Since Fortnite was released by Epic Games in July 2017, the game has grown beyond player’s screen and has become a major gaming success.
Fortnite helped popularize modern cross play compatibility and showed the business world, once again, that video games are nothing to snuff at, making $9 billion in its first two years.
Fortnite fans are extremely loyal and communal, often coming up with their own terms for different aspects of the game.
What Does “OG” Mean In Fortnite?
“OG” is not a Fortnite original term.
Fans of rap may know the phrase from songs such as Ice T’s OG Original Gangster.
While Fortnite fans don’t have their own abbreviation for OG, it carries a vastly different meaning.
Fortnite refers to one of their purchasable gliders as “The OG”.
It’s simply referring to the fact that the design was the one that was originally given to people who booted up the game for the first time.
Many people will call something OG if it is the way they experienced it for the first time.
“OG” is no longer used to refer to only gangsters.
Fortnite players who have been playing since the game’s release can also be considered OG.
Original Fortnite Map
In the true north part of the map sat Anarchy Acres.
The large farm sported a large house, a barn, a couple of sheds, and multiple fields.
The house was known for being a great place to loot, hide, and snipe.
In the northeast corner of the map stood the wailing woods.
Its distance from the center made it a less populated place to drop from the party bus.
In the center of the woods, there was a giant hedge maze with a fort in the center.
The fort almost always had plenty of loot in it, but the maze also held plenty of loot.
Lonely Lodge was a set of cabins surrounded by a larger lodge.
Loot was scattered among the cabins, with the lodge having the most loot out of all the buildings. Later, health items like apples and mushrooms would grow on the ground in the area.
Loot Lake was just below Anarchy Acres.
It was a large lake with a small island in the middle.
The house on the island was a great place to loot and hide, making it a popular drop for players.
Loot Lake’s location towards the center of the map made it a great place to wait out the competition.
Pleasant Park and Retail Row were the most populated drop zones.
They had more loot than one player would need, but there was plenty of confident competition.
Fatal Fields was to the left of Retail Row, making it another common place to drop.
Flush Factory and Greasy Grove occupied the southwestern corner.
Greasy Grove is the birthplace of Tomato Tom!
Flush Factory wasn’t a common place to drop due to the low loot turnout and the disadvantage of being in one of the farthest points on the map from the center.
Moisty Mire was also an uncommon place to drop.
Moisty Mire also suffered from low loot turnout and difficulty while jumping your way through the mire’s swampy mud.
Original Fortnite Weapons
When Fortnite was released in July of 2017, players really only had two general options for weapons.
You could only shoot a gun at an enemy to do damage.
There weren’t swords or special vehicles.
The only vehicle was the Shopping Cart, but even that wasn’t introduced until Patch 4.3.
For healing options, you only had Band-Aids, a first-aid kit, and chug jugs.
At launch, there were only four types of guns, but that was only for uncommon guns.
Weapons also only went up to legendary, at first.
There was only one type of weapon that went up to legendary, and it was the SCAR, which also came in an epic variant.
The assault rifle was common to rare.
Shotguns only had common and uncommon variants.
The pump shotgun was the vastly superior shotgun out of the two options.
It came in uncommon, rare, and epic.
A couple months after the game’s release, Epic added some necessary options for players, in order to help spice up the game.
The update didn’t just bring new guns but added traps and explosives as well.
Rare, epic, and legendary rocket launchers brought blissful chaos to the map.
Grenade launchers were a great way for taking out players hiding inside buildings.
Traps made hiding a more viable option for sneaky players.
Two new sniper options were added.
All these weapons joined the SCAR in legendary status.
Players were given more than just shotguns for short range with this update as well.
Pistol, SMGs, and revolvers were the newest options for close encounters with other players.
However, eventually, revolvers were removed from the game in a much later update.
All three of the new weapons came in the same classes: common, uncommon, and rare.
Season Zero
When Fortnite was first released, there were no seasons.
That is why this time period is referred to as Season 0.
Basic game mechanics like supply drops weren’t even introduced until two months into the game’s release.
Fortnite was an empty land filled with nothing but people who wanted to take you down.
The genius bush disguise wasn’t added until November of 2017.
The launch pad came a week later.
The first throwable was put into the game at the end of the month.
The smoke grenade blinded all players in an area with smoke, allowing injured players to make their escape or hunting players get the elimination.
December of 2017 brought its own gifts to Fortnite fans.
Shields were introduced to the game with small shields.
The iconic boogie bomb made its grand appearance in the same month.
The first version of the game ended by giving players silenced pistols.
The King Of Cross Play
There are many reasons that Fortnite became as successful as it did, but many fans of the game point to the cross play as the main reason they chose to start playing.
Cross play is when different versions of a game, such as console types, PC, or mobile, can play together.
It has never been easy to get Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony to get along, but Epic games figured out a way to bring them close enough to get cross platform playability.
Even Sony and Microsoft set aside their bitter rivalry to see how it could even be possible for Epic to create a version of the game that could communicate enough with each other to make the online game playable and responsive enough for a shooter.
Fortnite uses the type of controls the players are using in order to decide on what kind of server to put them in.
If any of the members of your party is on PC, you will be sent to PC servers.
If you don’t have any PC players, then you will be put in the console server, if there are any console players.
The only way you will be put in a mobile server is if every member of your party is on mobile.
PC players are known for having the advantage over any of the consoles, thanks to how precise a player can get with a mouse and keyboard.
The mobile version of almost any game will have the worst controls and struggle the most against the strong hardware.
Earning Money From A Free Game
Not every video game player has the money to get the latest and greatest game, but no gamer is going to turn down a free game that they can play with all of their friends.
Epic knew that if they wanted more people to play their game, they were going to have to make it as accessible as possible.
This business model has paid off in spades for Epic.
Skins were something that the fanbase tried out as often as they opened their refrigerator door.
People were okay with the fact that you had to pay for the small, cosmetic change.
The fanbase saw this as an opportunity for Fortnite to grow, and that’s exactly what it was.
Most Fortnite players have one skin or another.
When Epic first introduced season passes, the fanbase was extremely divided.
Some people praised the move, claiming it was a great, affordable addition to a free game.
Others claimed that it would be the downfall of gaming.
After the initial shock, most of the fan base gave in to one season pass or another.
The season pass helped give veteran players motivation to hop on and try their best to claim victory.
When Epic launched the Epic Games store, nobody knew that it would outdo Origin, making $3.4 billion in revenue.
The Epic Games store sells more than just Fortnite.
They also sell a whole library of other games, such as Rocket League and Horizon Zero Dawn.
Epic continues to offer other free games, like Sonic Mania, and other games running on the unreal engine.
Fortnite Versus Apple
Fortnite’s impact goes beyond the world of gaming.
Epic recently turned everyone’s heads when they took Apple to court over their App Store’s term and services for mobile app developers.
Epic wasn’t pleased with Apple’s requirement for developers to add in-app purchases, for which Apple would get 30% of the sale.
This meant that Fortnite’s iOS players were being charged extra for the same purchases all of the other versions of Fortnite charged less for.
Epic gave iOS players the opportunity to buy in-game purchases directly from Epic’s website.
Skins are locked to a person’s account, rather than being locked to the system they’re playing on.
When Apple noticed the rebellious act, they removed Fortnite from their store.
Epic and Apple’s trial shined a light on just how unjust Apple’s treatment of gaming on its platform is.
Even the judge overseeing the trial thought that it was strange that gaming apps are the only ones that have these odd and greedy requirements.
He claimed that it seemed like Apple was using gaming on their platform to subsidize other apps on their devices, like banking apps.
The final verdict has yet to be released as of the time of this writing, but things are looking good for Epic’s fight for Fortnite.
Fortnite Is Forever
Many older gamers may not want to admit it, but Fortnite has made a major impact in the world of gaming.
Epic helped popularize and innovate the battle royale and cross platform playability.
Epic made their fans their priority, and it has paid off for them more than anyone could have ever dreamed possible.
Fortnite has become a titan of gaming and brought new ideas and talent to the table.
They challenged ideas and expectations.
Epic has become a gaming powerhouse, and Fortnite is going to remain popular for a very long time to come.
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