I'm sad to say I've more or less given up playing ranked. Too many people exploiting or doing cheap things, spamming, etc. Trash talking excessively in the mic (EA, please implement an option to mute all opponents in future releases?) it just is not fun anymore. When you do get a guy who just wants to have a good fight, it's such an amazing online experience. Some things I've experienced:
People who refuse to do anything except stand up and slug it out. Anything else: "You're a ____ and fight like a _____" If you think fighting on the ground in an *MMA* game is a ____ then go play KO mode or Fight Night...
That magic combo. 1-2, leg kick, head kick. Over. And over. And over.
My opponents: Jones, Rumble, Conor, Bruce Lee (LOL wtf EA) Lawler, almost every.single.fight.
Hate messages.
Yelling or saying some extremely nasty things in the mic.
Fist bump? Nah, cheap shot! Flying knee.
Constant field trips to head kick city.
And so on, and so forth.
This community really is toxic. Even worse than COD which I didn't think I'd find.
The AI isn't as much of a challenge, but on harder difficulties is fun. I'll do a custom event and play them through. I love that the blood stays on the mat throughout the event. And it's always fun to see which fight won the awards after the show.
And I won't even waste another minute on that UT p2w garbage.