Opinion on ranked restrictions

Anet's about to ban people from playing ranked as a duo in the 1600+ rating range, taking away the last real opportunity for community building left in PvP.

Organically this is how teams form in any game:

• You start alone
• In one of your matches you'll find someone you'd like to play with again in the future, then keep inviting them back to play together
• As you're duoing you may find other people that want to join, and eventually your group of friends grows into a full roster
• This roster will practice in ranked together
• Once you're good enough the team can start participating in tournaments and work your way up from there

This is how the chain looks in present day GW2:

• You start alone
• In one of your matches you'll find someone you'd like to play with again in the future, then keep inviting them back to play together
• No room for further progression. Want to add a 3rd person? Too bad, unless you want to kick one friend for a potential new one there's nothing you can do.
• Only way to go is to participate in tournaments (ATs), but you must immediately find not one, but 3 other people. You'll take a gamble and see what happens.
• Your pug likely gets roflstomped in ATs because it's not ranked and has no real matchmaking or rating system. Now what? Either disband or maybe try again hours later, maybe even the next day, with a new set of pugs hoping it'll be different. Scrim? Against who, with who? And scrims may end up just as lopesided as ATs.

Without an option to queue with as may people as you want, whenever you want, this system is just broken and PvP will never grow.

And what is Anet's next "logical" step? To ban duo. In a team based gamemode. Of a multiplayer game.

To take away the last bit of room left for real community building.

What Anet's doing is shortsighted and quite frankly, depressing. As friends quit and making new ones becomes harder, people leave, communities die. Please don't let this path of abysmal decisions continue.

"X will finally kill PvP for good and ever"

I've been hearing this shit a long time man.Boooorrriìng.

To be fair Omar... if they really are eliminating the ability to queue as a team, that would make PvP... well, it would kill a lot of the organizing and strategic elements. If you can only solo-queue (which is what it sounds like OP says is going on, first i'm hearing of it myself), then you get stuck with a team of completely random people (probably still rank-based, but nobody you know), and you have to HOPE that the people you're playing with are going to take the match as seriously as you. Which you can't guarantee if you don't know Teammate A from a hole in the ground.

Welcome to the idea of Antisocial PvP arena!Where real pvper get trown into rocket and shoot into the sun.And the PVE can go in do their arena fights for the legendary armor.

@ShadowDragoonFTW.3418 said:To be fair Omar... if they really are eliminating the ability to queue as a team, that would make PvP... well, it would kill a lot of the organizing and strategic elements. If you can only solo-queue (which is what it sounds like OP says is going on, first i'm hearing of it myself), then you get stuck with a team of completely random people (probably still rank-based, but nobody you know), and you have to HOPE that the people you're playing with are going to take the match as seriously as you. Which you can't guarantee if you don't know Teammate A from a hole in the ground.

Oh no I feel you there, and I understand OP too. I'm just saying that after all the stuff that has already happened that SHOULD have killed PvP did not. So this too will pass.

That's depressing.

Yet here we are begrudgingly playing this PvP with the insane idea of home.

It's our fault really.We should pull the plug, but are unable to let go.

To my knowledge you will be able to duo up to 1800. No big deal.I would certainly have preferred separate solo-queue and team-queue (no team of 4 though) but I guess PvP population is way too low for that.

@Ara.4569 said:To my knowledge you will be able to duo up to 1800. No big deal.I would certainly have preferred separate solo-queue and team-queue (no team of 4 though) but I guess PvP population is way too low for that.

They updated the thread recently saying they extend the restriction down to platinum 2 (1600)

@Ara.4569 said:To my knowledge you will be able to duo up to 1800. No big deal.I would certainly have preferred separate solo-queue and team-queue (no team of 4 though) but I guess PvP population is way too low for that.

1600. They changed it, and it's stupid. What are they doing, it feels like they have 0 senior staff working on PvP, just a bunch of interns doing random stuff hoping that something works.

I like these changes. Each to their own merit.

@BadMed.3846 said:I like these changes. Each to their own merit.

You won't like it for long. As Anet's straight up removing ways to play the game, people who enjoyed those ways will leave or never come in the first place, not to mention conquest was NOT designed for solo players in the first place.

We should be discussing how to grow this game but Anet's hellbent on finding out how to shrink it till eventually no one's left. Maybe this won't do it. Maybe the next reduction won't, either. But one time que times will somehow start getting longer, matchmaking goes to shit even more, and PvP becomes unenjoyable. At that moment you'll realize that maybe these changes weren't so good but there will be no turning back.

You'll feel it already in the next season, even if you weren't duoing actively I'm sure you had duos on your team from time to time. Duos that had picks with synergy or cover different roles, have communication, etc. Without them matches will be even more chaotic.

Who the hell came up with this idea to begin with: "hey, we have a gamemode built on 5 man teams with good communication, how about we make it soloq only XD"

It's as if Anet was sistematically trying to suck any enjoyment of out PvP.

@ShadowDragoonFTW.3418 said:To be fair Omar... if they really are eliminating the ability to queue as a team, that would make PvP... well, it would kill a lot of the organizing and strategic elements. If you can only solo-queue (which is what it sounds like OP says is going on, first i'm hearing of it myself), then you get stuck with a team of completely random people (probably still rank-based, but nobody you know), and you have to HOPE that the people you're playing with are going to take the match as seriously as you. Which you can't guarantee if you don't know Teammate A from a hole in the ground.

Blame the population at the top of the leaderboards who cheated their way there via match manipulation. This is in direct response to those players and their actions? Is it the best solution? No. But it is a solution. If people who played PvP in this game weren't such huge cheaters then this wouldn't have happened.

What could they do that's easy and cheap though. I'd been thinking about some sort of q that you can only access through your guild, to try and make sort of teams. That's about as far as I got and anyway kitten it, it's a waste of time even thinking up stuff that they won't do anyway. But if you had to go through guilds to pvp it'd probably just destroy guilds as well.

The problem with maintaining the system with DuoQ is that the prestige (aka Ranks, Badges and Titltes) is given away individually. The leaderboards dont say The Duo (X+Y) is legendary. The leaderboards say X and Y are legendary. That can become very troublesome as some people are equally skilled as others who have higher ranks simply because they have an also skilled partner to DuoQ with. I believe ArenaNet's perspective on the issue was something similar to this, viewing as they tried to maintain the DuoQ perspective on the lower ranks, since there isn't much prestige attached to them and it reflects most of the player pool.

There is also the Match Manipulation problem, which is a much bigger at higher ranks, considering the pool MMR is given to work with to create matches is much smaller. People with contacts and multiple accounts can easily Queue Snipe, Triple Queue or Dodge Queue because of that.

The new system, despite having its setbacks, should improve the quality of the matches on where it takes effect. In my perspective, the dream would be having one Solo Queue and one Team Queue where you'd queue with 2~5 people. That way you could link the SoloQ leaderboards to professions, since it would reflect better the actual rating of the players and have heavy rewards on the Team Queue. Then you wouldnt be forced to play a certain class if you wanna do ranked, just because it is your best class. That would put Prestige (aka Good Job Stick) into the SoloQ leaderboards and Actual Gold Reward on TeamQ leaderboards, giving a reason to play both.

@OriOri.8724 said:

@ShadowDragoonFTW.3418 said:To be fair Omar... if they really are eliminating the ability to queue as a team, that would make PvP... well, it would kill a lot of the organizing and strategic elements. If you can only solo-queue (which is what it sounds like OP says is going on, first i'm hearing of it myself), then you get stuck with a team of completely random people (probably still rank-based, but nobody you know), and you have to HOPE that the people you're playing with are going to take the match as seriously as you. Which you can't guarantee if you don't know Teammate A from a hole in the ground.

They did it because people were complaining that coordinated 5 mans were too hard to fight against if you were solo quing. (lol no shit)

But anyways, almost everyone at the top of the leaderboards got their legitimately. If you really think it was that easy to get there using match manipulation, try actually fighting anyone in the top 10 and see if you can beat them.

The players at the top are there for a reason, and its not because we cheat.

@"Omar Aschi Popp.7496" said:"X will finally kill PvP for good and ever"

I've been hearing this kitten a long time man.Boooorrriìng.

Dude, are you even playing PvP from time to time? The PvP was badly hurt by this kind of decisions in the past.

Ranked PvP is from the strategic PoV a joke and a lot of the good and endeavored Player just left the game.So i play always against the same 3 guys.

Team restrictions are just a really really bad idea for a team based game and its hilarious, that anet want to continue with this kind of bullshit. Like there is literally no one by anet, how cares about PvP.

A change that affects 30 players per season per region will obviously kill the game, yeah right.

I don't disagree that this game should support team play better but mixing premades and SoloQ is not the answer, regardless of how you spin it, it always inevitably end up in crappy gameplay experiences and many games out there proved it, not just this one.

Same thing with a permanent 5v5 ladder as participation rates in these always tend to be abysmal, which makes them highly exploitable (wintrading at 5AM on weekdays and such).

On the other hand i think the tournament idea this game has is a good base, it just seems unpolished and under-exploited. One very quick fix to it would be simply to rework its format to a double elimination one, so people would at bare minimum get to play 2 games before having to split up.

The other one would simply to re-do the way they're scheduled. Maybe instead of essetially have one everyday, we could have 3 back to back during specific days (chosed based on player activity, but for the sake example we could pick Friday/Saturday/Sunday) with a 2-3 hours spacing between them so people have a reaspn to lock a specific amount of their in their week to PvP together and not necessarily run out of things to do after 15 minutes now if you happen to lose the first round of a tourny.

Just my 2cents.

1600+ is top 250. This is purely a math problem. there aren't ever going to be enough people to make reasonable matches when some are duo queueing.

They have AT for top level people to play with friends.

So, it's basically SoloQ in Ranked until you hit 1600. I don't have a particular issue with this but I do agree with the OP about finding and adding competent friends for AT groups.

Then again, LFG system (which works for a quick last-minute pug group) should probably be emphasized a bit more if people are truly looking for AT groups.

@Saiyan.1704 said:So, it's basically SoloQ in Ranked until you hit 1600. I don't have a particular issue with this but I do agree with the OP about finding and adding competent friends for AT groups.

Then again, LFG system (which works for a quick last-minute pug group) should probably be emphasized a bit more if people are truly looking for AT groups.

Other way around. You can duo que until 1600.

And if you are in solo que why the hell do you want to go up against a full team? I'm not saying this is an ideal solution, but of I was a solo que'er going up against full teams, I'd be pissed. Honestly, they should have made two que's and be done with it. Simple, easy, everyone is happy. But, yet again, Anet has taken the more rash route.

@Carona Guaricha.5820 said:

@"Omar Aschi Popp.7496" said:"X will finally kill PvP for good and ever"

I've been hearing this kitten a long time man.Boooorrriìng.

Dude are you even reading my posts from time to time?

I never said I disagreed with OP. Just that y'all are impotently raging at something beyond our control and in the end we will accept it. Like always.

Same.OldSong.

I am bored of listening to it.

You are RIGHT.But again nothing will change.And next week you will still be playing the broken PvP that you have come to hate.

@Gandarel.5091 said:

@BadMed.3846 said:I like these changes. Each to their own merit.

I see this purely as reducing the ways to cheat or gain an unfair advantage. I don't have an issue with a 5 man queue to compete only with another 5 man premade. But I do have an issue with a duo getting an unfair advantage over a solo queue in competitive mode. I would love to see two separate options - solo queue and 5 man party queue. Nothing in between. That's the only way to keep it truly competitive.

@witcher.3197 said:Anet's about to ban people from playing ranked as a duo in the 1600+ rating range, taking away the last real opportunity for community building left in PvP.

That means the top 250 players... While making life better for everyone in high plat when they won't be matched against a duo of Legendary players due to the low population.

@maddoctor.2738 said:

@witcher.3197 said:Anet's about to ban people from playing ranked as a duo in the 1600+ rating range, taking away the last real opportunity for community building left in PvP.

Maybe in NA. In EU it's going to be much more punishing for the general public as top 250 starts around 1750, and mind you, it's the top 250 with enough games played, there are many more players in that rating range who just haven't played enough matches to show up on it.

Solo should be solo and there should be a full on team ranked que for the set of players this effects and were already effected with team que removal (removal is better than team vs pugs but team que by itself is preferable over no team que). This gives the most accurate depictions of ratings ie no premades stomping pugs getting easy rating and no duo que messing up solo que.

Guys, i really dont understand. If they dont change this, people will cry days and nights because of "match manipulation". Then ANet try to limit the manupulating by restricting queue to high elo players and then people cry because the game isnt friendly anymore. Wtf guys, what ANet should do, then?

IMO is a good change, since playing rankeds isnt the only one way to practice as a team. Naturally, playing solo rankeds make you face better opponents as you rank up and play with good teammates too, and the game dont block you to whisper them and see if they want to practice together in ATs. (ANet said a new one is coming too)

Dont forget that GW2 has GUILDS too, u can easily get a PvP focused one and meet good people there. U can practice in guild arena maps too or against other team guild.

I met a lot of people that still inviting me for playing ATs because they met me in ranked matches and we almost never duo.

(Sorry for english issues boys)