I wouldn’t say little effort, just that if you’re hovering between say, 2300-2700, you can float up or down several hundred SR even if you play at the exact same skill-level for all those games. Unless you’re massively better (or worse) than that group of players, climbing out is pretty much luck in getting better teams.
The SR levels where you can play the exact same and either not fall or climb out of that bracket are far smaller the higher you go. (Cannot speak for lower).
FWIW in my experience, the main difference between a Plat and Diamond typically isn’t mechanical skill, it’s communication and coordination, which is why the gap between low and high diamond players is pretty significant since that’s where skill gaps in mechanics tend to show.
That’s not how resolution works. 3D projection is not like the desktop where unscaled 2D elements appear smaller at higher resolutions. The projected 3D models will be transformed to the exact same physical size at every resolution on the same display.
It certainly helps, but low ping is not a requirement. There are some amazing players like Kabaji who was one of the best Tracers in top500 playing at 150ms latency. You just have to know how to deal with your limitations and play smarter to offset that limitation.
I can typically feel the difference every 300-400 SR. So high plat has better players than low plat. High diamond better than low diamond, etc. That being said, it is often subtle things and not super dramatic for each raise up. But you can definitely tell a difference.
I can only speak for Plat - GM, as those are the ranks I have played hundreds of games with. Awkward’s assessment, in a rough sense, rings true. The skill gap matters a lot more on the high and low ends, such is the nature of a natural distribution.
MMR has a lot to do with consistency. Low ranks can play like high, high ranks can play like lows, inconsistently. This is why you’ll see a low rank freak out about what he pulled off, or see a high rank hold his head in his hands and say “Oh my god, I am so boosted”.
This can be seen more easily at the extreme ends of the distribution. I, quite literally, vary in SR-capability by 250 points. Did I sleep well? Is my hand-eye coordination good today? Am I in a proper mood? There exists a 500 SR wide band of physical capability for me, sitting at roughly 3800 hardstuck masters. I have had enough time and played enough seasons differently to know by experimentation. There are seasons I played whenever I wanted, and seasons where I regimented myself to training sessions before I played to assess if today was “a good day”.
MMR is an equation of positioning and aim. Effectively, all other factors are just forms of these two acts. However, MMR is not a single instance, it is positioning and aim over time.
as someone who has gone fromsilver to masters with 30fps 120ping on a laptop, i can safely say hardware does not ‘worth a tier or two’. Higher framrate makes the game look nicer, but won’t change your sr more than 50, unless you go from something unplayable to decent.
I think the role queue system has put people in off-role ranks they don’t belong (I have a friend that placed Diamond for DPS) but can’t win a duel against gold players.
I will say that you can tell the difference when you are high and low in that rank if that is your skill level.
When I was in low gold, I found that I was consistently outplayed by high gold DPS and vice Versan.
