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begemotamus

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  1. Said this before...ELO system does not work for Solo Ranked, too many ways to exploit and manipulate the queue. Your rating is a measure of luck and/or covert guile. The ELO system should be scrapped from Solo Ranked in lieu of something more sensible. As for matchmaking, the current system is horrendous compared to the previous one (which everyone complained about). Everytime BW update the matchmaking system, they make it worse. Be wary of asking for more changes!
  2. Hi Mike, Thanks for posting this. Given BW's track record with promises in this game, I won't get excited until I see something more concrete from you guys. But it is good to see that the ranked system is finally being talked about. My two creds are; Maybe look at just reducing rating losses. For example, +10 for a win, -8 for a loss. Make it so that you always gain more for winning than losing. As it stands right now, once you get over ~1500 rating you gain less for wins and lose a lot more for losses. Its very frustrating as you can win 8 games and lose 5 and still be at the same rating. This is further exacerbated by the poor matchmaking, which you have already acknowledged. These are all good suggestions and I think if all were implemented correctly, the ranked ecosystem will be significantly improved. However, I can still see ways for people to game the system. Perhaps the question you should be asking the dev team internally is what system will require the least amount of monitoring and policing. Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to spend precious few resources on sifting through all the win trading or throwing reports and then spending two weeks after every season making sure everything is legit and still not getting it right? There are a number of systems that can be implemented that will free up a lot of time for you guys to do other stuff. A lot of these have already been proposed and I'm sure you will get reminded of them in the following comments. Whatever "systemic change" you make needs to be as simple as possible with little to no room for "funny business". Don't turn it into another convoluted system that no one likes (eg. current gearing system). I look forward to hearing your more detailed proposals with regards to revamping the ranked system.
  3. Pretty much, yeah. By removing the ELO ratings, it will remove mental barriers for people and participation should improve, in theory. We'll never know if it's not tried. All we know is that with the current system, its not looking good for the SR scene.
  4. Kre'a, you're correct in the sense that one could grind all season long and obtain a mount or a weapon set or an armor set even if they only achieved bronze. But, my theory is that the presence of the ELO rating system alone discourages people from queuing SR. A lot of people would have been chased out ranked previously for various reasons, regrettably by people like me. A lot of it has to do with protecting "precious" ELO. However, in the last two weeks, the ELO system has been turned off during pre-season and weekly mat mission was added. This has caused a massive increase in SR pops on SS all times of day. It is amazing!! I don't think this is due to addition of mats alone because I see a lot of people in queue that either don't do pve or continue to queue long after finishing the weekly. So this tells me that the interest in SR is still there. Its a lot easier for new players or players that dislike the ELO system to queue when they are not affecting others' ratings and not being shouted at by all the vets. This is why I'm in favor of removing the ELO system altogether. Of course whatever replaces it should be simple and sensible! This is something I'm not sure BW are capable of doing.
  5. +1 Mr Musco, please look into this asap! My motivation is purely selfish! I don't want tomorrow to come and bam...waiting 30 mins for SR pops again. My enthusiasm for SR has been revitalized in the last two weeks. And it has nothing to do with getting rewards tomorrow or rating. I just like arenas in this game, I've always enjoyed this game mode. So I'm happy to change to whichever system gets me consistent SR pops.
  6. Well, I did say not everyone will like this idea. I'm not necessarily suggesting a win point system. The main point is that the ELO system just doesn't work. The evidence is the significant decline in ranked participation over the years. And then a drastic increase in participation in the two weeks when they remove the ELO ratings and add mats. Sure, there are now more games with people who can't press buttons. But due to the much higher number of pops (which now go almost round the clock on SS), it is much more enjoyable overall, for me. And I would like this to become a regular thing not just something that happens during pre-season. Thus I'll happily forgo ELO ratings in lieu of something else that will keep the pops alive. It's ok if you don't agree. With some sort of a win point system, the argument of 'no lifers will get all the rewards due to sitting in queue 24 hours a day' is somewhat flawed. Some may think that 'noobs' with time on their hands don't deserve the rewards because they are simply not as skilled as the veterans. It's just not fair, right! Well, you'll find that not many things in life are fair. For example, think about day to day life IRL. A 'single' person can spend more time at work and put in more effort than a 'family' person. The single person will get rewarded accordingly, and the family person won't. Is that unfair or just a natural part of life? Another example, a person who is very good at their job will climb the corporate ladder faster than the average person. Happens all the time. Some may say its unfair or preferential treatment or some other excuse. There are many other examples, but the gist is that all this happens because the world is inherently not fair and it never will be! So why expect the game to be fair? I'll have no problem if the game mimics real life. As in, there will be players who spend a disproportionate amount of time doing ranked and getting rewards ahead of me even though their skill level is nowhere near mine. But its ok, because I'm still having fun! Bottom line is, I just want more pops! I don't mind if the quality of pops varies, its still better than no pops! Last couple of weeks it's been very good, so all I want is for this to continue.
  7. PREFACE: I'm a longtime pvp'er who only does ranked pvp (solos and group) in this game. I've been a keen participant in the ranked scene since Season 2. I don't do regs or pve. I play on Satele Shan server. Who would have thought? I've had more fun in solo ranked over the last two weeks (pre-season) than I've had during most of season 10 (or 9 or 8). The reason is very simple - frequent and consistent pops!! The last time I saw SR pop this much was season 4. It has been immensely enjoyable for myself, who traditionally only ever gets one or two pops on weekdays (playing from Aus) and no more than a handful of pops on weekends. What's changed? The removal of ELO rating during pre-season and introduction on mats (monumental crystal) for SR weekly mission, has caused droves of people to queue for solos. Given the high frequency of pops, it is much easier (for majority of people) to get the monumental crystal through SR weekly than doing the HM Queen, as only the raiding groups can get that done in a reasonable time frame. This weekend, it took me an average only two hours to get the SR weekly done per alt. I was able to finish it on 6 alts over Saturday and Sunday. So what I'm taking from this is that people are not afraid to queue when there is little at stake and there is a reward at the end. Not very complicated! All of this has caused me to completely reverse my view on the ELO system. I used to think that ranked should be reserved for the better players and that mat farmers and "noobs" should stay away. Turns out it was just a matter of scale. Whereas previously (during previous seasons) a few mat farmers would be scattered among a lot of good players (causing those teams to lose), now there is still a fair amount of good players but scattered among a sea of mat farmers and newbies. This, very counter intuitively, leads to some enjoyable and dare I say "balanced" games. When there are two good players and two "new" players on each team, the games can be very exhilarating. There is now a lot more opportunity for good players to carry the team which can be very gratifying. I'm now an advocate of removing the ELO system in lieu of something similar to what is happening during off season. Remove ELO ratings, provide weekly mat rewards and provide ranked tokens for wins/losses. Leader boards can be sorted by wins or by win percentages. Figure out something for top three rewards or get rid of them altogether. This post will not put forth a comprehensive alternative to the ELO system, I'm just a suggesting or recommending to change the current system because the current system does not work! And what I've witnessed in the last two weeks works a lot better! Now I know this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea and there will be detractors and veterans out there arguing against this proposal. However, please take a moment to consider the following: The current system of ELO and rewards has caused a steady decline in ranked participation over the last few years. I thought this was a population issue with many players leaving the game, but as it turns out, the population is there. Its just that a lot of players don't want to queue because they think they are not ready for ranked and don't want to spoil other's ratings as a result. Probably due to being shouted at by ranked veterans during the few times they tried ranked pvp. No rating means no pressure to perform which makes it easier to enjoy the game. The new players will learn and become better at arenas over time. Under the current system, the population is so low that the community has become extremely toxic. There is cheating, exploiting, leaving, throwing, wintrading, you name it! How is this conducive to an enjoyable experience? The ELO system was originally created to measure relative individual performance in chess, as a way of separating top players. It was not meant to measure individual performance in team games/sports. It just doesn't make sense to do so. It only makes sense for group ranked. Bioware/Devs only need to look at the data from the last two weeks and they will see a drastic increase in Solo Ranked pops on SS, and I'm presuming on other servers too. Surely that should tell them that there is something there. I just hope they don't attribute this to the addition of mats only. It is a combination of mats and removal of rating. Use this opportunity to breathe some life back into the ranked scene. Remember that although ranked population is not very large, the best times this game has ever had was when the ranked pvp scene was at its peak (S1 and S2). Ok, enough babbling about the same point in ten different ways! BW, I've tasted good times in solo ranked for the first time in a LONG time. I want this to continue! For the record, my $15 a month should go towards making the whole game better, not just the cartel market. Please figure out a way to make ranked as enjoyable as it has been the last couple of weeks. The pops are great, the participation is great, the ELO system sucks! Its time for a change!
  8. This game is on life support and the plug will be pulled well before any of these tools or systems are implemented. I'll be very surprised if there is a Season 11.
  9. begemotamus

    Whatever

    There are a lot of pvp'ers that have left the game in the last two weeks alone (since 5.9.2). I'm amazed, I've never seen so many of my mates cancel subs after a patch before. At this rate, the ranked scene will be a graveyard by Christmas. Just look at the leaderboards and the progress (or lack thereof) in ratings. I've had fewer pops in SR than I had before the patch. In group ranked, on SF you'll now sit for hours without pops while spamming in chat for ppl to q. I've had a total of 9 group ranked matches on SF in the last two weeks, in stark contrast to ~25 matches per week before 5.9.2. A lot of the people are heading over to WoW (BFA) or other mmos with bigger/healthier populations. BW absolutely need to merge SS and SF if they want to keep the remaining few ranked enthusiasts interested in this game. This needs to happen NOW. I think in three months time, it'll be too late. Once ranked is dead, it'll only be a matter of time (very little time) till the rest of pvp goes with it.
  10. I see ranked pvp has transitioned onto the forums. No wonder I'm not getting pops in game. Not sure how the rating system woks here but Prum is definitely in the negatives.
  11. In general I agree with the sentiments in this thread. However, I don't think the system should be dumbed down to allow anyone to reach gold or top three standing simply by q'ing all the time. The ELO rating system has been created (for chess originally) to reflect a person's performance in individual sports. It can still be used for team sports/games provided a large enough population exists. This is certainly not the case in SWTOR. And this system doesn't work well in solo ranked environment where the outcome depends more on your team's composition, enemy team's composition and miscellaneous trolls/leavers/decliners, than it does on your performance. Without having the raw numbers (population), it's hard to suggest what should be done with the system. I just want BW to maybe look into the matter. I think the fairest system is one that rewards individual performance. Such that even when you lose, rating reduction may be minimal compared to the troll/noob on your team that caused the loss. Conversely, the best player on the winning team should get more rating than the scrub that got carried. I realize the chances of this happening are negligibly small, since it would require BW to actually put some effort into the game. I guess I'm just here to vent coz of all the bad pubs in q.
  12. Instead of b*tching and foot stamping on the forums, how about you give this patch a chance before crucifying it? Do BW need to cater to your every whim and satisfy you in every way before they can update this game? Also, how do you go from 'not sure how long I'll keep playing' to being the most vested player in the game, in the space of 3 posts?
  13. It's been such a long season. Surely a nice armor set is in order.
  14. I've noticed this as well. I'm from Australia and during weekdays by the time I get home, I usually get an hour or two of SR pops before the queue dies. Last two weeks, however, not a single pop during weekdays. Only being able to do ranked during weekends is making me rapidly lose interest in the game. I'm sure that if the seasons were shorter (3-5 months) there would be plenty of people in q to sustain pops and accommodate us APAC'ers as well. I'm willing to forgo flashy season rewards if it meant seasons were going to be shorter. I'm happy to see BW dedicating a lot of attention to pvp atm. But a lot of it is catering to regs. I think BW is underestimating the impact the ranked community has on the game and are currently risking losing a large chunk of it by keeping the ranked seasons running this long.
  15. Civil War Biggest Hit: 22870 Class: Madness Sorc Character: Kámellá http://imgur.com/b8fE6OL
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