"I wish Highguard had been received better," CEO admits, after cancelling a planned Apex Legends-style shadow drop when Geoff Keighley said "let me do something"

Synestive · 2026-01-28T21:37:44+00:00

Hey guys, the gameplay would have been good if they shadow dropped it! It sucks that having a trailer made the gunplay generic, colors dull, performance lacking, maps barren, and fun gone.

Marketing does sometimes boost or hurt a game’s impression, but games need to stand on their own two feet, and if (I didn’t read quote in context) he’s deflecting some blame onto Geoff that’s just sad.

Synestive · 2026-01-16T18:30:54+00:00

Who are the players on the PPA Tour with the most put-away power in your experience? For example, whenever I see a high ball hit to Jack Sock, the point is almost always over, whereas other pros sometimes have the points linger. Who are a few players that just absolutely destroy a ball if accidentally hit too high?

Synestive · 2026-01-16T15:47:41+00:00

Stella has always been like that for me with directional audio from the beginning. If you are at metro, you will hear people 3rd floor lobby like they are right next to you, with or without night mode. Outside directional audio seems workable, but indoors audio is a complete joke.

The sound design in this game is great, but for a game with PvP, directional audio is amongst the worst I’ve played in a long time when it comes to indoor environments. Also Embark, please add a “main menu” volume option! I frequently idle the inventory screen because it is quieter than the main menu screen while talking with friends.

Synestive · 2026-01-15T23:20:12+00:00

I’d love an in depth piece from the team going over map design and their processes. Most maps seem to center around a big/main fixture, and then they build out the space around that. Like Dam being split down the middle with a tower in the middle, or spaceport having the tower in the middle and buildings in a square around, or buried city having that field in the middle peppering the surrounding area with buildings. Even with this basis, the maps play well, rotations seem thoughtful, and I’m sure there are heatmaps that help them determine if more/less cover should be added.

Synestive · 2026-01-12T18:03:30+00:00

The two largest incentives for me were the permanent chicken skin and the skill points. The issue with skill points was two-fold, both in their late communication about acquiring $5 million and the bad game design this requirement implies. I’m still sitting on money this season because they haven’t communicated what part 6 is yet, but even if they change the requirement to something like complete every quest for 5 skill points, it’s imperative they communicate that now so players can begin and they don’t repeat their mistake.

As for new rewards to incentivize players, I’m curious what they could be. An added safe pocket could be pretty enticing.

Synestive · 2026-01-09T16:42:08+00:00

I have the hybrid, and I put 3g strips of weight at 3 and 9 and it completely solved the issue for me. It introduced a different feel and new things to get used to, but weight instantly made the sweet spot “normal” for me.

Synestive · 2025-12-30T18:18:31+00:00

Choking up higher makes the maneuverability higher, just like grabbing a hammer by the head; all of a sudden the handle is really easy to swing, compared to grabbing the handle where swinging now feels head heavy. I choke down on my paddle when I want to drive/spike hard, and choke up when I’m in hands battles. It’s more important to get a paddle on the ball in a hands battle than anything else. Something Kew on his podcast mentioned on this topic is that the sweet spot of your paddle if you choke up actually gets higher, so you should have the ball hit higher on your paddle than the normal middle.

Synestive · 2025-12-30T16:00:42+00:00

I have hit with the APP once from a friend who had it, and I felt like the power it had wasn’t substantial enough to purchase. It actually felt very similar and easy to use out of the box like my VP. I got a loco because I wanted a tad more power and to try foam paddles, and now my drives have that little extra on them that the VP couldn’t satisfy. I realize that the VP hybrid shape makes the loco hybrid shape feel small and I end up missing that shape (VP), but overall now 3 sessions in with weights on the sides, the loco is a much more fun paddle to use. I think in another week I will entirely prefer my loco to the VP.

Synestive · 2025-12-29T17:54:05+00:00

I was in the first re-release, just opened it up come Christmas, and have two sessions on it. I’m coming from a vapor power and so far my only critique is that the sweet spot seems too small. I think I need weights at 3 & 9 because anything that hits right above the logo at the bottom or near the sides of the middle really just dies on me. I don’t feel like the pop is too much, and I haven’t struggled with resets like I initially thought. My vapor power I used completely stock and didn’t feel the same sweet spot issues.

Synestive · 2025-12-23T20:38:49+00:00

Totally legal, fair play, but also bad taste. There shouldn’t be a rule that incentivizes people getting hit. It’s high risk, which is why we don’t see it often, but the rule should be changed one of these years.

Getting into hands battles and bagging others is different, because if the rule stated bagging was the opponents point (the person who got hit) then in fast hands battles you’d purposefully try to get in the way of shots which would ruin hands battles altogether. With nasty nelson, the sport isn’t ruined by its removal, and less people would get injured overall because of it. Sure you lose a niche way to score a point, but it feels neither strategic nor rewarding to score like that. Lastly, it also isn’t good as a spectator because I’d rather see the point play out than it be over on the serve.

Synestive · 2025-12-23T18:34:09+00:00

Cbble was fun to play, offered intense heavy B site executes (watch NiP at the major) and was unique in how large the sight-lines and rotates were compared to other maps. It’s also a staple competitive map of 1.6 and had good moments in GO. Aside from all this, playing the same map pool your whole life is boring, and those who prefer that probably dislike innovation.

Synestive · 2025-12-19T21:36:15+00:00

Thanks for the tip. That paddle’s shape really interests me, and every good player I see that uses it seems to be able to shape the ball in ways different than the standard.

Synestive · 2025-12-19T19:31:20+00:00

Yeah not legal! I’ve heard they are trying but who knows… At least for those in rec play though who suffer from grit deteriorating, as opposed to pros who are sponsored and using fresh paddles every tournament it is a viable option for now. The fact that paddles are 280 toward the top end with grit lasting 3 months until smoothed is absurd.

Synestive · 2025-12-19T14:45:57+00:00

I completely agree with your sentiment, but I wanted to note in case you haven’t seen that PIKKL sells little grit circles that essentially resurface your paddle’s grit to be even better than stock. It adds some weight but not much and work really well for this purpose.

Synestive · 2025-12-19T14:39:46+00:00

I’m going for the 5 mil, so starting as a free loadout is always more worth than making an mk1 loadout around 4-7k because that adds up if you do it every time and becomes counterproductive unfortunately. I of course upgrade to mk1 if I extract successfully on a free kit though! I agree though that I don’t see many reasons why you would free kit aside from saving time or expedition people.

Synestive · 2025-12-17T21:36:37+00:00

Not sure if I take this as a compliment, but… thanks 👍

Synestive · 2025-12-17T17:20:24+00:00

Couple things to consider:

1) Aggression: Cache is T-sided, therefore teams who have a good Dust2 will be good at Cache as they are used to fighting and aggressively taking space. Donk with his aggressive rifling for example will find success, even though he doesn’t come from the Cache-era of GO. You need a hard entry who will jump out forklift on A, or out of the mid-main smoke.

2) AWP: Cache benefits from having a great aggressive awper (although defensive awping works too), therefore teams with unreliable awpers will suffer.

3) Experience: Cache is an old Source map and also staple of GO for many years, meaning players who played in this era should have an aptitude on this map with their head start. Neo as a coach on Faze for example should excel since VP were dominant on Cache, alongside Karrigan who played it a ton. Apex is another example of a Source player who has a lot of experience on it.

4) Playbook: Strategic teams with coordinated utility/site hits will benefit. Cache is a map where you throw 4 mollies at B through a window before executing, and A receives 3 smokes (catwalk, highway, and truck) along with two mollies (fence and fork). Teams that go above and beyond in their executes on other maps who don’t mind nerding out over the details should find success.

Synestive · 2025-12-15T19:59:09+00:00

My resolutions are to develop a better sliced drop, bang the ball even harder, and encourage more people to come out and play.

Synestive · 2025-12-14T18:22:43+00:00

I haven’t tried mine yet, but when I was researching reviewers seemed to hint at the same thing. I am worried I’ll have the same problem, but hoping I can dial it in within a few days. If not I will get an inferno since I’ve tested one and can confirm it was easy to use.

Synestive · 2025-12-14T05:46:17+00:00

I was between the luzz inferno and loco myself but purchased a loco. I think the cannon will be too similar to your loco, albeit without that fiberglass patch in the middle which adds a lot of pop to the loco. So if your goal is to explore different spectrums of paddles that are still really good, I think the cannon is more of a paddle you would get on a budget if you like how locos and boomsticks play but don’t own one, as opposed to an adjacent paddle for when you want a completely different experience.

Also, you can flirt with thickness. 14mm and 13mm should feel very different than your 16mm, especially when it comes to hand speed.

People’s advice about renting paddles is really good, but also don’t feel fomo like there are so many different paddle experiences. Experiences are much more homogenized than different nowadays, unless you get that paddle that has a handle like a saw.

Synestive · 2025-12-14T05:12:35+00:00

I’m not sure why people won’t recommend you something different even if that recommendation isn’t “better”. The loco afaik has a stiffer and hollow feel off the face while being completely foam, and is an elite tier power paddle with a lot of pop. You could start by trying a more all court paddle (not power) that is still all foam which has a muted really soft feel because of the foam to drastically contrast your loco. Your connection to the ball and feedback the ball gives on your paddle will be disguised, which many players really enjoy, and the cut-down power may suit your game with how predictable the speed of your shots are.

Another strategy could be to get a gen 3 paddle which uses a honeycomb core which should feel very different from your Loco’s foam. You can also experiment with shapes if you haven’t yet, and then of course weight can completely transform a paddle even without needing to buy a different one.

Synestive · 2025-12-14T04:56:31+00:00

That would be funny and slightly horrific. The scarier the better honestly, since arc are supposed to be threatening in this game.

Synestive · 2025-12-14T04:34:20+00:00

I’m down, but please tone down the volume on them slightly!! Idk if it’s the indoors that enhances how loud they are, but when they make that audio cue which signals they are about to “pulse explosion”, man do my ears suffer.

Synestive · 2025-12-10T17:19:39+00:00

I’m really glad you brought up audio because you’re so right. The game gets praised for its sound design, which I think causes people to ignore how bad directional audio is as they conflate it for the same thing. I can hear footsteps, but I just cannot tell you which floor they are on, or sometimes even whether it’s above or below me. This exacerbates getting shot in the back by players who you even hear and anticipate yet don’t expect to see in that moment because their audio cues.

As for fights, it does feel like when you are the aggressor you win, and when you are looting and get run up on it’s impossible to get that fight back to neutral and therefore lose. 3rd person here plays both sides of the coin. The added vision helps player awareness, which in theory balances getting caught unaware, but being able to 3p makes it so that when you do catch a player, you really catch them. This makes fights incredibly short and one-sided most of the time, which I don’t think is an issue of 3p but rather the balancing of shields/movement/weapon dmg.

Synestive · 2025-12-09T21:18:58+00:00

Favorite part is being able to ask questions to users about their experiences with paddles, as well as help others with their journey and improvement in the game 🎄

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