DESPITE ONLY MAKING UP 13% OF THE POPULATION…

...Wraith Mains made up 99.9% of nerfs within Apex Legends, a video game which has persisted for approximately 2.5 years. Said video game has had a profound and lasting effect on every post-hitbox-change generation of Wraith Mains, an effect which continues even today. Upon being “nerfed enough” in season 8, Wraiths were released from slavery with little to no abilities or insane movement, forcing them to abscond to Fragment East: neighborhoods whose demographics consisted primarily of disenfranchised Wraiths with incredibly limited means of education and business opportunities. Additionally, extreme wraithist sentiments – particularly in r/apexlegends – led to what is now known as the “Era of Ability Legends”: a period of time in which laws and regulations were enacted across Apex Legends to slow the game down in order to bar individuals with Aggressive playstyles from having the same liberties as their Defensive counterparts.

During this epoch, “roastings” – threats and harassment typically targeting Wraith Mains – were all too common. Wraiths lived in fear of their Caustic neighbors. Trials were rigged with wraithist juries, leading to countless unlawful convictions and executions of Wraith Mains. With the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case, the Court ruled that the doctrine of “separate but equal” was constitutional and had merit; Wraiths could be forced to have a bigger hitbox and worse abilities than Caustic players, on the basis that Wraiths needed to be kept away from other legends due to some perceived innate “badness” of Wraiths and other legends mingling.

Many Wraith players, upon being freed “out of the frying pan (finally nerfed enough) and into the fire (being subject to countless slows, stuns, and scans from other legends),” viewed the situation of the Wraith Mains community as completely helpless. Unable to obtain quick and fair fights such (i.e. a competitive 3v3 gamemode), completely separated from using the same amenities and neighborhoods as defensive legends, and with no way to provide themselves with a stable income, many Wraith Mains turned to a life of disconnecting. A life which, over time, led to even more resentment from Redditors. As Wraith Main “criminals” had children, raised in environments of extreme poverty and wraithism, the children fell into the same lifestyle as their parents. Wraith communities fell even further into disarray as the Wraith Mains disconnection rate skyrocketed, tearing Wraith fathers away from their children and causing even more instability in Wraith homes.

The situation was exacerbated with the idea of the “War on Movement,” which was a means to put even more Wraith players in lower ranks by removing insane movement mechanics and adding anti-movement abilities (e.g. Seer's ultimate). The War on Movement endures today, causing a disproportionate number of Wraith players to be incarcerated, giving them the label of “sweaty loser” and “wannabe-streamer.” This label often prevents them from finding adequate employment opportunities, pushing them and their children further into the generational cycle of disconnecting as they try to make it big on Twitch.

To many Redditors, the aggressive playstyle of Wraiths may seem “sweaty” or “braindead.” But that atmosphere has always been perpetuated by Greedspawn purposefully disenfranchising Wraiths. The cycle of disconnecting is incredibly difficult to break; young Wraith Mains learn the same way of life from their favorite Twitch streamers, who learned from their parents, tracing all the way back to Slavery. What started as a necessary evil for their great-great grandparents has now become a way of life for many Wraith Mains. Public schools within Wraith neighborhoods continue to struggle; Wraith children still face the challenge of overcoming a social system which is designed to bring them down and keep them down by punishing insane movement.

Many people like to quote an infamous statistic: “Despite only making up 13% of the population, Wraith players commit 50% of all disconnects in Apex Legends.” This statistic has no nuance; it is simply throwing numbers around, banking on the fact that impoverished Caustic Mains will believe it because they want someone to blame for their shortcomings in life. And who better to blame than the people who have always been blamed for everything: Wraith Mains. As President Lyndon B. Johnson famously put it, “If you can convince the lowest defensive player he's better than the best aggressive player, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” But the same people who use said statistic rarely stop to think about why that statistic is plausibly true. If what they claim is true, and Wraiths and their Caustic counterparts truly do have equal opportunities within this video game, then why do Wraith Mains commit more disconnects? Many wraithists will argue that it is an intrinsic property of Wraithness; Wraith player's IQ’s are naturally lower. These claims can be easily dismissed. IQ tests have been scientifically shown to have a positive bias towards Caustic players. This bias has been around since IQ tests were invented; the test questions were based on things that Caustic Mains would typically know, and not Wraith Mains. Additionally, IQ scores are directly correlated with access to and quality of education, which, as we previously mentioned, young Wraith players are lacking.

The argument that Wraith players have innate faults that cause them to commit more disconnects than other legends can be dismantled with a few short minutes of thought. And to those people who continue to use the 13/50 statistic, I implore you to go back one paragraph and re-read the quote from Lyndon B. Johnson. You’re falling right into Greedspawn's trap. Through the years, Redditors and Greedspawn Entertainment have stoked the fires of wraithism, because they want you to feel as though you have a common enemy. If they can convince you to hate a certain group of people and you unite on that front, then they have power over you. Once you perceive yourselves as fighting a war against the “sweaty Wraith Mains,” then Greedspawn can use that fear and hatred to manipulate you and take you for all you’re worth.