Long post about GAC ranking trends
I originally sent this to in-game support marked as "feedback" because I genuinely just want to share my findings/suggestion with the devs. The support staff suggested I post it here as well.
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tl;dr - GAC ranking among players who share the same skill rating appears to be a fixed value based off of your banner scores before the new rating system was implemented.
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I believe there needs to be a reshuffling of the GAC ranking order among players that share the same skill rating. I have closely followed my respective rank during each GAC round. Since the new skill rating system was implemented, I have consistently been the absolute last ranked of all players that share my respective skill rating after every single GAC round. In each following round, I am predictably matched against the top 6-7 ranked members of the skill rating immediately below me. This is a direct result of how I performed in the final season of GAC before the initial skill ratings were assigned.
Prior to the initial skill ratings being assigned, I experimented by winning my rounds with the minimum banners necessary. We were told the 'new' GAC divisions would be structured based on GP (7.8m = Kyber 1, etc.), and the initial skill ratings within divisions would be assigned in bulk. The old GAC rankings within each division were based on banner count, so I suspected that players who shared the same skill ratings in new GAC divisions would be rank-ordered based on where they finished at the end of the 'old' GAC system.
In the old system I almost always finished with a top 20 banner score in Division 3. Nevertheless, I could never guarantee to finish at rank #1. I did however know I would likely win all my scheduled rounds, so I decided to test my theory by purposely leaving banners on the board wherever possible. This should ensure I would achieve the highest skill rating I possibly could (based on my GP at the time), and if banner count was used as a mechanism of ordering within the ranks then I would
almost certainly be last ranked of my respective skill rating.
As I suspected, this experiment led me to be ranked at the bottom of my group once the new GAC system began.
I imagined this would be temporary, as I was led to believe each skill rating would eventually be unique after a number of subsequent rounds. At this point however, it appears a majority of players still share their rating with others, at least outside the top of Kyber 1.
The problem with this going forward, is that the players ranking at the bottom of one skill rating will always tend to match players at the top of the rating below them. Meaning the least efficient (or purposely inefficient :D ) players in the old GAC system, will now perpetually face the most highly efficient players in the new system! Thankfully, I'm a GAC built player, so I have enjoyed what I believe to be strong competition (and I continue to do well)... But I can only speak for myself!
Ultimately I write all that to say, I believe there would potentially be more parity in the GAC brackets if the rankings within skill ratings had a reshuffling. Thank you for your time.
Last round: https://tinypic.host/i/edR1q
After winning: https://tinypic.host/i/edbAL
(I can continue posting updates.. but I assure you it's been the same for 8 months now :D )
----------
tl;dr - GAC ranking among players who share the same skill rating appears to be a fixed value based off of your banner scores before the new rating system was implemented.
----------
I believe there needs to be a reshuffling of the GAC ranking order among players that share the same skill rating. I have closely followed my respective rank during each GAC round. Since the new skill rating system was implemented, I have consistently been the absolute last ranked of all players that share my respective skill rating after every single GAC round. In each following round, I am predictably matched against the top 6-7 ranked members of the skill rating immediately below me. This is a direct result of how I performed in the final season of GAC before the initial skill ratings were assigned.
Prior to the initial skill ratings being assigned, I experimented by winning my rounds with the minimum banners necessary. We were told the 'new' GAC divisions would be structured based on GP (7.8m = Kyber 1, etc.), and the initial skill ratings within divisions would be assigned in bulk. The old GAC rankings within each division were based on banner count, so I suspected that players who shared the same skill ratings in new GAC divisions would be rank-ordered based on where they finished at the end of the 'old' GAC system.
In the old system I almost always finished with a top 20 banner score in Division 3. Nevertheless, I could never guarantee to finish at rank #1. I did however know I would likely win all my scheduled rounds, so I decided to test my theory by purposely leaving banners on the board wherever possible. This should ensure I would achieve the highest skill rating I possibly could (based on my GP at the time), and if banner count was used as a mechanism of ordering within the ranks then I would
almost certainly be last ranked of my respective skill rating.
As I suspected, this experiment led me to be ranked at the bottom of my group once the new GAC system began.
I imagined this would be temporary, as I was led to believe each skill rating would eventually be unique after a number of subsequent rounds. At this point however, it appears a majority of players still share their rating with others, at least outside the top of Kyber 1.
The problem with this going forward, is that the players ranking at the bottom of one skill rating will always tend to match players at the top of the rating below them. Meaning the least efficient (or purposely inefficient :D ) players in the old GAC system, will now perpetually face the most highly efficient players in the new system! Thankfully, I'm a GAC built player, so I have enjoyed what I believe to be strong competition (and I continue to do well)... But I can only speak for myself!
Ultimately I write all that to say, I believe there would potentially be more parity in the GAC brackets if the rankings within skill ratings had a reshuffling. Thank you for your time.
Last round: https://tinypic.host/i/edR1q
After winning: https://tinypic.host/i/edbAL
(I can continue posting updates.. but I assure you it's been the same for 8 months now :D )
