Fortnite players have recently discovered a major flaw concerning the new AFK emote, which has fueled their criticism towards the decisions made by the game creators.
Emotes provide players with an effective way of self-expression in the game. They have been favorites among Fortnite players since they were introduced. In addition to this, these emotes are also often used by players as a form of victory dance after overcoming their opponents.
Moreover, emotes have proven themselves handy in facilitating communication between players. They enable players to non-verbally convey messages to other participants during the battle royale rounds or even in the lobby.
Regardless of their functional aspects, emotes also add an element of fun and freshness in the game, which has always been appreciated by Fortnite players. Holding a 'Be Back Soon' signboard is the latest AFK emote in Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2, indicating that you're currently inactive.
However, this emote, although fun to use and costs about 200 V-Bucks in the online game's Item Shop, possesses an obvious problem. The issue has been glaring enough to instigate upset among the Fortnite community.
An Issue with the New AFK Emote
Avid players have pointed out a major concern with this new emote. The question of contention being, the AFK emote only lasts for about 20 seconds in the game's lobby.
In other words, the animation automatically ceases once a player uses the emote after the specified period of time. This has resulted in a wave of beings among players who preferred the emote to continue for a longer duration.
Reactions from the Fortnite Community
Players have not shied away from voicing their displeasure regarding the restricted emote duration. Some have mentioned the existence of infinite emotes in the past, using Infinite Dab as an analogy to support their argument.
Others have also expressed their concern using different analogies, one player mentioned, 'That's the easiest emote to NOT mess up and yet they found a way.'
Another player added on to this by saying, 'That's a bummer when you think about how conceptually that's where it would be best used.'
There have been players who tried to bring a positive spin on the topic, suggesting the shorter duration emote might be useful in trapping unsuspecting opponents by pretending to be inactive.
The issue with this new emote is not the first instance where players have raised red flags. Earlier in Chapter 5, the Jubi slide received backlash due to its resemblance to an existing emote.
The developers may consider the feedback from players to make alterations in the emote duration or functionality in upcoming versions of the game. But the current situation leaves the gaming community with an emote with a limited life span.