Because of the imbalance currently in battlegrounds and the fact that rating means absolutely nothing, a lot of people quit on startup. Disclaimer: I have no issue with this practice as I completely understand the frustrations of being offered poor/unfun heroes or being unhappy with the minion pool offered.
My issue is with the fact that after these people leave, the damage cap is immediately removed. Would it be so difficult to only remove the damage cap after a player dies or quits after the first round or is there some other reason why this is not the case?
This is such a facile argument and one I vehemently disagree with. This is a simple QOL issue that can plague any lobby, regardless of where you are on the ladder. Something as simple as “I got 4 bad heroes and don’t want to waste 30 minutes” or “I suddenly don’t have 40 minutes to devote to a battleground after I’ve queued up” can ruin the damage cap.
This is a simple feature that should be looked at much more extensively, and is more nuanced than simply “git gud”.
No, I see it plenty at the 7300 range too. It may be less common than say 5000, but it happens plenty, particularly with heroes that require specific starts and when people don’t get them (think Lich whiffing on Wrath Weavers).
I’m current at 5500 and its all the time. Sometime 2 or 3 players at a time. As the OP said people don’t care about their ranking anymore its just about getting the right hero to have a chance at placing.
As I said in the OP, people choosing not to take part in the game isn’t really the issue. It’s a computer game, people just want to play and have fun. Also, from what I’ve seen players bailing happens no matter what the rank or region. I play on EU, US and Asia region all at various ranks from 5k on Asia to around 8k on EU, I’ve seen it frequently over the last few weeks, especially since the buddy patch. I’m literally watching a Dogdog video on youtube right now and uploaded today with a player who bailed at the start, I think he’s pretty high ranked, right?!?
The real problem isn’t people leaving though, it’s the knock-on effect for the remaining players due to the damage cap removal. It completely changes the way you have to play and seriously punishes some of the heroes who need time to build a decent board.
You want bigger training wheels and I have the problem?
I think the damage cap is terrible and shouldn’t exist at all because it rewards zerging to high tiers and high rolling. It’s actually made the mode faster, not safer to level and build.
Edit: Ha. Just got my firstplace with Varden. Only one hero left. Sweet.