First: I know there maybe plans to change comp this year but if its just role queue then this still applies.
There are 4 non decay ranks.
Players who play comp in a time that suits them generally dont have the time to commit to something like the requirements of a decaying rank.
This can be because of jobs and many other reasons.
https://i.imgur.com/LoldcuU.png
A majority of players are in the silver / gold / plat rank and after plat the population just drops by half.
I feel we need more ranks between silver, gold and plat to spread out the player base better and less matches where the skills of other players varie a lot.
Giving the average gamer a more consistent gaming experience.
Dia Master and GM are dedicated ranks to play the game consistently but silver gold and plat is where everyone is at and its trash because you have loads of normal players in the space of 4 ranks.
Not everyone in plat has the time/commitment to climb into diamond+ and games between silver and plat are too inconsistant because of this.
Note: I know the % population image is from last year by i dont think its changed much.
I dunno about adding decay for lower ranks, but I’d like to see a Decay cap for higher ranks. Maybe 300 SR Max?
The ranks are really only there for comp point rewards and tier icons so I’m not sure I get what you are saying. If you are sitting at 2400 for example you will never be placed in a 2100 game because “it’s gold” (unless you group with a 1800 player). The gameplay is already pretty different at for example 25XX vs 28XX - regardless if you call 2500-2749 plat and 2751-2999 plat +.
Edit: It would make sense if we just remove SR as a number altogether since it doesn’t really do anything and only show the rank. In that case more ranks would give a better indication of how you are progressing.
I did not say that in any way. . .
There needs to be more NON-decaying ranks.
Silver to plat is too densly packed to be consistent in the kind of players your matched up with.
I’m sorry, I misread your post, it’s early and I haven’t had my coffee. lol
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Yes more ranks to show progression.
Since silver to plat is dense with players each win or loss can shift the kind of players your with each match, be it a lucky win streak, boosting, loss streak etc.
There needs to be more space otherwise the enemies you get are inconsistent and certain exploits/weaknesses in some ranks wont work in others but are mixed in sliver to plat because there are so many players.
Really decay shouldn’t exist outside of t500, but if they insist on having it, decay should stop at the floor of ranks. A diamond player can only decay to 3000, a master player can only decay to 3500, and a GM player can only decay to 4000.
As far as what the OP is proposing… I really don’t think we do. We can add more ranks all we like, but that doesn’t matter. We’ll still have a ton of people crammed within 1000 SR of each other who will be matched together; they’ll just be called different things. In those ranks matches are already really closely matched as far as rank goes because there are so many people you can choose from.
If you’re a 2700 player, you’re going to get a 2700 match. It’s not like master where you are a 3700 player and can end up in a 4000 match or a 3350 match depending on who’s available. Changing what your label is not going to make the experience better.
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But the thing is, because there are so many players in the non-decayed rank the ranking system cant be accurate.
Yes you can get a 2700 match but how players got there could varie from boosting, win streak loss streak etc.
Having more ranks will have more SR differences/space in the non decayed ranks.
Yes you have high ranks that cant get the same match sr’s/mmr’s because of the lack of players but its the total opposite in the majority ranks.
If Jeff has faith in the MMR and SR system and it works, then a wider gap for climbing is needed because there are so many players in the non-decayed ranks.
But the thing is, because there are so many players in the non-decayed rank the ranking system cant be accurate.
I understand what your trying to say, but your suggestion doesn’t actually address the problem. The “tiers” of ranks don’t matter, these are just visual rewards for certain ranks. What you want is a more discriminating match maker.
Basically, games only between people who are closer in MMR than you have now. The thing is I don’t really think that will fix your issue. Most of the volatility in a match isn’t due to different ranks, but individual player performances. Whether someone is having a good/bad day, whether they are on their main or filling for the team, whether it’s a good map and composition for their style of play, whether they slept well or are pissed off.
I think what you would see is by “tightening” the matchmaking (which is equivalent to “expanding” ranks and using the current matchmaking) is much longer queue times for little to no gain in match quality.
In the end, people are very inconsistent. Yourself included. So inevitably, matches will have a lot of randomness in them. There is no possible solution to this if you want to play with other humans.
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Then why not combine Masters and GM ?
If the tiers dont matter why should such a low player base percentage have two different tiers?
They could. It doesn’t mean that GM players will play with Masters players though. Unless we’re talking low GM and high Masters. Heck we could combine all tiers and call it “wood” and it still wouldn’t change anything since people aren’t matched based on tiers but on MMR.
What exactlly is MMR again? i can never find a definate answer to what it is. . .
Generally the difference between player skills increases at the high end. That is, the best players are a very tiny %, but are notably better than “very good” players. SR and the tiers represent to players how good people are, and this can be more accurately represented with high tiers that have very few players. This is extremely common practice, done in almost every competitive game. (See CS:GO or League for two other big examples).
Long answer: How Competitive Skill Rating Works (Season 14)
Short answer: It’s how good the system thinks you are, wrapped up in one number, your MMR. This is the only thing used in matchmaking. MMR systems are quite common in video games, and you can look up a lot about how they work.
SR generally it follows very closely to your MMR, as if it deviates you get more/less SR per match until it catches up. SR can be thought of like a filtered MMR, or the visible reward for reaching an MMR. It’s the shiny button we see for achieving a certain skill level (which is really what your MMR represents).
They could remove SR and only show you your tier (bronze/silver/gold/etc). They could give you a percentile in terms of players (e.g. you’re better than 72% of competitive players!) They could give a ranked ladder like top 500 for the entire player base. Nothing about the matchmaking and the games you have would change. These, and SR, are just different ways of displaying your skill. Some games, like Dota 2, just show your actual MMR. That is fairly uncommon.
While usually your SR is equal to your MMR, Blizzard will sometimes make them deviate. Usually a punishment for things like leaving or decay. In these situations, it’s important to note you’re still matched based on your MMR, as that’s all the system see’s. There are GM games with players who have 3000SR from decay.