[Poll] Remove Ranked Queue from PvP

[Shaogin.2679]

So give this a read before voting.

Most of the complaint threads in the PvP forums stem from Ranked PvP. It is honestly quite a mess right now due to a plethora of issues such as balance, AFK players, bots, trolls, match manipulation, solo queue vs team queue, and so on. Discussions on these topics never make much progress due to the vastly diverse player base all wanting their own thing and not wanting to compromise on their position at all. One thing is certain though. In its current state, Ranked PvP is a joke and is not retaining players.

So here is my proposition. Remove Ranked PvP Queue entirely. We already have Unranked if you just want to jump in and enjoy some games, and we have Automated Tournaments if you want a competitive environment. Now obviously some changes will need to be made to accommodate this change due to what we would be losing by removing Ranked PvP Queue. We would need to reallocate the rewards and badges/titles gained from playing Ranked PvP.

So first, let's focus on the new Unranked game mode. Now that this will be the only game mode outside of ATs, it should see an increase in population. To satisfy the solo players and the team players, it should have two separate queues. The first queue would be a pure solo queue. The second queue would be a team queue that allows players to queue up as solo players or teams of any size. Basically the team queue would be what we have now in Unranked. There should be a hidden ranking system so that the match maker will attempt to match teams of equal skill level, similar to what we currently have in Ranked PvP now. Then of course you should be able to select what type of match you want to queue up for, such as Conquest, Stronghold, 2v2, 3v3 etc. This would essentially be the main hub for playing PvP games when not participating in Automated Tournaments or private matches.

As for the rewards, there should be a new reward track for Legendary Armor. Essentially this reward track would be the new way for obtaining Shards of Glory and Ascended Shards of Glory. Honestly there is no issue with this since, again, Ranked PvP is already a joke and can be farmed, and legendary armor from WvW is also just a participation prize. Also, to encourage participation in the team queue, Anet could grant increased reward track progress or something along those lines for playing in the team queue.

So this new Unranked PvP mode would consolidate all our remaining players into a central PvP queue hub, and provide the options for team queue and solo queue to appease both crowds while providing some incentives for players to step into team queue as a sort of stepping stone for progressing into Automated Tournaments, without invalidating the solo queue. 

Now for the Automated Tournaments. First off, these should become more frequent to increase accessibility. It doesn't have to be drastic, we could start off with a small increase in frequency, see how it works with the new system, and adjust from there. All badges and titles should be rewards for playing in ATs and awarded at the end of the month. The badges would be displayed on your character for the following month, and then expire. PvP League Tickets required for legendary armor should be exclusively obtainable in ATs. You would get some simply for participating, and gain bonus tickets depending on how your team performs. This encourages players seeking the legendary armor to try out Automated Tournaments, without preventing their progress on their legendary armor if they don't perform well. 

This makes Automated Tournaments the go-to place for competitive PvP in GW2 (I mean, it honestly already is) and, with the removal of Ranked and an increase in frequency, it might see an increase in participation as well. 

Honestly, I think this is the best solution to appease all the different PvP crowds, and might also sort out some of the common issues plaguing PvP currently. So, cast your vote, let me know what you think, keep things civil, and be open to other opinions. 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Shaogin.2679

[Shaogin.2679]

For those voting no, is there a reason you don't want the change?

[Fueki.4753]

How about we merge unranked into ranked instead, so that the population there will be bigger?

[Shaogin.2679]

4 minutes ago, Fueki.4753 said:

How about we merge unranked into ranked instead, so that the population there will be bigger?

Because Ranked PvP is where the biggest issues are, the system is constantly exploited, and it wouldn't allow for other game modes such as Stronghold and what not. Automated Tournaments are the best form of actual competitive PvP in GW2, and they should focus on that.

[Fueki.4753]

31 minutes ago, Shaogin.2679 said:

Because Ranked PvP is where the biggest issues are, the system is constantly exploited, and it wouldn't allow for other game modes such as Stronghold and what not. Automated Tournaments are the best form of actual competitive PvP in GW2, and they should focus on that.

And if you put all the ranked players into unranked, the exploiters etc. will just be there, ruining matches like they always did. The league rewards would  have to move onto unranked then, too. After all, they have to go somewhere that is available to everyone (which automated tournaments aren't).

It's much better to use the ranked that only allows for duos and uses an algorithm that at least tries to match people by their rating, than to use the unranked which allows for full top end groups to farm other players.

And if you suggest to simply remove the league rewards, you are just going to remove a substantial percentage of the remaining players from sPvP, making the mode objectively worse with not a single upside.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Fueki.4753

[Shaogin.2679]

1 minute ago, Fueki.4753 said:

And if you put all the ranked players into unranked, the exploiters etc. will just be there, ruining matches like they always did.

The league rewards would move onto unranked then, too. After all, they have to go somewhere that is available to everyone (which automated tournaments aren't).

So, it's much better to use the ranked that only allows for duos and uses an algorithm that at least tries to mathc people by their rating, than to use the unranked which allows for full top end groups to farm other players algorithm.

And if you suggest to simply remove the league rewards, you are just going to remove a substantial percentage of the remaining players from sPvP, making the mode objectively worse with not a single upside.

So I am getting the impression that you didn't actually read my original post at all. I actually already addressed a lot of that. Also, Automated Tournaments are in fact available to all. And in Unranked, there is no rank or titles or badges to compete for, thus removing the need to game the system. 

[SlipLihte.1307]

I voted no because I enjoy ranked in it's current form. I know it has it's problems, but I think these (and the number of complaints about them) sometimes get so much focus that it makes it appear like the game mode is completely broken - and I don't think it is.

[Shaogin.2679]

10 minutes ago, SlipLihte.1307 said:

I voted no because I enjoy ranked in it's current form. I know it has it's problems, but I think these (and the number of complaints about them) sometimes get so much focus that it makes it appear like the game mode is completely broken - and I don't think it is.

What do you enjoy about Ranked that would make the new proposed Unranked mode undesirable?

[Shaogin.2679]

I am genuinely curious on the opinions of those opposed to this change. Perhaps there is a downside to this that I am overlooking? 

[WhoWantsAHug.3186]

19 hours ago, Shaogin.2679 said:

Because Ranked PvP is where the biggest issues are, the system is constantly exploited, and it wouldn't allow for other game modes such as Stronghold and what not. Automated Tournaments are the best form of actual competitive PvP in GW2, and they should focus on that.

They really arent though. The plat 1 team that rofl stomps all of the gold & silver kids get roflstomped by the p2+ players in the finals. Most AT games are snoozefests. 

[Shaogin.2679]

35 minutes ago, WhoWantsAHug.3186 said:

They really arent though. The plat 1 team that rofl stomps all of the gold & silver kids get roflstomped by the p2+ players in the finals. Most AT games are snoozefests. 

Yeah, that is how competition works, the better teams win. Telling people they can't play together because they are better than others is just silly. ATs allow players to come together and choose their team, put together a decent comp, formulate a plan, and communicate and improve. You don't lose because Anet forced you to team up with some troll that wants to rage quit and berate everyone. You don't win because you got lucky and Anet forced 1 or 2 players to carry you. It is an actual competitive environment. And with more participation, there would be more teams of equal skill to face off against.

 

I don't know how your ATs have gone, but when I played we would win the first 1 or 2 matches before being defeated, and it was fun nonetheless. Hell, we even managed to win the entire tournament one day. It was a crazy close match and some of the most fun I've ever had playing PvP in GW2. And if people still want to just play random matches, the new Unranked would still allow for that, and give solo players a pure solo queue that they haven't had before. 

[Marxx.5021]

At this point it nothing matters anymore.

[Cuks.8241]

2 hours ago, Shaogin.2679 said:

I am genuinely curious on the opinions of those opposed to this change. Perhaps there is a downside to this that I am overlooking? 

You started on the premise ranked is flawed. I dont think it is, I enjoy it, I like to see where I stand even if its skewed to some extent (I dont know neither care much if it is). I dont care about other players gaming the system because I dont think it matters in the grand scheme at all. I have only met 1 or 2 bots and that was very long ago. And anyway if you move participation rewards to unranked the afks and bots would just move there.

[Shaogin.2679]

16 minutes ago, Cuks.8241 said:

You started on the premise ranked is flawed. I dont think it is, I enjoy it, I like to see where I stand even if its skewed to some extent (I dont know neither care much if it is). I dont care about other players gaming the system because I dont think it matters in the grand scheme at all. I have only met 1 or 2 bots and that was very long ago. And anyway if you move participation rewards to unranked the afks and bots would just move there.

On the premise of afks and bots moving to Unranked, I don't think this will necessarily be the case. Sure, in any scenario where it is not a strict 5v5 team queue, bots, afk players, trolls and whatnot will exist. This is simply because the system facilitates this. It is the only way they can exist. No one is willingly accepting these players on their team. However, with ranks, badges, titles, and league tickets all being in ATs, there should at least be a reduction in afks and bots that would even bother to move to the new Unranked. Also, with the new Unranked you could simply queue as a team to avoid having any placed on your team in the first place, which is something that can't be done in our current Ranked game mode.

 

The only thing I can see that we really lose is the Ranked leader board. But again, if actual competitive PvP is what you want, then we already have ATs for that. If you enjoy the actual gameplay of the current Ranked system, you would still get that same quality of gameplay (if not better due to condensing the populations together) in the new Unranked. The only difference is that there would be no leaderboard. 

[Gladiotor.7561]

On 5/20/2022 at 4:08 PM, Shaogin.2679 said:

For those voting no, is there a reason you don't want the change?

Yes. I did not read your post haha. Sorry. Went straight for it and saw title then. It honestly does look like a good change. I would vote yes if i had read it first. 

Im dumb 😄

[Shaogin.2679]

19 minutes ago, Gladiotor.7561 said:

Yes. I did not read your post haha. Sorry. Went straight for it and saw title then. It honestly does look like a good change. I would vote yes if i had read it first. 

Im dumb 😄

lol. If only there was an option to change your vote.

[Infinity.2876]

Ranked: you play 2v2 with more warm bodies/afk/people without brain cell

Unranked: you get killed by an organized team every other match

2v2/3v3: you die at the hands of a necro/guard que who use their skills correctly

 

Pick yo' poison

 

Honestly though:

Ranked: what 5v5 unorganized pvp supposed to be

Unranked: what 5v5 organized pvp supposed to be

2v2: what organized 2v2 be

3v3: um who created this

 

The part you are supposed to read:

I enjoy duo que a lot please don't get rid of it

[Multicolorhipster.9751]

Abstaining. 

Ranked has the potential to be fun and offers a standard and accessible competitive option to a gamemode that would otherwise be lacking one.

Everything in Ranked is pretty dated though, and the entire Ranked arena could do with some updates to make the experience less frustrating and less easy to manipulate by the top 1% of the 1%.

 

Even if they delete Ranked, i'm still not going to play ATs though. 

Woooo, waiting for ages to witness competitive hand-holding 😴

[Downstate.4697]

I agree but with ATs you cant jump into a competitive mode whenever you want. They would need to move the match making into unranked. Also with ATs you have the option to have 5 man queues and some competitive players are solo. If you had a solo only AT as well as a team AT happening concurrently this could solve it. This could potentially create a solo queue scene for monthly ATs

[Shaogin.2679]

13 hours ago, FrownyClown.8402 said:

I agree but with ATs you cant jump into a competitive mode whenever you want. They would need to move the match making into unranked. Also with ATs you have the option to have 5 man queues and some competitive players are solo. If you had a solo only AT as well as a team AT happening concurrently this could solve it. This could potentially create a solo queue scene for monthly ATs

Well yeah, that is why I suggested moving the match maker to Unranked. As for a solo queue AT, that defeats the whole purpose. Solo Queue has too many issues to be a truly competitive environment. If you want a team for AT, you simply form a group in LFG or chat.

[Stand The Wall.6987]

lol so you want to separate the population into 3 q's? its unnecessary, unranked solo q only, AT teams only. why would you have 2 team q's? makes no sense. essentially just replace ranked with ATs.

Edited May 22, 2022 by Stand The Wall.6987

[Shaogin.2679]

22 hours ago, Stand The Wall.6987 said:

lol so you want to separate the population into 3 q's? its unnecessary, unranked solo q only, AT teams only. why would you have 2 team q's? makes no sense. essentially just replace ranked with ATs.

If you are counting ATs as a queue then we currently have 3 queues. ATs are on a schedule and not always available. 

[Bazsi.2734]

28 minutes ago, Shaogin.2679 said:

Nowhere did I suggest removing PvP from PvP, but then again, you clearly read the post and know this already.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough, I'm one step ahead of you. You're still posting, while I'm on step 4 which is inarticualte screaming. Come join me! 

[Shaogin.2679]

8 minutes ago, Bazsi.2734 said:

Maybe I wasn't clear enough, I'm one step ahead of you. You're still posting, while I'm on step 4 which is inarticualte screaming. Come join me! 

🤔 The people voting No seem to have a common theme going for them...😆

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

Sounds reasonable at face value, with the added bonus of forcing people who match manipulate by bribing the other team for ranking points to either abandon the tactic or have a very visible, spectatable throw on the opposing team. 

I'll think about it. No comment one way or the other yet.