Last season I'll be playing "competitively"

Don't worry this is not a I'm quitting GW2 because of so and so thread, but this is the last season for me personally that I will try. I've played in all 11 seasons and tried my best in every single one, today was the last straw for a number of reasons;

• I reside in New Zealand and my ping is on average 200 - 250 which makes me at a huge disadvantage against top tier players.
• No future server recolonization, therefore making it pointless to continue sPvP
• Once you get a title from seasonal ranked there is no other reason to continue playing apart from the reward chests (which I'm currently doing)
• No ESL scene - apart from community made and prize pools being so low its pointless investing the players time.
• Players are punish for playing more than the minimum required games per season = low population.
• The current rating is extremely demoralizing eg: winning a game +5 and losing a game -18. This is due to low population because you force people to not play the game to keep their rating.

These a just some of the major points, there are many more but I don't want this to be a wall of text. Don't get me wrong this game is great and amazing and I've been playing since launch with 8.1K hours but the current state of sPvP and server location is really off putting and I will not continue playing from a competitive aspect.

I stop focusing on a useless number such as rank a long time ago.

@Jalal.6783 said:I stop focusing on a useless number such as rank a long time ago.

Well, then you not playing for anything - whats your goal, what do you want to achievement from just playing a mode that is meant to be competitive?

I play ranked because I like to sht on kids. I know my own skill and what I'm worth. A number doesn't tell me how good I am, i determine that. Therefore, i don't sweat the number, i play as best as i can and that is enough for me

@Jalal.6783 said:I play ranked because I like to kitten on kids.Fair enough lol.

@Jalal.6783 said:I play ranked because I like to kitten on kids. I know my own skill and what I'm worth. A number doesn't tell me how good I am, i determine that. Therefore, i don't sweat the number, i play as best as i can and that is enough for me

But I mean if you know your worth it don't you want to let other people know, get some recognition? It might just be a number but all your hard work to get the skill you have can be paid off with a sexy title a nice placement on the leaderboard for the community to see.

I don't play competitively anymore either. I play solo just enough to maintain plat 1, just because I like the look of the badge, but other than that I queue with my wife and guild mates and just have fun. So I stay between the 1500-1600 range. Mainly just in PvP now because I still need ascended shards for legendary armor.

Really wish I could play with more than just 1 friend at a time, since unranked and AT has no match maker and matches are often extremely one sided, not to mention they lack the loot that ranked has.

@Chilli.2976 said:

@Jalal.6783 said:I stop focusing on a useless number such as rank a long time ago.

I do play for competitiveness, but there is no way to get close to top players level right now. When i'm joining a correct team, we're getting rolled 500-200 by top teams. When i'm joining a random plat pug, we get rolled 500-10 by these players, although we managed to win 500-10 against gold team before.

Solo queue( Ranked or Unranked) do not provide a good practice and way to get better. Swiss round AT's are really a must.

If only the game focused on making PvP FUN instead of worrying about the 1% who need awards and pixel proof of big schlongs... what a world that would be!

When I was a kid, I remember playing games because they were fun. No one would deign to ask me "But why play?" I don't want to achieve anything in video games lol ... I have a good job, I have good savings, I have a beautiful wife and some kiddos. I want to have FUN.

Combine ranked and unranked, get rid of ranks completely, hide player rating, give everybody pips and chests, add more maps ... let's have FUN. ;)

@"Chilli.2976" said:

• No future server recolonization, therefore making it pointless to continue sPvP

Do you mean the servers running the game -- as in, this is a complaint that ANet are not going to move servers somewhere closer, network-wise, to you and thus reduce your RTT?

• Once you get a title from seasonal ranked there is no other reason to continue playing apart from the reward chests (which I'm currently doing)

Here, I think, you have identified the problem: if the only reason you play PvP is for the title, then yes, PvP is pretty pointless. Personally, when I PvP I do it because I want to PvP. Sure, rewards are nice, but if it isn't fun, I'm not gonna do it. Perhaps you should find a game mode (or game) where you do enjoy playing for the sake of playing?

• The current rating is extremely demoralizing eg: winning a game +5 and losing a game -18. This is due to low population because you force people to not play the game to keep their rating.

That is a ridiculously small amount of movement, suggesting that your MMR is pretty accurately estimated. (Especially since an unexpected win would be around +18, and an expected loss -5, in the same conditions.)

You are seeing the "noise" cause by MMR being an estimate, rather than an absolutely accurate value, and mistaking it for ... something. I'm honestly not sure what.

Anyway, a larger population wouldn't cause larger changes in your MMR, unless you got lucky to be carried more often or something. This is the (fairly) accurate rating of your skill vs the rest of the PvP population. Small changes are literally exactly how the MMR system keeps that accurate as your skill level changes, etc.

PvP in this game is trash. I too quit after playing every season at a high level since the beginning. I haven't bothered this season after a few matches. Its never been this bad.

I treat Conquest like a death match...My goal is to get as many kills as possible while also trying to keep my death ratio to 2 at most.

You should just play for fun aswell ey :bleep_bloop:

Make a goal for yourself, find the worse build you can possibly think of, then make it useful. I have fun doing this, it's how I ended up with 30+ PvP characters with unique builds.Personally this patch I was hoping for PIPS in Unranked so myself and my friends can play a bit more again, I don't think I'll be playing more than 1-2 games a week now as it appears we are onto Eidolon Hunting in Waframe.....

@Jalal.6783 said:I stop focusing on a useless number such as rank a long time ago.

But that's the problem with sPvP... Rank doesn't matter.PvP (not just sPvP, but wvw) is a big blight on GW2. The pvp modes should be the bridge between the content drops in PvE, but they broke it completely with poor decision making. And, have done nothing to reverse those tendencies.

@Jalal.6783 said:I play ranked because I like to kitten on kids.

Every now and then you do stuff that pisses me off in games, but... this made me laugh out loud. So true for so many of us. Thank you.

@"pah.4931" said:If only the game focused on making PvP FUN instead of worrying about the 1% who need awards and pixel proof of big schlongs... what a world that would be!

When I was a kid, I remember playing games because they were fun. No one would deign to ask me "But why play?" I don't want to achieve anything in video games lol ... I have a good job, I have good savings, I have a beautiful wife and some kiddos. I want to have FUN.

Combine ranked and unranked, get rid of ranks completely, hide player rating, give everybody pips and chests, add more maps ... let's have FUN. ;)

Don't get me wrong I do have fun, but what makes it more fun is being able to compete for something not just for shits and giggles - if I want that I'll go troll in unranked. Ranked has double the numbers of unranked during seasons - therefore ranked is not going away. If you get rid of the "competitive" aspect of the game mode, you might as well delete it, as it won't be considered sPvP or PvP at all, more like a bar brawl.

Yeah, they day I need someone else to validate me, myself and I is the day I get into ranked.I spent half my younger life competing in track. Now I focus on setting personal goals and smashing them.Now, ranked play could be one said goal but... really, there are better, more rigorous game systems worthy of my time out there.Still, each to their own!

@Chilli.2976 said:

@"pah.4931" said:If only the game focused on making PvP FUN instead of worrying about the 1% who need awards and pixel proof of big schlongs... what a world that would be!

When I was a kid, I remember playing games because they were fun. No one would deign to ask me "But why play?" I don't want to achieve anything in video games lol ... I have a good job, I have good savings, I have a beautiful wife and some kiddos. I want to have FUN.

Combine ranked and unranked, get rid of ranks completely, hide player rating, give everybody pips and chests, add more maps ... let's have FUN. ;)

But that only works when a team-mode is supported. A single, random queue system will NEVER truly be that competitive, especially in an MMO. It's why there are no professional sports with random drafts before every game...

Also, from my experience, most gamers who "want it to be competitive" really mean: "I want my own rating to be really high so I have a cool title because my mom always told me I was special, but I don't want it be hard to do so because I really just like ROFLSTOMPING n00bs, lulz"

Most gamers want: 1) easy, efficient wins and 2) shiny stuff ... and a distant 8th place is "a close, good game."

Finally, if ranked has double the numbers of unranked, then combining them will increase the pool of players by 50%!!!

p.s. If you're not playing a dumb video game solely for shit and giggles then you need to re-examine your life. I say that with love ;)

@"pah.4931" said:p.s. If you're not playing a dumb video game solely for kitten and giggles then you need to re-examine your life. I say that with love ;)

I think the difference here between me and you is I have a winning mentality and I always aim high not matter the situation, where as you don't I guess you can say you already won with your kids and wife.

You can call any game childish or "just a game" but look some of the esports players they are making millions from play a "childish video game" - where as you have a job which is great 9 - 5 but probably not making anything close to that. I'm trying to exaggerate my point of not being competitive anymore with this game because there is no foreseeable future of it going esports - it's reached its peak a long time ago.

@Chilli.2976 said:

@"pah.4931" said:p.s. If you're not playing a dumb video game solely for kitten and giggles then you need to re-examine your life. I say that with love ;)

A job is a guarantee that you will pay for your family needs each week and give a form of stability.Does any gamer in GW2 use tournament money to pay rent each week and support their life?....

I'm sort of with both of you, I play for shits n giggles but I also like to win... I also think games are a good way to unwind after work of which in those games, I don't care about winning, just unwinding and getting a few kills and grandmaster marks along the way

@"pah.4931" said:Also, from my experience, most gamers who "want it to be competitive" really mean: "I want my own rating to be really high so I have a cool title because my mom always told me I was special, but I don't want it be hard to do so because I really just like ROFLSTOMPING n00bs, lulz"

Most gamers want: 1) easy, efficient wins and 2) shiny stuff ... and a distant 8th place is "a close, good game."

p.s. If you're not playing a dumb video game solely for kitten and giggles then you need to re-examine your life. I say that with love ;)

(Single-player and PvE) games are designed to provide a controlled, paced challenge in which we usually get to win in the end. This sort of intermediate challenge is a respite from the bullcrap that life throws at us and we've come to expect we can just roll over any part of any game if we put in enough effort ("effort" as measured solely by ourselves). Hence "want it to be competitive" is equivalent to "want it to be beatable/winnable".

That's a mentality that would make one suffer in a PvP environment. The ideal mindset is "no matter win or lose, play your best". But even I would scoff at such an idea, because...

Who the hell doesn't like to win? Gimme a guaranteed win and I'll show you all the good game-loving, shiny stuff-donating, generous side of humanity not even I believe truly existed within myself (confirmed to be false, never rose above 1500 rating). Without even trying, I'll have all the ratings, cool titles, moms and noobs come to me!

P.S. I screencap all the interesting games where my team wins so I can share with my friends for kitten & giggles... who have been offline for months. I believe it is time to find my life back.

Who the hell doesn't like to win?

It's not about the winning. It's about the friends we murder along the way!

@Chilli.2976 said:

@"pah.4931" said:p.s. If you're not playing a dumb video game solely for kitten and giggles then you need to re-examine your life. I say that with love ;)

Ahh yes, but wanting to win is different than what you said in your post above. You want recognition for winning. That is completely different. I played baseball through college (small D3 school -- nobody wants a 6-4 right-handed pitcher throwing 83 mph lulz) ... and I once get into a fight with my own teammate after a game we won, on the field, in front of God and fans ... trust me, I like to win. I am competitive to a point where I'm the guy that no one wants on their co-ed softball team.

But I don't give THREE POOPS about who knows I win or trophies or titles or recognition. What do I care what this anonymous stranger in dumb-butt armor thinks of me? I don't need recognition. I want close games, nail-biters, and opportunities to outplay my opponent (which, if this is your argument, that these things are lacking, then I'm right there with you).

I get it. Winning is fun. But this thread is not about winning. It's about a terrible ranked system (agree with you there) and climbing a ladder for status, which for you (among other things) is no longer worth it. But the fact remains is the current system is catering to a small number of players who don't even like the current system. The "average" gamer just wants 1) quick fun games and 2) some sort of compensation for their time spent doing PvP rather than something else in game.

Also, I play this childish game, so obviously I am not going to make fun of you for it. Also, I'm on this gaming forum TALKING about video games, so I'm just as pathetic as you (:P) ... but it has to be for "shits and giggles" ... because it's a video game, not a livelihood (if you want to be a pro-gamer, go for it! the dream!! I will never ever make fun of you for that ... but GW2 is not the game to do that in). This isn't life or death.

Either you have fun or you don't. If you don't, bummer ... I wish you well in the 9737462932 other games that might offer you more fun.

@Scud.5067 said:Yeah, they day I need someone else to validate me, myself and I is the day I get into ranked.I spent half my younger life competing in track. Now I focus on setting personal goals and smashing them.Now, ranked play could be one said goal but... really, there are better, more rigorous game systems worthy of my time out there.Still, each to their own!

Yes, because clearly if you like to play ranked game modes you're desperately seeking validation due to living a life lacking any real worthy goals.

@Sampson.2403 said:Yes, because clearly if you like to play ranked game modes you're desperately seeking validation due to living a life lacking any real worthy goals.

Exactly

@Scud.5067 said:

@Sampson.2403 said:Yes, because clearly if you like to play ranked game modes you're desperately seeking validation due to living a life lacking any real worthy goals.

Yes, because clearly exactly.

This is my first and last competitive season. I'll get the chests next season without caring about ranking. Rank is pointless anyway.