Fortnite v12.61 patch made a secret change.
The Fortnite v12.61 update is a little one, so most players thought that little had changed. We saw a few aim help alterations — which many consider a buff — but small buzz apart from that.
After a few hours of playing, however, players began to notice there was a change to how the storm circles worked. The initial circle, today, encompasses the entire map in most games. This storm stage ends quickly before the zone must be much smaller in stage 2 — similar to the size of the first, phase-one zone.
Following that, the storm seems to shut a bit quicker than it used to, even though that’s unclear. We used to have some downtime prior to the first circle seemed. It seems when the bus has completed its run.
The overall result is apparently a storm circle which closes a tiny bit slower as it did in prior updates. We have a Warzone-like circle to begin the game before going back to the storm stages we’re utilized to.
We will have to finish more testing before we could give a last verdict on whether this slows down or speeds up engagement. At the moment, it seems that little has changed.
The objective seems to be slowing down the game so that there’s more excitement in mid-game struggles. A lot of the time, there’s hardly any action between these early-game struggles and late-game scenarios. Unfortunately, the new system is leading in certain circles like the one exhibited by AussieAntics.
The fantastic news is that this is not in competitive manners, simply yet. Epic seem to be analyzing the new storm before Season 3 starts. If it works, then we can anticipate it in all modes this time next week.
Update: Some players, including popular YouTuber Ali-A, are suggesting that this is the work of Midas, controlling the Storm with the Doomsday Device. He is on something, particularly once you look at the leaks surrounding the event.
This is most likely an accurate assessment of what’s going on but could also signify future adjustments to the storm circle in Season 3. The mid-game lull is a problem, which could be cleared-up with more freedom and faster storm stages.
Epic may be weaving a change to the storm circle into a preexisting plotting, fitting everything into a nice, tight end of this year. We will have to see what happens after the event takes place on Saturday.
