There would be no real incentive if it was purely aesthetic - Reputation-based matchmaking (that allows us to pick and choose what levels we want to match with), makes the most sense so long as there is a proper way to balance the negatives.
In theory, groups could boost upvotes without any real downside. Sounds so dumb but teams already boost wins and rag so it wouldn't surprise me
@TTZ_Dipsy wrote:There would be no real incentive if it was purely aesthetic
I think you're underestimating just how important it would be for people to get an icon on their badge to separate themselves from others in terms of their quality of play.
@TTZ_Dipsy wrote:Reputation-based matchmaking (that allows us to pick and choose what levels we want to match with), makes the most sense
This has never worked. In fact, I'm a believer that 'levels' of players should be hidden from drop-ins. One of the most infuriating thing about finding a drop-in game is how elitist players who have very high levels (not necessarily from being good, but from playing often) will bail on a lobby at the last minute because their teammates didn't match up to their standards. Those people need to stick to club if they're not going to 'lower' themselves to play with randoms.
@TTZ_Dipsy wrote:In theory, groups could boost upvotes without any real downside. Sounds so dumb but teams already boost wins and rag so it wouldn't surprise me
Then let them? If a group of idiots want to 'boost' their badges to include an icon that represents good team-play, then let them.
EA can easily increase the threashold of positive votes before obtaining the badge to say, 1,000. If some morons want to take a bunch of time to make alt accounts to give one of their buddies 1,000 upvotes.. good luck.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy collecting things like that too (I'm a filthy trophy whore and badge collector), I just think you should be able to do something with it, otherwise it just becomes more bloatware.
The good players should be able to finetune their matchmaking and play against/with everyone they choose and the bad players should be sent to the sjadow realm match up with themselves like the cheaters in Dark Souls or the racist kids in CoD until they can claw their way out. Better overall experience in my mind.
You can't just remove levels and maybe things like builds from the matchmaking - Just look at what happened to Online VS with everyone choosing the All-Star teams.
Yes, level is an indicator of game time, not skill, but you can psychoanalytically combine it with other factors like build type and rank to better understand how the other team is going to play; we should be getting as much information as possible!
Remove drop-in ranks and you'll see players go back to clubs.
I agree giving the bad guys a frowny face badge will only wet their whistle more, but I also think a "I'm a nice guy" happy badge will also put a target on your back for shenanigans.
I fully admit I'm a jerk and will kick a player when they are down (not to the extent anything would be bannable, mind you, but I firmly agree with Shoresy's "Run 'em up, fill 'em in" line), if I saw a badge because you're in my house and it's a cruel world.
