'Fortnite' Playground Mode Still Isn't Ready for Release
I was promised llamas. Why don't I have my llamas?
The v4.3 content update for Fortnite has come, but alas, the game’s recently announced Playground mode was not included. A spokesperson for Epic Games cited ongoing back-end development for the delay.
Playground is a planned feature that Epic Games calls its first attempt at a “creative mode” for Fortnite. It’s essentially a sandbox version of the default Battle Royale mode with an extended timer, increased resources, and instant respawn everytime you die so you can experiment to your heart’s content instead of constantly cowering in fear.
Also, llamas. Tons of llamas.
Epic Games never set a hard release date for Playground when it was announced back in May 24, but it was probably one of the most highly anticipated features (maybe even more than jetpacks).
There’s no real way to train in Fortnite. It’s designed to be easily accessible with the streamlined menu and simple UI, but it also has a high learning curve because of its building mechanics and lack of respawns. Right now, the only way to get better is to keep grinding through matches, but that’s extremely inefficient because the punishment for dying is permanent loss.
Once you die in a session, that’s it. You have to take your L and move on to the next, hoping you’ll have a little more time to get the hang of things until you’re inevitably killed again. This single life mechanic may make Fortnite exciting, but it also discourages risk taking and experimentation.
Playground isn’t an ideal training environment. You’re still thrown into the fray with a bunch of strangers out for your blood and you still need to go scrounging for resources to refine your building, but it’s a start. There’s still no reliable way to work on your aim or building, but with instant respawn and a buttload of llamas, you can experiment a lot more than in a normal match.
Unfortunately, Epic Games also confirmed that Playground will be a LTM (Limited Time Mode) and it won’t be available offline. That’s too bad.
The top Fortnite players are pretty good right now. When Playground is released, it will hopefully be the first investment into giving fresh-faced players the tools they need to catch up.
