards, what in the game is everyone doing just for the love of the game?
People said fewer and fewer players were playing BG. But the numbers said that was false. So people said people were playing, but were doing fewer and fewer matches. That also seems to be false. So now people are saying people are playing it but they just don’t like it, which is easy to say because it is impossible to disprove (or prove).
What’s your standard for content players do because they love it and not for the rewards that BG should follow? Something that everyone from UC to Valiant players can participate in. What content in MCOC should BG try to emulate in terms of creating something players just enjoy playing, period, that we don’t see non-stop complaints about being boring, unrewarding, too difficult, or broken?
The general sentiment I hear from most is that the game mode is not enjoyable due to key issues and people suffer through it solely for the rewards. Ideally, you want a game mode people enjoy playing AND want to excel at for better rewards. Not one that appeals only to the masochistic such as myself.
I hear the exact same complaints about AW, AQ, monthly questing, side quests, Incursions, pretty much all the content. If BG is bad and people are only doing it for the rewards, what in the game is everyone doing just for the love of the game?
People said fewer and fewer players were playing BG. But the numbers said that was false. So people said people were playing, but were doing fewer and fewer matches. That also seems to be false. So now people are saying people are playing it but they just don’t like it, which is easy to say because it is impossible to disprove (or prove).
What’s your standard for content players do because they love it and not for the rewards that BG should follow? Something that everyone from UC to Valiant players can participate in. What content in MCOC should BG try to emulate in terms of creating something players just enjoy playing, period, that we don’t see non-stop complaints about being boring, unrewarding, too difficult, or broken?
Whataboutism isn't a good way to counter an argument.
You misunderstand. I'm not saying everything else is bad, so its okay if BG is bad as well. I'm saying there are complaints about everything in the game, so just because complaints exist doesn't make the game mode bad, or at least as bad as the complaints suggest. People are constantly saying "everyone I know hates X" and they can't all possibly be right, because if they were all correct no one would like anything in the game.
I can't prove it, but I suspect that most of the players who participate in BG don't hate it but do it because of the rewards. Most players who play this game enjoy playing it, or at least get some sort of enjoyment or satisfaction from it. And most players are not so reward driven that they would do things they hate consistently just to get rewards. That's the common statement used to support any argument that something is broken when the data isn't there to prove it. Oh, everyone knows its bad, but we all play it anyway and thus you can't use participation to judge. The only thing apparently that is representative of a half million players is a couple dozen complaints.
I disagree,I love it because I am a free2play player if I get bullseye or any other defender which need specific counter if they didn't get i win no matter how big the Whale account. Previously many attackers can counter many defender so whales have high rank ,high star & loosing at 1k-2k points when I am punching up & they are punching down is frustration.
So I've been thinking about why BGs have been on the decline so much over the last few months and I think I've realised.
Precisely how much has it declined over the past few months?
Do you get into GC? Idk about last season but season before nobody finished in URU, straight to gamma meaning numbers were so low the minimum wasn't even hit
News to me. Last season I placed 12205 in Uru 3 with a 32 rating. Which means there must have been significantly more than that many players in GC, because a lot of players skate in with between zero and 16 rating right at the end.
That was actually higher than the previous season, where I just skated in with a zero rating and still placed 12186 (still Uru 3).
A lot of people check some time in the middle of the season or even the start of the last week and see much lower numbers than in the past. That's because a lot more players are waiting to the very end and then pushing all out to climb into GC, hoping to have an easier time completing Vibranium. The participation is still there, but it has shifted to later in the season.
These numbers are lower than the high point back in the October November timeframe, when over 20k players were entering GC, but that was before Kabam made it a bit harder to get into GC, deliberately to reduce the number of players entering GC.
Another way to look at participation: last season I scored 302625 points in the solo event. That placed me 45785. Almost 46000 players scored higher than me, and I scored enough to max out all the milestones. The players who scored higher had no milestone incentive to do so. They were either shooting for rank rewards or just played a lot because they wanted to. That number was higher than the previous season, when a 318125 score landed me at 9443. So participation went up in April, not down.
Over 225,000 players participated in BG last season (because an alt of mine landed around that place in the solo event). That's lower than the high point last year which was somewhere around 270,000 players (again, using solo scoreboards), but that number has not been in steep decline.
Comments
I'd personally be a fan of killer instinct falling off during his special attacks so he stalls you less on time if you don't have an evade counter.
Myself? I enjoy it thoroughly but I am just conveying the general tone from the average player.
They aren't unjustified quips, they're not solely complaining because they're bad at the mode as was foolishly implied by Jax. Until those issues are addressed, they game mode will remain unpopular even if the incentives drive the player base to participate in the game mode itself. Looking at how many people participate doesn't paint the whole picture. The general sentiment I hear from most is that the game mode is not enjoyable due to key issues and people suffer through it solely for the rewards. Ideally, you want a game mode people enjoy playing AND want to excel at for better rewards. Not one that appeals only to the masochistic such as myself.
People said fewer and fewer players were playing BG. But the numbers said that was false. So people said people were playing, but were doing fewer and fewer matches. That also seems to be false. So now people are saying people are playing it but they just don’t like it, which is easy to say because it is impossible to disprove (or prove).
What’s your standard for content players do because they love it and not for the rewards that BG should follow? Something that everyone from UC to Valiant players can participate in. What content in MCOC should BG try to emulate in terms of creating something players just enjoy playing, period, that we don’t see non-stop complaints about being boring, unrewarding, too difficult, or broken?
As far as what to emulate, that's probably indicative of a larger problem when there isn't a good template yet to build off of, to be honest. Fixing easy issues would go a long way, but these issues don't seem to be going away anytime soon. I've made my peace with how broken battlegrounds is as an experience and work around it while still finding ways to enjoy it. I think my experience is anomalous though, based on conversations with people in global chat and a plethora of line and discord groups.
I can't prove it, but I suspect that most of the players who participate in BG don't hate it but do it because of the rewards. Most players who play this game enjoy playing it, or at least get some sort of enjoyment or satisfaction from it. And most players are not so reward driven that they would do things they hate consistently just to get rewards. That's the common statement used to support any argument that something is broken when the data isn't there to prove it. Oh, everyone knows its bad, but we all play it anyway and thus you can't use participation to judge. The only thing apparently that is representative of a half million players is a couple dozen complaints.
Previously many attackers can counter many defender so whales have high rank ,high star & loosing at 1k-2k points when I am punching up & they are punching down is frustration.
That was actually higher than the previous season, where I just skated in with a zero rating and still placed 12186 (still Uru 3).
A lot of people check some time in the middle of the season or even the start of the last week and see much lower numbers than in the past. That's because a lot more players are waiting to the very end and then pushing all out to climb into GC, hoping to have an easier time completing Vibranium. The participation is still there, but it has shifted to later in the season.
These numbers are lower than the high point back in the October November timeframe, when over 20k players were entering GC, but that was before Kabam made it a bit harder to get into GC, deliberately to reduce the number of players entering GC.
Another way to look at participation: last season I scored 302625 points in the solo event. That placed me 45785. Almost 46000 players scored higher than me, and I scored enough to max out all the milestones. The players who scored higher had no milestone incentive to do so. They were either shooting for rank rewards or just played a lot because they wanted to. That number was higher than the previous season, when a 318125 score landed me at 9443. So participation went up in April, not down.
Over 225,000 players participated in BG last season (because an alt of mine landed around that place in the solo event). That's lower than the high point last year which was somewhere around 270,000 players (again, using solo scoreboards), but that number has not been in steep decline.
Just had a fight with Bullseye in Arena, learned something new, there are perfect counters to him too 🤭