Hey there,
I've been having the same issues and even made a huge post about it. I'm not sure how many discussion posts like this need to come up for Respawn to do a better job with their research and call to action.
I'm glad I got to access your attachments before some non-EA respresentative and/or moderator will get to you about not uploading names as you may be "shaming" them. I can't stand these forums sometimes when all we are trying to do is prove a point.
I saw your ranked K/D and it's super painful especially in that rank. While SBMM and Smurfing are two completely different issues, I know that most of the cause within those ranks are those who have High K/D Smurf accounts stacking and boosting their mates or just the unfortunate Queue with Diamonds, Masters, Preds knowing that it's farm day for them. You'll have the occasional high ranked players who are just "crawling out of low rank levels" and get where they belong, but it seems like high skilled players continue to linger in low rank tiers.
At this point, what's the point of ranked right?
Either way, something needs to be fixed and Respawn needs to stop filling their pockets with money and care about the communities concerns. There's 100 million active players in this game, you would think that it's enough for Respawn to know how to hash out low and high experienced players.
I've been on about this, but the part I'll add is now since you can see what rank people were last season, you can see the wide range of skill there are in ranked.
Since I didn't play ranked for a while, I got knocked to Bronze IV. But I was technically Gold IV last season because of grinding to that level at the opening of the season (Diamond season before that), and basically giving up due to hating the new ranked system.
That means here I am, showing up in Bronze IV with Gold rank if you only consider last season. And I've seen myself paired with anything from Rookies to people who were ranked silver, but who were Platinum last season. It's pretty safe to say if I've got a team mate who was gold or plat prior season, to having 2 rookies with me, the experience of the game is massively, massively different.
In silver now, just because gravity towards my skill level lifts me up naturally, even though I'm not really trying that hard. I haven't noticed much difference as I still get rookies, and plats on my team. It's just that there are more people with current Silver rank. The games are not different, though, varying massively in quality of skill.
@KelRieverWhat’s your opinion on rank “decay”?
Anyone who frequents these forums probably knows I hate strict matchmaking in pubs, but I honestly want stricter matchmaking in ranked.
I feel like the rank decay/split demotion only serves to hurt the health of the game. Choosing to play ranked is like saying “please give me the most competitive/tournament-like game possible”. I feel like matchmaking should be as tight as realistically possible in ranked. These half season demotions only increase the likelihood that higher tier players abuse lower tier players. I’m ok with this in pubs (because nothing is on the line), but the game needs to be the fairest version of itself when something is on the line (rp).
and actually its casual mode, not ranked one. In ranked it feels even worse than casual, i cant do nothing when a team rushed us
@kittysuneI'm not American. But if they claim this is not in use on Apex, and it turns out that it is... can't I sue them for something? Like 350 million dollars for emotional distress brought on by their falsely advertised sbmm?
SBMM is and will always be a Joke in this game..
my kdr is 5 times yours and im mostly stuck with players of your skill level...
end of the match top 3 place with me @ 9+ kills 2850 dmg (i don't grief) so yea could be 4k if needed.
my team some assist and maybe one or both have a kill with about 300 dmg...
having to ress my team all the time and mostly they don't have a clue on whats going on.
this sux for you but trust me it is as frustrating for you as it is for the higher rank players..
only solution go play a premade team yall practice together and GITGUD.
I do have my speculations. While Respawn claims that they aren't using EOMM as it is strictly a design enforced by EA proper, I have my speculations.
-Have you ever noticed when you answer the "Match quality survey" and say "No" like 99% percent of us do, we lowkey get queued in 'fair' lobbies? Hardly any diamond trails and such. If you think about it, why else would we get asked that multiple times on a singular account? Surveys to one person shouldn't be asked that same question. That research data would be void. That particular survey in my opinion is an engagement queue/tool so that people can continue to play the game. If you say no, lobbies aren't as sweaty. If you say yes, well genuinely, that person will stay in and Respawn can say, "Phew, we did it, boys. They aren't leaving or quitting the game" More money in their pockets.
-Have you ever noticed when we get a dub, the next match is significantly harder?
-Have you ever noticed that if we lose matches a few times in a row, we would get queued in to "easier" lobbies?
These points are clear indicators of what EOMM is and I would say that you're not wrong.
I think that Respawn is using a combination of both "SBMM" and "EOMM" because the formula here isn't to validate the expectations of player satisfaction and experience but player retention. It's probably why SBMM as a whole, in Apex's case is just not optimized because that's the balance that "they are continuously trying to fix"
No gaming company would ever want to lose their player base because it is...money related. It's probably why Respawn doesn't want to disclose their secret "SBMM" formula...because it probably and most likely involves EOMM.
There's articles regarding EA, the EOMM formula and how it works. What makes Respawns formula so special that it can't be disclosed? It's nefarious, I tell you.
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