This is complete * if you pardon my French. One of the sole cosmetics the player can earn that isn't some contorted FOMO limited time event or a battle pass, literally nobody was asking for this change and literally nobody wanted it. These trails were earned by players, not bought or grinded for. They were earned by being good, regardless if that was in season 4 or 7, it shouldn't matter. God forbid someone earns their ideal trail and dips from Ranked, the cesspool that it is. The paradigm switch from ranked in Diamond+ to regular trios is palpable, in both time and effort put into the match, and saying we should collectively just hit masters casually every split is absurd. Any kind of seniority of playtime that was communicated through the trails is also gone. I seriously cannot fathom how this was fixed over the 190fps stuttering or even basic problems, like the terrible tiling textures on Worlds Edge.
Through this decision you've taken ranked in a similar direction that Overwatch took which was heavily criticized by it's Lead Developer, Jeff Kaplan. Jeff once stated that the worst idea that they implemented for ranked was rewards, because an influx of players disinterested with ranked but wanted the rewards flooded the playlist, creating lesser matches. People began to play it simply for sprays, or the ever illusive golden weapon skin. These rewards changed the landscape of ranked, and they soon realized that it was too late to change their mind after implementing such an idea. After Season 9, it was stated that nearly half of all matches played that season were in ranked so start acting like you care about the mode and aren't just looking to pump the player retention juice artificially one more time.
It's laughable how the notion of player expression through the use of skins is often heralded at the forefront of all live service games, skins that players should unlock, use and customize their experience with. However, this design philosophy hasn't been translated over to the single piece of customization that is earned through skill, not 140$ spent for a virtual knife.
