Report from the ranked front lines, from a rookie

I'm on Star Forge, playing my Slippery When'Wet toon. I thought about going in with Candy, but she's a tank, and for my money, tanking in ranked matches is very difficult. I know from regs that I can do ok with the guard swapping and taunts and peels for people part, but I can't do damage at the same time. And I also know from regs that good tanks can. So I didn't feel I was really ready to do ranked justice on a tank.

And thanks for the encouragement JMAlex! Yeah, I specifically wrote in my original post about my gear level and actually trying. Even in regs it bothers me when people don't even try. I don't typically rage about it, because I'm just not a rage-type person (I'll log out instead). And for ranked, I mean, people should have some respect for the other folks that are there doing the same content. Even if I'm drawn to ranked because of the ossus rep and the gear grind (shudder), well, I'm still going to approach it something I should be doing "right".

So I kinda wanted that to come out in my report. Show some respect for the people who are there with you, and I think you can expect some respect back.

You sorta just have to dive in with the tank, and ignore whatever verbal abuse comes your way. If you already have experience from regs, then ranked is the only way forward. I suppose you could train with guild members, but it would not be the same by a mile.

So, I just finished my first "monumental" mission, and for those who might be on the fence about the reaction they'd get giving ranked a try, I thought I would report my experience.

I actually started the monumental crystal quest a bit late, because I didn't realize it wasn't just the normal ranked pvp weekly. I was about 1/2 way through the "50 point" weekly when I picked up the monumental. So, effectively, I did a 75 point monumental.

I'm in 248 gear, and an infil shadow (decpti-sin ). My current win/loss is 12 wins and 16 losses. My rank is currently 1076, with highest of 1132. So I'm hardly good at this. But I do follow plans. (Or make them, I get marked leader a LOT for some reason.) I'm getting better at using focus-target to "cc the healer", and to remember to use terrain to LOS and survive when focused myself. So I'm not going in with the idea that "I'm just here to get matts". I'm trying to win just as much as the next guy/girl.

With that attitude and skill level... overall, ranked was fine. I actually found, believe it or not, LESS toxicity in solo ranked than often happens in regs. No one screamed at me to get better gear. No one ranted at me to get out of ranked. A couple times I got told I should be doing more damage. Out of those two, one of them actually gave some tips on how to do that, and then the next round my DPS improved some!

For the most part, everyone is trying. There's quite a bit of planning in most games, with people willing to talk about "how do we change things up for round 2" after we lose round 1 (or for round 3 if we lose round 2). Every once in a while someone will complain that a lone survivor should "just /stuck it". Which I guess I get. I mean, I find some value in practicing to survive as long as possible, in prep for the next time I'm focused. But I can also see their point of "you are not going to 1v4 them, quit wasting our time". But even that complaint I've found to be relatively rare.

Overall, it's been a pretty positive experience. Just my experience, of course, but there you go.

I decided to hop in the solo rank queue tonight and Im slightly impressed by the helpful people in the queue, but there are those select few that can ruin a night if you don't have thick skin. I was told many times that I wasn't playing right, that I chose a non-viable class, and that I need to quit the game several times.

The funny part is, after looking at the leaderboards and seeing their rating compared to mine, I'm happy to say I out rate most of those who complained.

Working my way to the top PT position. Hope I have more good nights like I did tonight!