Wishes for Season 32's Major Ranked Update
Hello. I would like to state some of my wishes for the Major Ranked Update that is currently scheduled for the Season 32. It goes without saying that you know what’s good for the game much better than me, but I still hope you’ll find some value in my opinion (and if not, that’s OK).
I’ve played Ranked Leagues since Season 13 and out of all iterations I saw my favorite was the one you had in Seasons 17-19. In particular, I liked two things:
1. Entry cost and the amount of points needed to progress was the same across all ranks. Because there were no sharp entry cost increases upon reaching a new rank players of different skill levels were more evenly distributed across entire rank range, so the progression felt much smoother. There was also no reason to think “the entry cost is too high now, it’s not even worth trying to play in this rank”, so I felt empowered to keep playing until I reach lobbies that are above my skill level.
2. Matchmaking was based on your skill level rather than your current rank. This February I was watching Winter Olympic Games, so I’ve started my ranked journey two weeks after the beginning of Season 28. I was clearly underranked for the most of my journey, which resulted in slightly lacking challenge for me and frustrations for the players who happened to be my opponents. "Hidden rank"-based matchmaking was a great solution for this problem. It had a downside of not always being able to team up with people you’ve just played with due to rank difference, but maybe that can be solved by not applying rank difference limit when you re-queue after a match.
Another thing I would like to see tackled is the balance between kill-focused aggressive players and position-focused strategic players. Season 17-19 approach was heavily leaning towards playing for position, while the current system puts strong emphasis on getting kills. Either of those feels frustrating for players who prefer to do the opposite, and it would be awesome to enable various playstyles thrive side by side. I have no idea how to achieve that though, but I would love you to try.
Speaking of trying, my final and probably the strongest wish is seeing something new. I respect the attempt to challenge the status quo, even when the result is not to my liking, because a lot of things I love in Apex Legends weren’t there at all or were different when the game launched. So, please try new things.
Patiently waiting for the fruits of your work and hoping that this post was a tiny bit helpful.
