One of the big new features added in Chapter 6 is Fortnite Simple Edits. A way to let players who can’t get the mechanical skills of editing to at least try to compete with stronger players. It isn’t quite on the same level as just actually mastering the skills of editing yourself. However, the simple edit feature had its benefits and helped some players. After a season of it working perfectly fine… Epic has decided to remove it from some areas of the game.
Now, Fortnite simple edits are kind of vague in how allowed they are across the game. They’re missing from some modes. Not allowed in some forms of play but allowed in others. The Fortnite simple Edit has always been out of the tournament loot pool, but it’s now missing from wider competitive modes. However, players definitely won’t have much opportunity to practise it in decent lobbies. What’s going on with Fortnite Simple Edits and are they allowed in competitive play?
Fortnite Simple Edits Removed from Ranked
The big news that’s called the legitimacy of Simple Edits into question is a recent change in an update. While completely unannounced, Epic has removed simple edits from Ranked. Players with the setting enabled will simply revert back to their normal edits in Ranked Mode.
Ranked mode doesn’t play with the standard Fortnite tournament loot pool. However, it’s a bit more serious than pubs. Players grind here to reach higher tiers in the hopes of getting more realistic practise for tournaments in at the higher ranks, or at least having a game of skilled opponents instead of bots. Excluding Fortnite simple edits from these playlists means there isn’t a way to practise the mechanic in higher tension build fights.
The majority of skilled Fortnite pros don’t need smart edits. Most players at a high level have mastered the tricky mechanics of the game. But with them removed from Ranked, the players who were using them are out of luck. Weirdly, Fortnite tournaments and simple edits still seems to be up in the air.
Are Fortnite Simple Edits Tournament Legal?
You can’t use Simple Edits in tournaments.
This has actually been the case since the feature was first added. While few would bother trying (most can combat them pretty easily at that skill level), this does remove the danger of a random occurrence. If a pro player died to a “simple edit” spam, fans would be talking about for months. On the off chance a random button input with simple edits leads to a problem in pro events, it’s definitely safer to keep them out of the loot pool.
In a broader sense, simple edits are designed to remove the skill gap for the game. To stop players from having to grind to get better at Fortnite. Keeping them out of tournaments sets a better precedent. If you want to compete with the best, you need to put the time in to learning it. Not just whacking a button and letting Fortnite decide which edit was best for you. Fortnite has a fantastically open esports community, where anyone can enter, but skills like this should still be a barrier to competing against skilled players.
What Are Simple Edits?
Fortnite simple edits are an accessibility feature that was introduced in Chapter 6. Usually, when building, hitting edit brings up a screen of blue squares for you to manually select how to edit a build piece. Or in the case of good players briefly flashes given their speed. To let players stay competitive without those edit reflex, smart edits have enabled.
With these, you hit edit and it auto-edits. How it edits depends on how you’re viewing your build, the angle and positioning of the player. Weird at first but once you get the hang of it, quicker for those who don’t have edit muscle memory.
Can They Be Competitive on the Highest Level?
While it has let some unskilled players stay in fights longer than otherwise, few have complained that Fortnite simple edits were unfair. It isn’t some kind of broken system, and those with higher mechanical skills were wiping the floor with simple edit players, it just didn’t allow for versatility.
It became clear pretty quickly with the feature, that while helpful for players who just want to play and not obsess over the game, they weren’t ever going to beat editing yourself. Which makes it all the stranger they’ve been disabled in serious modes.
If the simple edits don’t make a return, we can safely safe Epic is drawing a line for their competitive scene and the extra features they include. It probably won’t effect major tournaments like the FNCS though, few players use those features there. But it does mean you should be aware when starting to play with the features, that you’ll only be able to use in primarily bot lobbies.
