Jon 
One of the many charms of Fortnite is its vast cast of licensed character “skins” (outfits). It is the only game where Peter Griffin and Ice Spice can go toe to toe against the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, whilst simultaneously avoiding the looming threat of Darth Vader and his squadron of stormtroopers. As an avid Fortniter, this gives the game a larger than life feeling that I can’t feel in any other way. There’s just one thing that ruins it. The bots.
Let me take a step back for those who are not familiar. In many lower level fortnite lobbies, hidden amongst the 100 players that you drop out of the battle bus with are also “bot” players. These “bot” players aren’t controlled by real people; rather, they follow relatively basic programming that makes them an easy kill. To clarify, I am not arguing against the bots; they are a good way to boost player morale and reduce queue times. However, I don’t think they should be allowed to wear licensed skins.
Imagine you are dropping out of the battle bus. You land at Tilted Towers. You loot up, grab some resources, and prepare for the Battle Royale of your life (for there is only 1 winner and 99 losers). Suddenly, you hear shots directed towards you. You panic, instinctively building walls around yourself to protect yourself from the barrage of drum gun fire. You hear your assailant reload and peek over the wall to come face to face with the fearsome Captain Hook. You flinch, expecting him to instantly pump you full of damage, yet he shoots above your head and misses. Once, twice, then over and over again. The fearsome Captain Hook is a bot. His cutlass and assault rifle are merely for show and he poses the average player no threat whatsoever.
Licensed skins on the bots is a two pronged problem. For the player, it ruins their immersion. I have been conditioned to fear many of these skins, such as the aforementioned Captain Hook or even the sneaky Ariana Grande, and so when these skins are put onto the bots it jolts me into the realization that Fortnite is just a game and not real at all. On the other hand, for the brands that lend their characters to Fortnite, allowing their skins to be on the bots can ruin their reputation. For example, it is essential to Naruto’s brand that he is the strongest ninja of all time. But how am I to believe that when he gets stuck in a hole and dies in the storm? That’s certainly not going to drive me to watch all 500 episodes of Naruto: Shippuden. This also applies to the real people in Fortnite as well. The Kid Laroi is supposed to carry an effortless swagger to his style and melodies. There is no way for me to conceivably believe in that image after I routinely snipe him in the head and griddy on his dead body.
Drafty's Desk Drawer | Issue 2