New dropping system is terrible

I can appreciate your enthusiasm on the subject, but this is yet another example of Respawn going a specific route to please a specific, and I'd wager small, contingent of players, and doing it with no thought at all to unintended consequences. What might some of those consequences be, you ask?

Well, first, I know for a fact that some players have been driven out of ranked completely, operating with the conviction that this change is a deal breaker. How many such players? We will never know. But another way of putting it is: how many can the mode afford to lose? If some players have left ranked, no matter how small the number, is it much of a leap to imagine them leaving the game completely?

Second, suppose a player is unhappy with the change but opts to stay in the game and the mode. We'll use a hypothetical player and call him "recon hero," just a made up name off the top of my head. Let's say this day-one player is already weary of all the changes this game has endured over the last six years, and that the changes coming faster and more dramatically in the last year or so have worn on him particularly poorly. Let's say this player has a streak of spite in him. So imagine this player going in to ranked, maybe just to play a map that's not in rotation in trios, maybe just for a change of pace, maybe just to see if the new changes are as bad as he thinks they are... whatever the reason. There he is. Let's say he likes an edge drop and in the new system he gets one sometimes. And sometimes he doesn't. If he doesn't, what then does he do? Drop center with his idiot teammates (yes, they're ALL idiots) where he is surrounded by enemies on all sides, has limited looting options and limited movement options? If he chooses to use what position options he has and try to get out to the edge of the circle then he has to leave his teammates as surely as if he still had the "drop solo" option. They won't go with him. Whether he simply makes the ping and starts to move, or gets on the mic to explain what he's doing and why he's doing it.

So, at least for this hypothetical player, the net results don't change. The game just makes him work harder for the result. And his teammates are just as unhappy. And so is he. They still die without him trying to defend a bad position for no other reason than "gun fights are fun," and then he just jumps off the map to get everyone back to the lobby. Could he have stayed and tried to get to positive RP? Sure. Then again, when you're playing your qualifiers and your RP is at zero then where's the incentive to not go negative? There isn't one because you can't have negative RP. Where's the incentive to "strive" in your qualifiers knowing that moving up the ladder more quickly will not get you:

1. better, smarter squadmates
2. easier enemies
3. a certain path to master
4. a free titan two in the mail

This system as it is now is trying to force behaviors. If most players are sheep who will allow themselves to be herded then so be it. If they allow themselves to be herded against their better judgment, then that's just a poke in the player's eye. And I've already spelled out how some players might react to getting poked in the eye.

I genuinely hope that the change has made some players' lives better. I hope it wasn't done for nothing. But I also hope that people are not living under any illusion that it drives exclusively good behavior, or that it was the right choice for the over-all health of the game, or that it's a move that will grow the player base.